The Winner: The Eee PC 701 8 GB
Posted on 10 May 2008, at 10:36 am, by Joel McLaughlin
It was a tough choice, but it all came down to the fact that I was able to buy the machine yesterday from Micro Center - which is where I headed as soon as I had the cash.
Reasons I went for it: It’s small. Almost too small. However, I will appreciate it in situations where I want to be ultra mobile. Also the 8 GB version’s flash drive is upgradeable via a bigger PC Card flash drive. The Eee PC 701 8GB also came highly recommended by my friend, Dann Washko from the Linux Link Tech Show.
So I plan on using this machine as much as possible, while writing posts on some of the different things you can do with such a small machine. I have already installed the Gimp, the advanced desktop and all updates to Xandros.
One thing I will have to figure out is how to do a post in Wordpress and insert images; the image dialog is bigger than my screen. I think I can probably do it by tabbing to the post button. I can get the image uploaded, but then I can’t click on the button to insert the picture.
Stay tuned to Gear Diary to get a Linux geek’s take on living with the Eee.
Oh and any machine needs a name; so post ideas to help me name of my little machine!
- TrvlngDrew: Yea Yeah, we’re freaking old and have long memories..
Let me know when I can get it in an SSD... - jamesp: If I’m not mistaken the qwerty system was implemented to SLOW typing spped, so as to not jam the type...
- Judie Lipsett: Best line: “Come on, it is a freaking terabyte.” Dang right!
- gjohnsonxx: I can relate to the story about the “mythical” 1 terabyte. As a consultant, I created a major...
- alex_kac: Agreed 100%. I could hear the other person on a Skype call, but she couldn’t hear me. It was...
- Christopher Gavula: A touchscreen eases things like selecting a book, selection a section of screen to look up (like...
- Mizst: That’s quite unexpected. Fring works pretty nicely on S60 (mine is E71) and I think Fring has its own...
- TrvlngDrew: It just gets crazier and crazier doesn’t it.. Am sure that it would work in my Treo Pro and HP 912,...
- Joel McLaughlin: Just in time for the purchase of a new DS in our family. We never had a GBA so we won’t miss...
- Elodie: I don’t really see the usefulness of a touchscreen in an ebook reader, personally. I used to read...
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May 10th, 2008 at 10:37 am
I can make the editing box smaller in our WP settings. Hopefully that will help.
May 10th, 2008 at 11:03 am
That would be cool. Depending on if I get a way to get on the internet, I am going to TRY to live blog Ohio Linux Fest with the Eee this year.
I also need to find some acessories…usb powered hard disk and a beefy SDHC card.
Insltalled vlc and watched Geek Brief.
For some odd reason, miro won’t play video. Probably a codec issue. No big deal.
I am taking it with me when we go to the store today. Got grocery list on it plus we’ll be hitting a place with free wifi today (I think).
Got some songs from Amazon on my SD card I am rocking out to now. Amarok is the default mp3 player, but then we knew that! I frickin love the sound on this tiny thing!
May 10th, 2008 at 11:04 am
GEEK!
May 10th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Oh and that whole comment and this one were both pecked out on the Eee. It’s a bit hard to get used to but I am getting by. Right Shift Key is in wrong spot!
May 10th, 2008 at 11:35 am
I don’t have a problem. Really I don’t….ok I’ll be quiet now…
May 10th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Hey Joel, congrats on getting the Eee. The mouse looks different from the one that came with my 8 GB Eee.
Also, looks like Asus recently started putting the “intel inside” logo stickers on. I would not recommend removing it though. The body of the Eee looks and feels painted to me… removing the sticker may damage the finish.
Btw, for dialog boxes larger than the Eee screen. You need to hold down the ALT key and left-click + drag the diaglog box so that you can see the area you want.
May 10th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
For $50 more you could have gotten 20G SSD and the bigger screen. The mouse looks just like the one I received with my 8G.
May 10th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
It looks like Mike is going though the same quandary you did, Joel.
http://mikecane2008.wordpress......sus-eeepc/
May 10th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
I usually use Firefox in full-screen mode (F11) to post to my WordPress blogs from my eeePC.
As to a beefy SDHC card, I got an 8GB Transcend from newegg for about $30, and I picked up a Western Digital Passport drive from Best Buy for external storage. It powers from the eeePC no problem, and it’s nice to have a super-small 250 extra GB on me at all times.
I do EVERYTHING with this little workhorse lately. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how much I love it.
May 10th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Hey thanks Jessica! I will have to try that.
Judie: I read Mike’s post. Sounds like he hasn’t made a decison but he makes a great point. This machine is almost as light as a regular pda and yet is a full computer. Almost anything I can do with my full sized laptop I can do with this.
May 10th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
As for a name, how about “Sliver”?
It’s silver and tiny, after all.
Granted, probably not as in “fits in an envelope” tiny, but still worthy of the name.
Plus, every time you launch an app you can say “Hi Ho Sliver”!
May 10th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
It’s really white. Pearl white. I could call it Pearl.
May 11th, 2008 at 2:49 am
You could call it Penelopeee.
