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ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
After two years with my 770, and an unhealthy amount of time daydreaming about the N810, I made a decision. I bought a white (they were out of black) 4GB ASUS EEE PC w/webcam and an additional 8GB SDHC card. At $399 CDN the price point blows the N810 out of the water - - they're around $480 up here, more than what I paid after 13% taxes. Another prime motivator for my decision was that the niche the 770 filled for me was primarily about form factor. I already have a pocket internet device, why spend $500 on another one because... it does Flash?
I realize there are other EEE threads here but my purpose with this one is to do a walkthrough of my experiences and how I set it up. I want to compare it directly with my 770 experience. You see, when I bought this, it was never destined to run the default Xandros install. Rather, it's going to get a flavour of Ubuntu on it. My general first impressions. - Opening the box, it was pretty sparse inside. Getting Started manual, power adapter, EEE PC, battery, stretchy case/protective cover, and a CD (Windows only, boo!) - It charged 70% in 40 mins. Battery life expectation is 3.5 hrs on this model. - Bootup and configuration were a snap and slightly reminiscent of the internet tablets - The interface strikes me as one meant for a PDA, though it's concise and well laid out (grouped into 4 main application groups/tabs), it seems meant for kids. - I got online in no time and it offered a similar browsing experience as the internet tablets offer... except I was in full blown firefox. - Pidgin comes installed by default, and again, was easy to get going. - The webcam wasn't too bad. - There's software that will activate applications by voice. Coworkers probably wondered why I was saying "Computer web!" or "Computer Camera!" a lot. - Bigger screen, same resolution. Really a matter of preference as to which is better, I'd say it depends on the situation. Overall, the EEE comes with a lot more out of the box and my experiences have been very similar to the tablet thus far. The main difference has been, again, the mini laptop form factor vs the tablet. |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
If you ever open it up, would you check if yours came with the spare PCI-express slot? Apparently, the "7A or 7B" on the serial # isn't a guarantee for either.
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Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
What, the cover on the bottom? I'll check right now.
My serial number begins with 7C. I see a stick of 512MB DDR RAM on the bottom and a big gaping hole above it with no discernable slots, connectors, ports, etc. Cheers for having me void my warranty tho! ;) (heheheheheh) |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
recently asus said in a press release that this doesn't void the warranty cos users are free to upgrade the memory of eee
:) |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
Nice work, Hedgecore - I might also get an Eee, especially if the Nokia Developer Discount program (aka Waiting For Godot) continues its nasty ways. I checked out a friend's Eee, and it's amazing what you get for the money.
As for the simple desktop layout, check out JK's simple fix on his blog called "Asus Eee PC: Full Desktop Mode and Easy Mode, your choice" at: http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkonther...-full-des.html I look forward to hearing more info as you learn more about the Eee. |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
Sweet! Thx!
I'm following this tutorial: http://www.sampletheweb.com/2007/12/...f-a-usb-drive/ I've copied Ubuntu 710 to my USB key per instructions at: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2007/09...ibbon-install/ I ran into problems booting the first time but realized this was because I didn't 'safely eject my USB device'. The files were open and disappeared when I yanked the key out. I hit ESC when booting my EEE per the instructions and was greeted with the familiar Ubuntu install menu text. As I set the USB key up for a persistent install, that's the option I chose. (I still want to show my girlfriend the original Xandros install in case the webcam takes some tinkering to get working again, and she's home soon anyway.) Linux Kernel loaded 100%... The orange bar below the Ubuntu logo is doing the Knight Ryder effect... Success! The wallpaper popped up, followed by a usable mouse pointer, and the usual icons of an Ubuntu Live CD boot. Sound worked too. Curiously a notice popped up saying my battery (which is full) is at 1% and may be broken. After it was closed the actual battery icon showed 100%. Per the instructions, I'm going to make the windows dragable and get get WiFi going since this is a persistent image. Window dragging via the alt key was simple enough to enable in gconf-editor. I hope I won't have to use this much in the actual install - - if it's just for errant windows that pop up half off screen that'd be fine with me. For some reason it's not grabbing an IP address via ethernet. I'll have to look into this in a bit. Need to take a break. *Edit: Thanks TenSpeed! I'm going to boot back into Xandros to show her my new toy (so she can pretend she cares) and I'll go into full mode. If it works then I may hold off on Ubuntu until after my trip to Ottawa this weekend. |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
As someone who just got an N800 in Dec, its a little worrying that so many of the veterans here (Hedgecore, Thoughtfix, among others) appear to be moving on to the Eee. I guess I the cheapness of the N800 convinced me, but now I wonder if I would have been better off spending a little more to get a more powerful machine.
