CNet Compares Eee PC Against the Competition

An anonymous reader writes "CNet has recently done a comparison of the Asus Eee PC against six bargain laptops that all fall under $1000. Included in the list is the Elonex One, OLPC, EasyNote XS and MSI Wind. "Since the Eee's launch, many of its rivals have begun to create similar alternatives — each designed to pilfer a piece of the budget ultraportable pie. Some are trying to beat the Eee on price, some on specs, but they're all tiny and they're all camped out in the bargain basement." Let the 'race to the bottom' begin."

The Eee PC's Screen is too Small

[bit trollent]

It is obvious that there is room for a larger screen on the Eee PC that wouldn't make it any bigger. So if you want to beat the Eee PC, just make the exact same screen with a screen that is as big as it can be.

I should really charge a consulting fee.

Re:The Eee PC's Screen is too Small

[Dude McDude]

The new 900 model has an 8.9" screen. http://www.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=10302 [asus.com]

You don't say?

[PPCAvenger]

From the press release that was linked to:

"Although petite in size, this high performance miniature computer truly performs and comes with a durable, shock-proof solid-state design - making it easy for housewives, office ladies and student alike to carry and connect to the Internet."

So what you're saying is that women are as weak, frail, clumsy and careless as children.

  Who comes up with this stuff?

Re:

[MorpheousMarty]

To be fair they say housewives and office ladies need a durable, shock-proof solid state design as much as students, not children. Thinking back to my college buddies I'm sure this implies that women are alcoholics, not weak or frail (definitely clumsy and careless though).

Re:The Eee PC's Screen is too Small

[calebt3]

Maybe the screen is that small for battery conservation purposes?

Re:The Eee PC's Screen is too Small

[deniable]

That and they're using the cheaper 7'' screens from portable DVD players. Those things have had big price drops, so that helps the price tag on the eee.

Re:The Eee PC's Screen is too Small

[Kelbear]

The trick isn't just getting a larger screen on the unit, it's doing it without putting additional drain on the battery and additional burden on the pricetag.

Like many other incremental steps to today's technology, it's certainly possibly, even feasible, but nontrivial to implement. It'll take engineering, expense, and a new fab process and business relationships to mass-produce an appliance such as this.

Per the summary "Some are trying to beat the Eee on price, some on specs," and this would be an example of beating it on specs while likely yielding on the price war.

I believe there's plenty of room in the market for such competition since the EEE falls into a very small niche of quick-reference usage and ultra-portability. More an appliance than a personal computer, and as individual needs vary, people will buy the device best suited to the expected usage.

Re:The Eee PC's Screen is too Small

[Lumpy]

I dont think it's too small it NEEDS 1024X768 at a minimum for screen resolution.

Physically small is ok. A substandard resolution is not ok.

Re:

[dr_canak]

If you head over to the EEE user forums (google it), you'll find that someone has already worked up an application that allows the user to select from a wide variety of screen resolutions. The issue is the native size of the screen (which i believe is widescreen cause it's the same one used in portable DVD players). If you go with certain screen resolutions, the fonts become unreadable as they become squished or stretched. However, this application that was developed allows users to select a screen

Re:

[anss123]

There is a Linux solution using VNC. Not perfect but it works.

Re:

[Just Some Guy]

If you head over to the EEE user forums (google it), you'll find that someone has already worked up an application that allows the user to select from a wide variety of screen resolutions.

I'm sorry, but I lack the imagination to understand how that's supposed to improve the situation at all. Are your fonts too big? Use smaller fonts (and get to keep the subpixel antialiased goodness). Window decorations too big? Use smaller window decorations. I'm just not sure how telling an 800x480 LCD panel that it's actually a 1600x960 screen is going to do anything beyond making everything look awful.

My personal opinion is that 800x480 is mainly a poor resolution in theory, but not in practice.

Re:

[dr_canak]

Actually,

I don't use that particular app or the new drivers. I use the native resolutions that are supported by the ASUS drivers and the ASUS resolution switching app. If i understand your comment, then I agree. Based on the posts I've read, there are certainly folks that, despite this app and the new drivers, found the screen really unusuable at higher resolutions and went back to the original drivers. But, there are also folks who are raving about it as if it's the next best thing to sliced bread. I

Re:

[Just Some Guy]

Ahhh, OK. That makes a lot more sense. Thanks for the followup.

Re:

[LarsG]

The issue is the native size of the screen

And changing to a non-native resolution fixes this how?

Asus Eee hardly groundbreaking

[elrous0]

The assertion that Asus "flipped the laptop world on its head with a stupidly low price point" made in this article simply isn't true. Sub-$500 laptops have been around [walmart.com] for some time now. And, for the money, the Asus really isn't even a particularly good deal. For $100 more, you can buy a laptop [walmart.com] with an actual 60GB hard drive and much more muscular processor. The main advantage to the Eee isn't its price point, but the fact that it is very small (and the screen is perhaps too small as the parent points out), light, and durable (since it has a solid-state hard drive).

Re:Asus Eee hardly groundbreaking

[Lussarn]

Ultraportables was luxury before the EEE pc came along. Now everyone can own one. That is the main advantage. I've used computers for the last 25 years (and worked with them for 10 years) but I have never owned a laptop. To me they are just bulky, or very expensive if you want small. I'm very excited at these new computers and will buy me a EEE 900 when they are released. Small footprint, and very lightweight does it for me. CPU specs is of no importance for me on a laptop, as long as a webbrowser and the terminal is zippy I don't care.

