Day of EeePC: The Unboxening
computers, work November 28th. 2007, 2:14pmThe first of our EeePCs arrived at work today, and what a lovely bit of kit it is. As is traditional, there was an Unpacking Ceremony, and here are a few pictures of the box and the unit in action.
Apologies for poor quality camera scans. It really is a lovely unit though. A bit thicker than I expected (and probably thicker than it needs to be really – especially at the back), and it runs slightly warm (but only slightly, it’s just I wasn’t expecting it to run warm at all). I’ve had a slight problem with WEP keys and multiple wireless access points too, but that seems to have sorted itself now.
But! Still ace!
November 28th, 2007 at 17:01
Errrmmm… what’s a EeePC?
November 28th, 2007 at 17:56
It’s a teeny little laptop. Basically, it’s a 7″ 800×480 screen, 900MHz CPU, 4GB flash drive, webcam, wireless and modified Xandros Linux. For under ¬£200.
And it’s lovely.
More here: http://eeepc.asus.com
November 28th, 2007 at 23:51
Hmm, okay…. that’s got me interested. What do you plan to use them for? I’ve read a couple of reviews, one on c|net and another somewhere else. Neither mentioned about disk drives, does it have a DVD ROM? For example, would this be any good for watching films on the move? If you don’t have a network, how can you transfer files etc.. Does it have bluetooth so I could hook it up to my N73 and use it for internet access? Sorry to ask you these questions but I didn’t find the info easily and I’m lazy, and since you have one it’s probably pretty easy for you to answer them.
November 29th, 2007 at 13:14
We’ve got two main uses.
For staff: We have a web-based electronic register, and not all areas of the school are covered by a desktop computer from which to do this, so a wireless handheld device is ideal (and the browser – Firefox – works with the register, PDA browsers don’t). Ditto for internal web-based email.
For pupils: We’re implimenting a VLE (virtual learning environment), which (again) is web-based. In order to use it, do lessons, homework, tests, etc. all you need a web-browser.
There are no drives – no floppy, no CD/DVD and no hard drive. The HDD is replaced by 4GB of flash. It also has USB and SD card ports, and can use the SD card as a “second hard drive”. You can watch films on it, yes – it comes with a media player and media management software.
You can transfer files via USB drive (but the purposes we’re using them for won’t require any file transfer).
It doesn’t have bluetooth, although my generic USB bluetooth adapter works fine – you just need to install a few extra packages (this is documented on the Wiki at http://www.eeeuser.com – a Very Helpful Site). Since the script I use on my Mac to use my Vario II’s internet connection via bluetooth was altered from a Linux script, I would imagine it can be done on the EeePC too. I haven’t looked into it much. There are also scripts that let you do it via USB tethering, although success and support varies by phone.
Oh, and you can make an internal bluetooth adapter…
http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com/2007/11/28/modding-the-asus-701-eee-bluetooth/
November 29th, 2007 at 15:28
This all sounds very promising, I love the price too! Quite tempted to buy one, just out of curiosity rather than a need for one. But I also may wait and see if a newer version is announced with slightly more features.
November 29th, 2007 at 16:36
My only complaints are that the screen resolution is a little small (1024×600 would have been perfect), although the physical size is fine, and no bluetooth as standard. But for the price, I really can’t fault it.
January 26th, 2008 at 18:04
[...] 2008 Posted by Phil in Computers, General Banter. Tags: asus eeepc trackback Everyone and their brothers talking about it, and I’ve seen a few around the uni, I even hear my old mate Adam has one [...]
January 1st, 2010 at 20:36
[...] January 2008, 7:03 pm Filed under: Computers, General Banter | Tags: asus eeepc Everyone and their brothers talking about it, and I’ve seen a few around the uni, I even hear my old mate Adam has one [...]