Asus Eee PC Review Part 2: Budget Subnotebook Perfection

by Jerry Jackson

Asus announced the Eee PC series of budget ultraportable notebooks (subnotebooks) in 2007 and the Eee PC has quickly become one of the most popular notebooks on the market. Every laptop manufacturer from Acer to Everex is racing to bring their own version of the Eee PC to customers in 2008 ... but is that a great idea?

Last week the Internet was abuzz about an article on Gizmodo in which the author claimed the Eee PC wasn't worth the $399 price tag. Well, since I've owned and actively used an Asus Eee PC 4G for the last three months, I was recruited by the editorial staff to write a follow up to my original Eee PC review. Continue reading to understand why I'm still in love with this tiny titan.

I Don't Have To Compensate For Size

The first thing that everyone says when they see the Eee PC is, "It's so tiny!" While this might be a problem for some of my fellow insecure computer geeks, I'm proud that my Eee PC weighs only two pounds with the battery and measures just 8.75 inches. When I travel on flights to various press events I can set the Eee PC on the seatback tray table and still have plenty of room for my iPod, a wireless mouse, a beverage and a snack.

When I'm at home watching TV on the couch I keep the Eee PC handy so I can jump online and browse websites during commercials. The Eee PC is small enough that it doesn't get in the way but is large enough to be useful.

Most laptops are, well, laptops. The Eee PC can accurately be described as a "legtop" ... in that it rests on a single leg rather than spanning across your entire lap. I'll often keep my Eee PC on my knee (without holding it) while I'm sitting on the couch at home. Try resting a 15-inch notebook on one knee for 30 minutes without holding it in place.

I keep ebook PDF documents on my Eee PC and use the screen rotation feature to rotate the screen and hold the Eee PC like a book. This has the benefit of turning my Eee PC into an instant ebook reader ... about the same size as a small paperback book and much more useful than an Amazon Kindle.

The Price: "Almost" Disposable

The key to the Eee PC's overnight success has been the extremely compact form factor (smaller than a $2,000 Sony VAIO TZ) combined with an extremely low price ($399 for the 4G model and $299 for the 2G model).

As we've said previously on this site, the Eee PC 2G model probably isn't a particularly good investment since it only has 2GB of flash storage, less RAM, and a slower processor. However, the Eee PC 4G model continues to be a solid purchase with a faster processor and twice the RAM and storage space. Add an 8GB SDHC card to the built-in card reader and you've got plenty of storage for short-term computing needs.

The price range of $400 or less basically makes the Eee PC a "disposable" laptop for many consumers. Sure, I expect my Eee PC to last at least a solid 12 months or more, but if it gets damaged or lost on a business trip I'm not going to lose any sleep. Ask someone with a $2,000 ultraportable notebook how they'd feel if their notebook was damaged or lost.

Would you rather lose $399 or $1,799 when you travel? (view large image)

The Screen: All Things Great and Small

The first thing you have to expect when buying the Eee PC is that the 7-inch screen size is going to be small. In fact, as much as I love the Eee PC, the truth is that the 800 x 480 screen resolution is too small for long-term use. That said, the Eee PC is not designed for long-term use. The Eee PC is a subnotebook designed for short-term travel or quick computer needs at school or the office. In that capacity, the 7-inch screen is fine.

As I mentioned above, if you've ever used a standard 14-inch laptop on a commercial airline or while riding on a bus/train you'll quickly realize that the 7-inch screen can be a blessing in disguise when you're in cramped spaces.

Bottom line, if you plan to use the Eee PC for more than a few hours at a time you'll probably want to invest in an external monitor.

Here's a view of our homepage on the Eee PC. (view large image)

Easy, Easy, Easy ... Then Add XP

One of the first things that impressed me about the Eee PC was the customized Xandros Linux operating system. After years of dealing with Windows headaches in the office I was amazed at how trouble-free the Eee PC was straight out of the box. Simply press the power button, log onto your WiFi network, and start using your Eee PC. Using a computer doesn't get any easier than this.

