The 20GB+ Eee PC mod

8GB of flash storage is currently the best you can hope for in a standard (though imported) Eee PC. However, if you're industrious and determined enough, you can marry your 4GB Eee with a $150 (or so) 16GB Corsair Flash Voyager drive for a full 20GB of storage. That's exactly what Johnx did over at eeeuser.com. He even integrated Bluetooth like we've seen before. Best of all though, the new NAND and Bluetooth radio are not soldered to the system. Rather, they are fitted to a pair of newly installed, internal USB ports slung off the miniPCIe connector. Thus, the system can be upgraded at any time. All hail Johnx... king of the Eees!

[Thanks, chainofcommand02]

[DakStaka @ Dec 4th 2007 8:01AM]

Top stuff... now whack a screen that fills the lid in one of these and I;ll get one

[Kurt MacD @ Dec 4th 2007 5:22PM]

Hey, I never knew that a 16gb flash drive makes 20gb by itself!

[RedBull Runner @ Dec 4th 2007 10:17PM]

Hey, Umm... kurt. Maybe you should go back to elementary school and learn math again.

16 + 4 = 20

[bob @ Dec 4th 2007 8:14AM]

Too bad some of the new Eee PC's are missing the miniPCIe connector.

[Blackster @ Dec 4th 2007 8:18AM]

i thought that's only missing in the lower end versions of the e3?

[ToniCipriani @ Dec 4th 2007 8:33AM]

I don't think it matters. You're just tapping into the connections in between , not the connector itself. I think some of the components could still be there. Also, there are two connectors, you can always still tap the USB signals from where the current wireless card is.

[Jason @ Dec 4th 2007 10:08AM]

So if I go and get one now I can NOT do this?

Seems this would only spur more demand. Asus would be hurting their shareholders if they stopped this from being possible.

[jus10 @ Dec 4th 2007 10:57AM]

No you can do this. The solder points are still there, just the (useless) mini-pci-e connector is not on top of it. Since you're soldering to the usb access points on the board, not having the connector there could make it easier.

[JHosche @ Dec 4th 2007 11:27AM]

Yeah having that mini-pcie connector proves to be a bit of a pain actually - its great if you're thinking the connector will make for upgrades later that are nice and easy but if you tap the power on the mini-pcie connector, bios no longer reads the default flash that's onboard. When I modded my eeePC in a similar fashion, I had to work around the slot to get things working right which just added more work to things.

[G Man @ Dec 4th 2007 8:17AM]

It is such a waste with, like what bob said, the mini pcie connectors missing on the newer sets. It would require extensive soldering and modding to get it to work.

Good job anyway, these are one of the neater mods I have seen so far!

And the black color looks good too.

[Gadgetman @ Dec 4th 2007 8:35AM]

Haha you watch someone will get this thing to 100 gigs....

[michelbites @ Dec 4th 2007 8:38AM]

I don't suppose you could show us the mod for this. There isn't a link to it anywhere...

[Blackster @ Dec 4th 2007 8:52AM]

there's that small and barely noticeable Read Link ;)

[VodeAndreas @ Dec 4th 2007 8:57AM]

Of course, no link anywhere, especially near that link, named Read, no not at all.

[Andrew @ Dec 4th 2007 12:38PM]

Actually he is right, it is VERY difficult to find just where the HELL is the actual article. When I first started reading engadget, it drove me crazy. It took me a while (detailed visual search of the page from the top to bottom and back, many times) to find where the actual article is. It is a very bad layout, the link should be much more prominent. Or perhaps it reflects the reality, most people comment on the blogger's post, not the actual linked article which they never read anyway.

[Cycomachead @ Dec 4th 2007 9:51AM]

Or you could ditch the BT module, saving battery life, and pop in another 16GB chip for 36GB and import with the 8GB SSD for 40GB.

Now the eeePC is looking pretty good. (If more expensive)

[Yem @ Dec 4th 2007 5:08PM]

I keep hearing about bluetooth ruining the battery life. You know you can turn it off, right? Just like the wifi?

I don't run around with bluetooth & 3G enabled on my cellphone either.

[fucter @ Dec 4th 2007 10:04AM]

original article http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=3982

[Bombaclaat @ Dec 4th 2007 11:28AM]

now this is what its all about. :) sweet!

[tnkgrl @ Dec 4th 2007 1:36PM]

I'm glad my legwork paid off :)

[JHosche @ Dec 4th 2007 1:40PM]

yeah - props to you and Tristand for all that early work on the eeePC.

[crispy @ Dec 5th 2007 11:23AM]

The Asus eee pc 4gb model = $350 on newegg.com
16gb flash memory = $150 in article.

That's $500. For that money I can get a full blown laptop out of Best Buy or Circuit City. It will have more capability and bigger display. That leaves size as the Asus's only advantage after this mod. Hmmm.

[chou @ Dec 6th 2007 1:54AM]

Holy cow. Why doesn't Asus sell it this way?

[Justin42 @ Jan 21st 2008 12:20PM]

cost.

[proskater @ Feb 9th 2008 10:55AM]

Does somebody know if you could remove the prozessor on the asus eee?

If you could you could easily build another prozessor in!