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ASUS Eee PC 4G Surf  (Source: Newegg)
ASUS's Eee PC 4G Surf comes with a lower price tag, reduced features

Many retailers have been hovering in and out of stock of ASUS' highly popular Eee PC 4G Linux-powered notebook. The two-pound Eee PC 4G has garnered rave reviews from around the web and has sprouted a fan site which details every conceivable aspect of the device.

The first shipments of Eee PCs to hit the retail market were of the Eee PC 4G which features a 900MHz Celeron Processor (which happens to run at 630MHz on a 70MHz bus), 512MB of DDR2 memory (upgradeable), a 7" display, integrated webcam and a 4-cell 5200 mAh battery (3.5 hours). The notebook was first available in Pearl White; however, Galaxy Black was later introduced.

Now it appears that the second wave of Eee PCs is starting to appear online. Newegg and ZipZoomFly are both stocking the new Eee PC 4G Surf model (Galaxy Black only). The 4G Surf has 512MB of DDR2 memory soldered onto the motherboard -- it is not upgradeable like regular 4G. In addition, the 4G Surf lacks the webcam and features a 4-cell 4400 mAh battery (2.8 hours).

The reduced feature set also means that the 4G Surf comes with a lower price tag: $349.99 versus $399.99 for the 4G.

The lower price is welcome news to those that need the extra frills afforded by the webcam and the ability to upgrade the memory, but many may not be willing to cope with reduced battery life as well.

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Overpriced
By vailr on 11/21/2007 5:37:30 PM , Rating: 3
For the same $300 to $350, there are much better Compaq laptops scheduled for Fry's and Staple's for BF.
Wasn't the original 200 MHz Netpliance IOpener selling for ~$99 when it first appeared? This Asus laptop is certainly not worth more than ~$200. Especially the model with soldered-in, non-upgradeable memory.
No thanks.




RE: Overpriced
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 11/21/2007 5:45:44 PM , Rating: 5
I guess that some people just don't understand the concept of a fully functioning ultra portable PC.

The 15.4" notebooks that will be available during BF are 6 to 6.5 pounds. This is 2 pounds and is easily transportable just about anywhere. Try lugging around a 6 pound notebook all the time.

People pay $400 for a top end graphics card, then complain about a company offering a fully functioning, small, lightweight computer for the same price.


RE: Overpriced
By Vanilla Thunder on 11/21/07, Rating: -1
RE: Overpriced
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 11/21/2007 6:09:45 PM , Rating: 4
If it isn't a key selling point, then why is there even a market for 12.1" or smaller notebooks?

The notebook is consistently selling out and has been a best seller at many sites. People love the small size and affordable price tag.

If you guys would actually read the multitude of reviews of this device out there, you would see what all the fuss is about.

Here, I'll do you a favor and post them for you:

http://www.dailytech.com/ASUS+Eee+PC+Not+Perfectio...
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/eee-pc-rev...
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4...
(4/5) http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2209847,00.as...
(7.5/10) http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/asus-eee-pc-4g/450...
(4/5) http://laptopmag.com/Review/Exclusive-First-Review...
(9/10) http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebooks/review/200...

quote:
For less than $400, the Asus Eee PC 4G offers an impressive package for portable Web surfing and basic productivity, as long as you keep expectations tempered. The incredibly approachable price outweighs any shortcomings; it's a near perfect choice for a highly portable second or backup laptop.

quote:
The ASUS Eee PC 4G is a tremendous bargain for people with general-purpose computing needs who don't plan on running any sophisticated software. It's intuitive enough that even a little child can learn to use it, and it loads everything you need for performing basic office and multimedia tasks.

quote:
As such, one can only recommend the Eee PC. It does have its issues, but it's difficult to deny both the value and sheer usefulness of the device as an auxiliary notebook or general portable companion. Moreover, Asus must be applauded for being gutsy enough to introduce such a device at the bargainacious price it has. Now, one can only hope it is encouraged by this response and goes away to improve on what it has done.

quote:
The Asus Eee PC offers outstanding value for Linux enthusiasts and good value for a mainstream audience. The laptop brazenly defies the conventional standards of portable computing and delivers extreme mobility at an appealing price.