I could give the Eee PC to anyone ... even my computer-illiterate wife or technophobic parents and they could use it without any difficulty. The point-and-click tabbed OS makes everything a breeze.

A view of the "Internet" tab under Linux. (view large image)

The Linux operating system on the Eee PC might not offer all the gorgeous eye candy seen in the latest offerings from Microsoft and Apple, but the interface is remarkably simple. In fact, as a long-time Mac OS user I have to admit the Eee PC's Linux is actually easier than using a Mac ... if you don't get too complicated.

The only problems I experienced with the Eee PC came in the form of more complicated "power user" needs and specific applications required for my work. I often need to use Bluetooth devices and Bluetooth connections just aren't easy to manage using the included Linux on the Eee PC. Likewise, tethering my smartphone to my Eee PC for use as a broadband wireless modem was also problematic under Linux. After about a month I decided to wipe the internal 4GB flash drive and install Microsoft Windows XP SP2.

Windows has the down side of taking up more space on the internal storage, but with an 8GB SDHC card inside the Eee PC's built-in card reader I have plenty of space for all my applications (even Photoshop CS2) and enough extra space for games and movies. I've also added a Mac OS X Leopard theme to Windows XP and the Stardock ObjectDock which makes using XP much more enjoyable.

A view of the Eee PC's Window's XP desktop ... after some modification. (view large image)

Battery Life: Good and Bad

Under normal use, backlight at 100 percent and using wireless for web browsing and watching a DivX movie at 75 percent volume, the Eee PC managed to deliver three hours and 23 minutes of battery life under Linux. While the battery life was reasonable, the on-screen battery meter has a few problems. After two hours and 8 minutes of browsing the web wirelessly and watching a DivX movie for part of that time the low battery warning popped up on screen and reported that the Eee PC would shut down in 3 minutes unless it was plugged into a power source. The Eee PC then kept working for another one hour and 15 minutes before the notebook shutdown. Bottom line, the on-screen battery indicator in Linux cannot be trusted.

Battery life under Windows XP doesn't fair much better. With minimal power management under Windows XP (running the processor at a full 900MHz speed, keeping the screen at full brightness, not letting the screen turn off, and keeping WiFi on while browsing the web) I'm able to get approximately 3 hours of battery life from my Eee PC 4G. That's not bad for a standard 4-cell battery. Unfortunately, the battery meter in Windows also indicates a low battery long before the battery is fully drained.

Asus has also announced a 6-cell extended life battery for the Eee PC and that battery should be available in stores during February or March of 2008. The 6-cell battery should provide considerably more runtime with a minor increase in weight.

Wireless: WiFi and Broadband

The Eee PC uses an Atheros AR5BXB63 wireless module for 802.11b/g wireless Internet access. Reception is quite good for a budget notebook. As I stated in my full review last year, the Eee PC maintained a connection to my home router from anywhere inside my three-level home and from anywhere in my front or back yard. At the editorial offices for NotebookReview.com the Eee PC managed to stay connected to the office router even after I left the building and walked across the parking lot. The wireless connection only dropped to 75 percent signal strength after I walked more than 50 yards away from the building. Being able to travel a distance equivalent to half the length of a football field means you won't have trouble browsing the web with the Eee PC.

Some users have reported that the Eee PC doesn't store the security keys for saved networks with Linux. I never experienced this problem ... unless it was user error. There are actually two different ways to connect to WiFi networks using the default Linux that comes installed on the Eee PC, and if you select the wrong method you'll be asked to re-enter your security key even if you've entered it previously. Although it might be a little annoying, that's not a problem with the Eee PC ... that's a problem with the user.

As I mentioned in the operating system section above, I installed Microsoft Windows XP on my Eee PC 4G in order to tether my smartphone to use as a broadband modem. Thanks to a Windows application called PDAnet, I can now connect my Eee PC to my phone and browse the web from anywhere ... as long as I can get cell phone reception.