Re:

[KillerBob]

Ultraportables was luxury before the EEE pc came along. Now everyone can own one. That is the main advantage. I've used computers for the last 25 years (and worked with them for 10 years) but I have never owned a laptop. To me they are just bulky, or very expensive if you want small. I'm very excited at these new computers and will buy me a EEE 900 when they are released. Small footprint, and very lightweight does it for me. CPU specs is of no importance for me on a laptop, as long as a webbrowser and the t

Re:

[Corporate Troll]

Utraportables are *companions* to desktops or desktop-replacements (that's what you describe). Utraportables are "just enough to do something on the move", but that's it. I mean this from a usability perspective, not from power since you can get powerful (but expensive) ultraportables.

You mention gaming, this means that the Dell is out of the question too by the way. (Integrated Graphics: forget it)

You are simply not the target demographic for an ultraportable. Cheap or not. I am, but I'm not shellin

Re:

[Znork]

In the long run, I see laptops as the replacement for desktop computing,

I dont. For the very same reasons you prefer the laptop to the EEE. Comparatively laptops have horrible price and performance. They mostly have quirky hardware, annoying keyboards and irritating mousepads. You cant cram enough memory into them, it's almost impossible to attach enough screens to them to obtain usable amounts of screen real-estate, and if you come up with something with decent specs they're barely movable anyway. And they

Re:

[WuphonsReach]

Mmm... I do the majority of my work on a laptop (Toshiba Tecras with 1400x1050 screens in the past, a Thinkpad T61 widescreen 1680x1050 now.) Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, a pair of 160GB HDs and a 1680x1050 screen go a long ways towards making this doable. My old machine was a 1.7GHz P4 with only 1GB RAM.

Is it portable? Yes. But it's not an ultralight. But at least I can pickup and go somewhere else to get work done without having to keep machines setup at each location.

Do I own a desktop? You bet. I have

Re:

[ukemike]

I sometimes argue that the most powerful computer I ever had was my old HP200LX. It was a full blown dos computer that I could fit in a big pocket. It had lotus123 a nice, text editor, a really easy to use database program, a great rpn calculator, and any dos program that didn't require a color screen or fancy graphics. I used to play hack on the bus. It ran on AA batteries and I only had to change them about once per month. It had a meg of memory and I had a 2 meg pcmcia card. It was powerful because

Re:

[Dogtanian]

I used to have (still have, but the flatcable to the screen is dead) an Atari Portfolio. Not as powerful as your HP, but damn, did I do a lot on it!

Did that include hacking ATMs? ;-)

Re:

[asc99c]

Exactly my opinion also. We are just reaching the point when a properly useful ultra-portable can be had at a decent price. I looked longingly at the Sony TZ series but couldn't justify spending £2000. I've been seriously considering getting the old EEE, but in the end the screen resolution was a bit too low. The new one is just enough and I will also be buying one. I don't care if Walmart sell a similarly priced full size and full featured laptop - I've got one of those and that's not what I am

Packard Bell?

[alcmaeon]

Am I the only one who had to do a double-take on this one? Then I £ sign.

Re:

[Prof.Phreak]

I'd also go as far as making the keyboard 1" wider (making all buttons similarly slightly larger). The keyboard is bordering on being unusable.

Big price diffrence there

[calebt3]

All fall under a $1000? What kind of standard is that? MY laptop was under $1000 when new, and similar laptops are now in the ~$750 range. Why get an underpowered ultraportable when a normal laptop costs just as much?

Re:

[stjobe]

Maybe if formfactor is more important than power?

Personally I love ultraportables (or palmtops, or subnotebooks or whatever the nome du jour is). For me, it's more important that the device is very portable than that it is equipped with a multi-GHz CPU and a top-of-the-line GPU.

Re:Big price diffrence there

[pipatron]

I'm very satisfied with my thinkpad x40 in that regard. I guess that's about as small as you can get while still having a keyboard you can use for hours, daily.

Re:Big price diffrence there

[Jeff DeMaagd]

Why get an underpowered ultraportable when a normal laptop costs just as much?

Maybe because "normal" notebooks are overpowered, overheating beasts? They aren't "laptops" because of that heat, they seem to feel like they burn through jeans when used for longer than 15 minutes on a lap, even on max power saving mode. I think that's a lot of why the marketing literature almost always calls them "notebooks".

Re:

[cbart387]

I own a 'overpowered, overheating beast' of a laptop because _it is_ my only computer. I primarily use it like a desktop, but since I'm currently in college (and a comp sci major) I need something I can lug around when necessary to do work. My point is, different people have different needs. Your parent sounds like he/she has similar needs to me whereas you sound like you need something on the go. That is, assuming you're not playing devil's advocate. ;)

Re:

[dextromulous]

Why get an underpowered ultraportable when a normal laptop costs just as much?

Maybe because "normal" notebooks are overpowered, overheating beasts? They aren't "laptops" because of that heat, they seem to feel like they burn through jeans when used for longer than 15 minutes on a lap, even on max power saving mode. I think that's a lot of why the marketing literature almost always calls them "notebooks".

