So Much For an Early to Mid-October Eee PC Release…
September 27th, 2007 by antAccording to an article in DigiTimes, Asus has once again delayed the Eee PC 700 and 701. Now, shipments are not expected to begin until the end of October or early November.
The reasoning? They want to add more software.
…Huh?
It’s odd as working prototypes of the Eee PC have been around since the original announcement way back in June. Reviews keep popping up in many different languages of production quality devices. Asus keeps insinuating through the press that shipments are right around the corner, only to continuously delay shipments further. Now, they’re delaying because they want to add more software? What’s there to add? Why will it take so much time?
One must wonder- what is really going on? Specifications are still not solidified, pre-order prices are higher then the original announced prices, and Asus continues to keep us guessing and in the dark about everything.
What’s the deal, Asus?
September 27th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Right on, you said it all !
September 27th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
wow they really need to get their stuff together, never have i seen such a botched product launch.
September 27th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
What’s interesting to me is that the first batch only has the ones with 2 & 4Gb flash drives. If they add more stuff to the EEE PC, how much room is going to be left? I doubt there’ll be any free room at all in the 2Gb models. It’s laughable.
September 27th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
“never have i seen such a botched product launch”
What about Half Life 2 or Duke Nukem Forever (started in 1997)?
September 27th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
I’m really getting annoyed. They initially anounced August, now they are saying November??? The reviews seem good enough… let me buy the device and then give me a an update if you have to. At this point I am considering other options- they are losing customers. August would have been a perfect time for them to launch because of the start of school, but at this point they will probably shoot for the holidays. This had better be GOOD when I get my hands on it or I will never buy from ASUS again.
September 27th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
If they were going to improve it’s hardware features a lot, along with saving us money on the improvements, then I’d say go ahead and I’ll wait. But for software…this is getting stupid. Any software I need, I can get on my damn own, in fact I’m taking off their OS anyway. So stop messing the fuck around and give us our products!
September 28th, 2007 at 12:13 am
Whoopie: Keep in mind that you are not in the key group Asus is making this comp for. This is created for first time pc-owners, people who don´t have enough money to buy an ordinary notebook and so on.
Remember the name of it, “Eee”, “Easy to learn - Easy to work - Easy to play”.
It is not Easy for a first time pc-owner who doesn´t know anything about computers to get the software updates and what not on their own.
September 28th, 2007 at 12:21 am
My review about ASUS EEE PC:
I became one of very few privileged consumers in Canada to own the Asus EEE PC model 701 version with 4 GB drive. This is a *** pre-production *** model and I bought it from a company that did an online review for Asus. I LOVE THIS MACHINE. Overall look - it looks sexy, tiny, light, plesant to hold.
SYSTEM INFO:
Bios version 0155
Bios date: 09/10/2007 (this is after I flashed Bios today. Flashing Bios on EEE Pc is easy).
Software version: EEE PC 1.0
Build info: 2007-09-20 06:00. That means this EEE PC was built like 8 days ago.
CPU Type: Intel Mobile
Memory: 512 MB
Mother Board verion x.xx
Screnn - it is matt and looks and feels like a laptop screen when you bought a laptop 3 years ago.
Wherever I go peoples eyes are glaring. I better watch or it gets lost;-)
It boots fast. YES. The boot time when I received it new was something like 20 seconds. The EEE has special verison of Linux (made by Xandros).
.. You might remember Xandros signed a strategic aggreement with Windows. So no wonder that this laptop can run Windows as well as Linux.
The desktop (GUI) linux comes in two flavors. One is simplified (with big icons for email, gmail, gaim, firefox, Open office, player etc… It is very easy to understand. This desktop is for kids, and new computer users. The other flavor is Normal (full) desktop mode. This mode is like any other Windows mode or KDE. It is actually based on KDE and looks like any other Linux.
Switching between both modes is easy. But it requires restart (20 seconds ordeal).
I didn’t test the battery yet (I just got the PC today). It is little bit warm. Not hot, but the tiny fan is running. The screen resolution is OK, the colors are OK. Don’t expect high definition. This is a small device and a relatively low priced subnotebook. OK, what else, camera is so-so. The sound is perhaps some complain. Even using Headphones, the sound level is low. But this might be application dependend. So for example listening to anything in Firefox - the sound level was too low. Playing some games installed - the sound was OK.