Eee PC tethered to Motorola Q with PDAnet. (view large image)

The combination of excellent WiFi and broadband makes the Eee PC the perfect travel notebook for my personal needs. It's small, reasonably powerful, and stays connected to the web everywhere I go.

Conclusion

Back in October of 2007 we gave the Eee PC 4G the Editors Choice Award. Would we do the same today? Yes, without hesitation. The truth is you can get a much more powerful laptop for the same amount of money if you're willing do deal with a larger notebook. However, no other laptop on the market gives you this much computer in such a small package for such a low price ... at least for now.

As I said last year, the Eee PC can't replace a full-featured desktop or notebook, but it makes the perfect choice if you are in the market for an ultraportable notebook for school, work, or travel.

If you don't need jaw-dropping performance (and most people don't) and want a small, inexpensive notebook then the Asus Eee PC is almost perfect. Until other laptop manufacturers bring their own low-priced subnotebooks to the market later this year, the Eee PC is the only game in town. We're just amazed it took so long for a company to realize that consumers wanted an ultraportable notebook at an extremely low price.

 

The only complaint I can think of is the screen resolution (I'd like an 800x600 minimum)

Everything else about the system I admire, though I'd like to see the price go down. The lack of internal storage is a nonissue since I'd be happy to use an external card or USB drive. It'd be nice if there was enough space in internal memory to be able to set up a dual boot though since most people seem to want to put XP on this thing.

I'm still eager for the Cloudbook to come out though so we can see how it compares to the Eee.

 

Great argument.. The guys at gizmodo should really give up. They are only trying to get attention by saying something good, bad...
Where can i digg this?

Edit: As post below said, bigger screen would be lovely as well. Asus folks, are you reading?

 

Personally, I would have preferred a larger screen - perhaps as large as would the lid allow. It is simply too tiring to use it for extended periods of time. Otherwise it's a nice gadget.

 

Regarding installing XP on the EEEPC:
WHY, WHY, WHY?!?!

It's not that difficult tethering a cell phone or PDA via bluetooth in Linux. I've done it:
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9466

 

Because installing XP was easier ... for me anyway.

 

I've been waiting to pull the trigger on one of these primarily b/c of all the dang second gen EEE rumors of a bigger screen

As already stated, this is a near perfect gadget except for the screen size/resolution. IMHO I could live with the resolution although 800x600 would be nice, but make it atleast an inch bigger and I'd have bitten already.

I'd also be willing to pay $450 for a screen that would fill the lid. That would be truly near perfect IMHO:GEEK:

 

We're still waiting for the official specs from Asus, but the last info we received was that the screen would be larger ... but the same resolution. If that is the case, then the larger screen doesn't actually get you anything.

Let's hope that when Asus officially announces the next gen Eee PC it will offer a higher resolution screen.

On a related note, after installing XP and updating the display driver I was able to connect my Eee PC to a 22" Lenovo ThinkVision LCD and ran the display at 1920 x 1200 resolution! It was refreshing to use the Eee PC connected to a monitor with amazing resolution.

 

How bout the lag?? Likewise surfing with FF at 1920x1200? Manageable?

 

With the Eee PC's processor running at a full 900MHz (8804 BIOS), 2GB RAM upgrade ($30) and using the updated Intel driver the Eee PC had zero problems with 1920 x 1200. I even ran a standard resolution movie file (up-res'ed to full screen) and the audio synced up perfectly. There was just a two second lag at the beginning of the movie, but that's forgivable considering the specs of the Eee PC and the fact it was running a full screen movie at 1920 x 1200.

Browsing the web wasn't a problem at that resolution either ... webpages rendered pretty quickly and smoothly.

 

What's the max RAM the Eee supports? I was under the impression it was only 1 GB for some reason...

 

The Eee PC hardware supports up to a single 2GB RAM module. Windows XP recognizes this without any problem. The custom Linux that comes pre-installed on the Eee PC only recognizes up to 1GB of RAM, so you either have to hack the pre-installed Linux, install your own version of Linux, or install XP.

