I just purchased an Eee PC from Newegg.com and I’m pretty excited to see what a budget Linux laptop is capable of. I’d also really like to replace the screen with a touch screen, but since the computer is meant for my girlfriend I’m not sure she’ll exactly support that idea. Oh well.
Now I started writing this post on Monday but I didn’t finish it, and since I just got the computer today (Wednesday) this is going to be more of a review, as opposed to a “oh man, this is gonna be sweet” post.
Like I said, I just got the computer. Obvious first impression is “holy crap! It’s small!”, because frankly it is… Moving on to a more technical note, I clocked the boot time at 33.7 seconds, just over double the claimed 15 second boot time, still not bad. This is the 2G Surf model, so it has a slightly slower processor which might explain the slower boot time. When compared to the 31 second boot time of my Macbook Pro it truly is an impressive feat.
More random thoughts on the Eee PC after the jump
[ Software ]
The Linux OS that it runs on is very straight forward and pretty easy to get the hang of. Parts of the OS resemble Windows XP (I’m sure they did this on purpose to try and make it less alienating to those new to Linux), and it includes Skype, IM support, and Firefox built in, so you can rock the internet scene in no time.
It also includes OpenOffice 2.0, a few games, media player, basic drawing program, PDF Reader, Dictionary, calculator, and a screen capture utility that I’ll use later to add a few screen caps to this post.
[ Hardware ]
Specs on this model are:
- 800Mhz Intel processor
- 512MB RAM
- 2GB SSD drive
- 7″ screen
- Wireless with 802.11 a/b/g support
- 4 cell battery yields 2.8 hours of usage
- SD/MMC card reader, 3 USB 2.0 ports, VGA out, and Ethernet port
It’s available in several other configurations, including the higher end model which has a web cam built-in, more processing power, and more storage space.
Wireless connectivity is decent, though I did have a little trouble getting it working on my WPA secured network at first, but in all my other tests it connected fine.
Usability of the keyboard is surprisingly high, it does take some getting used to since it’s so small. The track pad also can be a little janky at times, but a quick adjustment of the sensitivity settings in the control panel takes care of that.
The MMC/SD reader is a nice touch, since it’s a cheap and easy way to expand your storage space. I picked up an 8GB SD card for $22.99.
Upgrade options on the 2G Surf are nonexistent, but the higher end models do support expansion.
[ Screen shots ]
Internet Tab/Home screen
Settings Tab
Wireless Networks
IM – Google Talk
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