On Monday I went to PC World in Meadowhall to show a friend the range of end-user laptops or desktops that are out there in main retailers. We ended up purchasing a power supply, which I diagnosed as dead and was the reason why my friend's desktop PC was not working. We also asked PC World staff to swap the power supplies for us, which they did for a good price. In the end, my friend didn't leave with a new PC, but went away happy, after getting his old desktop PC back from the dead for a mere £79.
While the PC was being repaired, I went back to the laptop section to have a look at the Asus eePC, that so many magazines write about.
These are my impressions and comment.
The first thing one notices about the eePC is its size, of course. Its screen size is only 7" diagonal, which makes you instantly think that you will not be able to see anything.
Display
Contrary to the first impression, the display is good. For sure, you cannot work on the eePC at full arm length, but in a standard position, reading what is on the screen is fine. I created a spreadsheet document to enter figures and found the display pleasant. It 'only' has a resolution of 800x600, which may, from what I've read in posts around the web, be a problem with long and windy dialog boxes, although I also read that there are key combinations that allow you to view them anyway. Personally, I liked the display.
Interface
Having extended experience of Ubuntu and having tested gOS for a while, I am used to non-Windows-looking interfaces. The eePC's custom Linux GUI is intuitive and pleasant. When you boot the machine, you are shown a 'desktop' with tabs: Internet, Word, Media, Games (if I remember correctly). Each tab's window has nicely arranged icons representing applications (Eg. Email, documents, spreadsheets, etc.). As in Ubuntu, small icons at the top of the screen will display status of services such as Network/Wifi, Time, etc. All in all, very intuitive and easy to use for first time computer user, Windows-specialists, Mac-enthusiasts, or Linux-experienced.
Keyboard
There's no doubt about it, it's small. For one, it's no way as small as smartphone keyboard. And second, it is surprisingly easy to type with, even for someone with big ad short fingers like me. At first I got the usual wrong characters in, but after a few minutes, I could type quite fast and precisely. Pressing the keys feel fine, a little like the keys on the iMac's older keyboards. All in all, it was like working with a laptop - albeit a small one...
Responsiveness
I thought that the performances were good. I plugged in my 4gb pen drive and went through the file manager to find an Excel and a Word documents, to check the OpenOffice implementation. The file manager saw my pen drive very quickly, and one I clicked on the files, OpenOffice started in seconds. And that's only on a 512mb of RAM machine! I poked around the machine, opened a host of applications (after closing others), and was pleasantly surprised by the performance of the eePC.
Other
While the PC was being repaired, I went back to the laptop section to have a look at the Asus eePC, that so many magazines write about.
These are my impressions and comment.
The first thing one notices about the eePC is its size, of course. Its screen size is only 7" diagonal, which makes you instantly think that you will not be able to see anything.
Display
Contrary to the first impression, the display is good. For sure, you cannot work on the eePC at full arm length, but in a standard position, reading what is on the screen is fine. I created a spreadsheet document to enter figures and found the display pleasant. It 'only' has a resolution of 800x600, which may, from what I've read in posts around the web, be a problem with long and windy dialog boxes, although I also read that there are key combinations that allow you to view them anyway. Personally, I liked the display.
Interface
Having extended experience of Ubuntu and having tested gOS for a while, I am used to non-Windows-looking interfaces. The eePC's custom Linux GUI is intuitive and pleasant. When you boot the machine, you are shown a 'desktop' with tabs: Internet, Word, Media, Games (if I remember correctly). Each tab's window has nicely arranged icons representing applications (Eg. Email, documents, spreadsheets, etc.). As in Ubuntu, small icons at the top of the screen will display status of services such as Network/Wifi, Time, etc. All in all, very intuitive and easy to use for first time computer user, Windows-specialists, Mac-enthusiasts, or Linux-experienced.
Keyboard
There's no doubt about it, it's small. For one, it's no way as small as smartphone keyboard. And second, it is surprisingly easy to type with, even for someone with big ad short fingers like me. At first I got the usual wrong characters in, but after a few minutes, I could type quite fast and precisely. Pressing the keys feel fine, a little like the keys on the iMac's older keyboards. All in all, it was like working with a laptop - albeit a small one...
Responsiveness
I thought that the performances were good. I plugged in my 4gb pen drive and went through the file manager to find an Excel and a Word documents, to check the OpenOffice implementation. The file manager saw my pen drive very quickly, and one I clicked on the files, OpenOffice started in seconds. And that's only on a 512mb of RAM machine! I poked around the machine, opened a host of applications (after closing others), and was pleasantly surprised by the performance of the eePC.
Other
- The eePC is light, really light. You can hold it in one hand and move it around. That's a real bonus
- The eePC has a built-in camera. Didn't test it, but it should prove very useful for iChat-type of communication
- I could see 2 USB ports, which is good. I also saw a SD card reader, and an Internet port
Conclusion
Even though I didn't test the eePC at length (lucky journalist who can do that for a living), the time I spent with it was enough to convince me that it is a useful PC, and not a gadget. I just read this morning that HP are entering the market with their own lightweight model, which goes on to show that Asus got it right when they ventured in this direction. I will personally recommend this product to people who don't have a PC and want to go on the net, students who need to research and take notes on the go, and companies who want to offer easy-to-use laptops to their staff. For £299, you cannot go really wrong.
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