 

the screen size increases and the resolution wouldnt the pixel per inch decrease?
well if thats the case id rather stick to the once out nw
well jerry nyc round up
makes me wna get one right about now
well sad they arent available in Dubai
atleast as far as i know

 

So true

 

I think Gizmodo's points are valid.

One of the 'E's was supposed to stand for easy.

You have to do a fair amount of hacking to get anything approaching a usable computer here. Bios upgrades, memory and storage upgrades, OS upgrades, nLitened XP installs...

I think the EEE is a great geek toy but you have to really be forgiving to say it is a better value than a similarly priced Vostro - for Joe average anyway.

 

Actually, all of the Es in Eee PC stand for Easy. The Asus advertisement is, "Easy to Learn, Easy to Work, Easy to Play." I sort of wish they just called it the "EZ PC" ... it would have looked better.

Anyway, you don't have to hack it ... if you're willing to use it just as a web browser and light notebook. The 900MHz processor in the 4G runs at 630MHz by default under Linux, and it's actually perfectly fine running at that speed. I didn't have any issues with performance at 630MHz under Linux unless I was running a HD video file.

The only time you need to run the Eee PC at 900MHz is when you're using Windows XP ... and even then you only "need" that extra speed with some bloated applications. The same thing can be said for RAM and the SDHC card for storage. The Eee PC ran fine with the default Linux with 512MB of RAM and the 4GB internal storage. I only "needed" to upgrade the RAM and add an SDHC card after I installed Windows XP.

My XP Home SP2 installation was NOT an nLited install. I know a ton of people love hacking Windows XP using nLite to create a smaller installtion file, but XP installed perfectly using the standard installation process ... NO hacking required.

I know that a Vostro is a better notebook in terms of technical specs ... which is basically what I've said both in my original review and in this follow up. The point is that some people care more about mobility than raw power and storage space.

PS: It's perfectly okay if you don't like the Eee PC and every member of our forums is welcome to share his/her opinions.

 

Well, the Eee PC is really the first of its kind. Sure it might be based upon the XO and it might have a market to compete for...but it's essentially the first budget subnotebook made specifically for the consumer market. I think some of the faults are really just rough edges that might be improved upon in later refreshes of the hardware.

Like I said the only major flaw I see with it out of the box is the resolution. If I understand the way the OS works (based mainly upon Jerry's first review) it sounds like it's fairly easy to work with right out of the box. The real question is, would that kind of market buy the notebook. It's sold very well which is great because, ideally, it will encourage other companies to build similar notebooks (go Everex Cloudbook!) but it seems like its mostly the geeky type that are really getting excited about it. Of course if Asus offers it with XP out of the box that might give it some more mainstream appeal too.

Anyway, I "don't" like the 2G or 4G Surf because it seems like there's not much room there to do anything. I DO like the 4G and 8G and hope they can find ways to bring the price of the machine down (didn't they say their original goal was a $200 notebook?) Ultimately though a subnotebook like this isn't going to be able to completely displace mainstream notebooks.

I think that what you really need to do is consider whether or not it is the type of notebook for you. Some people might not want (or need) a tiny Eee PC. I certainly wouldn't expect someone with a ThinkPad X61 to line up to get an Eee, though I would think it would compliment an HP HDX very well.

 

Remember, the people who just want an easy to use computer aren't going to bother "upgrading" it. It just works out of the box for everything a normal user could want to do.

And power users, well, they're power users, and understand that if they want to make the computer do things it wasn't exactly intended to do, they'll have to put in the effort.

 

Yeah, mine was a 2G and I didn't like it.

I'll try the next gen model.

 

I just installed XP on my 4G EEE, and I have the say the speed is impressive, even with the antivirus running. I had NAV corp 10.1 running and it would normally bring systems to a crawl, but I didn't seem to slow the EEE down a bit. Must be the SSD. I was opening and closing firefox and video files with ease.

