EEE pc, worth it?

[Jer-oh-me]

I'm currently earning the right to build myself a primary computer through this local non-profit organization with this express purpose. However I also want a go anywhere laptop and have given serious thought to getting an EEE, but I'm not entirely decided. The one I'm considering is the little tiny 8.9 inch. It has 4gb hdd and Intel Atom processor. Local place wants US$299 + US$60 (extended warranty) One they had ran great figure couple SD cards to supplement the hdd. What do you think? Also please move if I've got the wrong board.

[Tapewolf]

I'm currently earning the right to build myself a primary computer through this local non-profit organization with this express purpose. However I also want a go anywhere laptop and have given serious thought to getting an EEE, but I'm not entirely decided. The one I'm considering is the little tiny 8.9 inch. It has 4gb hdd and Intel Atom processor. Local place wants US$299 + US$60 (extended warranty) One they had ran great figure couple SD cards to supplement the hdd. What do you think? Also please move if I've got the wrong board.

The EEE is a good 'disposable' Linux laptop for travelling where it's not a major disaster if it is destroyed.  It is not a desktop replacement.  Do not think of buying it to play games unless you mean Minesweeper or something of that order.  I did install Morrowind on it once - of this I will not speak.

The keyboard takes some getting used to - the placement of the arrow keys will probably have you pressing 'up' instead of SHIFT for some time.  Also, do not rest your hands on the front of the machine as it will cause the mouse pointer to jump to some strange location and screw over what you're typing.

The default Xandros distribution boots astonishingly fast, something on the order of 6 seconds to being fully operational.  However the kiddie-time menu system does get in the way a lot.  Sadly I can't get Ubuntu to boot in anything like the same amount of time, so I'm still searching for the perfect OS to put on it.

If possible, try to get the SSD version instead of one with a hard disk - the essential beauty of the 701 is that it has no moving parts except for the fan.

You'll probably want to get an extended battery as well.

[Jer-oh-me]

The big machine I'm building through 'Free Geek' will be my primary. Tried Xubuntu on it?

[Tapewolf]

The big machine I'm building through 'Free Geek' will be my primary. Tried Xubuntu on it?

Yes.  It was a little intermittent with the wireless - didn't seem to like talking WPA2 very much.  I am thinking of going back to it, though.

[RobbieThe1st]

With a $300 price tag on that EEEpc, I would look into a better alternative - An older, though more powerful fullsize laptop. Personally, I have an IBM T41, which served as my main computer for three years, and is now my secondary and school computer. It runs XP well enough, or you could go with the Linux distro of your choice(obviously). Gaming wise, I have had no trouble what so ever with most things - SimCity 4 runs properly on it, as does Halo: Combat Evolved. It also runs DOSbox & System Shock better than my main computer(pentium M > pentium 4).

Battery life is OK - I can get about one hour of good use out of it(everything on high), and perhaps four if you close the lid(defragmenting or something).

My specs:
CPU: 1.6GHZ
Memory: 768MB
HD: 40GB
Screen: 1024X768

Cost wise, Here is one about like I have for 185+18 S&H, and Here is another for 189+20 S&H. All prices in USD.
Price can vary from about $200 to $320 depending on options and where you get it.
Ebay list: HERE

Hope that helps!


-RobbieThe1st



*edit* alkjgaer long URL fixed - Dam

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I must admit, 300 USD seems excessively high.

You can get a 512/4Gb SSD version over here for 220 GBP, which is about the same, but I suspect they've had that stock for a while and the price could be better somewhere else. Ebuyer seems to have the 20Gb SSD/1Gb/8.9 900-BK version for 209 GBP, including VAT... So I suspect your local market there is tearing you a new one....

[Jer-oh-me]

Well, the place I was looking at it was Best Buy if that tells you anything, really, I don't think $300 is too much, after all, I'm getting my more powerful home computer for free. I'm at the place where I'm gonna get it right now actually. This place is pretty darn cool. I even met a girl here. The EEE will most definitely be my secondary machine and will not be used to do power consuming tasks. Though I might use it for coding on the go, I really need to learn some more languages besides C++, I've already got books for C# and Perl. Also, it'll be my on the go surfing machine, I don't really need that much harddisk space, as I'd just get some removable memory anyway. Also, I'm a tad leery of buying a used computer online, I've no problem building one with used parts, as I'll being doing with my primary, but then I'll know that they work for sure. here is the website for the place I'm referring to.