The hardware is impressive for the price, and the sheer portability of the system is mind-blowing. Despite the quality of the hardware, the cramped keyboard will be a deal-breaker for many consumers. Potential Eee owners with big hands should try it in person to make sure that they are comfortable with the keyboard before they buy. The low screen resolution is also disappointing, but virtual desktops and font customization make it easier to tolerate. The only other major hardware issue is poor screen visibility when under direct sunlight, a problem that commonly afflicts laptops and mobile devices with LCDs.


If you can't see the appeal of this device after reading those reviews, then... well... have mercy on your soul :)


RE: Overpriced
By robber98 on 11/21/2007 6:30:03 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
You can't seriously be telling me that 4 pounds of weight is enough of a reason to use one of these over other notebooks?


Sorry, 4 pounds differences is huge if you lug around all day on foot. Worse if you do that everyday.


RE: Overpriced
By BladeVenom on 11/21/2007 10:19:06 PM , Rating: 3
Worse still having to carry an extra 4 pounds while lugging around, books, briefcase, projector, luggage, etc...


RE: Overpriced
By deeznuts on 11/21/2007 7:42:00 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
You can't seriously be telling me that 4 pounds of weight is enough of a reason to use one of these over other notebooks?
Yes it is. 2 lbs is enough for people to pay hundreds more for a similarly equipped notebook (going from 15.4 to 13.3 or 12.1 etc.). This is 4 lbs lighter, and only several hundred bucks.

You can't seriously tell me that you don't see the value in such a machine. Your average person surfs, type a few docs, watch movies - what is better? Me, I'm holding out for a 10" screen, but this would be decent.


RE: Overpriced
By afkrotch on 11/22/2007 10:23:55 AM , Rating: 2
I carry around a Everex 12.1" laptop, cause any larger and it becomes a pain. Especially when trying to run through an airport, cause your plane was late and you have 5 mins to get to your connecting flight.

I would have gone smaller, but it starts becoming significanly more expensive. Was looking at a JVC Mini-note. 8.9" screen and about 1 pound lighter. It goes for three to four times the cost of the Everex though.

The EeePC wasn't an option due to the smaller storage size. Many times do I forget to grab my external. Course it wasn't on the market when I bought my Everex. I am considering it for short trips though. Like weekend excursions and not international flights. If they make it use a regular 2.5" hdd, I'm all over it.


RE: Overpriced
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 11/22/2007 11:41:39 AM , Rating: 2
I've been reading up more and more on the Eee PC. I'm thinking of selling my Samsung Q1 Ultra and buying the regular 4G model.

The storage space was a concern for me, but I recently stumbled across http://portableapps.com/

It has all open source/freeware apps that can fit onto a 512MB flash drive. All I need to do is just install it to an 8GB SDHC card, plug it in the Eee PC, leave it, then call it a day.


RE: Overpriced
By othercents on 11/22/2007 12:36:24 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
but your average person would just be wasting their money.


This notebook wasn't made for the "average person", but it is powerful enough for the "average person". Most people only use Word and the web. Now if you add in the cost of buying Word or Office package on top of that $300 or $350 laptop then your price gets significantly higher. Yes you can get openoffice for free, but your "average user" doesn't know how to get openoffice and will just buy whatever is easy from the store.

Don't mix "average user" with the technically savy. Keep in mine most people on dailytech I would consider technically savy while your average user is still figuring out how to navigate the msn website.

For me, I travel around promoting my business where I have to get to a website for people to signup. I carry a laptop, so that people can signup right then. I don't need to lug around my 15.2" screen laptop just for people to signup. This asus eee will work just fine and will work fine for the rest of my sales staff.

Other


RE: Overpriced
By abzillah on 11/22/2007 2:37:52 PM , Rating: 2
I'm a collage student. I have a great desktop at home, but would love to have one of these for school. I will wait for the 10" model to come out. This is a great price, good specs for everything that I will use it for. I have my desktop for everything else.
Can't wait till the 10" model comes out.


RE: Overpriced
By mmntech on 11/21/2007 5:56:56 PM , Rating: 2
I agree with it being overpriced. There are used sub 15'' laptops out there with longer battery life, higher display resolutions, more storage, faster processors, and more features. You can buy an old iBook for around $400-$500 these days. New is not always better. Especially when people realize it's too slow to run modern commercial software.


RE: Overpriced
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 11/21/2007 6:01:18 PM , Rating: 2
The Eee PC running at 630MHz in Linux or Windows XP is blazing fast. The new BIOS bring it up to the full 900MHz to make it an even better performer.