 

Hey JerryJ what kind of games were you able to get running on your EEE ? It is a great little machine for the computing on the go , but i was wondering what games can it run , for those moments when you are bored . Yes , the screen res might not be suitible for gaming , but anyway ?

 

The Eee PC comes with some games pre-installed for Linux (Tux Racer, Solitare, a version of Tetris, etc.) I also installed a Linux version of Doom and all those games ran fine under Linux.

Under XP I've ran the following games with great success (although some of the more graphic-intense games require an application called 3DAnalyze to trick the games into thinking you have a better graphics card). The other games on the list below don't require any modification ... though you might want to find "no-cd" hacks for these games after you install them so you don't have to keep an external CD drive connected to your Eee PC.

The Windows games I've played on my Eee PC include:

-- Halo (runs EXCELLENT if you use 3DAnalyze)
-- Shattered Union (runs with 3DAnalyze)
-- Far Cry
-- World of Warcraft
-- GTA2
-- Freelancer
-- Freedom Fighters

 

I really still don't see a point to this thing.

The argument of, "Would you rather lose $2k or $400" is quite unappealing. You don't want to be losing anything, but by that train of thought, you can forget about ever owning a nicer/expensive watch, car, clothes, phone, etc.


What is unforgiveable for this device is to carry a 7" screen in a much larger (11"?) form factor. Seriously with a 7" screen, you can forget about enjoyable entertainment on the go... which only leaves.. whatever you need it to do.. (umm... computing on the go), which can be done with a UMPC (those prices are dropping steadily) with a much smaller footprint.

I still fail to see the point of using one when there are:

Macbooks/Macbook airs
iPhones/PDA/Smart phone devices
UMPCs
Amazon Kindle - (Sorry, I'd rather buy a Kindle than this Eee)

 

Macbook Air costs about $1500 more than EEE. Sure, if you had $2000 to spend on a notebook, then you probably would pick something more powerful.

iPhones/PDA and other stuff don't have notebook connections on them as far as I know.

UMPCs. are there many quality UMPCs in the same price range as the EEE?

An EEE is a great option for those that want a small, light notebook but can't afford the $2000 ultraportables and want something more than just a smart phone/PDA. It's called a niche and there's not much direct competition with the EEE as far as price and features.

 

What constitutes 'entertainment on the go'? Because I use it to watch movies and listen to music on the train each day, and for that its perfect.

Well, it beats the MacBook on size and weight. I can fit the Eee in the secondary pocket of my MacBook bag, its so small. The MacBook mainly sits on my desk now.
It has a 7" screen, so its easier to browse the net/watch videos on than a smartphone.
And, you can't really compare it to the Kindle because one is an e-book reader and the other full blown laptop. Plus, the Kindle isn't available in many places (like the iPhone). Many people I know have the Eee as a backup computer, but I imagine I'll be using a 2nd Gen as my primary work machine.

 

I used a Pocket PC for years and it just didn't get the job done. What draws me to the Eee is the fact that for its size its fully featured. When you can get a system the size of the Eee and it can play the PC version of Halo reasonably well and you're only paying $400-$500 USD you can color me sold.

It's important to remember that no one considers it a notebook replacement. It's priced in a range that means you can realistically consider having a "backup" notebook. I like that.

Now I just wish I could get some more information on the custom Linux. I'd love to know where the Eee stands as far as software repositories and such.

 

You can get your hands on the original source code for the custom Xandros Linux from the Asus website:

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

Since it's a customized distro of Xandros you can easily (assuming you have basic Linux skills) add Xandros repositories and (if you're careful) you can add Debian repositories as well. It's a 3-step (and not too complex) process:

-- Open "/etc/apt/sources.list" via a text editor in the terminal.
-- Copy and paste the list of repositories ... I used the following:
deb http://xnv4.xandros.com/xs2.0/upkg-srv2 etch main contrib non-free
deb http://dccamirror.xandros.com/dccri/ dccri-3.0 main
deb http://www.geekconnection.org/ xandros4 main
deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/eeepcrepos/ p701 main etch
-- Save the sources.list file

Of course, typing all that just reminded me why I installed Windows XP on my Eee PC.