Oh well, unless I throw it up on eBay, the N800 is mine now and I have to be happy with it. I figure that maybe next holiday season I'll pick up the Eee or whatever the competing device ends up being. Hope you vets stick around and continue to be involved in this community, too. |
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Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
I didn't say I was going anywhere (yet). :) The EEE seems to be a nice compliment to the 770 so far. I didn't hop into the N800 game because like every Nokia tablet, they're a.) a pain in the #*$&# to get in Canada, and b.) ridiculously expensive. That and I barely had my shiny 770 for a year when the N800 was randomly released.
The tablets are amazing for tinkering on. There's so much new unexplored terrain on them for me... when push comes to shove, this EEE is just gonna be another PC (which is somewhat refreshing). But here's the thing, I'm going to get left by the wayside soon, 770 in hand. I'm doubtful I'll ever see another OS upgrade on that thing. (Which reminds me, I need to burn a copy of the latest image for when Nokia finally dumps it and leaves me in the cold a scant 24 months after buying my tablet.) If I didn't have a tablet yet, I'd have dove onto the N800 at it's cheap price these days... but really, for me it's what. A grainy webcam and flash support. And that's not worth $250 to me. (The 770 does what I want it to and I'm cool with that). Back to the EEE PC: TenSpeed - - worked like a charm! I'm now sitting in a full fledged Xandros desktop. Hint for new EEE users: Ctrl-Alt T brings up the terminal. ;) |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
The Eee will fit in some pockets. I don't try it, though. It has replaced my desktop and HP laptop, becoming my full-time computer. It's easy to pick it up and move anyplace, and it boots in a fraction of the time of a Windows machine. The other morning, just for grins, I hit the power button on my Eee and my HP at the same time. I had checked the email with my Eee and browsed Brighthand forums before the HP was ready to work. I don't plan on ever going back to a huge laptop, and probably not a desktop. This thing is perfect.
My N800 isn't getting much use. No PIMS, so I still carry my Palm, thus no room for the N800 in my pockets most of the time. Until I get decent PIMS and a password manager which can import all my passwords, it's just a toy. |
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Apparently Asus has removed the PCI-e connector from all the new batches. The bastards. (And no: You didn't void your warranty. Asus said the sticker is there just for laughs) |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
Yeah from what I read there should've been a connector there if I had it. Just a big 'ole empty bay. (Though now I know where to solder my USB bluetooth dongle guts if I want internal bluetooth) ;)
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Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
Great to hear it's as easy as advertised! I stumbled across the info a few days ago when researching rumors of a 2008 Eee desktop PC. Maybe the laptop makes more sense (especially with NAS in the house for media work).
