ASUS' 7-inch Eee PC now available at Best Buy in XP flavor
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted April 6th 2008 8:07PM
posted April 6th 2008 8:07PM
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
posted April 6th 2008 8:07PM
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This is smaller than all the Vaios and ThinkPads of this world at a fraction of the price! I don't yet have one because I need the 9 inch model for my eyesight. Imagine using it for emulators tho - Oh My GOD!!! Megaqdrive/Genesis everywhere!
ecost.com has an SDHC card for 19.00.....froogle and sort
@ Ninjakamster
Tell your bro to buy a ipod nano with a tenth of the footprint of that laptop and pencil and paper for the notes in those lectures becuse you arent going to be typing any thing on that keyboard with any type of speed.
Maybe you can't type on the EEE's keyboard, but we have no problem. Granted, it takes a bit of practice and its not quite as fast as my Vaio TZ, but quite acceptable.
And we hate Apple, my bro has a Zune. : D
Okay. I can't put it off any longer:
How do you pronounce "Eee PC?"
...eeeeeeeee peecee? ...is that pronunciation in any way distinct from "E.P.C.?"
Asus. Listen. There are more letters in the alphabet. I wish you'd use them. It'd make talking about your products much e(ee)asier for me...
Most people just say the letters e-p-c.
If you're having problems pronouncing Eee PC, you should be grateful that they didn't name the nine-incher the Fff PC.
Personally, I'm looking forward to the Mmm PC {drools}
Think about it, With Linux Installed : Internet, Firefox, OpenOffice installed and lot less security issue you would pay the same machine 299$ instead of 399$(Microsoft Tax)
Your right, but if I recall, the Linux 4gb models also retail at the same $399.99 price. : /
I'd like to see a RAM usage comparison between Windows XP and debian with WINE...
Best Buy is charging $399 no matter if it is Linux or XP.
So much for them being the Best Buy...
I have the 4G (most of it used up by the O.S) linux version. took it on a trip and it's great for uploading pics and sending mail instead of wandering around aimlessly at airports. the only disappointment is not waiting for the 9" :(
I did check and yes both E PC version are selling for the same price!!!
MS is giving away it's OS now? ;-)
Either that, or Xandros isn't one of the free Linux distros. I think at least some versions of Xandros come with pre installed media codecs, so they would have to pay to distribute them somewhere along the line.
Plus, as the most visible Enemy-of-Windows UMPC It wouldn't surprise me if they did give Asus a really sweet deal.
I think it's more likely that the XP version will come with lots of trial-ware. The money Asus will be getting from those vendors will probably be cancelling out what Microsoft will be charging them for the OS. And I'd bet they're getting a good deal for XP. So far, the Eee has been the most successful Linux PC ever.
I would like to buy an EEE but with all these rumors about the Atom and WiMax I'm not sure if I should hold out until that comes along. Any guesses when that will be?
Yeah, until it has a 27-inch widescreen monitor like my current laptop, I don't plan to get one.
Hmmmm. I have a Nokia N95 8GB that does everything I need when I travel. I can use my full sized portable bluetooth keyboard with it and can hook it up to a screen with TV out.
Also does word,skype,web,chat,video,photos,music, you name it.
And it fits in my pocket. Granted it is more expensive than an eepc, but it's also my mobile phone of course.
Oh, and a 5mp camera with video.
...and gps.
I don't like the N95s controls but thats just me I suppose, its screen seems a little dull and small compared to an Eee PC but that could have been the ones I saw were just set wrong
zorbacain:
I am trying to decide whether I should buy the Nokia N95 or Nokia N95 8G version. I was thinking it would be better to have the SD slot on the N95 version because I will not have a laptop on my trip & would be easier to load/unload data. I am leaving Tuesday for 5mo. trip around the world, and have been back and forth trying to decide btwn a UMPC and cheaper quad band phone- or just getting the Nokia N95. It has been suggested that I get the Euro version as well- b/c of faster data speeds.
Any suggestions you have would be appreciated. I have to order something ASAP.
Thanks.
Right about Xandros, there is a price to pay. Sweet deal from MS, probably, they really don't want Linux to invade the market this way, for me it's the greatest menace MS is facing for years!
