Ever used an Eee Netbook?

[BenBurch]

Guys,

I am looking for a small machine to drag around that will have WiFi and the needed tools to do my jobs remotely.

These Eee Linux machines look nice, but I wonder if anybody can give me a subjective review of how fast they actually are?

Would they compare well to a 600 MHz P-III machine running Linux? Or are they slower than that?

And if you have done any development work on them, or imported GNU tools, were there any snags of note?

Thanks!

-Ben

[richardm]

I bought a 4g for my wife's birthday last year, because she wanted something to surf the net on and take to meetings to take notes, and all that sort of thing.

It's great. She loves it, and I'm jealous of it.

It is not slow either. I have no idea what a 600mhz P3 running Linux would behave like, but let me get you some timings:

From hitting the "On" button to being ready to start work (with the wireless connection up and running and everything): 31 seconds from completely off. Startup from Standby, 4 seconds. Shutdown (to completely off), 6 seconds.

Starting Firefox: 7 seconds
Starting Open Office Document writer (while Firefox is still running) 8 seconds.

In other words, things don't snap open like magic, but plenty fast enough not to be any bother.

I had to import development tools in order to build a printer driver, and didn't hit any snags whatsoever. (if you discount the fact that I had to build a driver in the first place - most printers seem to be supported; in fact device support is generally very good.).

You can install XP on it if you want - depends on what you want to do, but for general use the provided OS (a Linux variant) is perfectly adequate.

Highly recommended, I'd say.

[Monketey Ghost]

Just don't imagine it's compatible with much. Most products are made for windows, and we've yet to set up my wife's eee so it can use our aircard.

[zooterkin]

My other half had one, briefly, but didn't get on with it as the keyboard was just too small to touchtype on (I think there were some other issues, but that was the main one). She's now got an Advent netbook (Windows rather than Linux), which is very slightly larger, and she's very happy with that.

So, I know it's not what you're asking, but another factor to consider.

[Soapy Sam]

I'm on an Eee 910 now.
I bought it to replace an HP2530 Vista laptop which I bought in a fit of madness 21 months ago and detested.

I love the Eee, though uncharacteristically, having bought the Linux version, I installed XP Home on it, which runs perfectly. I plan to try a full install of Ubuntu next time home, just for variety.
I work on rigs in remote locations and I hate travelling with baggage. A light laptop is a boon and they don't come much lighter than this, though there are similar weight machines around from several manufacturers now.

Minor gripe with the preinstalled Linux was a failure to recognise WAP security on my home wifi. Other than that it ran fine. The switch to XP was simply an experiment, but because I have to use XP at work it has been simpler to keep it so far.
Only grumble I have about the hardware is the US keyboard, which I feel is a bit poor for a machine selling in the UK. Minor annoyance though. (ETA- I mean the US layout of the keyboard. Mechanically I have no problem with the keyboardat all. Light and positive.)

The version I got has no hard drive, just 20GB of solid state memory (as well as 1 GB of RAM). In addition, I have a 16GB SD card in the dedicated reader slot. (An XD option would have been nice, as I use Olympus cameras).

I've had the 910 since October and I like it more all the time.
The screen is small, but very clear to read- far easier in sunlight than the HP's infuriatingly reflective glossy screen.
If you touch type you will find the keyboard restrictive. I'm a two finger typist and find I make fewer errors on the Eee than on my home desktop, because both screen and keys are permanently in my field of view.

Battery life is great, largely due to the absence of a hard drive and the small screen.
I have yet to see the claimed 7 hours max, but six is certainly possible when doing actual work and the powersave software is user transparent. Shut the lid and it sleeps. Open it and you're in business in seconds- even with XP.
What the Eee is not, is a games or multimedia machine. There's no optical drive, so if you want videos you need either an external DVD drive or a USB hard drive. I use the latter. Watching a DivX on a plane is fine, but this is no wide-screen surround-sound home theatre.
Nor is it a multitasking powerhouse. Listening to music while running the GIMP for instance, the music sometimes slows or hesitates. It runs OpenOffice 3 fine and as fast as the 2530 ran MS Office 97 which was the last version of Microsoft Office I ever expect to own.
There's no "perfect" box. The small format does mandate compromises, but they get less serious with every new model. I waited for the 910 and I'm pleased with that decision.
I'm a happy customer. The thing is FUN to use. Despite having a perfectly good quad machine at home, I often find myself taking the Eee to bed and logging onto JREF via Wifi. It's the most fun I've had with portable computing since my Psion 5 died.
And it cost less!