No need to think about that any more. In the fine print: [ibm.com]

IBM prefers the terms "notebook" or "portable computer" rather than "laptop." Users are reminded not leave your computer, AC adapter, or accessories in contact with your lap or any part of your body for an extended period when the products are functioning or when the battery is charging.

Re:Big price diffrence there

[Mr. Slippery]

Why get an underpowered ultraportable when a normal laptop costs just as much?

Because it's ultraportable.

My real ultraportable is a Zaurus SLC3000 [mobiletechreview.com]. It will fit in my back pocket. I use it for writing, it can also be used for emergency SSH sessions and cramped web broswing. It's usually in my backpack, ready for when poetic inspiration strikes. That's ultraportable. (The only thing more portable is my Centro [palm.com]. The neat thing is, my Centro becomes a modem, my Zaurus runs a terminal, and bam! SSH or browsing from anywhere I can get a cell signal, with gear that fits in my pockets.)

My ultraportable-as-this-article-is-using-the-term is an old Sony Vaio SRX77 [pcworld.com] that I've fitted with a solid state harddrive, and installed Puppy Linux on. Good sized keyboard, adequate power, under three pounds and smaller than a standard looseleaf binder. I take it when I'm headed down to the cafe to sit and write or browse for a while. Not pocketsized, by easily portable.

My full sized laptop is heavy, big, and sucks battery. It's a full-featured beast that goes with me on long trips, to replace my desktop.

Under $1000?

[Evro]

That's not exactly "bargain" space, Apple's Macbook is almost in that range, and last week I configured a Dell Vostro 1500 with a Core 2 Duo T7500 2.2 GHz, 3 GB ram, XP Home, a 256 MB GeForce 8600GT, and a 15" SXGA screen for $833.

Re:

[Abcd1234]

Is it an ultraportable? No? Then why'd you even bring it up?

Re:

[Abcd1234]

I did read it, and I think it's silly they brought it up in the article, too. 'course, it's a CNet article, so the fact it's poorly written is no big surprise.

15" screen? misses the point of the article

[Animaether]

the article is about the 'ultraportable' notebook (whatever that means, I guess just "small notebook, bigger than a PDA") market. anything with a 15" screen need not apply, unless that screen folds in / rolls up into a smaller package.

Once you go to a smaller form factor (not just the screen - but the entire device), costs tend to go up for almost all of the components of the machine, as well as designing things so that they'll fit in there, without overheating problems / too much RF interference, etc.

Dell vostro.

[leuk_he]

The dell price is lowered by a lot by the 60 pound delivery costs DELL charges. You do not see that amount until you continue in the ordering price. Something to keep in mind, because there is no option not to pay those costs. ever.

Re:

[KillerBob]

The dell price is lowered by a lot by the 60 pound delivery costs DELL charges. You do not see that amount until you continue in the ordering price. Something to keep in mind, because there is no option not to pay those costs. ever.

So buy from the Inspiron line of product, instead of the Vostro. 2 weeks ago my mum took delivery on an Inspiron 1525 that, taxes included, cost about $700 CAD. About 325 pounds, if my math is right. Delivery was free, and it had 2GB of DDR2, 120GB HDD, DVD-RW, 1.6GHz Core2 Duo..

Re:

[iainl]

Yes, $700 CAD when thrown through an exchange rate calculator works out at £325. But then you add on Magic UK Ripoff Taxes, and you'll find that a 1525 of that spec. is £428.99 on the Dell site. More expensive than anything in that lineup, and certainly a lot more than the £220 Eee.

Re:

[LynnwoodRooster]

Forgive him - he's one of those Slashdot'ers who actually exercises, and won't get winded carrying a 6 pound laptop 30 feet...

Old School

[hyades1]

I like my PDA with flip-open keyboard/Bluetooth for those rare occasions when a thumb drive and the ubiquity of freely-accessible PC's won't do.

Wow, talk about insightful

[Sockatume]

The article is, basically, a few specs and pictures from press releases lifted out and spread over 7 ad-filled pages. The same information could've been provided in a small table with some pictures next to it. No insight, no investigation, nothing that isn't public knowledge. They didn't even (as an example) do a google search for the phrase "Elonex One" which would've told them that it's a variation on a rather old unit which has been on sale in other markets for a while, so there are lots of hands-on reports (that way they could've commented on the need for a kickstand on that machine, and other useful tidbits). Heck, they reckon that the "VIA Nanobook" and "Easynote XS" are rebrandings of the "Cloudbook", without the vaguest notion of the real relationship between the machines. Just another bit of "news" accomplished by rewriting the press releases with as little thought as possible.

Re:

[Sockatume]

It doesn't actually qualify as a comparison, come to think of it. They list the different devices without ever actually comparing any of them to eachother.

Re:

[Constantine XVI]

...Heck, they reckon that the "VIA Nanobook" and "Easynote XS" are rebrandings of the "Cloudbook", without the vaguest notion of the real relationship between the machines.

Just FYI, both the Easynote and Cloudbook are based off the Via Nanobook design.

Re:

[Sockatume]

That's my point exactly! The Nanobook is a reference design, not a commercial product, and the Easynote XS and Cloudbook are just two of the more conservative of the variations upon it. The article implied that all three are rebrandings of the original Cloudbook machine. That there are Nanobook variants with removable screen-side modules, touchpads in different places, and whatnot didn't seem worthy of a mention.

