So the other day, I picked up an Asus Eee PC from Microcenter. I got the a black 4G Surf (I wasn’t going to pay $50 more for a webcam…). They had a white 4G Surf that was on clearance due to open box for $53 less but it had a small scuff on it…not too keen on white computer stuff anyway. I can’t take my iPod out in public anymore because it got so nasty looking so fast! Ever go to a computer store that sells Macs and look at their demo keyboards? Not so white…gross.
Anyway, the Asus Eee PC. It’s considered an ultra compact/sub-notebook…and that it is. It has a 7″ LCD (at 800×480 res) and by default runs a linux derivative as it’s OS. It does have instructions for installing Windows XP and there are people who have installed MacOS Leopard/Tiger. There is NO built-in optical drive. The model I bought came with a 4 gig solid state hard drive and has three usb ports, and a SD flash card reader. 512MB (but easily upgradable) RAM. Built-in wireless, stereo speakers, etc (if you want to know more, go to http://eeepc.asus.com/.
Now, obviously this isn’t meant to be a powerhouse gaming machine. It can, however, do almost anything you throw at it. Every single video I’ve tried playing has worked without a hitch. MP3s, OGG, and so on are supported out of the box. Networking was painless. And the machine startup time? About 10 seconds–even in Windows XP (specially tweaked to get the best performance with a small footprint). The solid state hard drive is a beautiful thing…no more worries about moving parts.
Here is an online demo of the default Linux UI. This is what is commonly called “basic mode” and includes most everything a non-power user would need…but let’s face it, the audience for this thing is probably not going to be your average non-power user. 
Advanced mode is painlessly activated through a quick bit of hackery, and then we’ve got a full-blown version of kde to work with…wonderful.
There are a few cons that are to be expected with a machine this compact and economically priced. The lack of an optical drive, the small screen/resolution, the small keyboard, the small HDD. With the exception of the HDD, each one of these is limited by space (as far as I know, there is no possible way to fit a 15″ LCD into a 7″ space). The HDD, on the other hand, is limited by price. Solid state hard drives are a relatively new technology and thus are still extremely expensive. I’m sure this one is upgradable, though, so when 128 GB SSD become affordable, I’ll be first in line (the new MacBook Air offers a 64 GB SSD at a $1000 price tag…ouch).
Already a huge modding community (much of which takes place at http://eeeuser.com) has sprung up around this machine because Asus has kindly left it wide open. I can’t wait to see what happens with it in the next year or so. I have a few things in mind myself, including using it as a controller for a robotic project (based on the iCreate platform, I think)–can’t wait to start this off.
Anyway, I can’t wait to really start using this thing. I’ll keep you all posted on my escapades.
The Asus EeePC is a fantastic mini notebook for the price. I think the connectivity is great – the trackpad is too small so I use an external Logitech Nano mouse, and I’ve already upgraded the RAM and installed Mac OSX Leopard, it works like a dream.
@Keith: how well does the eee’s wireless work with Leopard? I’ve been having problems with the wireless ever since I installed XP, but it was a version I nLited myself (and installed via USB stick–what a pain).