[richardm]

Just don't imagine it's compatible with much. Most products are made for windows, and we've yet to set up my wife's eee so it can use our aircard.

If by aircard you mean one of this type of thing (http://mobileoffice.about.com/od/remoteaccesssolutions/g/aircard.htm), then clearly it's a case of "your mileage may vary", since ours works fine with a 3 Mobile broadband dongle.

Edit: And you do always have the option of installing Windows on it, which solves that problem anyway.

[KoihimeNakamura]

I have an eee 900. I've replaced the base linux distro (a xandros one, don't recommend it if you're into linux) with ubuntu and imported a custom linux-eee kernel (Which I needed for the wifi).

I generally use my netbook for light work (Since I use it.. at a gas station, meaning, no games and such) for openoffice + a pro. text editor to work on a story or a webpage. I've got no complaints, however, I would buy your own USB keyboard. I use one for my typing (and a spare USB mouse I happen to have, but that's really not necessary)

... I do, sometimes, wish I had XP on it, but... I'm not really sure how to install it via USB and I'm content with Linux right now.

Anyway

Would they compare well to a 600 MHz P-III machine running Linux? Or are they slower than that?

And if you have done any development work on them, or imported GNU tools, were there any snags of note?

Thanks!

As I said, install ubuntu. It's as fast as a 600 Mhz, or better, and if you use the ubuntu-eee kernel, even faster.

[BenBurch]

Very good feedback, thanks!

I see reading elsewhere that VNC client works. That is my essential application for travel.

And yeah, I'd have Ubuntu on there if I got one. Gone are the days when I did everything with Slackware because I got to customize everything; TOO MANY OPTIONS now to want to even know what they all are!

[El Greco]

I often find myself taking the Eee to bed and logging onto JREF via Wifi. It's the most fun I've had

I think that redefines the "fun in bed" idea.

[Soapy Sam]

Rika- I loaded XP via a USB CD drive. Sorry. I cheated.

Where did you find the eee custom kernel ?

[BenBurch]

Rika- I loaded XP via a USB CD drive. Sorry. I cheated.

Where did you find the eee custom kernel ?

This might help; http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=32303

[Soapy Sam]

Ta. I'm on a very slow link here.
Home on Wednesday though. Time to tinker.

[Nick Bogaerts]

Same here. Eee 901. Ditched the pre-installed Xandros, which was rubbish, in favour of a custom Debian (http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEeePC). I had a couple of driver issues: sound, which I had to compile from source, and the touchpad, which is fixed in the last -rc kernel, but hasn't made it to Lenny.

Otherwise, straightforward install, and overall I'm very happy with it.

[BenBurch]

Well, I finally got an Eee. A refurbished 901A with a 4GB flash disk and 1GB RAM.

I have installed Xubuntu on it, found the right patch for the wireless driver, and am very happy with it.

A nice machine and surprisingly fast.

-Ben

[Ducky]

Well, I finally got an Eee. A refurbished 901A with a 4GB flash disk and 1GB RAM.

I have installed Xubuntu on it, found the right patch for the wireless driver, and am very happy with it.

A nice machine and surprisingly fast.

-Ben

This was my experience. Glad it works for you.

[GreNME]

Wow, everyone bagging Xandros. I'll keep that in mind (and not bother trying it).

Thing to note for the XP users of this: if it's using a solid state drive, make sure you back up any sensitive data if you have any on it. XP still has some issues with Explorer (file explorer, not Internet Explorer) that result in lots of unnecessary read-writes during operation (and SSD support is weak). There are some hacks out there for it, but if your system is working fine it's usually not a good idea to futz with it unless you're willing to risk hosing it.