Re:

[Sockatume]

I should say, it's more of a reference design than a commercial product. I appreciate that VIA seem to want to release their own some time, although it doesn't exist yet.

history repeats?

[ch-chuck]

It reminds this old timer of the early 8-bit pc wars on the 1980's, when Atari/Commodore/Apple/TI/Sinclair and others were slugging it out. It was brutal - TI dumped their load and got out of the market - Atari was tanking big time - Timex/Sinclair eventually came out with a minimalist Z80/ROM BASIC box with a membrane keyboard for ultra cheap - then came the crash of 1983.

Re:history repeats?

[meringuoid]

Timex/Sinclair eventually came out with a minimalist Z80/ROM BASIC box with a membrane keyboard for ultra cheap - then came the crash of 1983.

In America, maybe, but Sinclair made an absolute killing with those machines in the UK. The ZX80 and ZX81 pretty much established the home computer market, and then the Spectrum turned up with colour graphics and became the standard machine for a generation of gamers and hackers. It was a long time before Nintendo managed to break that market; even as late as the 16-bit era, the Amiga was serious competition for the SNES and Mega Drive.

The interesting thing about that era was that these machines were largely incompatible with each other, but that didn't matter so much - they were cheap. Vastly cheaper than the contemporary IBM and Apple machines. Will the mass market accept compatibility troubles from a non-Microsoft machine, if it means they can have it for peanuts? Quite possibly.

it just works

[pgfault]

Cnet writes:
"Okay, the hype overshadowed the fact that it's rather slow, sometimes unreliable and nearly impossible to type on if you had grown-up fingers, but these are minor details."

Minor details, perhaps, but I disagree. 900MHz is adequate for web, and text processing. Unreliable? Hardly. Zero crashes on mine. The keyboard is quite usable, once you teach your right pinky not to hit the UpArrow when going for the '/' or Shift keys. The three drawbacks I see are:
1) It's rootable out of the box (samba) http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2008/Feb/0117.html [seclists.org]
2) Asus didn't provide an easy way to obtain updates for the masses.
3) The fan runs continuously after about 10 minutes of use.

I installed eeeXubuntu along with compiz-fusion and now it's a great little machine.

For the money and it's size, it certainly gets the job done.

Re:

[mysqlrocks]

Can you tell me a little bit more about your experience with eeeXubuntu? Does everything work? How hard was it to install and configure? Did you blow away the existing OS or install it to another drive? How easy is it to upgrade/patch? I'm considering getting an Eee PC when the 8.9" version comes out but I'm not crazy about the built-in Xandros OS. I was considering FreeBSD or PCBSD but it looks like there aren't drivers yet for all of the hardware so eeeXubuntu looks like the best bet.

Re:

[Paul Carver]

Any idea how it compares to a Fujitsu P2120? I've had my P2120 for several years and have replaced both of its batteries so I still get about 8-10 hours of battery life on a charge but I am starting to get dissatisfied with the speed.

I just tried using Thunderbird again for email, but will probably revert back to using mutt over an ssh session because Thunderbird is so damn slow on this machine. Firefox is also a pig. I've got my P2120 maxed out with a half a gig of RAM but I still have to restart Firefox e

Re:

[Kirth]

1) Like "an upgrade is available, please click to install"
2) Like "an upgrade is available, please click to install"
3) Fans? I'm missing those on my EeePC.

I really don't know what kind of EeePC you got.

I read stories but have never seen one.

[jellomizer]

I have been hearing people saying how the Eee PC will bring Linux to the personal user, How it is really popular... But I havent seen any evidence of this is Real Life. I see more people eyeing MacBooks and MacBook Pros, and Lenovo ThinkPads.

For my ultramoble computing I am happier with a Sub $500.00 iPhone (Even without Jail Break or the new custom software coming out) then with those other systems. It is small and Ultra-Ultra Portable it fits in my pocket. It is goog at web browsing, email, taking notes,

Re:

[IkeTo]

I've seen one during a ride on the train, the one just besides me pull out his Eee and start editing his homework during that 2 hour ride. I think there are quite a lot of things that those little PC-like devices do much better than a smartphone or even than a palm. This is especially true for those of us who are not addicted to listening to music or watching movies (even if they have to resort to tiny screens).

Re:

[IANAAC]

Smartphones in general do a better job as ultra portibles then ultraportibles do.

For basic web browsing and email (not convinced of even note-taking) and entertainment purposes, yes I can agree with that statement.

But try and do any real work involving full document processing or spreadsheets, etc. and a smartphone doesn't cut it. Neither does a Nokia N800/N810/whatever is in the pipes. And that's where these devices are attractive: they weigh 2 pounds or under and are easily thrown into any bag.

Re:

[jellomizer]

I guess you don't do the same type of spreadsheets I do. I usually Max Out an entire Core (Excel doesn't work multi-core) on some of my calculation. Those Ultra Portibles wouldn't be useful for me. Because by the time my train ride as ended... It may have finished processing my sheet.
Even many word processing documents that I make often will get slugged on these ultraportible. When I give a document it is often filled with Highresolution Printing Press graphics.

Now I am not disagreing with your statements

Re:

[IANAAC]

And you say smartphones do a better job (that WAS the point of your original post, correct?).

