Life on the EEEdge: Daily life with Asus' tiny laptop
Submitted by srlinuxx on Fri, 12/14/2007 - 03:40.
Like many gearheads, I've owned a lot of portable computers over the years -- and I've wanted to replace every last one with a smaller, sleeker upgrade, from the "luggable" Apple IIc onward. But most of those upgrades have left me disappointed: with the lack of software; with cheap, hard-to-use interfaces; and with "optional" add-ons that were in fact very much necessary to make the machine useful.
And then the Asus Eee came around, leaving a trail of effusive reviews and eager buyers. I started to feel the same old hope: Could the Eee be the Mini-Me of PCs that I've been searching for all these years?
After spending the past month with the Eee, the answer for me is still no. For sure, the Linux-based, 2-lb. Eee is an all-in-one wonder that I enjoy using as much or more than most of the notebooks I've owned in the past. It has exceeded my expectations in many areas. And who doesn't get a little thrill from carrying a full-fledged computer that's half the size of a hardback Jonathan Franzen novel and costs just $400 -- or the $350 I paid for mine on a recent trip to Taiwan?
But I believe in the 80/20 rule: 80% of your time on a computer is spent using 20% of its capabilities. As applied to the Eee, that means users will spend most of their time doing e-mail, working with short documents and surfing the Web. Pound for pound, dollar for dollar, the Eee may be the best computer I've ever used. But
The first Eee Pc is already a collectors' item ? On Intel ?
The personal review of Asus laptop shows the continuing adjustments of ASUS design. Taiwan laptop has more compromise at cheaper price, local market oriented.
The keys are not shaped to allow larger fingers to distinguish each other better. Convex is better than concave key top, is a necessity for small form factors in human engineering technology. Touchpad sensitivity is software related, and has to have adjustment that is retained in its config file or chipset has to have hardware lock on sensitivity.
The battery life is directly related to cpu power consumption, Asus used 66 mhz(speed step) instead 100 mhz FSB in the bios to lower the heat. Still it uses more power and battery life is down to 2 hours instead of 3.5 hours. Intel cpu production problem is to be blamed.
My advise is to buy from retail store in the US and get the best quality that ASUS ships. Used to buy cameras in HK and the quality is inferior than what is offered by Japanese factories exported to US.
Next year, the ASUS production will advance quite a bit. Intel cpu will be more quality conscious, LCD will be 8.4" and keytops will be convex, and more software streamlining will be expected(balance of operating system firmware and dynamic data in memory management).