The darn thing boots in about 15 seconds. How is that slow?


RE: Overpriced
By BrownJohn on 11/21/2007 7:25:06 PM , Rating: 2
exactly. remember, the minimum requirements for xp are only 64mb ram and 233mhz processor, so this laptop would do nicely.


RE: Overpriced
By elpresidente2075 on 11/21/2007 8:05:54 PM , Rating: 3
Kind of off topic, but XP will run on much less than that. I've had it running on 16MB ram, 4gig HD, and a 90MHz Pentium. It's as slow as it gets, but it works.

The EEE is not overpriced at all, IMO. Of course, I'd like it to be cheaper ($300 for this model, $350 for the upper) and if it was I'd buy one right now, but it's not so bad, considering it's only been out for what? 2-3 weeks?


RE: Overpriced
By TomZ on 11/21/2007 9:09:18 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
The darn thing boots in about 15 seconds. How is that slow?

Are you seriously suggesting to benchmark the speed of a system by its boot time? All that tells us is that a slow computer can load a small operating system in a reasonable amount of time.

No, what's more important is how long it takes you to accomplish normal tasks. If you're just doing simple tasks, then the slow processor is probably okay. But even browsing the web is CPU intensive - you can tell this when you upgrade your computer and your web browsing speeds up. Everything will be slower - maybe fast enough for some people, but I think a lot of people who buy such a slow computer will soon regret it.


RE: Overpriced
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 11/21/2007 10:05:10 PM , Rating: 1
I'm still trying to figure out what the heck you are talking about, sorry :)

Have you even read ANY of the reviews of this device or are you just blindly going by what you THINK will take place when you use the Eee PC?

Every review out there has said that this device has excellent performance and is a great value.

What tasks does ASUS say the Eee PC should be used for? Document editing, Internet browsing, PowerPoint presentations, spreadsheets, email, MP3 playing, video playback.

What out of any of that listed above needs more than a 900MHz processor? Please tell me, I'd really like to know. The 900MHz processor plus the solid-state disk makes for a respectable system as far as speed is concerned if you actually read the reviews out there (and there are plenty to sift through).

As I previous stated, my Samsung Q1 Ultra only has an 800MHz Intel processor and it does all of the above with ease... and that's with Windows Vista which is a resource hog.

You don't need current generation hardware to do basic everyday stuff in Windows XP... let alone Linux which this thing runs by default. That's what this device is targeted at, so I don't see why all of you guys are having such a cow.


RE: Overpriced
By Hare on 11/23/2007 3:15:29 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
What out of any of that listed above needs more than a 900MHz processor?

A while ago I tested this. My previous laptop had this "quiet" key in it that locked the 1.73Ghz Pentium M to 600mhz and you couldn't really tell the difference unless you browsed really heavy sites with flash adds and/or java. The average user wouldn't even notice the difference (CPU hardly ever peaked during web browsing even with 600mhz speed).

Of course the CPU architecture is totally different but 900mhz for a computer this size and price is more than ok, if you ask me.


RE: Overpriced
By feelingshorter on 11/22/2007 12:49:26 AM , Rating: 3
Like the other user about, your obviously not buying this laptop to lug it around. I'll use myself as an example. Last year i bought a 14.1 inch Toshiba laptop on sale on Black Friday for about 450 or so. It was a good price at the time, and i thought at the time 14 inch and 5.5 pounds should be pretty ok to carry around college (my first laptop). Wrong. Dead wrong. 5.5 pounds is just too heavy, takes up too much space, and i even damaged the screen accidentally dropping it too hard once. College books are a lot bigger than high school books. I just cannot fit all my folders/papers/books in there with a bigger laptop.

The Eee weights TWO freaking pounds. Thats on par with the size of some of the 12.1 inch laptops selling for 1000-2000 dollars.

Obviously your with the crowd that buys a laptop to use at home. You want it compact enough to lug around at home but i need it compact and light enough to lug it around college. Your like my dad who bought a laptop to use at home.

I also seriously don't remember the last time i used "modern commercial software" that needed much CPU power. The only thing i would need a laptop for us internet, word, power point, dictionary software...thats about it.

The only laptops that i know of, and according to cnet reviews that has an extreme long battery life are Sony's. (as much as people hate them, they make good "overpriced" laptops! You cannot touch them on battery life). But those costs too much for a college student.

