199$ Asus Solid State Notebook

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cloneman
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199$ Asus Solid State Notebook

Post by cloneman » Tue Jun 12, 2007 7:49 pm

http://www.tgdaily.com/index.php?option ... rrentPic=7


The future looks good boys and girls

Aris
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Post by Aris » Tue Jun 12, 2007 8:49 pm

looked it up.

10" widescreen lcd panel

will most likely only ship with linux installed only, with winxp drivers. although they did say it will run winxp also. I doubt it will be vista compliant.

the SSD drive is around 32GB. So enough for web browsing, email, and some MP3's, but thats about it. Mabey some older games like starcraft.

"Asus also reiterated that seemingly too good to be true $200 starting price, adding that a version for "English speaking countries" could be available "as early as August this year.""

Sounds great for people that just want to stay mobil and stay connected that dont need huge hard drive space, or great video performance. I may pick one up actually. Specially for only $200, you really cant go wrong. Not to mention it'll most likely be dead silent, and very rugged.

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:54 pm

Specially for only $200, you really cant go wrong
The 10" LCD version is $299, but still a great bit of kit at that price. (link)

Moogles
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Post by Moogles » Fri Jul 06, 2007 9:38 pm

http://www.tgdaily.com/picturegalleries ... g_2228.jpg

Wish they'd squeeze some more pixels into that frame. Too wide a bezel imo.

michaelb
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Post by michaelb » Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:30 am

I agree would be nice to have a smaller bezel.

Also, 32gb ssd would be too good to be true. Looks like 4 to 8 or 16gb.

Still, looks very promising, as second home computer and/or for travel.

http://www.hothardware.com/printarticle ... icleid=981
(including pics)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASUS_Eee_PC

dougz
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Post by dougz » Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:42 am

Still, looks very promising, as second home computer and/or for travel.

Absolutely. Add a few appropriate remote-login apps, as appropriate for the systems you need to maintain remotely.

Nicely balanced machine: 900 MHz Pentium M, 512 MB, 4/8/16 GB, Intel 910, 10/100 Ethernet, 56 K modem, 802.11, USB 2.0 and SD slot. Linux runs well on this class of hardware. Claimed 3 hour battery life. Comes from a trustworthy vendor.

Cons -- 800x480 on 7" (but has VGA) and Xandros. Also camera, if you need to go places that forbid cameras.

Still, an impressive performer for the price and weight (890 grams or 2 lbs.)

Another good article -- http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3829

dougz
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Asus low-end laptops to run Xandros

Post by dougz » Fri Jul 20, 2007 7:33 am

...Of course, Eee users will have to get used to seeing the interface and their applications on a 7-inch display. This 800 by 480 pixel display won't be overly snappy either, as its GPU uses UMA (unified memory architecture). This means that the graphics borrow memory from the computer's 512MB of DDR2 (double data rate 2) -400 RAM.

While this may not sound like enough RAM to run Xandros, this Linux operating system is well-known for its ability to run with a bare minimum of RAM. In a DesktopLinux.com review in 2006, we were able to run the latest version, Xandros Desktop 4.0, on a far less powerful system: a 6-year-old Compaq Deskpro EN Desktop with a 500MHz Pentium III processor, 128MB of RAM and a 10GB hard drive....

http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS4576754329.html
http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS2501946250.html

paha_paawo
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Post by paha_paawo » Wed Jul 25, 2007 2:27 am

The 10" inch sreen will propably fill the bezel in normal laptop style.

thejamppa
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Post by thejamppa » Wed Jul 25, 2007 6:35 am

would be perfect on for student computer. I can't wait to see retailer prience in Finland when it comes.

IdontexistM8
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Post by IdontexistM8 » Fri Jul 27, 2007 12:21 pm

Hope it makes the UK (even with a likely inflated price).

dougz
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xandros (linux) emplyee posting about system

Post by dougz » Thu Aug 09, 2007 12:15 pm

New tidbits on the EeePC 701
August 8th, 2007

There’s an interesting discussion going on over at the EeeHackers forum. Member matty claims to work for Xandros, the company behind the Eee’s Linux distribution of choice, and has provided some little tidbits of information about the Eee PC’s they have on hand, ie:

* The single mouse hardware button below the touchpad is actually two mouse buttons
* Screen is able to be read outside
* Can use SDHC cards

Check out the rest of the discussion....
http://www.eeeuser.com/2007/08/08/new-t ... eeepc-701/
http://www.eeehackers.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=16

dougz
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Review of Asus EeePC

Post by dougz » Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:01 pm

Quick review of an engineering sample of the 900mhz, 512MB, 4GB model. Not very detailed, but its the first I've seen.
The device CPU is an Intel Celeron M @900Mhz. There is a cooling fan that activates after a while. When the desktop is idle or under low load ( ie. while browsing ), the fan is rather quiet and only noticeable in a quiet working environment. It does not seem to get much louder when the CPU is under load...
http://unicap-imaging.org/unicap_eeepc.htm

frostedflakes
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Post by frostedflakes » Mon Sep 24, 2007 12:11 am

So who is planning to pick one of these up? Release date is creeping up, last I heard early- or mid-October, although it has already been pushed back a few times, so no guarantees I guess that it won't again. But I definitely plan to purchase the cheapest 7" model as soon as they come out, assuming they can be found at a reasonable price (if supplies are limited and people start price-gouging I'll hold off).