I am installing Hardy Heron on my eeePC as we speak. I just love how fast and responsive Ubuntu is on this little thing. I upgraded the RAM when I bought it to 2GB and it is snappy and fast. I thought the same thing of the Xandros build too.
Joel, Cali from GeekBrief should be doing a review on the eeePC soon. She and I talked a bit about the machine the other night, since she knew I’ve had one for a while. Always fun to see your chosen gadgets getting press from your favorite tech bloggers!! I love it when you guys review stuff I’m interested in or that I’ve bought.
May 11th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I think my own Eee purchase is imminent. I’ve now got a USB HSDPA modem to connect to it, and I have found it REALLY cheap.
May 11th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Mitchell,
I’ve been wondering how I could thether a Linux Eee to an internet connection via WinMobile smart phone. Is this USB HSDPA modem a cell provider component (usually those are Windows only, aren’t they?) or is it something that ties you to a cell phone?
I’d really like to hear what you are planning to do. The best solution I’ve found so far is described in these threads:
http://forum.xda-developers.co.....stcount=37 that points to… http://wiki.eeeuser.com/howto:.....te_drivers
These might also be of interest…
http://forum.xda-developers.co.....p?t=377047
http://forum.xda-developers.co.....p?t=340747
But even if you are paying for a limited data plan, I’m guessing that if you use something like LogMeIn Free or RDM+, you shouldn’t be using up too many meg across the connection because the remote desktop does all the heavy lifting.
May 11th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Hey Bob,
I have used Sprint/Nextel EVDO modems with Linux with no issues. Had to do a bit of hacking with some dialup scripts, but was able to make it work.
Right now, the cards they have are all PC Card. No USB EVDO at work just yet. Hopefully we’ll be getting some USB versions soon.
I saw this on EVDOinfo regaring the U727:
http://www.evdoinfo.com/content/view/2121/64/
Not sure about HSDPA as there’s not much of that over here just yet except AT&T. Tmobile has just started their pushout in one city.
I am digging to try getting the Eee working with a EVDO card. I may be putting Hardy Heron on my Eee, but I may work with the default Xandros for a while. May give it at least 6 months on Xandros. No rush to go to Hardy just yet.
I’d also like to find a PC Card SSD to save up for so I can upgrade te internal disk. 8 GB is OK. MUCH better than the 2 GB Surf, but still a bit limiting.
Earlier today I was working with Audacity on the Eee editing a audio file from our church service and when I tried to open the file in audacity, it complained it ran out of space on /tmp. Then I looked and Asus only has 128 MB of /tmp available. I just changed the directory for audacity’s temp space to the SD card and edited the music out of the service and saved a wave file out of it (wave file is about 400-500 MB so /tmp wasn’t enough).
Overall though, I am digging this device. Even typing is starting to come to me although I won’t be as fast as I am on a regular keyboard or on my Thinkpad keyboard.
First priorities are:
BIG SD Card (near end of this month)
External USB Powered Hard disk
Some sort of bag to put ths thing into with it’s mouse and powercord and the above said drive.
The included neoprene does the job, but when I JUST want to take the Eee and a couple things I want something a little smaller.
Once I get some of the above stuff, I will consider putting Ubuntu on this thing or maybe Kubuntu since KDE seems to work nicely with the lack of screen real estate the 702 has. 800×480 is small, but very usable in my opinion. I remember back in the day when we thought 640×480 was a big deal so 800×480, while not as nice as the big honking LCD my T60 has, it’s smaller!
May 11th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Mitchell,
If I were you, and you had the money, the Eee900 is probably more your cup of tea. I remember you didn’t care for the Shift’s screen. However, even if you do get the 701/702, then it would be a great portable machine no matter whether you run the Xandros, Ubuntu or Windows XP on it. Vista would NOT work on this thing. Not enough horses under the hood.
May 11th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Dang I keep forgetting people! Jessica: Penolpeee….my wife would be jealous! Actually, she kind of already is…..not because she wants one either!:D
I might call it Lightening…..after my son’s favorite character in Cars. I’ll ask him if he has any ideas!
May 11th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Joel,
Thanks. I wasn’t aware that these wireless USB cards worked on Linux at all. I have a Verizon wireless card for work, but unfortunately it’s a PCMCIA card, and I doubt that is compatible with a Linux Eee.
BTW, You might want to try doing “real” work with a remote desktop like logmein. I know it sounds clumsy, but the free client should work with a Linux laptop as long as it has a decent browser. And it’s actually better, in my opinion, to have the desktop power even if there’s the clumsiness of the remote desktop feel. Only problem is that you won’t want to do audio/video work that way. The real advantage is that it might save you from the extra storage, except for whatever Kubuntu requires if you go that way.
I hope you’ll share your adventures with alternate OS on it, or various connectivity options!
May 12th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Joel, my husband is already jealous too, but because HE wants one so bad! LOL If I hadn’t gotten the pink 4G eeePC, I think mine would end up going missing from time to time.
BTW, I installed Hardy Heron on it Saturday night and it looks gorgeous. Very snappy performance.