An Eeepc arrives
Posted on August 14, 2008
Filed Under All, Open Source, Photos, Technology |
Ok, so I’ll own up to the fact that I’ve always wanted a Linux laptop. I think Linux desktops are cool, and, as Linux matured, I thought it might even be relatively easy to use on the road. At one point, while in the employ of a software maker, I set up a Linux partition on a Thinkpad for a preso at LinuxWorld Canada, but that was as close as I came. I’ve also nearly always had a personal Mac laptop of one type or another over the years.
So I resisted the first wave of ‘cloudbooks’ - tiny, inexpensive, Linux-based laptops from ASUS and others - that are meant to be ultraportable web and email terminals. True, these computers are perfect for me, with all my stuff on Google Docs, Picasa and Gmail, but I resisted. The first wave had such tiny solid-state ‘hard drives’ and not so-great battery life.
Along comes the ASUS 901 series with 20 GB of ‘disk,’ a fast and energy-efficient Intel Atom processor and 6-cell Lithium Ion batteries said to be good for 6 hours. The machine has been well reviewed, and it’s cheaper, to boot. So I placed an Amazon pre-order before the machines were shipping: Tuesday it arrived in the hands of our local UPS driver (who happens to be a really nice guy).
I set the machine up and put it on my wife’s desk, hoping to get a reaction on this machine as our new traveling companion. She nixed it on screen size - she works during most of our travels, and the screen just seemed too small for editing multiple documents. She didn’t even comment on the tiny keyboard.
So it was up to me to decide if we were going to keep the 901 (I’d carefully saved the packaging). So yesterday I took the 2-lb. EeePC to Cafe Barrone after my gym workout. There, over a cafe latte, I outlined a book-length document that I had been trying to get to for a couple of weeks, sitting on their very pleasant patio.
The keyboard is indeed tiny - I don’t know where ASUS gets the idea that it’s ‘95% of full-sized:’ it’s more like 3/4-size, but it fits my mostly-one-handed typing style well enough, given its very nice portability. The 10-inch screen is small, but it’s sharp and bright.
So, this morning, I’m blogging wirelessly on the 901 from my desk (but I could be out on the patio - the secure wireless connection was no harder to set up than a Windows machine). The 901 has a built-in SD card reader and Picasa 2 pre-installed, which made it easy to load, adjust, crop and size a snap of the machine (above). Sweet! I think EeePC has found a home…
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4 Responses to “An Eeepc arrives”
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wonder if the sleep mode works
Sleep appears to be working… however, after a shutdown, 3 of 4 status LEDs are still on…
Cool! I’ve just ordered the same model.
So far, a very satisfactory machine…