Asus Eee PC Product Diary

So this is it, the final day of the grand experiment. Over the course of the 5 days that I’d abandoned my Apple MacBook ($796.95) for the Asus Eee PC 4G Surf, I learned how to repair the system’s wonky Wi-Fi connection, create a more work-friendly typing experience, and tweak the Xandros operating system so that it would display in full desktop mode – with a little assistance from the helpful and passionate Eee User community. Much thanks to all involved.

I thought I’d use my final day to try something a little more radical: installing a new operating system on the Eee PC. With Everex’ Cloudbook set to arrive in-office any day now, we figured there was no better time than now to give the gOS operating system a preview.

Installing gOS on the Eee PC

Acquiring gOS was simple. I downloaded the iso from Think gOS, burned the file to disc as an image using a desktop PC, and popped it into an USB An optical drive allows you to play or record to DVDs, CDs, or Blu-ray discs.
Learn MoreDVD drive. I then connected the USB DVD drive to the Eee PC, held the ESC key as I powered on, and chose to boot from the external drive. About a minute later gOS was running from the live CD and looking quite sexy, I might add.

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Yesterday, I was in total geek-out mode after discovering that a USB keyboard and mouse combo made the already sweet Eee PC computing experience that much better. It was so smooth that I wanted to add an external monitor to the mix, but then I realized I was getting ahead of myself just a bit. As much as I like and appreciate Asus’ easy-to-use Xandros operating system, I’ll be the first to admit that the large icons are a bit “in your face.” Do I really want them blown up on a monitor? No. No, I do not.

I recalled someone telling me (or perhaps I had read it online) that there was a way for Eee PC users to quickly and easily change the desktop layout, so I did a quick Google, which once again brought me to the Mecca of all things Eee PC, the aptly named Eee User. As someone who hasn’t inputted any code since the heyday of BASIC and the almighty Commodore 64, I was a wee bit intimidated as I didn’t want to brick the lappie. Nervously, I took a sip of my Coke and Redbull (aka geek nectar), and went to work. And it was far easier than I had imagined. Read the rest of this entry »

When I first agreed to abandon my notebook for the Asus Eee PC, the only trepidation I faced was in regards to the Liliputian keyboard. After spending three days with the little-notebook-that-could, I can honestly say that my fears were indeed warranted.

While I must admit that I’ve somewhat adjusted, nothing beats the comfort of a full-sized keyboard (and a trackpad and mouse buttons that don’t feel as though they were crafted by a team of designers with the smallest hands in known history). My breaking point arrived today while trying to swiftly type up an article, so I could join a couple of co-workers in some after-hours shenanigans. It seemed that the Eee PC’s keyboard did everything within its power to slow me down.

As my tensions mounted, I turned to our Editorial Assistant for, well, assistance. She heard my story of frustration, disappeared into our storage room, and returned with the Logitech G15 USB keyboard. I nominate her for sainthood. Remembering that I had a USB mouse stashed away in my apartment, I figured I could put one and one together to form a dynamic duo that would replicate the feel of a larger notebook quite nicely. I joined my colleagues for an after work get together confident that I would be able to blow through work at home. Read the rest of this entry »

Waking Up To Wi-Fi Problems

After I woke up and did the normal morning scrubbing and grooming, I made like a bullet to the Eee PC in order to check my e-mail. I encountered a problem, however; the Eee Pc would not connect to the Web via my secure home network.

I tinkered with the system’s Wi-Fi settings, and after 10 minutes of withdrawl symptoms, hopped on my MacBook to search for a solution. I stumbled upon the Eeeuser.com forums, where a quick search revealed that many, many Eee PC users experienced similar frustrations. I learned that one of the quick and dirty fixes is to delete all preferred networks and enter a Wi-Fi set-up manually, which I did. After a quick reset, I was connected and a happy camper. At least for now.

Multimedia Fun With the Eee PC

I have most of my digital music backed up on an external drive, so when I wanted to listen to some tunes while ironing my clothes, I simply attached it to the Eee PC via USB 2.0. I transfered only a dozen or so songs to the Eee PC as I wanted to preserve some free space on the 4GB solid-state drive. Although the Eee PC’s music player isn’t exactly easy on the eyes, it offers a nice array of options like the ability to create playlists, listen to the most frequently played songs, and subscribe to podcasts.

I was pleasantly surprised with the sheer volume that the little guy could pump out; I actually preferred the Eee PC’s integrated speakers over my MacBook’s. The speakers flank the display, so audio is shot directly at you. Cool. Then in a moment of genius, I pulled out an old set of Logitech 2.1 speakers and connected it to the Eee PC via the headphone jack-WHOA. My floor began to vibrate as bass and drums of Sound Garden’s “Black Hole Sun” kicked in.

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The Eee PC 4G Surf arrived in office to much fanfare. My colleagues gathered around my cubicle and took turns passing around the two-pounder. The gentlemen labeled it as “cool,” while the women-folk universally agreed that it was “cute”. Not too many products gain such positive reactions right off the bat. But since this diary is all about me, I quickly pried the Eee PC from their grubby little paws and went about chronicling my experiences.

My initial impression? This is one travel-friendly notebook. It’s a little larger than a paperback, and about as heavy-it just feels perfect in hand. When I popped the top on this puppy and powered on the unit, I was quite impressed with the startup time; it took about 15 seconds for the system to boot courtesy of the lightweight Xandros Linux operating system and a small, but peppy, 4GB solid-state drive.

Arriving at the home screen is quite a different experience than with Mac OS X, Windows, or even other versions of Mac OS X. Instead of arriving at the traditional spacious desktop environment with small icons or a dock for launching applications, the Eee PC opts for a tabbed interface (Internet, Work, Learn, Play, Settings, Favorites) with relatively huge icons.It makes navigating and launching programs a cinch, but has a strong “in your face feel” that made me want to just clear the icons and work within a traditional desktop.I guess that was a wise way to go, as Asus originally positioned the Ee PC as the tool for children and grandparents, not 30-something year old tech writers with a fetish for all things electronic.

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