 

*Rolls eys* Because installing software on windows is so much easier, right?

You could also spend an hour and install eeeXubuntu. Then you have the power and support of regular Ubuntu with you.

 

it looks pretty amazing, when/if i go into uni, i amy get one of these, the small footprint is great for classes if you don't have much space, and i can see why it'd be pretty much perfect for students, since it is available on a pretty tight budget, and i would really like to see the posibiliy's with 2gb of ram and something put in that mini pci slot. and i can't really see space as an issue, there are 8gb models around (according to asus) and a large flash card (4gb-8gb)won't cost more then £10-15. so all in all, id say 12-16gb is easily possible with just modifications that you don't have to carry around, and ofcourse you can always hook up an external hd/usb stick if you need even more. and the list of games it can play with modifaction is pretty substancial, nothing great graphically but halo/wow are decent games.

although i do agree with some, the screen could be quite a bit bigger, id prefer to have a wider screen so you wouldn't have to scroll around websites, rather then the speakers (since i use headphones when i want to listen to music most of the time anyway).

A great deal considering you can pick a 4g one up here for £250, and with a 2gb ram stick, sd card and something for the mini pci, you're still only looking at £300-350, which is a great deal.

 

Settings? I remember having to run some of those games (Halo and Far Cry) at 800*600 on a 3 GHz P4 with a Geforce 4200 - that is a setup that is at least 32x more powerful in games than the EEE.

Neither of those games ran well at all on a 900 P-M Toshiba R100 with a dedicated GPU (which itself was about 4x the Intel chip in the EEE).

Here are some score from the GMA950 in a 3 GHz desktop:



I have respect for you and all the great things you do for the site - but that post sure smells of fandboyism.

 

Settings for HALO ... again, WITH the help of the application 3DAnalyze ... fullscreen 800x480 resolution, 60Hz refresh, 30FPS, no specular, no shadows, no decals, particles low, texture quality medium.

If you think I have some insane reason to lie about something of a technical nature in these forums, here's a video of me playing HALO on the Eee PC:

<object width='425' height='355'><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4DxB_sQJPt4&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4DxB_sQJPt4&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width='425' height='355'></embed></object>

I'm glad you respect me ... but keep in mind I do NOT take kindly to being called a fanboy ... or even the suggestion of such a thing.

Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DxB_sQJPt4

 

I have to say, even at low resolution, I am shocked that is playing. I too have always been skeptical when people mentioned playing games on an EEE. Cool.

 

I stand corrected. And I would not call you a liar.

EEE was not for me, I ditched my 2G. It is an interesting concept and I'll certainly watch with interest to see what Asus comes up with next.

 

Jerry, that is amazing. I heard rumors that it was cool with CS and others, but HALO? WOW. This is awesome. I am very interested in the EEEpc but I have to wait...mainly because of money. But I guess that will give the opportunity to see their 2nd gen's, and buy whichever has the best options for a student. TY for that video.

 

Thanks. Just to remind folks, the application 3DAnalyze isn't something that only runs on the Eee PC. I first started using 3DAnalyze on my wife's HP notebook that has weak integrated graphics when I wanted to play some more graphic-intense games while traveling.

3DAnalyze is a great application for ANY notebook that has weak graphics ... the Eee PC included.

The only problem I have with running Photoshop CS2 on the Eee PC is the screen resolution. You really have to connect it to an external monitor if you're going to use the Eee PC to edit high-res photos. As far as performance, it's not a super fast Photoshop machine ... but it works if you need to do a little editing while on the road.

Of course, I've also used GIMP as a photo editor on the Eee PC, but I don't like the user interface in GIMP.

 

Have you checked this Photoshop like GIMP UI software: http://plasticbugs.com/?page_id=294 ?