I can tell you that I use OO.org (2.3.1- with some useful add-ons) professionally (haven't been a student in decades) on an Eee when I travel, which is often enough that that's the reason I bought it, and don't have the problems you describe. I'm not talking about train rides, but regular business travel.

If you're using Word to process "Highresolution Printing Press" graphics, you're using the wrong tool. Serio

Re:

[Asic Eng]

I have been hearing people saying how the Eee PC will bring Linux to the personal user, How it is really popular... But I havent seen any evidence of this is Real Life.

I'm not sure I understand your argument there. Are you comparing sales figures from e.g. Amazon and other companies (see e.g.: http://linux.slashdot.org/linux/07/12/29/1959244.shtml [slashdot.org] ) with anecdotal evidence observed amongst your acquaintances?

From a new owner

[dr_canak]

I purchased the ASUS EEE 4G from newegg about 6 weeks ago. There are several models to choose from, and some idiosyncracies from one model to the next. The 4G has an accessible door on the underside which allows the user to upgrade the RAM module (stock 512MB). In addition to the 4G, I purchased

- an 8Gb SDHC card
- 1 GB RAM module
- XP Home (OEM)
- DVD/CD burner
- Small Laptop Bag
- 4GB USB stick
- 1 set of samsung portable speakers (from WOOT!)

So i'm in for around $700.00 when all was said and done.

What I like:
- Ultra portable and lightweight.
- Very good battery life (around 2.5-3 hours under heavy load). This can be increased by switching off the built in webcam, switching off the wireless internet (assuming you're not browsing), reducing screen brightness, and reducing fan speed
- Ability to overclock. Someone hacked up an app that allows the user to control cpu and fan speed
- Change screen resolutions. Someone hacked up an app allowing the user to select a number of non-native screen resolutions to improve readability and desktop realestate.
- Boot up time. Mine boots XP in around 60 secs, which includes about 10 background apps (antispyware, antivirus, overclock app, screen res app, virtual desktop app, battery monitor etc...). Some people have reported an NLITE'd install of XP booting in under 30 secs.

What I don't like:
- the keyboard is small and awkward. Touchtyping is damn near impossible. Better to use some variant of 4 finger touch typing
- the stock linux install. I've used linux extensively in the past, but just don't use it enough on the desktop to achieve a high degree of familiarity. I used it for the first week, then just decided to switch to XP.
- I would imagine this thing is the opposite of "ruggedized." It feels perfectly fine, but I would hate to drop it from more than a foot. I would imagine it would be in pieces. It doesn't exactly feel sturdy.
- The need to buy a bunch of extra stuff to really make it shine. Right out of the box it's useful, but with the added purchases above, it really becomes a very decent travel laptop replacement. But those added purchases essentially doubled the price of the stock ASUS. I did enough research to know that very few folks are really using a stock machine only.
- The stock speakers are just too soft to overcome any ambient noise.
- Getting XP installed without an external CDROM can be a real challenge.

Going to this website (http://forum.eeeuser.com/) will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about what people are doing with these things, and how to do it.

hth,
jeff

Re:From a old owner

[xzvf]

I've had mine since December and it has stood up to the rigors of travel. I've added a usb mouse and a bluetooth dongle and upgraded the OS to Ubuntu (I don't see the fascination with putting XP on it). Tough keyboard for extended typing, but a good investment overall to compliment my main work laptop when traveling. I use it walking around data centers for console access.

Re:

[MrAngryForNoReason]

- I would imagine this thing is the opposite of "ruggedized." It feels perfectly fine, but I would hate to drop it from more than a foot. I would imagine it would be in pieces. It doesn't exactly feel sturdy.

Anecdotal evidence only but a friend of mine has an Eee and inadvertantly launched it across a classroom by tripping over the power cable, it survived without a scratch after flying off a high desk onto a hard floor.

I can imagine that short of treading on it or getting it wet there isn't anything you

Re:

[legirons]

"What I like:
- Boot up time. Mine boots XP in around 60 secs, which includes about 10 background apps (antispyware, antivirus, overclock app, screen res app, virtual desktop app, battery monitor etc...). Some people have reported an NLITE'd install of XP booting in under 30 secs."

This thing boots-up in 20 seconds (being one of its main features), and you just paid hundreds of dollars extra [on XP] to triple the boot time?!?

Re:

[Chemicalscum]

I agree!

I don't understand

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

Prices for these usable machines seem to start at ~150USD. I don't understand, then, why I /still/ can't find a sub-100USD thin client device with VGA out, understands X11, WiFi and has USB inputs for keyboard/mouse. These seem to start at $250, with $400-500 being more common -- especially among those that can connect to an X11 server. Given that they surely can't be cheaper to make than a fully functional mini-laptop with HDD, why the hell don't they exist?

Re:

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

Say it with me... preview. I wrote:

Given that they surely can't be cheaper

And meant to say:

Given that they surely must be cheaper

Re:

[afidel]

Scales of economy, there are a hell of a lot more notebooks made then thin clients. Also when the alternative to running an X11 thin client is running a full blown Unix workstation the cost justification for even a relatively expensive thin term is easy.

Re:

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

True that. Still... I'm watching the company I work for pay for thousands and thousands of WYSE terminals at $300 a pop, and I have to assume that here isn't the only place doing this.