Should be perfect on campus, hanging around in the house away from the desktop, stuff like that. I currently have a Nokia 770 internet tablet which is nice, but the screen is pretty small considering it's res and the on screen keyboard is more frustrating than I thought it'd be. This should be a nice upgrade.

EDIT: Russian EEE PC review w/pics of the unit dissected. Can anybody make sense of the cooling scheme? Looks like CPU/NB/SB is covered by a thin piece of metal and the cooling fan is on the *underside* of the motherboard? So there is no direct airflow on the heatsink, the fan simply creates airflow through the chassis? Seems pretty ineffective, but based on what I've read the EEE PC is supposed to be pretty cool and quiet. I guess maybe with the ULV parts they can get away with this.

IdontexistM8
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Post by IdontexistM8 » Mon Sep 24, 2007 8:02 am

I'm liking it. Might even import one if it's not coming to europe immediately.

qviri
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Post by qviri » Mon Sep 24, 2007 8:53 am

I'm kind of considering it, but like you said, the release date keeps on going back and the MSRP keeps on going up. Plus, I have a 12" laptop right now, which is almost exactly the size of my notebooks, so the only difference in my backpack would be 1.5 pounds of weight. At $200 (Canadian) I'll be tempted... at $300 less so.

cloneman
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Post by cloneman » Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:12 am

qviri wrote:I'm kind of considering it, but like you said, the release date keeps on going back and the MSRP keeps on going up. Plus, I have a 12" laptop right now, which is almost exactly the size of my notebooks, so the only difference in my backpack would be 1.5 pounds of weight. At $200 (Canadian) I'll be tempted... at $300 less so.
I would also be tempted @ 199.65USD :twisted:

Although I strongly doubt NCIX's price will be lower than newegg's.

frostedflakes
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Post by frostedflakes » Mon Oct 01, 2007 6:33 pm

Went ahead and preordered the $260 model at allasus.com. It would seem that the only difference between this and the $300 model is a webcam and travel sleeve, definitely not worth $40 for me.

Will let you guys know how noisy it is when it shows up. With any luck it should ship this month.

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Tue Oct 16, 2007 7:31 am


ist.martin
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Lightweight XP?

Post by ist.martin » Tue Oct 16, 2007 12:19 pm

I was looking around at lightweight XP installs, and it seems that 600 MB is manageable. I've been getting away with a flashed-based 2GB '98 system for quite some time (400 MB to the OS).

This kind of thing might be surprisingly functional to a lot of people! Enough space for the OS, office apps (I use Google Docs anyways), browser, email, media players, audio support.

But their pricing is nuts, jumpin 60% fro a 2 GB memory jump and a web cam???? I want the 4 MB barebones for $199!

IdontexistM8
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Post by IdontexistM8 » Thu Oct 25, 2007 2:13 pm

I'm beginning to think it's worth giving the first wave a miss..price(s) have gone up..we all know SSD wll be bigger, better and cheaper soon.

This time next year might be a better purchasing bet if you are happy to wait.

autoboy
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Post by autoboy » Thu Oct 25, 2007 7:02 pm

Checked the space on my current laptop running XP that I use for work. 16.5GB without any space hogging games and a fairly clean OS. I might be limited with even the 16GB version. I'm sure there is some stuff I can clean out but I'm thinking a 32GB version would work bettor for me. Still, as a second laptop for around the house this could be awesome. Perhaps even could be used as juke box around my house that streams the internet radio and music around the house. You could practically have one in every room that needs audio. Wonder if it has an HD audio chipset or just AC97

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Fri Oct 26, 2007 1:05 am

Wonder if it has an HD audio chipset or just AC97?
link
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
on a side note, the Eee PC has a very cool voice activation feature, which is demonstrated in several (p)reviews; really, its feature set puts many considerably more expensive laptops to shame.

autoboy
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Post by autoboy » Fri Oct 26, 2007 3:01 pm

Hey, cool, HD audio. And it also can take up to 1GB of memory. I wonder if it could handle a 2GB stick. I had forgotten about the SD memory slot. That could leave enough for my applications and files. I'm not going to work on that 7" screen, but the 10" model could be really nice.

qviri
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Post by qviri » Sat Oct 27, 2007 3:36 pm

I gave up on waiting for the $250 Eee (which would probably be $350 in Canada anyway) and bought a Nokia N800 internet tablet for $250 instead. Not really the same class of device, but it runs linux making for essentially the same functionality and I can't imagine the on-screen keyboard being that much worse than Asus's condensed laptop keyboard (I'm using a Thinkpad right now, so pretty much anything is a downgrade anyway). It has a longer battery life and can double up (with an even longer battery life) as a mp3 player.