A bug:
I discovered already a bug in EEE. If I wan to use external mouse (USB) and plug in and then plug out at some point, the touch pad and keyboard stops working. If I plug in the mouse again, it works, but the touchpad and keyboard don’t. To get both working again, I have to shut down the EEE, take out the battery for a few seconds and then restart (to be honest, this is not a nightmare, it only takes like 20 seconds
Not sure why this behavior.
The EEE color (white) is nice.
Another thing - If you shut down the eee into stand-by mode, the laptop will still remain hot. Not quite sure why. I thought the system sleeps. But this laptop keeps relatively warm in stand by mode. Which is OK in winter, when it’s freezing.
The screen doesn’t tilt to 180 degrees (flat). Why? Because it is heavier than the keyboard. So limiting the tilt angle you prevent it from flipping over;-)
The button (which is actually a double button) on the touchpad is little bit tricky. Not easy to handle. Also, it is pretty loud. Oh my… It pretty much sucks… It is noisy. Click Click Click….
The touchpad itself is great.
EEE has 3 USB ports. Not 4. I don’t know who saw EEE with 4 ports but this one has 3.
Multicard reader is great. I plugged in my SD card from my Nokia phone. EEE didn’t recognize it however. I guess because it is not formatted properly. More testing needed for this.
Microphone is underneath the touchpad from the bottom. There might be another one besides the camera. I am not sure about this.
The hinge - perfect. Perfectly tight. Closes good and easy. Good job ASUS.
Bottom - there is a cover. Under the cover there is 1 DDR II 512 MB memory. This seems to be a standard laptop memory that you can replace. (Correct me if I am wrong) .. I believe Max is 1 GB. Besides memory there is Express card slot. This could be used for anything, like a GSM or 3G card or even a memory module. I read a post that said there are already 32 GB express cards coming on the market.
By the way, it is very easy to set up a 3G or HSDPA connection when you have the card. This can be setup in control panel.
The keyboard. The keyboard looks like a sugar candy. I’d like to eat it. Not that I would have masochistic desires, but the keboard really look like made out of sugar. Typing - well - some nightmare. But probably I need to get used to this. My fingers are like XXXL size, so you might find typing OK. One very negative thing about this keyboard is that is relatively noisy. So if you are in a quiet room or university lecture, you might be annoying when tying on this keyboard.
There are 3 USB ports, so you might consider plugging in another full size keyboard, if needed. I didn’t try that though. There are many functional keys. The keyboard I have comes with English and small Chinese letters.
The Back-Space button should have been much bigger. Perhaps bigger than the Enter. Because you will make lots of typos on this keyboard. Other than that - the keyboard is a little bit swimming. So it’s not that feel like keyboard is firm in place. But what can you expect for 300 dollar machine??
Application-wise - I didn’t have much time to discover this but couple of intersting things:
Software update - it’s easy. There is a utility that you can start and update your software. So far, there is not much to update, just the BIOS.
Skype. Hmmm. I wonder how will be the quality. Need to test this as well.
Games - nice set of sweet games.
Media Player - SMPlayer comes preinstalled.
There are other typical KDE applications.
Comes with an antivirus (from Xandros, the maker of this Linux distro)
The software takes lots of space. There is only like 1.3 GB left out of 4 GB for my files. Of course I can use SD or MMC cards or express canrd but.. anyway. There might be a way to put it on a diet by uninstalling some applications? Not sure I didn’t try that yet.
Also I am not clear about how to the complete system backup of this laptop.
The EEE I have has a Webcam. I attempted to start the Web Cam application that came with the machine, but it doesn’t start. Not sure why.
The carger. It looks nice (like some LG and Samsung laptop chargers). The power cord is long enough (thanks ASUS).
The power cord plugs from the back of the EEE. ..Which I don’t like, but this is a matter of preference. I think it can break easily and it would be better if it is on the side. But this is a matter of preference, I guess.
