How would you change Asus' Eee PC?

The Eee PC's journey from introduction to mass production hasn't been filled with too many surprises, and aside from the obligatory price / release date speculation, unexpected Russian review and even more chatter over the almighty pricetag, it's been a pretty smooth ride. Granted, everyone and their long lost cousin was buzzing about the potential of getting a fully-featured machine in their laps for under two bills, but as these things always seem to go, final figures (for individual consumers, at least) managed to creep up a fair bit. Price hikes or not, it didn't seem to matter much come launch day, as dear ole NewEgg managed to sell right out of its initial allotment, though we're left to wonder if it didn't really have a few more to go around.

Regardless, just about everyone who managed to get ahold of Asus' little darling came away impressed, if not thoroughly pleased, with how much functionality was stuffed into a sub-$400, two-pound ultraportable. Of course, critics were not hesitant to admit that the bugger wasn't perfect, and we've all ideas that a number of you early adopters out there share similar sentiments. So without further ado, why not give the world a piece of your mind on the matter? How would you meliorate the Eee PC? Make it more functional, more fashionable or just (even) more affordable? Chime on in below with your recommendations for the Eee PC Rev. B -- it's not like we don't already know it's coming.

[Dean Marano @ Nov 9th 2007 5:31PM]

BIGGGER SCREEN. some smartphones have the same/higher res. More disk space would be nice, and cheaper.

[westladog @ Nov 9th 2007 7:07PM]

Bullshit. I don't need a bigger screen. If I wanted a bigger screen, I would buy a "regular" laptop. This is for the on-the-go person who needs very simple things: WWW, Email, Word precessing, and may be vpn back to the office via the citrix client....

[John @ Nov 9th 2007 7:20PM]

Maybe an 8 inch screen would be good. I find it just a wee bit to small, but otherwise from what I have used it at from my friend, its seems pretty decent. If the cost were a little bit lower I would buy it right away.

[Spencer @ Nov 10th 2007 1:24AM]

Uh... what smart-phone has a higher resolution than 800x480?

[DannyMac @ Nov 13th 2007 11:23AM]

I second the bigger screen... or a more creative way to use the screen they have besides putting a black border around it.

[B.C. @ Dec 29th 2007 8:41PM]

SMALLER SCREEN, less memory, a CD-ROM, higher price tag and swap all the USB's for one parallel port.

[Nate @ Jan 4th 2008 5:48PM]

LOL @ LPT PORTS!1!1!1! seriously wtf is there anything that actually uses those things? if you need it that bad, get a dongle.

[vdogg89 @ Nov 9th 2007 5:34PM]

Ya, the screen is window boxed. grr.

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Nov 9th 2007 5:36PM]

bogger screen, built in card reader, and the abilty to be tablet. I know that won't happen but it's still good the way it is right now.

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Nov 9th 2007 5:37PM]

sorry I mean bigger screen.

[george @ Nov 9th 2007 5:46PM]

I second the tablet notion, especially if they keep it at the same price.

[Sam @ Nov 9th 2007 6:56PM]

There is a built in SD slot

[Smith @ Nov 9th 2007 7:23PM]

Touch screen would be great!!!

[Kevin @ Nov 9th 2007 9:49PM]

multi-card reader (olympus, sony, CF)
ram change without voiding warranty.

[rzlmlchm009 @ Nov 9th 2007 5:38PM]

The name.

[MacroEQ @ Nov 9th 2007 5:38PM]

It doesn't need a bigger screen otherwise it would be a laptop. The Eee PC is filling the gap between smartphone and laptop. A larger SSD would be good.

[pfx @ Nov 9th 2007 6:10PM]

I think he meant a bigger screen in the same form factor. The screen how has a huge-ass bezel, and expanding the screen and resolution close to the size of the computer would be really nice.

[3rdsun @ Nov 9th 2007 7:10PM]

If it looked like the Asus R2H umpc for the same price that would make me drool. I dont like the mini laptop formfactor

[cmonkey @ Nov 9th 2007 5:40PM]

Just about anything (realistic) this thread will come up with will probably be addressed in the next version. Meaning, 10" LCD, and eventually a lower price for the 7" version. Other than that, Asus has just about perfected this new genre of ultra-cheap ultra-portable laptops.