I don't mean it to fully replace my 12" laptop, but it may replace my iPod (I bought a 2 GB SD card to store files). I'm hoping it will significantly replace casual use of my laptop (e-mail, IM, forums, facebook), perhaps to the point where I won't have to bring an AC adapter on campus each day, though of course not for writing papers or code. The integrated (video) skype may be kind of neat as there is wireless coverage all over my campus so it would essentially duplicate cell phone functionality. And of course, you can't really beat being able to slide a computer into your pocket.

cloneman
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Post by cloneman » Sat Nov 17, 2007 10:48 pm

Hey,

I got the EEE, and I'll be returning it in a few days, since I simply can't justify 450$ Canadian for a device that is basically useless for long-winded computer tasks. There's no way I'm going to write essays on this thing. It's a great little device given that it runs a full OS and all, but it's no longer worth it at this price point for me.

Now for the quietness:

o.k. so Asus played the paranoid mnfr game and threw in a fan on a 5W TDP CPU. I used CPUburn for 10 minutes and blocked off all vents and the temp never reached 60 degrees (the cpu is rated up to 100 degrees). Clearly the fan is not needed. If would keep this I would void my warranty and disconnect the fan.

My fan is pretty loud, worse than many full-size laptops. Bad noise character too, buzzy. I'm told by others that this may be an abnormality of my particular sample, since others swear it's silent :roll: .

The good news is the laptop is totally inaudible when the fan is off. If I press my ear against the thing I can hear some faint electrical noise, but I don't hear it from beyond 3 inches away (!). I have to turn my ear to the laptop and place it VERY close to the kb to hear.

The bad news is when the fan comes on, it stays on. This thing really isn't needed. This CPU is so low heat there's no heatpipes in there....

So in summary, this laptop is great start to low cost ultraportable, solid state computing but does not meet my needs. 7" is just too small to work with for more than a few minutes every day. A 10" system would be best. If you ned a quick internet access computer, you're probably better off with an IPhone or Ipod touch (though I have yet to use either of these).

Copper
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Post by Copper » Sun Nov 18, 2007 8:59 am

Thanks for the info. Do you happen to have a Kill-O-Watt meter to measure its power draw? Idle, screen on, then off, then with CPUBurn with the screen on or off.

I'm looking to setup a 24/7 ftp server. I don't require any CPU power or a big screen. Just some basic human interface capabilities. A very low power unit would be ideal. If this thing would get below the 7 or 8 watts of a used Pentium M laptop @ idle the price range would be about the same, and it has an SSD too!

cloneman
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Post by cloneman » Sun Nov 18, 2007 2:39 pm

Copper wrote:Thanks for the info. Do you happen to have a Kill-O-Watt meter to measure its power draw? Idle, screen on, then off, then with CPUBurn with the screen on or off.

I'm looking to setup a 24/7 ftp server. I don't require any CPU power or a big screen. Just some basic human interface capabilities. A very low power unit would be ideal. If this thing would get below the 7 or 8 watts of a used Pentium M laptop @ idle the price range would be about the same, and it has an SSD too!
Darn, I just sold it. It's rated at 22W input though... and the AC adapter rarely gets warm... If we assume that there's at least 20% headoroom that leaves us with 17.6W.... the CPU is downclocked at stock with some bioses at 630MHz so that's gotta bring it down some more... then there's the LCD probably at around 5W.... I wouldn't be surprised if it does hit 8-9W idle. (although perhaps the AC power draw might be a little more.

Guestimation only....

badaow
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Post by badaow » Thu Jan 03, 2008 11:35 pm

Got an EEE PC a couple days ago without reading up too much beforehand -- I wanted a small, cheap bedside laptop as a quick net access point (web, net radio) and to slip into my shoulder bag for trips. This fits the bill nicely.

For a bedside computer though, the fan is pretty annoying. I figured anything would be better than my Mobile Athlon 64, but in that machine at least the fan is only on for a half a minute at a time. In the EEE the fan is on constantly (after using for 25 min), and the RPM fluctuates up and down so it's hard to tune out.

After reading these forums I may try disconnecting the fan wires. A little nervous to, though, as the machine is pretty toasty to the touch. On the other hand, there hardly seems to be any air exiting the fan vent. Will report back with results if I do.

late2bed
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Post by late2bed » Sat Jan 26, 2008 12:05 am

badaow wrote:After reading these forums I may try disconnecting the fan wires. A little nervous to, though, as the machine is pretty toasty to the touch. On the other hand, there hardly seems to be any air exiting the fan vent. Will report back with results if I do.
did you ever get around to disconnecting the fan?

badaow
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Post by badaow » Sun Jan 27, 2008 9:20 am

After some further reading, instead of disconnecting the fan wires, I used the method of slipping some folded paper into the vents to stop the fan. The machine is completely silent now, as expected. It feels a tiny bit warmer to the touch, but it's difficult to tell. No other ill affects observed.

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