My next project is to get a copy of Dyne:bolic linux <http://www.dynebolic.org/> onto an SD card and try booting it on my friend's Eee. That might just cause me to ditch my current Mac and finally learn more linux. And slip, I'm planning to continue with Maemo in the future (assuming Maemo's planning the same); the Eee might just be a perfect dev box for my limited needs. Or the new Shuttle kpc, or the Eee desktop, or Linutop 2, or ???... |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
My thoughts on the Eee are here:
http://www.maemopeople.org/index.php...ook_nokia_n810 I'd agree with Hedgecore's assertions. If it had built-in Bluetooth it'd be more useful for me, and I'll use it anywhere I need a small laptop (where my work 15" Dell would be too big/heavy to carry - i.e. pretty much anywhere ;-)). However, my N810 goes with me anywhere I might need Internet access, and is a much more "interesting" device, IMHO. |
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It seems the original miniPCIe slot was was wired in such a way as to be almost unusable, because if anything was plugged in it the 4GB of flash memory soldered on the mainboard were disabled. Apparently it could only be used to replace (not *extend*) the onboard storage, which sounds pretty dumb. "Modders" actually prefer it the way it is now, because without the connector there is more room left inside the unit to fit additional electronics, and more free power & USB connectors. By stripping the casing of regular USB gizmos and trimming their innards, it's impressive what some guys have crammed into that space : USB hub plus flash memory plus GPS etc.. |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
I'd rather buy the s.book or Packard Bell EasyNote XS / Nanobook / Cloudbook.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RlMN...eature=related http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/03/p...7-inch-laptop/ Better than eee: 1.2GHZ, Video chipset is better, DVI out, bluetooth built in (ready for bt mouse unlike eee, replaceable 30GB HDD, VOIP phone/module for sip or skype thats expandable, Webcam module and they are talking about a GPS module that will be released, the easynote version of this mini-laptop has the mouse pad on the top so you can use it like a UMPC, the gap makes it easy to type without a table as shown in the video below, battery life 5 hours with wi-fi off, get it at walmart for $399 on Jan 25. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu6CtT-NAd4 Only thing better in the 4G eee is the SSD(only comparing to that model because its the same price), but I'd rather have a slower IDE expandable/larger 30GB harddrive and have the option of later adding in a SSD drive when the prices drop, although SSD drives read fast their write speeds are extremely slow. I guess people might also like the look of the eee better but aesthetics don't mean anything to me, although the size is identical which is nice. |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
I now have Ubuntu 7.10 installed after following the guide referenced earlier.
I booted live and had issues with the wired ethernet connection. I used the cable connected to the Xbox (great media center) and had the EEE sitting in front of the TV (talk about awkward, my knees are killing me from squatting in front of it). No dice. The girlfriend wanted to watch a movie and was already losing her patience with me (seriously, I'm fun to live with) so I grabbed a spare network cable and did it from the kitchen table - - cept this second cable worked. Which is weird because the Xbox works on the other cable just fine. Anyway, with Voodoo magic rife in the air, I added Wifi support with MadWifi and it worked fine. Knowing that if it worked now I'd most likely have a usable Ubuntu install, I went ahead. After entering the install and picking mostly default options, I pooched the 4 partitions for the internal 4GB SSD and made one large ext2 one. ext2 is recommended over ext3 because there's less write cycles (though it'd take years of continuous writes to kill the memory.) A short install cycle later and it was time to reboot. I rebooted into Ubuntu, modified the window dragging behaviour again in gconf-editor, and installed the MadWifi drivers again. It kept asking for the Gutsy CDROM so I disabled the CDROM in Synaptic on the repositories screen and that solved the problem. I'm now online. (Woo!) Performance seems okay so far though I've really only used the command prompt and the web. Firefox takes 2 seconds to open. More after I get stuff installed. |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
So this thing has an atheros based wifi? That's one more advantage wrt the tablet, since madwifi supports packet injection perfectly, while the closed source driver of the tablet's adapter doesn't and probably never will (since there's no "business case" for it).
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Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
Correct, it's Atheros based. I admit, the second I saw that I thought about aircrack. (Seriously for 'woah cool it works' purposes only.)
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Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
I found a script people were recommending be run post install. Basically it
a.) Updates your new Ubuntu install b.) Installs WiFi drivers (mine disappeared after I did a system update) c.) Turns off a lot of logging to reduce writes to disk d.) Repairs suspend/resume/shutdown e.) Enables the microphone Worked fine, wifi works again now after using this. I enabled full on desktop effects. Wobbly windows work, though there's some 'checkering' when redrawing them. I'm going to do compiz now. *Edit: I decided against compiz. Some issues with the webcam and other things. Speaking of which, I'll go get the webcam going now instead. :) |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
«...The same internet expierence, that tablets have...except I was in full Firefox» - I think this is the best compliment for the tablets xD
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This was the deal breaker for me, but I will seriously consider an EEE once this is addressed. Better if if supported CF cards, seeing that 16MB SDHC cards are far from cheap at this point in time. My SDHC cost me around USD160, which is half the price of what the N800 is supposed to cost.... |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
Of course you can connect the Eee over bluetooth. You just need a bluetooth dongle. Mine recognized the dongle immediately, with no drivers needed. I also use CF cards with it, using a card reader. There isn't much room for a CF slot, but my card reader connects via the USB port, and I use my micro HD from my Lifedrive in it. For $400 you can't really expect to have everything installed, but everything I've tried works via the USB ports. I've ditched my HP laptop, and my desktop, and pretty much my N800, in favor of the Eee.