[Ducky]

Wow, everyone bagging Xandros. I'll keep that in mind (and not bother trying it).

Thing to note for the XP users of this: if it's using a solid state drive, make sure you back up any sensitive data if you have any on it. XP still has some issues with Explorer (file explorer, not Internet Explorer) that result in lots of unnecessary read-writes during operation (and SSD support is weak). There are some hacks out there for it, but if your system is working fine it's usually not a good idea to futz with it unless you're willing to risk hosing it.

iirc, the Xandros proper OS is fine (with usual fanboy arguments about any distro) but Asus uses a bastardized version that shortly after being released was shown to be rootable out of the box.

Either way, the specialized ubuntu builds are really well done for these machines, imo.

My memory is not far off:

http://www.xandros.com/products/oem/ (You can create your own bastardized Xandros Roll.)

http://www.risesecurity.org/blog/entry/6/

[BenBurch]

Yeah, the button farm they added to it was awkward, the buttons too easily launched by passing over them with the trackpad. And it was restrictive.

Plus I have been using Ubuntu for ages, and Xubuntu was well-liked among 900A owners I found using Google search. The other alternative was Easy-Peasy but it did not have working drivers for some things in the 900A, and I could not find where anybody had the right ones for it.

[Patricio Elicer]

Well, I finally got an Eee. A refurbished 901A with a 4GB flash disk and 1GB RAM.

I have installed Xubuntu on it, found the right patch for the wireless driver, and am very happy with it.

A nice machine and surprisingly fast.

-Ben


I have one of those. Very nice machine, works almost as good as a "regular" notebook. The only down side IMO is the low memory capacity (4 GB flash memory).

WinXP+MSWord+MSExcel+PDFReader+PhotoEditor ... and that's it.

I struggle to have a decent memory space left, let's say 500MB. Meaning no windows updates, no Google Earth, etc, ... and constantly freeing disk space. I have a 16GB card installed on the card slot, but Im not sure all programs, like MSOffice, can be installed in a memory other than the main one.


ETA: I'm taking it to TAM, very light and easy to handle... :)

[BenBurch]

Well, I put an 8GB SD card in it for space. I ordered an add-in 32 GB SSD and that should solve the problem long term, and I will just move the system to that volume and change GRUB, or just re-install as I took notes on what worked.

[Patricio Elicer]

Well, I put an 8GB SD card in it for space. I ordered an add-in 32 GB SSD and that should solve the problem long term, and I will just move the system to that volume and change GRUB, or just re-install as I took notes on what worked.


I may be mistaken or may have done something wrong, but I once tried to install one of the utility programs (MSOffice, I think it was) on the 16GB SD card, and it wouldn't let me. Looks like some programs are designed to reside on the "C drive" and nowhere else.

I'd like to here more on that from someone more knowledgeable.

[GreNME]

I may be mistaken or may have done something wrong, but I once tried to install one of the utility programs (MSOffice, I think it was) on the 16GB SD card, and it wouldn't let me. Looks like some programs are designed to reside on the "C drive" and nowhere else.

I'd like to here more on that from someone more knowledgeable.

No, that shouldn't be the case. You should be able to install Office wherever you like, provided you tell the OS where it's installed so it can adjust the software pointers appropriately.

[Patricio Elicer]

No, that shouldn't be the case. You should be able to install Office wherever you like, provided you tell the OS where it's installed so it can adjust the software pointers appropriately.


OK, thanks for your help. I'll try it again.

[BenBurch]

FYI, http://greg.geekmind.org/eee-control/ addresses the hardware things that Xubuntu does not with respect to hot keys and processor speed control.

[thaiboxerken]

I was at Frys and there are all kinds of netbooks out there now. I personally use a Samsung Q1U (2nd gen) UMPC. I like it well enough. Actually, I have a Q1 as well and that's hooked up to a monitor in my bedroom for surfing in bed.