Just bought one

[British]

I went on a business trip to Taipei, and bought one on the last day. It's the 4g model with webcam(whichever one that is). After changing it from Chinese to English in 1 minute, I was up & away. The only downside is it can't see my wireless network, but it now sees wireless networks my mainstream laptop can't see around my house. While it can't do everything a laptop can, it is great for taking to the coffee shop for a quick web or email fix.

Voice Command is hilarious. You can amuse your non computer-savy friends by saying "COMPUTER WEB" and it fires up Firefox. Love the crude computer voice it blares out. Just wish it had the "computer" sound from Star Trek:TNG for the added futurism.

I am surprisingly LIKING the hacked-up Linux they used on this. It's even easier to use than Ubuntu. Their simple frontend GUI is actually pleasant to use. I was surprised to login to my linux samba server and have it work on the first try. Just wish I could find the place to change my EEE's computer name/workgroup.

Their wireless connectivity thing is better than Windows, listing connectivity percentages and such, and a text window output of the progress of connecting to the AP. Wish Windows was more like that.

While the keyboard takes getting used to, I like the Function key bindings to various functions(speaker, wireless, etc) to the top row. I have some typing experience on tiny keyboards on its spiritial successor, the Zeos Pocket PC, made 18 years prior. The zeos' keyboard is a bit more "keyboardish"(ie more travel to the keys), but the ASUS one is just fine.

I wonder if some marketing guy had a Zeos pocket pc and thought "hey, let's make an updated version of this!".

It cost me almost NT12000 and to me, is worth every penny. Just wish the bag was a bit bigger to hold the power supply.

What's the goal? Cheap OR small?

[gelfling]

I bought a Lenovo N100 3000 0768 with a bag with a 3 year depot repair and warranty with Lojack with XP with tax and shipping for $998.00.

Not the smallest, cheapest, fastest or lightest machine out there but probably one of the lowest 3 year TCO's around.

Re:

[gelfling]

I think they do, yes. In fact Lenovo is less likely to churn out 3 million different subvariants of each model which I believe lends to them a standardization and reliability not apparent with some of the Thinkpads. For instance in our corporate setting we have LOTS of hardware problems with T41, T60, T61 models and replacement parts are not only hard to find but hard to figure out which part model FRU you need.

In my own humble opinion I cannot understand what the panache of Thinkpads is anymore relative to

Re:

[himurabattousai]

Most people don't know that Lenovo has (almost) always built ThinkPads. IBM probably paid a huge chunk of money to make sure that the laptops built under their brand were good machines. All that happened to have ThinkPads sold under the Lenovo brand was that the rights to use the name were sold to the company that had (almost) always built the machines that wore that name. Therefore, yes, Lenovo ThinkPads do carry the same expectations by those who know as did the IBM ThinkPads. In fact, I wouldn't be s

Re:There's no "or" about it.

[sethstorm]

It hasn't. See the lack of IPS being thrown out for an example of the blunders.

Race to the bottom?

[Jimithing DMB]

Sure, the Eee PC is an extremely cheap laptop but at the same time there are all kinds of other laptops on the market. For instance, as the article points out, Asus itself makes the MacBook Pro. In between those extremes there are all sorts of other laptops on the market.

And so what? The Eee PC is specifically designed to be a cheap commodity item made of other cheap commodity items with no significant value add. And there's no real race to the bottom because the commoditization of one thing makes adding value easier up the chain. We are only just starting to see the beginning of what can be done with the Eee. Geeks will pick up 10 of them and do something with them in their garage.

One thing that might come out of this though is that the laptops just above its price range will have to add significant functionality in order to sell. As I understand it, they do. A lot of people are pointing out that for $100 more you can get significantly higher specs although with the tradeoff of a heavier laptop. This is good though as it sets the bar higher for the higher-end equipment. For instance, no one is going to confuse a MacBook Air for an Eee PC even though they have the common theme of being small.

In other words, a fallapart knockoff...

[sethstorm]

And so what? The Eee PC is specifically designed to be a cheap commodity item made of other cheap commodity items with no significant value add. And there's no real race to the bottom because the commoditization of one thing makes adding value easier up the chain. We are only just starting to see the beginning of what can be done with the Eee.

Killing technologies like S-IPS(get one with it, you won't want to switch back to TN) doesn't help. Neither does it help when the options upward just add gloss and no quality(See Dell, Asus, HP, Toshiba, pre/post-merger Lenovo, Sony, Fujitsu). Service that has dropped dramatically for practically all but one brand, is strike three.

One thing that might come out of this though is that the laptops just above its price range will have to add significant functionality in order to sell. As I understand it, they do.

No thanks, but eroding the quality up top is what these are doing. They aren't adding anything at all, but subtracting it.

Re:I'm here too soon

[sm62704]

I'm not too lazy to read it, but I refuse to read C|Net. Two paragraphs per screen, and each screen is filled with so many blinking shiney flashing ads it takes forever for each page to load.

And under $1000? WTF? They're comparing a $999 laptop with a $250 laptop? Isn't that kind of like comparing a compact car with a mid sized car? One more reason to avoid C|Net like the plague.

It's sad, that used to be a pretty good site.

Re:

[Constantine XVI]

...and each screen is filled with so many blinking shiney flashing ads it takes forever for each page to load...

