Here´s my first blog post using the new Eee PC from ASUS. My first impressions:
Excellent, easy setup with little configuration. Navigation UI for the Linux is excellent.
Smaller than I had expected and seems like a feather compared to my 8 pound Dell.
Keyboard is very tiny. Hard to type and easy to hit wr0ng keys.
Connectivity excellent
Phew…back on a real keyboard now. The Eee PC really shines as a good surfing tool with a bright 7″ screen that should be fine for most tasks including mail, but the tiny keyboard concerns me. Still, much better than having to lug a big laptop all over the place in China and small enough that I can carry it with me everywhere. After too much time looking at the similarly named options I chose the ASUS Eee PC 4G at $399. The basic model is $299 with 2G of the flash memory, but mine has 4G memory (there is no hard drive or disk drive on these!). Also a camera and what appears to be longer battery life – 3.5 vs 2.8 hours for the “surf” models.
Before you buy review the chart at ASUS which covers the different models. This is the current chart but I’m sure this will change, especially because the larger model should be out soon. Unless the keyboard is larger – in which case that is probably the one to get – I’d think that the larger model would not necessarily be a better idea since it will be heavier.
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Joe Duck 
What a coincidence. My XO laptop arrived Friday. Laptop showdown time!
Wow, that looks really cool Joe. Since my work provides one, I’ve been out of the laptop market for a while now (though the super thin Apples catch my eye), so these are somewhat new to me.
Although, I used to work with some software localization folks from Japan who would come over to the States periodically. Even 8 or 9 years ago, their laptops were always tiny – not much bigger than these. 10″ screens were the standard, whereas our laptops were getting bigger and bigger (I remember “splurging” for the 15″ Vaio in the late 90’s).
Tommo I´m not sure this little critter is going to be up to that XO standard, though I sure am enjoying the 2 poundness. Tiny keyboard remains the big challenge though I seem to be improving on that front.
Whoa Tommo – I didnt realize that XO was the new name for the One Laptop Per Child project….I´m anxious to see how that one works out. I think I read a review saying the ASUS has more features, but this is also a lot more expensive and unlike XO you cannot recharge your own battery with a little elbow grease.
it’s a nice toy if you have the time to play
http://www.eeehacks.com
Does anyone know if it is possible to upgrade the cpu to a intel centrino?
Fred you might check with some of the hardware hackers working on eeePCs but I can’t track that down right now. One guy was cracking things open to add a lot of memory and I bet he’s played with CPU also..
dear joeduck, i am 10 years old and i want this laptop for x-mas.. i am pretty sure i am getting it but i am looking at reviews for it. can u do me a favor adn go on clubpenguin.com on that thing and see how good it works>? i wanna make sure u can see what people are writing and stuff.. ps- what are some bad things abount this? is the screen clear>? bright? easy to set up?
Hi LIV –
I really think you should consider the newer small laptop models like the newer ASUS and the DELL which are not much more expensive. Although all of these will probably run Club Penguin (I’m not sure tho) the screen is very small on this.