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Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
So you're saying that the BT dongle is plug and play? If so, that's one major obstacle out of the way...at least for me...
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Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
Yes, it is plug&play, but only if recognizable by the kernel drivers. For instance i bought a Chinese bluetooth dongle for $7, which generated a whole ton of kernel messages (thus affecting system stability). After patching the kernel sources and module recompile, that problem was gone (still much more than i achieved in Windows and the BlueSoleil big steaming pile). More established brands like Belkin are a no-brainer though.
BTW, Eee which kernel version uses? Would be good if it is a fresh one. |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
Hi all,
First, I think this has been a great forum. I just spent a whole three days trying to figure what I was going to do between purchasing A Mac Power book, a regular Vista Pc, and finally the EEE PC, this helped. In fact, it was also the idea of being able to get the N800 for less then $230.00 at Tiger Direct that made my final decision. I decided that I wanted to have the ability of extreme portability, and an OS that I LOVE, which is Linux. Anything to support the cause. My household is only a Linux household, I went extreme only after dealing with the nonesense of Mister Softie and his Orwellian antics. However, I believe that one needs to have both of these devices to live. Look, first of all, the EEE PC only has 2.5 hours to 3, at least the version I obtained, and when I am flying on a Southwest flight, with no tv, then I am not going to be loving life at that point, unless I can distract myself. Sure, I can read a book, but its fun if you can play games, or work on a school paper. What exciting about both of these devices is that you can actually interchange your storage media, so when one is about to die, I use the other. I also was worried about shelf life, usability before it becomes completly unsupported. Now both communities for Easy Pc and N800 are lively communities, and with an OS that is anti-obsoletence (if I invented this word, I am sorry...but its sounds great) , I can see that even if Nokia eventually abandons the N800. we will continue to have support. Finally, I can -now tell you that I feel like I am armed to the teeth to do battle with anything, for not only will I have my EEEPC to work on papers, but I will have my Nokia N800 to transfer the papers from a non wifi hotspot, linking to my Mortorola V557 (Blue Tooth) and my Palm Tungsten e2 doing all of my expenses, and PIM work, which I intend to make interchangable with all three devices....even if I have to port Evolution into my N800 :) Thanks again! |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
Geez, the more I read this the more I wish I had a money tree. :-( I've been eying the Asus for nearly a year now, have yet to read much if any negative reviews and I don't really need another internet device or computer but dang whats the point of taking the apple from the tree, because its there..
Am on a fixed income so getting new gadgets is tough and takes months of saving up for, at the end of last year (07) I finally updated my out dated phone to a new smartphone and now am waiting to see if Nok will be releasing the next IT (refuse to get N810) or if my money will be going to Asus this time around. Saw many fine examples of MID's and UMPC's at CES but I don't see any of them being anywhere near the Eee Pc's price range. |
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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211245 |
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As much as I like my tablet (I'm not going to get an eee, at least not yet), this is a real problem, especially considering the short lifespan of these devices. |
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I generally wear jeans or 4-pocket (plus watch!) shorts, neither of which have cargo pockets and my N800 fits just fine in both, even with a cellphone in the same pocket! Heck, my N800 fits fine in all of the dress pants I have, too, so I'm not sure what you're wearing. :rolleyes: |
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I suppose N810 would fit even better (smaller and thinner). |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
What kind of graphics card's in the EEE? Does it have 3D support in Linux? To be more precise, will Google Earth work?
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Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
My N800 fits in my shirt pocket, more or less. Some sticks out, but it stays in place. I've carried it in the pocket of a t-shirt. It easily fits in a pocket of my flight suit.