And that’s probably all I have to say. I think many people will love EEE PC and some of them will find that after intial excitement this PC is simply too small and thus a useless gadget that due to low price became a staple and thus a must-have shelf sitter.
If you need extreem mobility and always access to your stuff, work, school, internet, WIFI, movies on subway, then you are going to like EEE PC.
Hope this helps and good luck to buy yours soon. I hope Asus is not going to postpone the release date until after xmas.
Greetings from Canada.
Polocanada
September 28th, 2007 at 12:38 am
d: The Adept manager makes everything so easy to update, it makes the Windows Update look hard. So the only issue they will have is getting new software, but you can’t possibly put every piece of software on there for them and from what I’ve seen they have plenty of software to start off. You can only give people so much and then the rest is up to them, if they don’t take the time to learn then that’s their fault.
September 28th, 2007 at 12:45 am
And all of you who are complaning about delayed release. Asus has never published any official relasedate. They don´t even show the Eee´s in their hardware lineup on their own site, the only Eee-related stuff is the flash-banner, a couple of pressreleases and the “event”-site.
All the other sites taking pre-orders and the “press/media” are the one you should be angry at. They are the one setting the releasedates for Asus on the Eee all the time. Asus has been AIMING for August, September, and now October - but never a definite for release.
September 28th, 2007 at 12:56 am
Which is precisely the reason why we’re angry. You have to admit d, that despite their intentional vagueness, Asus was premature in many of their announcements. What I’m particularly angry about are the changes in price and specifications.
I mean, recently they’ve been releasing pre-production models for testing. What took them so long? Perhaps if they were more open about their problems and progress we could be more receptive to bad new, plus we could provide input ourselves.
September 28th, 2007 at 1:31 am
“Perhaps if they were more open about their problems and progress we could be more receptive to bad new…”
So true. I’m out.
September 28th, 2007 at 1:41 am
d:
Check out this link, the original product announcement:
http://usa.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=7405
Specifically, “ASUS plans to start shipping the units in July or August… at an extremely competitive price of around USD $199″
September 28th, 2007 at 1:45 am
polocanada:
Thanks for the great post- very interesting!
September 28th, 2007 at 2:59 am
notebooksales@asus.com
Email them your complaints!
Let’s get some answers.
September 28th, 2007 at 3:27 am
I’m so sad with all these delays. I think we might as well hope for by the end of 2007 at this point.
September 28th, 2007 at 5:05 am
By the time this computer finally gets to market (if it gets to market) we will all have lost interest. I am predicting either December or first quarter 2008 at best. There are no software issues folks, Asus is just trying to figure out whether they can make a profit selling it or not.
Bottom line is this, if and when this unit does come to market, the low end unit will be $300, trust me! I am very close to losing interest.
Bottom line is Asus misinterpreted the market for this device from the beginning. I know the low end consumers. They aren’t going to buy $200 laptops, they are going to buy $350 low end desktops. The customer base for this device, is, was, and always will be geeks like us. It a shame Asus is going to screw the pooch on this one!
September 28th, 2007 at 5:17 am
I’m think, ASUS can start shipping NOW!!!
They are waiting for OLPC project XO-1 notebook
Sells of XO starts in mid-November in program “Get 1 take 1″(or some like this)
My opinion, that Asus wants to start shipments with OLPC, because it’s no notebook with 100-300$ price, it’s a monopoly(will be ####en asus)
September 28th, 2007 at 6:54 am
“What’s the deal, Asus?”
ASUS: -No deal dudes. Not today.
September 28th, 2007 at 8:49 am
I call shenanigans! Software updates my ass! Bogus Shmogus, they’ve made that up. I dare you to give me one, just a single one company that has delayed the shipment of a product because of software issues! Software is something that can easily be fixed after the release - and Asus knows that. And even if the computer is targeting the non-nerdy first-time PC user who does not know what updates are - since when did companies start caring about the knowlege of the average customer? C’mon, let’s be serious here and not let a smirky sales representative lie to us.
It’s just ridiculous. Those salse guys who made that up could’ve at least come up with something better than that. It’s either hardware issues or turnout but definitely not software.