So buying an Eee PC for what i would use it as, + just carrying around a power adapter is still better than lugging at 5.5 pound laptop around with a bigger screen and also carry a power adapter (since if you do own a cheap laptop, even a 400-500 dollar black friday one, chances are your battery life is only 4-5 hours, which isn't good enough for me since i stay at school almost all day). Basically the Eee is the lesser of two bad choices (for poor students who cant afford a 2000 dollar sony that lasts 8 hours on battery life)


You guys are missing the point
By cputeq on 11/21/2007 6:39:48 PM , Rating: 3
These computers aren't meant for demanding tasks. They're not meant for heavy gaming or computing. They're meaning to be ultra-portable, lightweight, "daily tasks" machines.

For some people, they don't want a high-powered, 7+ lb. notebook to tote around. They keep that stuff for their desktops. They want a very small, relatively cheap subnotebook with which to check emails, surf the web, maybe do documents as they lounge around the house.

Personally, this thing would be awesome for me, as I'm sure lots of other people think because they're selling so well. A big difference you see between this notebook and the "other" ones is the weight -- Getting ultra-light weight and cheap isn't easy to do.

I just wish a version would come out with a lean and mean version of Windows XP on it instead of Linux.




RE: You guys are missing the point
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 11/21/07, Rating: 0
RE: You guys are missing the point
By BrownJohn on 11/21/2007 7:19:57 PM , Rating: 2
seriously. I don't understand why some people have such a huge problem with this. Just because it wasn't designed with what you need out of a laptop, doesn't mean that a lot of people wont find use in it. I haven't seen this in person, but it seems like its small enough to fit in most briefcases. Carrying around 4 extra pounds all day would definitely get tiring.

btw, i was thinking of getting something like this for basic use, plus programming. How would this handle compiling code?


RE: You guys are missing the point
By TomZ on 11/21/07, Rating: 0
RE: You guys are missing the point
By wrekd on 11/21/2007 7:42:57 PM , Rating: 2
wrong


RE: You guys are missing the point
By Ringold on 11/21/2007 7:52:01 PM , Rating: 2
Of course TomZ is wrong. I bet that sucker could compile Gentoo, complete with KDE, FF, and OOo, fresh in 30 minutes.


RE: You guys are missing the point
By wrekd on 11/21/2007 8:12:27 PM , Rating: 2
I'm sorry about the quick reply, but you are wrong. Most college students, (I'm an adult learner at Penn State - in Information Science and Technology) would agree that for the first 2 years, this product is exactly what students need. College, is about theory, not proprietary crap like Oracle, Photoshop and Visual Studio.

Penn State teaches computer science with gedit not IDEs. In fact, unless there is some serious trademark infringement, I dare you to tax a compiler for any significant amount of time, (within a colleges curriculum). Oh you can't? Well your whole argument fell apart.

At least Flash is screwed on Linux. Perhaps you can make that your point.

But nice try.


RE: You guys are missing the point
By TomZ on 11/21/07, Rating: -1
RE: You guys are missing the point
By layerd on 11/21/2007 10:42:31 PM , Rating: 2
Sorry Kid, I make and compile programs from the old times of 20MHz 286 2MB RAM to present days on several languages, C, C++, C#, Java, my own languages, and I have to say to you that you are wrong, 900MHz+512MB RAM+Flash Storage is enought to compile lot of code and make a lot of things, you dont need dual cores for everything!! please kids!! computers exists from 50+ years!! I think it is a great product for the price and the size is important!!


RE: You guys are missing the point
By TomZ on 11/21/07, Rating: 0
RE: You guys are missing the point
By wrekd on 11/22/2007 12:21:35 AM , Rating: 2
wtf are you talking about?

Is that your tactic for structured argument? You attack my credibility? To what end? To validate your own point???

Try using logic, drop the paranoia and stay on topic.


RE: You guys are missing the point
By kmmatney on 11/22/2007 6:45:41 PM , Rating: 2
I still program in Visual Basic 6.0 (sad, but it pays well and I like my job) and my IDE takes only 39 MB to install. This would actaully be OK for me, even with some of my programs beings about 1M lines of code. I used to compile my programs (about 1M lines of code) on a 266 Mhz laptop.
In any case, I don't think anyone will do any heavy coding on this - it is not the point. But I could if a had too.

I currently have a 17" Core 2 Duo 2.0 Ghz laptop that is very fast, but its a behemoth and doesn't travel nicely. No way I'd buy it if I was still a college student.


