User Experience - Media, Work, Other Devices
Media
Media on the Eee worked well, within constraints. Basic items like YouTube videos all work fine, as do mp3s. The onboard speakers do an adequate job and there's sufficient volume. A sample Xvid video experienced an audio sync drift problem several times; a brief seeking of the video corrected it. The video looks good in full-screen mode and is quite watchable (the key benchmark for us being that we actually start to enjoy watching the show, and forget about the device it's on).
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The Eee is "good enough" for music playback and the occasional video. However, it remains limited by the inability for the average user to install additional or missing codecs. If you know your way around Linux, it's possible to correct the codec problem, but the majority of video codecs work already.
Work
The Eee Linux package comes with Openoffice installed, which will handle a variety of tasks. You can create/edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Google Docs is also a direct link from the Internet tab, which performs the same tasks at a very basic level. This article was written in Google Docs (but was imported to Word for final cleanup). The dictionary is really only useful if away from an internet connection, and as with the 4G it's still in Chinese by default. The calculator has trigonometry functions and other features that might help a student get by in a pinch if they didn't have an alternative.
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Overall, there are a number of business applications that can be used on the Eee, but MS Office is not one of those without a Windows XP install. Even if you do install XP, on the 2G Surf model you're going to have severe storage constraints. If you're planning on running XP, you're best off spending more money for the 4G model.
Other Devices
As with the 4G, both a USB Flash Drive and an external hard drive connected without issue. Each displays a window upon connection, prompting the opening of the File Manager, Music Manager, or Photo Manager.
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Noise/Heat
When it comes to noise, the Eee is very quiet. Obviously all hard drive access noise is absent, given the flash storage. Once the system fan engages, it is audible but still low, and not irritating or "whiny". The unit does get warm, but is usable on a lap if you really want to keep it there (remember, it's small - pinching your knees together constantly is not that comfortable).
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New City Vegas - Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - link
7 embedded video reviews - ASUS EEE PC (one in German)length: 2 to 25 minutes
http://lasvalley.com/mixx/asus-eee-review-video.ht...">http://lasvalley.com/mixx/asus-eee-review-video.ht...
laok - Sunday, January 6, 2008 - link
As customers, we need a little competition in the market.laok - Sunday, January 6, 2008 - link
As customers, we need a little competition in the market.Schugy - Friday, January 4, 2008 - link
The Kohjinsha is more expensive but it has some nice features like LED backlight, scroll buttons next to the display and more. It would be even cheaper without the microsoft tax.Maybe you can make a real UMPC overview with Sony, Everex, OLPC and others including hardware support tests under Ubuntu, XP and VIsta.
LEKO - Friday, January 4, 2008 - link
The Asus eee is a very interesting beast. It is on my "wishlist".I think the concept is perfect for people who mainly use a Desktop and sometimes needs a laptop for casual out of the office meeting or couch surfing/mailing.
From your review, I would suggest a few things to Asus:
- Have a memory slot for possible upgrade
- Have 1024 pixels width LCD panel (to match most applications/web sites).
- Have an SD card reader (To compensate for the SSD small size)
- Have at lease 2 USB port (Plug a mouse, MP3 player, external HDD)
For the rest, the concept is great!
mmntech - Friday, January 4, 2008 - link
There are plans for Asus to put a 1024x600 screen in th Eee PC. That will solve issues with programs that require an 800x600 res, especially under XP.http://www.dailytech.com/ASUS+Prepares+Next+Genera...">http://www.dailytech.com/ASUS+Prepares+...+WiMAX+L...
Just like a car, it's usually a good idea not to buy the first model year. Gives them time to iron out the kinks. Eee PC 2.0 looks promising, especially with WiMAX support built in.
My big wishlist for this system is still HDD space and battery life. I'm curious is 2.6h is the average or maximum. If it's the max, it's too short compared to some larger models. The MacBook for example gets about 4-5hr and I'm sure PC laptops with similar hardware are the same.
DanaGoyette - Saturday, January 5, 2008 - link
1024x600 sounds like a really odd aspect ratio.1024x640 would be better -- it's a true 16:10 ratio.
Oh, and I still wonder why the heck ASUS decided to use a runs-at-full-speed-all-the-time (and thus power-wasting) Celeron instead of something like even an old Pentium M.
betaluva - Friday, January 4, 2008 - link
for all your answers go to http://forum.eeeuser.com/">http://forum.eeeuser.com/ its a REALLY good eee siteLEKO - Friday, January 4, 2008 - link
Oups! Just noticed that the ASUS eee already supports external memory cards (like SD).elpresidente2075 - Friday, January 4, 2008 - link
With the exception of the panel, all of your concerns are taken care of with the non-surf models. There are rumors of a new model in the march/april time frame, so time will tell if that gets addressed.