[jaretwpg @ Nov 9th 2007 5:50PM]

I can tell you what I'm GOING to change about the EEE! I'm planning on splicing a usb port inside the case and running it back into the mini pci-e port to a 16gb cf card (two if they'll fit) That is, unless someone has a prettier way to add more onboard storage?

[cmonkey @ Nov 9th 2007 5:54PM]

8gb SDHC cards are pretty cheap, and 16gb ones are at least less expensive than 16gb CF cards.

[SFO Kevin @ Nov 9th 2007 6:17PM]

Why don't you just pop a 16gb SD card into the provided slot?

[Emmett @ Nov 9th 2007 5:41PM]

Yeah, I have to agree. Bigger screen (even just fill out to the rest of the frame that it already has. Some of that tablet action (which XO seemed ready enough to put in), including the two button pads on either side (would be great to make this a convenient, if somewhat large, portable game player).

[jaretwpg @ Nov 10th 2007 8:03PM]

Oh, I'll be using that slot too, not to mention a 2.5" usb drive. I think I'm going to wait until until I see people running xp on their EEE. Has anyone seen video of xp in action on the EEE?

[Kris @ Nov 9th 2007 5:42PM]

larger screen to fit a standard sized bezel (10").
8gb SSD
1GB RAM

$499

I'd buy it in 1 second.

[Brandson @ Nov 9th 2007 5:58PM]

All of that plus either an HDMI or DisplayPort video output and I'd get one.

[codeo @ Nov 9th 2007 6:09PM]

Second that!

The only other thing that I've been thinking about would be a DVI or HDMI port with 1080i capabilities. I know that 1080i is a bit overkill for such a small box, but it would mean that you can hook up to any hidef TV/monitor/projector to make presentations. Think of how friends and family will come to dread the appearance of the "little white box" full of the latest travel snaps.

[Ollie @ Nov 12th 2007 6:54PM]

With those specs? Count me in!

[nebulus @ Nov 9th 2007 5:42PM]

full size screen and I'll put an order straight in...

[SFO Kevin @ Nov 9th 2007 5:43PM]

Easy SSD upgrade capability...

[SFO Kevin @ Nov 9th 2007 6:03PM]

Oh and make the advanced mode option available - but here is the instruction to do it easily yourself... and note that you can make it permanent in thesettings Personalization menu (select Login mode - Full desktop mode)...

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/11/06/eee-pc-tips-a-crash-course-in-linux/

[Michael La Framboise @ Nov 9th 2007 5:44PM]

Lets see... remove the ugly black border from around the screen

add a bigger screen while you're at it, make a bigger trackpad (w/o it being dented in - basically make it like that of a macbook)

thats it, I'm pretty much happy...

oh yeah! and remove all the damn stickers from the back! - jeeze, the hell is wrong w/ pc manufacturers, why must they put the damn stickers on everything... :/

[James @ Nov 9th 2007 5:53PM]

Each sticker adds 5 MHz.

[LimboMan @ Nov 9th 2007 6:48PM]

It's comparable to the automotive world, were adding "-R" "-S" or "Type-this-or-that", "Special Edition", "A-Spec" etc. enhances performance...

[robert @ Nov 10th 2007 10:05PM]

LimboMan is an obvious Honda fan

[aether @ Nov 9th 2007 5:46PM]

If that entire black area were the screen, I would buy one immediately.

[ChipHead @ Nov 9th 2007 5:46PM]

Longer battery life (or add an external battery pack option). Widescreen version. More Flash storage. Fix the drivers.

I heard that Rev. B will ship sometime in 1H08 with a ~10 inch screen and a newer Intel processor with even lower power.

I had the opportunity to try a demo unit at local computer store that rep ASUS and I have to agree that it's pretty nice unit for $400. It would be great for reporters/writers.

[Homeboy @ Nov 9th 2007 5:51PM]

Just sell it at the price you promised us Asus. That's all I ask for, nothing more.

[tiuk @ Nov 9th 2007 6:28PM]

Amen.

