Eee PC 900 Product Diary

For the most part, I’ve been very content with the way the Xandros Eee PC 900 runs on the original specs. But I figured it wouldn’t hurt to upgrade the 1GB of memory to 2GB.

The Eee PC, like its 701 predecessor, has only one DIMM slot, so if your system comes with less than 2GB and you want to upgrade, you’ll need to throw out the factory-installed RAM. The RAM replacement process is pretty painless, at least compared with that of the HP Mini-Note. However, I will confess it took me a long time to find the second screw to take off the back of the system. For some odd reason, ASUS decided to put an Eee PC sticker over the second screw on the back. Why? Most likely to make me feel like an idiot.

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I am a big fan of Xandros on the Eee PC, but I’ve always said it has its limitations, especially when it doesn’t give me access to my favorite Windows programs. But when my editor told me earlier this week about Wine HQ, I nearly freaked. Wine HQ enables a compatibility layer that allows Windows programs to run on a Linux OS.

Wine isn’t the easiest to configure, but I figured it out with the help of the ever-informed Eee PC forum members. Check out my step-by-step instructions here.

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I am a fan of ASUS’ Xandros tab-based desktop, but for everyday advanced users, it just isn’t cut out to do the dirty work. I much prefer working in the more Windows-reminiscent Xandros full-KDE Mode with a Start Launch button and easier access to utilities and programs.

I figured enabling the advanced desktop mode on the Eee PC 900 would be a cinch if I just followed the step-by-step directions for the 700. But there’s the rub. I followed our instructions for the 700 extremely closely; however, when I got to the step to type in “apt-get update” in the terminal, an error message popped up saying the files could not be located.

Thanks to some helpful EeeUser.com forum members I was able to solve the problem by following these steps.

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Last week the long-awaited Eee PC 900 arrived at our office. After it underwent the Ellis Island sign-in process—okay, rather our laptop tracking database—it was greeted by some eager onlookers. Like a great big bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, we passed the system around, and I think many of us licked our fingers clean. After we were done pawing at the new system and making comparisons to its older, inferior brother, I sat down to review it.

My initial impression of the system was that, though minimally different from its predecessor, it had come a long way. The 8.9-inch screen is so much easier on my eyes; I don’t think twice about storage space when it comes to downloading files or applications, and a multi-glide touchpad adds a touch of class to a budget system. Sure I had my reservations: two hours of battery is less than ideal and the system goes into a power-saving mode that affects performance. But overall, I was damn pleased.

Will my high regard for the system live on? Can the Eee PC 900 make me forget about all the other notebooks in the world and be the one I promise to love and cherish? I intend to find out over the next few days. Join mEee on the ride.