September 28th, 2007 at 8:53 am
Polocanada, that review was great! I’m suprised that only one person responded to it…it’s like the people are just posting without reatding the other comments.
September 28th, 2007 at 8:58 am
Ditto Pickle,
Perhaps “admin” could hit Polocanada up for a front page review with pics… a eeeUser exclusive… or at least put some up in the forum. It would be nice to get some info without using google translate!
September 28th, 2007 at 9:14 am
“.. You might remember Xandros signed a strategic aggreement with Windows. So no wonder that this laptop can run Windows as well as Linux.”
No. No, no, no. This line of reasoning is completely bogus. Whether a machine can natively run an operating system depends on the machine’s hardware and boot-time firmware. Not — by definition — on any other runtime software.
September 28th, 2007 at 10:11 am
At the end of August I contacted my friend, who has in close business relations with Asus representatives (in short - a reliable source). He said that this was a secret that the Nordic (North Europe) market will receive first shipments of eee pc in November. I was rather shocked and hoped that this information will change, but it seems the predictions were quite accurate.
September 28th, 2007 at 10:43 am
I will buy a nanobook or an EeePC whichever is 1st. I am amazed that it takes so long to produce an affordable small laptop.
September 28th, 2007 at 10:48 am
It’s all good PR.
Basically ASUS has decided to take a very slow paced PR (Public Relations) approach to solidify the Eee brand.
They release early news about new product, as word of mouth and press coverage build up, they have the benefit of changing the product specifications to better suit the market. When timing is right, they launch the product on an already solid PR program. The approach is commonly known as the airplane approach. Just like an airplane slowly takes off the runway until it eventually reaches cruising altitude and stays there a long time, this approach is meant to do the same thing for their brand.
The other, and more popular approach, is called the Big Bang approach. Just like a rocket takes off quick reach high altitude and then comes crashing down, so do most brands that use this method. The idea is to invest millions of dollars into a advertising program around the same day the product is released without any notice of the product before hand, and then smaller amounts of advertising after to empower the brand. The downsides to this approach are that the company can’t make any last minute changes, they have to wait for the next version of the product. Furthermore, advertising is expensive and eats up a lot of resources, and considering that word of mouth is more powerful than advertising, it just isn’t as successful. What managers see, and traditional marketing folks, that the brand might get good coverage in the first bit of the brands life, but after the hype from your advertising goes away, you are left with a dead brand.
This is a common mistake in marketing, especially in branding. Almost all of the most successful and longest lasting brands start with the airplane approach, NOT the big bang approach.
It looks like ASUS is a lot smarter than you think. They are using the early adopters (us) and the small amount of media coverage to refine their product, its free to them, and it helps to ensure the brands success, and hopefully the products as well.
It just sucks for us early adopters
September 28th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
In response to Chris361 comments, I think Asus is not using the airplane approach or the big bang approach, they are using the explode on the launch pad approach, as in the product may never come to market at all.
Face it, until these units are in stores I don’t want to get too excited about the pictures and reviews. Until we have them in our hands its still just a concept. And I for one am tired of being teased.
September 28th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
The longer I follow this saga, the more it looks like we have a contender for the ‘07 Wired Vaporware Awards. I’ll have to think up something clever to say…
The EeePC keeps being delayed, keeps having its features trimmed, and keeps rising in price. If this keeps up, I won’t be buying one. Maybe it’ll come to market when OLPCs are actually in people’s hands. Maybe it’ll really appear in early November. Maybe it’ll be shoveled out and killed — overpriced and underdelivering, like the Ultra-Mobile PC — in the spring. Maybe I’m starting not to care.
Oh, and the Nanobook? At least a year off, and probably going the way of the Palm Foleo.
September 28th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Coming in about in time for Christmas buying, maybe? Wonder they will make more than the targeted 200k units?
I even heard the other day that someone has been notified his Medison Celebrity will ship within 2 weeks. (Not that it, if it really exists, is competitive with the eee)
September 28th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
I think we need to change it to the:
“Mystical EEE”
“Now you might see it and then again you might never see it”
September 28th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Here’s another possibility folks don’t seem to be considering …
The Eee comes with Xandros, including KDE, OpenOffice, Thunderbird, and Firefox.