Your Firefox needs a dose of NoScript http://noscript.net/ [noscript.net]

Re:

[sm62704]

I'm at work. Not only can I not have noscript here, I can't even use Firefox! )=

Re:

[Thorwak]

But you're allowed to read and post on Slashdot, right? ;)

Re:

[cHiphead]

Maybe you shouldn't be posting on slashdot then...

What kind of geek are you if you can't get around whatever GPO is in place to lock you out from something as simple as noscript or ff? There's always a way. (Try booting safe mode and using blank admin passwd, thats the first place to start ;))

Of course, if you are on Linux managed workstations instead of Windows, with a competent admin running the show, then you are probably screwed.

Cheers.

Re:

[Clover_Kicker]

It's probably more a question of 'do I care enough about this to get fired' instead of 'duh, I can't figure out how to r00t my box'.

Re:I'm here too soon

[genji256]

Bored with making MacBooks [cnet.co.uk] for Steve Jobs, one day Asus decided to create its own stylish laptop and flog it on the cheap. The result was the Eee PC [cnet.co.uk] -- a Linux-based ultraportable notebook that wowed consumers, shocked rival manufacturers and is slowly but surely revolutionising an industry.

But Asus is no longer alone. Since the Eee's launch, many of its rivals have begun to create [cnet.co.uk] similar alternatives -- each designed to pilfer a piece of the budget ultraportable pie. Some are trying to beat the Eee on price, some on specs, but they're all tiny and they're all camped out in the bargain basement. They're all real products, and a few are already available, so we've included links to our full reviews for those.

Asus Eee PC 701, £220
The Eee has racked up hundreds of thousands of sales in a relatively short space of time. It's portable, attractive, versatile and has completely flipped the laptop world on its head with a stupidly low price point.

In exchange for a touch over £200, the Eee provides a Pentium M 900MHz CPU, 512MB of RAM, Wi-Fi, a 7-inch 800x480-pixel display, and enough Linux software to keep you busy for weeks. It's awesome value.

Okay, the hype overshadowed the fact that it's rather slow, sometimes unreliable and nearly impossible to type on if you had grown-up fingers, but these are minor details. In the long run it'll be recognised as one of the decade's most important pieces of tech design. Its rivals -- including the Eee PC 901 -- will have a very hard time topping it.

Elonex One (aka GeCube Genie), £99
Let's kick things off with the Elonex One, which many geeks will also know as the GeCube Genie Jr [gecube.com]. It's designed for school children, but will no doubt attract a much wider demographic thanks to its ludicrously low price.

The One is an attractive little unit that weighs in at 900g. Elonex says it's designed to be kid-proof in that it's shock resistant, has no moving parts and is very reliable. The main components are housed behind the 7-inch 800x480-pixel display. You get a 300MHz LNX Code 8 Mobile CPU -- no, we've never heard of it either -- 128MB of DDR2 memory and 1GB of flash memory. An enhanced version of the laptop, called the One Plus, ships with 256MB of RAM and 2GB of storage.

What else do you get for fewer than 10,000 pennies? Well, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi is standard, as is wired 10/100 Ethernet, two USB2.0 ports, built-in speakers, and the keyboard's removable so you can use the One like a tablet PC. The display isn't touch-sensitive, so you'll have to use a 'mouse emulator' -- aka nipple -- round the back. The whole thing runs on the Linux Linos 2.6.21 operating system, which comes with a variety of productivity, media and education software.

The One is never going to be the fastest computer in the world, and we're sceptical that it'll be without its problems, but you really can't go wrong for £99. It's available in pink, green, silver, white or black, and will be released in July 2008. Pre-order yours from the Elonex Web site [elonexone.co.uk] now for a £10 deposit.

Packard Bell EasyNote XS (aka VIA Nanobook), £399
Originally the Everex Cloudbook, this petite laptop now goes by many different names: 'EasyNote XS', 'VIA Nanobook', and courtesy of some potty-mouthed Cravers: 'horrible pile of turd'. That last bit is very unfair -- the XS is pretty accomplished.

It's tiny: just 230x171x29mm and it weighs 950g. It uses a 7-inch display with an 800x480-pixel native resolution, a 1.2GHz VIA C7-M CPU, 1GB of RAM and a 30GB 2.5-inch hard drive, which

'Tis an ill wind that blows no minds...

[MsGeek]

MSI Wind, £225
If there's one laptop that could seriously end the Eee's reign, it's the MSI Wind. We believe it could be the perfect blend of portability and usability, due to the fact it's slightly larger than an Eee PC, with a bigger keyboard and a choice of screen sizes.

Eight- and 10-inch versions are available, as are Silverthorne CPUs ranging from 1GHz to 1.5GHz. You even get a choice of hard drive types: there are solid-state models for anyone prone to dropping things, and 2.5-inch models for anyone who wants to store lots of multimedia files.

Best of all, the entry-level Wind is set to cost just 299 (£225), or 699 (£530) for the high-end model. Like all good uber-portables, it's available in a variety of colours including blue, silver and pink.

That sounds like the cream of the crop. MSI is a fairly quality manufacturer, and they are offering multiple configurations. The Cloudbook was promising up until I got my hands on one, however, and UGH! You can't get around that funky micro trackpad on one side and clicking buttons on another, and the damn thing gets hotter than my MacBook when crunching video. And that wasn't under any load at all.

