Asus eee PC

This is one of those things I don't need but really want.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/mobile-devices/review/2007/10/30/Asus-Eee-PC-4G-701/p1

Anyone here got one? What do you think?

Me 2 been after one of these since it was first announced as on the horizon about 6-8 months ago. Still not available anywhere near me yet :(

Oh right - I didn't know they were around so long. I only just heard about them. Apparently they're releasing a version with a 10" screen next year.

Its great but i was expecting better battery life as it uses soild state storage. if only the intel 900 chip was any good at open gl it would be great for max games

They havent, they just got released in europe (they have been available in asia for a little bit longer) but getting hyped as comming soon for a while now.

Has anyone got one of these? Since they run off Linux, can they be used to compile BlitzMax stuff on Linux?

Oooh - ooOOOh!

Touching....

I want one of these - it is cheap as chips! It's a couple of hundred!

I'll have to read the review - I have never heard of this - I don't even know what it is - however, I might order one tonight if I get into a frenzy.

Anyone able to summarise what it is?

Mmm, I want the Windows version.

http://www.cnettv.co.uk/technology/dialogue-box/episode-4-how-the-asus-eee-stole-hearts-10000049.htm?p5=Tech

This seems to give clearer, factual, info about the thing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASUS_Eee_PC

in the UK its reviewed in PC Format they gave it 96% it has some down point but i still want one.

Down points are in the UK its only has 4Gbs of internal storage which is mostly taken up by the OS. it has no optical drive, it has a max screen res of 800 X 480, only 512mb of ram and a rubbish for open gl intel 910 graphic chip.

I was very disapionted it doent have a massive battery life 3.5 hours max but i guess thats because its foot print is smaller than an A5 sheet of paper.

For people who want windows it comes with a detailed guide and drivers for installing XP.

On the plus side you can just put a large SD card in and double your storage and rams cheap. its wi-fi and its £220 RRP. plus it has VGA out for a bigger monitor.

The 915GM is fine for running BlitzMax stuff on -- you'll have to bodge the VRAM space checks in MiniB3D though*, assuming this thing has comparable drivers.


*EDIT: Extended version.

its supposed to be a nightmare to type on

I think 'nightmare' is abit of an exaduration. Firstly it depends on the size of your hands and fingers, child, teen and lady would probably have less of a problem, where as Michael Clarke Duncan would probably struggle.

Then you have to compare it with various other things, such as a mobile phone keypad which has alot smaller keys than this.

Then, even if you had large fingers I still wouldn't discribe it as a 'nightmare', on the same level as dreaming your a female oblivion model, being chased down a long corridor by a salavating puki with his trousers down his ankles.....or was that just me?

does anyone own a pc with a intel 915gm chip who can give me idea off how it performs, idealy in linux? i know its a long shot.

probably not good if the gfx are intel too. Intel graphics are usually hopeless. (esp. where 3D & OpenGL is concerned)

Should work as a mobile coding and syntax comp-test platform though. Or if you use an alternative 2D engine that doesnt rely on 3D stuff to do the 2D.

Ive just been reading up about this machine... the rumours that the 8Gb version will have a larger screen.. and that they may sell models with XP installed... and then I go and find that Toys R Us sell them !
Of course they seem to be out of stock at the moment but I happen to live very near to a store so it does mean I can actually pop in when they are in stock and see one in the flesh.

I was reading up on the Eee PC's performance last night. It seems that there are accelerated 3D drivers for both Windows and Linux, which is nice. It appears to run Compiz Fusion very well (see video at bottom of first link), and apparently runs some Windows games on low settings (second link)...

http://hup.hu/node/48116
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=1762468

Sounds like it should run most Blitz3D/Max stuff, at least well enough for development purposes. I want but can't afford!

did anyone get one for christmas? if so whats it like with blitz?

Just been looking at one of these in PC World
Very nice

Same question as Pete Carter ..
Anyone got one of these yet and in particular, got Blitzmax running on it?

The unit is certainly drawing the crowds in the store
I can see this puppy becoming the iPod of laptops

http://beta.ivancover.com/wiki/index.php/Eee_PC_Internal_Upgrades

Great mods!
This is the sort of thing that will make the 'e' more appealing. Especially since it's price is good.

Stiil, I would be foaming at the mouth if they released a version with these features:

+ A larger screen
+ Touch Screen
+ SplashTop - Instant On with internet and skype ready to roll

There is a video showing how to install touch screen too. Looks like a nice weekend project to me.

I got one last week.. from Toys R Us... the 4Gb version. The built in OS is nice.. for non techies. Once I tried installing BlitzMax I found it frustrating so I installed Ubuntu instead. There is a package out there which you just run to support all the hardware. I just ran that... installed the required packages and blitzmax works no problem.
Unfortunately running apps is not so good. For a start currently the video driver only supports 800x480 resolution so any full screen app ( ie a lot of the samples ) fail until you change the graphics command.
The other problem I found which Im not sure is general to all linux machine is that with compiz running any windowed app appears on the screen but without a visible border. You can still click where the border should be and drag it around but the background apps dont refresh..its all beomes a mess. When you quit the app you have to click around on the other apps to get them to redraw themselves.
Another thing I have found is if you stop the app from within the IDE it disapears from the screen but doesnt actually stop. You have to go into the system monitor and kill it which is a pain.
I also installed windows.. after using nLite to remove the toot that I wouldnt need. It runs nicely.. and the supplied drivers allow 800x600 mode which is a bonus. BlitzMax run no problems in windows.. apart from the limitation of full screen apps as with linux.
Im just waiting for my 2gb memory to turn up. Currently both Ubuntu and Windows start running low on memory pretty quick... and in both setups I deliberatly disabled virtual memory. Maybe some of the Linux problems are down to memory shortages too.
Anyhow.. all in all.. a good start but could do better :)... I kinda see this machine the same as the original US Robotics Palm Pilot.. great idea for a first generation machine.. give it a few years and maybe these sort of machine will be as common and Palm devices today.
Or maybe not..

QB,
have you tried any 3D stuff?
From the video of GTA3 - Vice City it looks like the machine can handle games very well

I believe though the PC needs overclocking to 900Mhz(?) to play the game nicely

I havent tried any 3d stuff.. the default OS contained a 3d game Tux Racer or something.. downhill skiing type of game.. that played pretty well.. so I think as long as they are not too taxing they should play OK.. I tried the firepaint demo and even with the screen almost full of particles it ran pretty smooth and from what I understand BMax uses 3d graphics.

When I get some spare time Ill try something.

Trouble with the system is that the gma 900 series chips only support opengl 1.4. i wish it had the gma X3500 its still an intel intergrated chip but it has full opengl 2.0 so performance would be much more useable. but thats not what the EEE is made for. But as the eee looks like it is selling very well hopefully more companies will compete with asus and release higher spec systems for around the same price.

I still want one though.

The processor is under clocked in the eee so i guess if you run it at 900mhz your not going to damage it, your battery life will be much less but i never use batterys anyway.