NotebookReview gets a look at a real EeePC!
July 12th, 2007 by antOn our forums, rknirmal has pointed out a link to an article at Notebookreview.com where they actually met with Asus to see and try a real live version of the Asus EeePC 701.
Points of interest:
- The device, in my opinion, really looks good. There are many high resolution shots
- It appears to really boot fast and shutdown fast under normal conditions
- The processor also appears to run fast as well
- Asus may not be shipping the device with 2 or 4gb drives. Notebookreview speculates that the lowest end model will be an 8gb version for $250. This has not been confirmed. I realize some people may be upset with the idea of it being $50 more expensive, but I personally feel like I would regret getting one of these with anything less than 8gb of space anyway. We’ll see how this rumor pans out.
- Availability: Late August
July 12th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
Well, the good - more evidence that this is not vaporware. The (not so) bad - $250. Hope it doesn’t go any higher.
Did you notice only “3 USB ports” ?
July 12th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
I think 3 USB ports is MORE than enough for this size notebook, its downright sad that the Macbook Pro only has 2!!!
Now if I could only steal notebookreview’s model.
I find it strange that its about the same size as the 11.1″ Asus S6 notebook it was resting on in one picture. So its the size of a 10″ notebook but only has a 7″ screen? Sucks.
July 13th, 2007 at 1:24 am
I wonder if it can play movies…
Nobody ever says anything about movie playback and it seems there is no program on EeePC to do so.
July 13th, 2007 at 1:28 am
mplayer?
it’s in the linux,if I’m right.
July 13th, 2007 at 2:50 am
It is beyond me why they whinge about the inability to test the browsing capability - they didn’t have a WiFi network at hand, but also didn’t consider attaching a network cable to the Ethernet port? What kind of a review is that?
The unit is marketed for online use, so I’d think testing just that is a prime task of a reputable review.
Obviously, one would want to see how the tool copes with large pages, Flash pages, or whether you could, for example, download, install and run OpenOffice, etc.
That fact that it boots in 15s and shuts down in 5 means nothing if the unit’s usability between start up and shout down is unclear.
July 13th, 2007 at 5:43 am
“Shout down” - ha ha. You can tell I am a Windows user, where I often have to shout at the thing so that it completes the shut down.
July 13th, 2007 at 7:20 am
Since you can always use an external HD, 4GB Flash storage might be okay but 8GB should be good enough for most Linux distributions.
The biggest problem for me is the inadequate 800×480 video screen resolution on the PC-701. The 7.5″ OLPC will have a 1200×900 screen, so I see no reason that Asus cannot at least make a 7″ SVGA 1024×768 screen. Low screen resolution is a bad cost cutting choice.
July 13th, 2007 at 8:03 am
“The touchpad worked fine and the single button mouse was easy enough to use, there’s no need for a right mouse button in this software environment.”
Well… I will miss the right mouse button in OpenOffice…
July 13th, 2007 at 8:37 am
It’s really good that they didn’t put in a glossy display, then at least you will be able to use it in a brighter environment. On the other hand I would still prefer the display of the OLPC over it: higher resultion and readable in sunlight.
Other slightly disappointing aspects: Only one mouse button (even though you don’t need it in this environment, but I want to install my custom Linux distribution), the CPU fan (at least with the disk it’s one step closer to a computer with no movable parts).
I hope Asus, OLPC and other companies will continue development of small-sited and low-prices laptops like this, there’s still a lot to achieve. I will buy the Asus Eee because I want a laptop of this size, but personally I would prefer an OLPC with 512 MB RAM and 16 GB disk. We’ll see what comes within the next years, especially if there’s a commercial version of the OLPC. I really hope Asus will have a lot of success with this laptop so that they are willing to continue develop and others will join the competition.
July 14th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
I don’t know if everyone chatting up the resolution of the OLPC realizes this, but I just wanted clarify for everyone that the resolution in color is 692×520 and 1200×900 is for black/white (not grayscale) only. The OLPC has a diagonal resolution that doesn’t translate 1:1, they blur the lines to mimick 692×520. I think the main advantage of the OLPC is to read ebooks or read RSS feeds in sunlight. The two modes use the same layer of transistors too, so you can’t overlay them as far as I know.
July 14th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
well the OLPC isn’t for those people because no one can buy it, and if/when they can the price will be jacked up beyond the price of the Eee.
July 15th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Did anyone else notice the Windows key?
July 16th, 2007 at 1:08 am
One mouse button.
July 16th, 2007 at 4:46 am
What’s annoying me is the price. They better not go higher than 250 (and frankly, 199$ was FINE) because we’re going to lose the main attract: a cheap, beautiful PC you can carry everywhere without caring so much.
Please Asus, not higher.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
The Asus Eee PC-701’s 7 inch screen resolution 800×480 is the same as the smaller screen Nokia N800.
The Panasonic Wordsgear has a higher resolution 1024×600 color screen even though it too is a smaller 5.6 inches.
I still think that Asus should re-think its screen resolution so it can run more software and view web pages at today’s de facto screen resolution 1024 pixel width.
http://ex-blog.panasonic.co.jp/exhibition/en/2006/10/words_gear.html
July 16th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
If it doesn’t have a “right-button” how can I save a picture I see in internet ? or copy a text ?
July 16th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Maybe you can configure the single button as the right mouse button, and “tap” the touchpad instead of having a left mouse button?
July 16th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
[ If it doesn’t have a “right-button†how can "I save a picture I see in internet ? or copy a text ? ]
Use a $6 USB optical notebook mouse:
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=BLK-H3003M-RET-SIL
I always disliked touch pads anyway.
July 16th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
you can configure the synaptics driver in linux to do all sorts of things. on mine, tap in the middle is left click, tap in bottom right corner is right click, tap it top right corner is middle click. right edge and bottom edge scroll, and you can do a continuous circular scroll as well.
windows key is called “super key” or also just “modifier 4″ and can be configured to act as a modified like alt or ctrl or shift. besides, they’re marketing it as windows compatible, so it’s really not a big deal.
oh, and for all of you complaining about the “low” resolution of the screen, do the math, it’s greater than 120 dpi, so it’s above average pixel density. besides, it’s a budget machine, a better screen would raise the costs considerably.
November 11th, 2007 at 9:10 am
I have a question regarding this series. Is it possible to use an external usb port hard disk onto this by making use of the usb port that is available on this mini pc? plz someone who owns one of this respond to this query. thanx.
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