Really, what people need to compare the Eee and its progeny to is not full-sized laptops but PDAs. The Eee, the Wind, the OLPC, etc. are more like overgrown Palms than mini notebooks. If you look at them that way, suddenly their uses present themselves. If you expect full-sized laptop performance, particularly desktop replacement laptop performance, from one of these, you are in for a rude awakening.

Re:

[psychodelicacy]

"Really, what people need to compare the Eee and its progeny to is not full-sized laptops but PDAs."

I kinda agree with you. Though the pda is a slightly different proposition in that it works like having a paper diary/notebook in your pocket - you can just take it out and add things without worrying about boot time or loading the right program. Still, my Eee cost less than my pda did, and if I had to lose one of them it would be the pda, hands down.

Re:

[wytcld]

sometimes unreliable and nearly impossible to type on if you had grown-up fingers

Been reliable for me. And I touch type on it just fine - with the fingers of a 6'6" guy.

Re:

[sm62704]

Thank you for posting that!

Re:

[flyingfsck]

What ads? I never see no ads and if you don't know how to get rid of ads then you need to hand in your Geek License.

Re:I'm here too soon

[bendodge]

It's also missing the Nokia N800. It certainly seems to fit the bill: a small computer, running Linux, WiFi, a tiny 256MB of internal flash, etc. And it's less than $250. It even uses a 800x480 touch screen (no keyboard), so I would rank it pretty highly against the Eee.

Re:

[infinityxi]

I actually own a Nokia N800 and I love it for browsing the web (going on slashdot). I love the fact that you can link it up to your phone's data plan via bluetooth as it comes in handy when there are no viable wifi spots around. The only thing I would say is, the N800 isn't really suited for typing up documents or even doing a little coding. Sure you could buy a bluetooth keyboard but it ends up being more of a hassle. I'll probably be purchasing an EeePC in the coming month but i'll keep my N800 handy when

Re:

[MojoStan]

Also, after Nokia's recent $90 price drop [arstechnica.com], the N810's price ($390) is now "in the ballpark" of these cheap ultraportables (the N800 remains at around $230 for now). The N810 adds a slide-out thumb keyboard and GPS receiver to the N800, and several minor changes to the hardware.

Also, ECS has a sub-$500 Eee PC competitor coming [pocket-lint.co.uk], but it's probably too early in production to include in the CNET article. The ECS's key features: built-in HSDPA card, looks (from photos) slightly larger than Eee PC (but still ult

Re:

[sm62704]

a Linux-based ultraportable notebook that wowed

Yeah, but what about flutter and harmonic distortion? ;)

Re:

[Fred_A]

And cowbells. Can't go wrong with cowbells.

Re:

[arivanov]

I love the smell of MIPS early in the morning (most likely the non-patent-encumbered Chinese "Dragon" subvariety). Can't really see anything else being able to hit that price point.

Re:

[downix]

Checking, the current V-Dragon is a PowerPC licensed from IBM.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Uhm, do you read what you post? Every single hit on that search were posts in webforms complaining that that Elonex hasn't released any information about it.

Re:

[sm62704]

No, I didn't. Gees, Google is usually so helpful too =(

Re:

[Asic Eng]

Well on the EeePC I can run Linux-Applications in the same way I can on a conventional machine. It doesn't need to be adapted for a different input method or anything like that. For example I can take an application like hanzim (a tool for learning chinese characters with a tcl/tk GUI) and just use it, I can use the same office suite as I use on my main PC etc. Depends what you want to do, I guess - I wouldn't pay $300 for a smartphone, but I really like the EeePC.

Monthly cost of a "smart phone" kills the deal

[walterbyrd]

At least for me. What does an Apple iPhone cost? $150 a month?

With an EeePC, I can go to a hotspot and get an internet connection.

Re:

[Culture20]

How do you intend to get a PC class keyboard and display into a smartphone?

Docking port. My old Ipaq 3975 has a sleeve that allows for VGA-out, and a foldable full size keyboard. That's with tech that's years old.

Just wait until you get a bluetoothy-style wireless docking port/monitor/dumb-terminal that uses whatever "new smartphone" that's sitting on its docking area as its CPU/RAM/Storage. Every CEO in the world will want one "new smartphone" and five docking stations. Once they're inexpensive enough, most home users would use these too. Unfortunately, they'd give info

Re:

[LynnwoodRooster]

I use the Eleksen Bluetooth roll-up keyboard [amazon.com]. Full sized, pretty easy to use (not as fast as a full keyboard, but I'm as fast on it as I am on a friend's EeePC), and connects to my Samsun i760 SmartPhone via bluetooth.

I think the Eee hits a pretty small niche - not quite laptop status (too limited to be a main computer), and a bit bigger than a SmartPhone (bigger screen, bigger keyboard). Kind of like an oversized PDA.

Personally, I prefer my i760 and Eleksen for quick checks (i760 browses nicely over

Re:

[sammyo]

Alphasmarts are great for input only. Kinda like the cat editor, you know cat >important_file.c ... Very cool if one needs to type for hours, oh say, mind dump on a long plane ride, but really, uploading to the phone for editing would be easier than the Asmart one line 'screen'.