RE: You guys are missing the point
By elpresidente2075 on 11/21/2007 7:56:39 PM , Rating: 2
I'd be willing to bet it would remote into your high powered desktop to compile code quite well. At least, that's the sort of thing I'm intending on doing with it when I get one in April.


RE: You guys are missing the point
By UNHchabo on 11/25/2007 10:05:32 PM , Rating: 2
I run Gentoo on my P3 500, and just have it distcc all of its compilation to my P4 2.8.

Whenever it is that I buy one of these (cause I will someday, but $400 is a bit much for me), I'll probably still run Gentoo on it, and still use distcc.


RE: You guys are missing the point
By Omega215D on 11/21/2007 11:30:22 PM , Rating: 2
I want one because it is light and nicely sized so I can tote it around easily. Why would I do such a thing? Because I am in college and find myself needing to make finishing touches to reports or whatever in the library or train. This makes me regret getting my Palm T|X which is pretty useless, even with the keyboard.

Sony has a 11" screen notebook thats nice and light but it comes in at $2300.


Nigel says....
By Vanilla Thunder on 11/21/2007 4:46:23 PM , Rating: 6
I mean, how much more black could this be? None more black.

Vanilla




RE: Nigel says....
By Oregonian2 on 11/21/2007 5:01:19 PM , Rating: 2
Could only be "Universe Black" as the next step. The white things here and there (like on the keycaps) and the red/green audio (presumably) connectors could be made black as well. Having all the keycaps be plain black should knock off a few additional cents. :-)


RE: Nigel says....
By Vanilla Thunder on 11/21/2007 5:24:59 PM , Rating: 2
Honestly, it was just an excuse to make a Spinal Tap joke.
=)

Vanilla.


RE: Nigel says....
By KristopherKubicki (blog) on 11/21/2007 7:38:01 PM , Rating: 2
Gonna have to crank you up to 11 for that one :)


RE: Nigel says....
By Vanilla Thunder on 11/22/2007 3:02:00 PM , Rating: 2
Thanks Kris. Tonight we're gonna rock it.

Vanilla


RE: Nigel says....
By BAFrayd on 11/22/2007 11:54:24 PM , Rating: 2
Isn't that "tonight we're gonna rock ya tonight"?


RE: Nigel says....
By Vanilla Thunder on 11/23/2007 4:02:23 PM , Rating: 2
You sir, are correct. I apologize for my misquoting. I was standing in a hell hole, taking a bite from a shark sandwich, and pondering an 18" stonehenge when I posted. On a side note, I've always wanted one of my posts to glow green. I'm full on stoked.

Vanilla.


PDA
By wordsworm on 11/22/2007 3:41:01 AM , Rating: 2
I know it's off topic, but all this talk about 'light weight computing' makes me realize it's been a long time since there's been a good analysis of modern PDAs. When I was in university, I had a Palm IIIe. In some ways there's never been a better computer: a single charge of the 2 AAA lasted 1-2 weeks. It had a keyboard that you could dock it into. For taking notes, it was the ultimate. You put it in your breast pocket or your bag. Sure, I couldn't watch a movie in the middle of class, but for taking notes it was a dream. Other people's laptops required extra batteries just to make it through the day. Not many classes offered an outlet for them to run.

Anyways - I agree with many who posted that a smaller laptop is the right way to go. I also agree that the keyboard is too small. However, with its USB ports, it's easy to add a keyboard and mouse. However, no one seems to be interested in making these gadgets make it past a day, let alone a week. Even modern PDAs are only good for a few hours. Is there anything at all out there with a week's worth of battery life these days?




Think Appliance, not Computer
By praeses on 11/22/2007 2:35:10 PM , Rating: 2
I believe the whole target market is for those who can see this more so as a complete appliance or tool as in a toaster. Someone already compared it to the Netpliance IOpener but was unhappy with the price. The Netpliance was released with a service contract, much like cellphones today so the price comparison there is far from apples to apples.

For those who see it as a working toaster, that lets them check email/word process/etc without caring how it makes the bread toasted, it works wonders. Even if they /know/ how it works internally but do not care it still has the same effect. People just need to do their work or browse some websites and this definitely affords that.

There's no reason to compare it to a $499 laptop from any big box store as that would be like comparing this toaster to a toaster oven. How many people buy toaster ovens these days over a toaster?