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Front pockets mean it will stick out. Not to mention that the N800 lack a hard case so chances are they will get damaged. Again not useabel without constand removal when sitting. Shirt pocket barely goes but it will stick out quite a bit and will likely take a nosedive whenever one bends forward since buttoning the thing down won't work The unit might (barely) work with a belt-case but otherwise it's a now-show. |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
Jesus, back to the "what kind of pants do you wear". I like sticking my EEE *AND* my 770 in this big trap of mine that I use to sound off given any chance.
Anyway. I just got back from a road trip to Ottawa. The EEE was pleasant to use during Sunday's hangover and Monday's hangover. I played some songs, watched a few movies, played a few games. Battery life was around 3 hours though I only used it for about 2.5. I did have some webcam play on the highway. (This was my "I just booted Ubuntu on a highway, awesome" phase.) Since last post, necessary codecs have been installed and overall it seems to be a very stable system. I think the install is complete as I can't think of much more I'd like to put on here or test out. Overall it was extremely painless and I didn't encounter any large problems; at least any problems that weren't quickly remedied by searching the EEE user forums / wikis. Now. You guys need to settle down about being brand warriors. I'll give my two cents on the whole experience. I don't have a cell phone, I don't want a cell phone. Canada has worse data rates than Rwanda (I'm serious), so I've no reason to get one. I also do a lot of offline stuff on my tablets like playing games or reading offline articles / eBooks, etc. Media's another big thing that doesn't require connectivity. My use case is probably radically different than all of yours. The EEE makes an awesome mothership for the tablet. For light travel (ie leaving the house) the tablet will suffice perfectly. For heavier travel like leaving the city, the two work in tandem beautifully. I would pull out the 770 (which has a great standby battery life) to see if there were hotspots available. If not, I wouldn't even bother booting the EEE if it was connectivity I was looking for. (Pretty expensive WiFi detector I know, but ah well.) I was also able to copy media over to the 770 from the EEE's lush farm of USB ports. Hell, I could've even flashed a new OS to the 770 in a parking lot if I wanted to. The EEE on it's own is great. I kept saying it was more of a sub-laptop - - perfect for the niche between tablet and laptop (which I didn't know existed, but hey). Now I tend to think I judged it too soon, with a full blown OS on there... well... it's a laptop. Not a beefy one, but I could seriously see people using one of these full time. It wouldn't satisfy my computing needs but for Joe Internet User it'd be perfect. Overall I'm glad I wasted $399 on it. Much more satisfying experience than the tablet. As Andrew said though, the tablet is much more interesting. Definately a form factor I'd like to see brought further... but I don't think the 'ole stalwart 770 will see a replacement until they come out with step 5. |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
I'm downloading Google Earth right now (370kps). I know the EEE will handle some 3d because I've seen gears running in some compiz videos.
File permissions changed, it's uncompressing. 10 seconds later I'm in the installer. 1GB free out of the 4GB total (this is a plain Ubuntu install with no swap or local media). Install took about 15 seconds. "Your desktop resolution is set to smaller than 1024x768. Google Earth requires a resolution of at least 1024x768 to be viewed properly. The application will run however the layout may not be optimal." D'oh. The app took about 5 seconds to start/hit the server. When not in full screen, the window is black. It started as a black circle with a blue halo around it but went all black when I tried to manipulate it. However, I hit F11 to go into full screen and it works great! Scrolling and zooming is very smooth. *Edit: After a few more mins with it, some dialogue windows are slow to redraw. |
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anything with a IDE port can use a IDE to CompactFlash adaptor (5$) and boot from the CompactFlash. CF cards are cheap, robust and size going up as price goind down. I work in Industrial/embedded computers and all our customers boot from CF cards then run in RAM. so a SSD is not an advantage when it's soldered onboard. I need a touchscreen Cloudbook ... |
Re: ASUS EEE PC Walkthrough From A Grizzled Old ITT User
Well, you're certainly free to buy whatever you want. Slagging people because they don't like what you like doesn't make much sense to me...
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