I've tried XP and Linux on the Eee. XP greedily swallows 2GB of the 4GB hard drive. XP takes 25 seconds to start; Linux starts in half that time. XP is dreadfully slow with Office and security software loaded because of the 512MB memory. So XP needs 1GB; Linux flies in 512MB. And Linux doesn't need security software. Yep, Linux wins this toe-to-toe hands down!
Am I the only one that is highly offended that Best Buy didn't deign to sell these in the brick-and-mortar stores when they came out in November, and forced us to buy them on-line for the most part, and now that they're a hit, they are finally selling them?
BB was one of the very first authorized retailers announced by ASUS when the Eee was announced and before it was actually available, and we were all made to look like fools as we inquired repeatedly about it, all in futility, because they NEVER did sell it in their stores ... until now.
Frak BB -- I wouldn't by my Eee from them under any circumstances, if I didn't already have mine since November via Directron ;-).
I thought Microsoft was stopping sales of pre-installed XP on June 30th? I wonder what will happen after that.
I use Linux on my laptop and it does what I need it to do, just a little differently sometimes.
NO, Microsoft is feeling the Linux heat and they really don't like that.
MS decided to continue offering it on these Epc until 2010 or 2011.
Like I said before, it's the greatest "menace" to Windows monopoly in years.
Lots of users want an innexpensive laptop, small, powerfull ennougn to run standard apps, internet ready, Linux EPc is offering that at no additional cost, XP don't, customer will have to buy antivirus, firewall, office production suite (if they don't install OpenOffice) and so on + Xp is a Mammouthware on these machine.
Conclusion : Linux Epc win all the way.
I just went through to the BB link. They want $19.95 shipping for ground service if it isnt availbale in your local store!
I've had a 4g eeePC since November and I left it with the default OS (albeit in the more familiar XP-like KDE screen rather than the default ASUS one)with very few issues. Once one gets past the initial geekiness of Linux - mostly moot once you've installed the programs you need - the biggest 'issue' for me has been the number of ungradeable/removable 3rd Party programs locked in the OS partition, making overwriting impossible in default mode.
While undoubtedly the XP version won't have that problem, it will mean that all the programs that come as a part of the ASUS install (OpenOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, Skype, Adobe Reader et al) as well as those already in the OS would need to be added to the XP version to match the capabilities of the Linux version. The XP pre-install won't be nLited (as many manual installers have done)to reduce its size and will still need all the AV, firewall, spyware programs normal to a secure WinOS computer installed. Add to that the remaining 'Patch Tuesdays' and the upcoming SP3 and its hard to know where either the benefit of XP on the eeePC will be or how much room will be left on the SSD for user files.
My eeePC's 'My Documents' has over 1130 files in it, including some 500 photos and over 3 hours of music. I've added both GIMP and Google Earth (not exactly 'Lite' programs)and a number of other ones and still I have 14% of my user partition available to me. Will a similarly equipped XP eeePC user be able to say the same?
As others have said, I'm just waiting on the larger screen.
Looking forward to playing with it.
Well, I just ran down to Best Buy so that I could see one of these in the flesh. Not only did they not have any displayed, but when I questioned the sales person on the floor he scoffed " We're not getting that...and even if we did we would never display a unit that small!" I guess umpc's etc. are easier to steel.
He was down right rude when I told him about what I had read online. I think he was embarrassed that he didn't know anything about it. When I pressed him a bit further, he looked it up and admitted that the scheduled stock date was 4.14.08. But he said "even if we got it in the store we wouldn't have it on display, so you couldn't see it anyway!"
Fricken weird attitude, especially considering this guy actually looked like the manager. Incidently, this was the Best Buy at the Greendale Mall in Worcester, MA
Although my 8G with XP installed is great for the size .. I'd still rather have the 901 for it's larger screen. Certain web pages are a PITA to scroll horizontally. No way I'd buy it from BB either ... Costco or bust.
So, any clue as to why the cost for the Linux and XP versions are the same? Did Microsoft start givining XP away for free? Seems like even if MS is only charging $10-30 for a license that would show in the price.
Or is ASUS just trying to make those who like Linux pay a Linux Tax?
could anyone please tell me how i might recover my engadget p/w ?
please ignore that i just found out....
Well, I can't wait to pick one of these (or a similar laptop) up this summer, as my handwriting is so atrocious, and it's quite tedious, I might as well just pick up one of these and keep my notes organized, and neat.
Hooray for cheapo UMPCs!
Windows infests yet another computer platform...