Asus eee PC versus Dell XPS 1210
By vchanpe on 11/27/2007 12:03:45 AM , Rating: 2
I wished the 2 lb Asus eee PC came out before I purchased my 4 lbs $1200 Dell XPS 1210. When I travel, I discovered that 90% of my notebook usage is (1) email (2) internet (3) typing a trip report or office memo. I don't time to do any power computing when I am on the road. I decided to give my Dell XPS 1210 to a relative and buy the Asus eee PC. This product will capture certain buyers who travel light and knows what they want.




useless
By MangoSRT8 on 11/21/07, Rating: -1
RE: useless
By elpresidente2075 on 11/21/2007 7:54:26 PM , Rating: 5
You seem to have forgotten a part of your statement, let me fix it for you:

quote:
Buy a friggen MacBook [spend 10x as much, carry around 3x as much weight, put on a black turtle neck, become an art major] and stfu.


Fixed :P


Race To The Bottom?
By TomZ on 11/21/07, Rating: -1
RE: Race To The Bottom?
By tanishalfelven on 11/21/07, Rating: 0
RE: Race To The Bottom?
By TomZ on 11/21/07, Rating: -1
RE: Race To The Bottom?
By Vanilla Thunder on 11/21/2007 5:53:41 PM , Rating: 2
Post of the day!!

Vanilla


RE: Race To The Bottom?
By murphyslabrat on 11/21/2007 7:13:53 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
this is an awesome ULTRAPORTABLE laptop for 350

You could just get the Nintendo DS for $130, then get the Opera cartridge for another $30, and you ot only have yourself an ultra portable laptop, but one for $160 total. This would be perfectly viable, as 90% of what people do with an EEE is browsing.


RE: Race To The Bottom?
By tanishalfelven on 11/21/2007 7:20:58 PM , Rating: 2
not a fair comparison.
THIS iS A COMPUTER.
a full x86 compatible computer.

you can do anything on it that you can do on another pc, albeit slowly.


RE: Race To The Bottom?
By mcnabney on 11/21/2007 8:37:34 PM , Rating: 2
Fine. Go buy a Pocket PC. It even runs Windows (PPC). And it is even smaller. In fact, the Apple Touch would do the same with a really slick UI.


RE: Race To The Bottom?
By BrownJohn on 11/21/2007 7:22:59 PM , Rating: 2
that may be a valid point for a small portion of people, however, the ds doesn't not have a full size qwerty keyboard. Thats not necessarily a problem for just web surfing, but when i need to reply to emails, as well as write code and some other word processing, the ds no longer becomes a viable alternative.


RE: Race To The Bottom?
By Vanilla Thunder on 11/21/2007 5:33:30 PM , Rating: 2
And don't forget light!! I agree, but maybe I just fall into the "what good would this underpowered machine do me?" category. I understand it's about portability, but I just can't see dropping $350 - $400 on a SLOW laptop. My gf's old Toshiba satellite was bad enough, and it was running a Intel Core Duo @ 1.5 with the same amount of RAM as this machine. That thing made me want to toss it out of a window everytime I booted it up. I'd gladly drop the extra hundo for something like this. Even if by todays standards, it's "old tech".
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...

Vanilla


RE: Race To The Bottom?
By TomZ on 11/21/2007 5:53:59 PM , Rating: 1
Thanks, that's exactly the point I'm making. There's really nothing amazing about making such a low-end product. The reason nobody does it is because most people realize that a computer like this is going to perform poorly. How can it not?

Now if it was small, light, cheap, and performed well - now that would be something to get excited about.


RE: Race To The Bottom?
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 11/21/2007 6:10:45 PM , Rating: 2
Perform poorly at what? Every review has stated that the device performs EXTREMELY well.


RE: Race To The Bottom?
By robber98 on 11/21/2007 6:25:07 PM , Rating: 2
Define "performed well". Do you mean run text editor faster?

To me, all I need is a laptop that allow me lug around all day (on foot 5+ hours), allow me take notes during the meeting, check my stock, email and news on google. For $350, it's perfect.


RE: Race To The Bottom?
By wrekd on 11/21/2007 7:36:43 PM , Rating: 3
Text editor? Maybe. Ad distributor...definitely!

