Comments on: Unboxing the Asus Eee PC and First Impressions

By: rick

rick — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 22:24:47 +0000

Ba-Na-Na, try here: http://forum.eeeuser.com/ for info. i tried installing abiword and songbird with no luck, although i’ve read some people have successfully gotten abiword to install and work. installing software (other than what’s already on there) on the default eee Xandros has mixed results at the best of times. if that’s your goal, i.e. adding more software, you might want to invest some time in checking out putting Ubuntu on the eee. Look up ubuntu on the same forum.

there’s a project afoot to install osx (hackintosh) on the eee; someone out there is making a little project of it and is almost there. personally i doubt i’ll try, but it’s intesesting.

http://uneasysilence.com/archive/2007/11/12654/

By: rick

rick — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 22:11:29 +0000

There’s a bluetooth usb adaptor out there not much larger than the usb plug itself (nearly flush once plugged in) for about $24US, which is perfectly suited for the eee. This will be useful for mouse, headphones, and earjack/mike for skype, and doesn’t require modding the eee.

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/21/tiny_bluetooth_adaptor/

I’ve also seen an LG usb powered dvd burner not much bigger than a cd/dvd case for about $110US which will go well with the galaxy black eee.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136136

By: Ba-Na-Na

Ba-Na-Na — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 01:13:51 +0000

I have the same computer, and I
was wondering how the hell do you
download programs on it? I’ve
read so many manuals and instruc-
tions on the web, and I don’t get
it, how to compile programs in the
“tar.gz” format or anything.
Is there a step-by-step instruction
things for how to download?

Thankss

By: HaXiT

HaXiT — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 02:43:19 +0000

I think I might purchase this.
This article just confirmed my thoughts on it
Thanks again Wayne,
HaXiT

By: Matthew

Matthew — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:28:56 +0000

I bought a 2GB Eee PC Surf a couple of weeks ago and I love it to bits! It’s an incredible machine. I got it for £230 from Jarrolds (an independent department store in Norwich, England). It does lack the webcam and bigger memory, as well as not having quite so many apps installed, but I got a free 4GB SD card with it so and I wasn’t bothered about a webcam so I’m happy with it as it is.
The only other issue about the Surf is that it uses a different software repository to that used by the 4GB model, and this doesn’t have ksmserver or kicker available to install,so to get advanced mode working you have to edit your /etc/apt/sources.list (for anyone who’s got one and wants to use advanced mode, just change every reference to 700 to 701 then save and exit, then sudo apt-get update and sudo apt-get install ksmserver kicker, then go back and change the repositories back).

I’m currently happy with the default OS, but I may change it at some time in the future – I know someone who runs Kubuntu on his fine, I was thinking maybe EeeXubuntu or gOS for mine, or possibly OpenGEU.

It’s just the most amazingly useful machine – I can take it virtually anywhere with me, use it in cafes, bars or the park. And battery life is pretty good – I’ve gotten a couple of hours out of it with wireless on.

By: Kevin R

Kevin R — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:32:27 +0000

Informative as usual Wayne. Can’t wait to see what you’re cooking up with it!

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:33:03 +0000

can't wait to get the new EeePC with 9" Screen

By: Irregular Shed

Irregular Shed — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:08:42 +0000

Yep, it’s a 4G. I managed to find one for sale in a shop – Toys R Us, of all places! It’s been taken everywhere over the past six weeks.

The battery life is very dependent on your activities. Turning off the wireless when you don’t need it is a good idea, and I had the screen brightness and volume very low because I was working on it into the evening. OOo is also far less taxing than compiling software =)

My hardware annoyances are the trackpad and the right Shift key. The sensitivity on the trackpad is impossible to get just right and the big silver button should be delimited to a proper left and right side (something Asus have improved on the 900 series). And having the ‘up’ cursor in between Shift and the main body of the keyboard can catch you out mid-flow. The rest of the hardware is perfect as far as I’m concerned.

I can make do with the Xandros OS offering for now but, should the fastinit feature make its way into eeeXubuntu (or something similar – maybe Ubuntu Mobile) I’ll be taking some time out to swap to a derivative of my distro of choice.

And my first tip to anyone getting one is to bookmark eeeuser.com – the forums and wiki are truly splendid, and the enthusiasm of some of the users is catching!

By: Wayne

Wayne — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:19:35 +0000

Irregular Shed: Do you have the 4G? That’s pretty darn spectacular battery life. I’m happy to hear that you didn’t have a problem learning the keyboard.

By: Irregular Shed

Irregular Shed — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:28:57 +0000

You get used to the keyboard incredibly quickly – I find it easier to type on that my fullsize Toshiba’s keyboard now. (I’m a programmer and can touch-type, so I need a keyboard I’m happy with – and I’m happy with it.)

On a train from Birmingham to Cardiff last week (in the UK – not Alabama to California) I was on it for two hours straight, typing up a report in OOo. No problem. The battery was fully charged when I left, and was reporting 45% charge just before I powered down. (I’d turned off the wi-fi because the train I was on didn’t have any internet access.)

In short – the Eee is pretty near perfect for an ultra-portable.