[fuzzy @ Nov 9th 2007 5:51PM]

-Bigger screen (supposedly coming next year)
-TWO MOUSE BUTTONS
-More ram (easily upgradable yourself)
-More SSD space (although 4GB + SD storage is fine for me really)
-Firewire port (for giggles)
-More USB ports
-Bigger battery pack (can be sold as an add-on)
-LED backlighting
-Bit faster CPU?

I mean, I love it already. I'm waiting for the black ones to drop and I'll probably pick it up.

[Synthaxx @ Nov 9th 2007 6:13PM]

It has 2 buttons, the main button swivels to each side making it 2.

But like everyone said, bigger screen with higher resolution.

[jus10 @ Nov 9th 2007 8:58PM]

I like your answers, so I'm going to mod them. Although I like the eee I already have :).

-Bigger screen (supposedly coming next year)
- It already has two mouse buttons.
-It's already upgradeable to 2 Gig of Ram.
-8 Gig of SSD space is good enough for me (although 4 is still plenty at the moment)
-E-sata Port (for giggles and a removable drive)
-I can deal with 3 USB ports
- I'm ok with the default battery
-LED backlighting
- Upgrade it to Core 2 Duo for better battery life and faster speed
- REPLACE THE ANTIQUE OF A VGA PORT WITH A MINI-DVI OR HDMI PORT (PREFERABLY THE LATTER).

Of course if they do all of this, I'd have to buy yet another one.

[Richard @ Nov 9th 2007 10:40PM]

Why would you want HDMI on a machine with no DRM media player. People forget HDMI is just DVI with a DRM cripple layer on top.

[polobunny @ Nov 10th 2007 12:58PM]

Richard, because it would be great to have some sort of standardization in the audio/video market for once. Everything points to HDMI, why put a mini-DVI on that? Even if you can't use the HDMI "extra" functions the rest suits it fine.

[reader101 @ Nov 9th 2007 5:53PM]

Screen
- I set an area on my screen to 800x480 and tried to use the applications only in that resolution for a while. It's not that bad as I thought.

CPU
- This is fast enough. I have an old 600Mhz P3 and I tried to use it for a while now that I'm more used to the dual core 3GHz that I'm using on a daily basis. It was not that bad. Browsing, documents editing, music and video was OK (not HD though). None of the applications installed on eee PC would have any problems running

Memory
- 512 sounds right. I have another laptop with the same amount of ram and no issues there.

Connection
- what it offers is great (maybe a TV out for the hotel)

SSD
- Hm. As long as you can add external USB sticks no big issue here too.

Battery life
- Ok, Considering the reduced time it runs maybe if you can buy a second one it would be a good patching.

Price
OK this is a doozy for me. Cut at least $100 from the price to get my business.

[andy @ Nov 9th 2007 5:54PM]

It's got to be cheapter with a bigger battery.


Walmart was selling a full vista laptop with 2hr battery for 350 last week. Think about that. You know walmart wasn't losing more than .01 on anything they sold. If you can build/buy a full laptop including the MS licenses for 350, then this thing SHOULD be 200 bucks.

[reader101 @ Nov 9th 2007 5:57PM]

I agree. My point exactly ;-)

[Blink @ Nov 9th 2007 6:09PM]

I wish we knew what newegg was getting them for. My guess is $350 or $375.

[aedanna @ Nov 9th 2007 6:17PM]

Walmart isn't loosing money, but the laptop manufacturer most likely is. For example Toshiba is clearly loosing money on the HD DVD it sold at Walmart last week for $99. The bill of materials for that HD DVD is more than $99. Toshiba picked up the bill and most likely the laptop you talk about, that manufacturer picked up that bill to either get into Walmart and/or unload some laptops discontinued laptops.

I agree they need to lower the price, but don't give Microsoft $50 per unit for a crap outdated OS.

[Baffled @ Nov 10th 2007 3:25PM]

But that laptop at walmart weighs much more than 2 pounds, certainly won't get up to 3.5 hours of battery life and can't easily be held in one hand. All of the miniaturized components aren't cheap.

The Eee isn't in the same class as the walmart computer. Direct comparisons don't apply.