For years, servers have been able to deliver us web content at nearly instantaneous speeds. What holds us back? Ads, datamining and DRM. Targeted ads, datamining and DRM slow the internet down. Websites are cool, except when they add time to my page request, just to tell me about shit I will never buy.

Sorry about the language, but who the fuck clicks on ads...ever?!?! I have never in my life purchased something in a banner, and like many of you, I have been around since the beginning. I hardly even see the banner ads, yet they are there, slowing my experience down. Who are these mythical clickers who are skewing the numbers? Some may say, that the ads are pushing technology; why else would anyone develop if not for the all mighty ad dollar?

The Eee is a fine concept. It just gets in the way of datamining and ad operations.

My only problem is that they doubled the price because they learned that maybe they [Asus] had a good idea. $399 would be cool and all, if they had not said the base model would be $199 many months ago.


RE: Race To The Bottom?
By Ringold on 11/21/2007 7:48:07 PM , Rating: 2
I'm not sure I follow the seemingly "ads slow the Eee down" approach, though some ads do eat some processor time.

But on ads, I've actually searched Google for various things, several times a year, with little intention of looking at the results but rather looking at the contextual ads it presents me with. It saves me time, and are almost always relevant when I put in a search term that accurately describes what it is I'm seeking.

Of course, that's not the end of the journey. Then I have to double check the credibility of the retailer. From the retailers perspective, they may not be aware that I've come back and bought their stuff after having found them through Google (or maybe you sneaky website operators can in fact figure that out, even if I wipe cookies). But yes, Google has connected to me with sellers before.

That said, only Google has. Sorry, DT, but your LASIK ads are getting old. :D

Contacts bother the crap out of me, but the idea of a laser blasting willy-nilly at my retina, permanently annihilating precious rods, cones and whatever else, seems.. barbaric somehow..

Wow, that got OT.. Go Colts!


RE: Race To The Bottom?
By Captain Orgazmo on 11/21/2007 8:07:20 PM , Rating: 2
I got Lasik in June 2006. Absolutely satisfied. It does NOT fry your retina, it reshapes your cornea (the outer layer of the eye). The only long term side effects I have are slight halos and increased glare from bright light sources in darkness, but it is really no worse than the effects of glasses (and much better than dirty glasses). As well my vision is now 20/15 (better than 20/20, and better than could be achieved with glasses; practically I find that I can make out details or read things at a distance considerably better than most people I know). I think even the US Navy allows pilots to get Lasik or PRK now.


RE: Race To The Bottom?
By TomZ on 11/21/2007 9:26:10 PM , Rating: 2
Correcting to better than 20/20 is not uncommon with glasses and contacts. I wear contact lenses and my vision is corrected to 20/10 for example.


RE: Race To The Bottom?
By Captain Orgazmo on 11/22/2007 7:36:22 PM , Rating: 2
True enough, but things like astigmatism and uneven corneas can't always be corrected fully with lenses only. Just saying there really is no downside to laser corrective surgery these days. Besides the convenience (and maybe aesthetics?) of not having glasses or contacts, it can save money in the long term (glasses are usually $300+, new glasses every few years; contacts can be that much per year, or more; laser eye surgery is now under $2000, and as low as $800, and is one time...).


RE: Race To The Bottom?
By JonnyDough on 11/22/07, Rating: 0
RE: Race To The Bottom?
By JonnyDough on 11/22/2007 4:48:25 AM , Rating: 1
Auto-down rated for quoting the OP who cursed and excused himself as he did it. LOL =( Ahh, such is life.


RE: Race To The Bottom?
By ajdavis on 11/25/2007 10:46:36 AM , Rating: 3
Downgraded for being derogatory to women for no factual reason.


RE: Race To The Bottom?
By mforce on 11/22/2007 4:18:52 PM , Rating: 2
Did you read the reviews ? It's not a full size laptop ,if you want a 15.4 screen laptop, get one, this isn't it. It's a portable device for light work.
I don't know what you're into be if a Core Duo @ 1.5 is slow for you then you probably had viruses , spyware or a problem with your Windows install. Or maybe you had what they call Windows Vista. This thing comes with a custom Linux OS and while some might think that a PC is not usable unless it has Windows I feel this isn't the case.
Seriously though Linux and Windows XP will run just fine on these specs. When XP came out who had more than a 900 MHz CPU ? More than 512 MB of RAM ? As I said , light work ( browsing , skype , email ).... If you plan on working in Photoshop get something else and that's that.


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