This combination is very good — it’s what I rely on for my desktop (by way of Kubuntu) — but it comes at a price, which is a thumping great storage footprint. OOo, FF and TBird between them guzzle about 500Mb of space. KDE easily takes another 500Mb, depending on what components you ship. While the core command line linuxy goodness can be squeezed into 500Mb easily, this easily adds up to over 2Gb of software. (This Kubuntu system sprawls out to 4.7Gb).
My guess is that they took a look at the 1.x Gb free on a 4Gb Eee and realised they had to do some serious tuning or the home users who are their target market would start screaming. An entry level Eee with a 2Gb FLASH drive isn’t much use if it comes with 1.9Gb free, and the purchaser doesn’t have the experience to buy an SDHC card, is it?
So someone’s probably doing a lot of tuning, throwing away redundant crap that gets bundled in by default on a stock KDE install, making sure everything uses the right shared libraries, paring away the fat, and checking that little show-stoppers (like the external mouse making the internal trackpad go away — and that IS a showstopper for the target customer base) don’t bite.
September 28th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
We’ve all been punked by Asus. Where’s the secret camera?
September 28th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Software? Read Windows.
This is a brand new hardware space. Windows is barely an option due to size and price. How much pressure has Microsoft and downstream vendors put on Asus?
I don’t really care. I will probably install my own distro, set up the way I like.
Another reason for the delay is Asus sees hardware coming down the pipe that will cut costs. A few months delay and the price point could be profitable as opposed to a loss leader.
No one else has anything close to this, so I’ll wait.
Derek
September 28th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Indeed… they’ve more or less announced that they’re moving to the new Silverthorne/Menlow platform sometime next year - which won’t just be cheaper but improve thermals and battery life as well!
The Celeron-M 900 used is an old 90nm chip downvolted… it’s not going to compete with Silverthorne especially in idle power draw. The 90nm process had a massive leakage problem which is mitigated by the lower voltage, but still…
In spite of all that I still might get a 701… when I can actually buy one!
September 28th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Wyopistachio : fully agree with you, this should be perfect, hope “admin” will follow up.
Polocanada : thanks so much for your great review and for the time dedicated sharing your feelings with all of us !!
I really hope you could continue providing your findings on this “baby” and even reply to some specific question !
September 28th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
I don’t know what all the upset is about. What matters is when you actually HAVE it, not waiting for it or PR about it. None of us still don’t know FOR OURSELVES how good/bad it really is. Don’t go by reviews.
September 28th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Does anyone know if the base model($259) would be able to:
1. Use Openoffice (I only need a word processor and a spreadsheet program that can do charts)
2. Be able to watch avi, mkv, ogg video format
3. Be able to use a BitTorrent client
September 28th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Asus should die. I’m fed up waiting for this product. bye!!!.
September 28th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
yes, should be able to do 1, 2, 3.
I am not sure BitTorrent is pre-installed, but you can get it easily.
September 28th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
I am waiting for a 701 too.
September 29th, 2007 at 3:23 am
If ASUS were smart…, and they will have invested alot of money in this product (as setting up production line facilities is no easy, and cheap task)… ASUS if they were smart, would take a look at what Nokia already has done with the N800. Nokia (who should be bundling a bluetooth keyboard with the N800 at the $399 price)… HAS a Debian based Maemo project http://maemo.org/ that has a long list of applications for the N800 that are lite. One allows you to use the device via bluetooth with GPS (for road navigation), another app is an automobile computer monitor application (for auto repair and status while driving), also can do internet via WIFI or blue tooth thru a bluetooth cell phone (should have a cell phone built in, and bundle ext keyboard too, maybe in next version), etc… The list of Maemo.org software, that will run on a light hardware footprint from the OPEN SOURCE project - see
http://maemo.org/
…the Maemo software list is growing longer. If the Eee PC can also use Maemo applications, then they don’t have to add Flash Memory costs at all.
Of course waiting to release, until after the next Ubuntu is released (and Ubuntu Mobile), means that testing this OS and Mobile OS on the product before release might be a way that they can use the cheaper than Xandros OS, and make more money from the unit (and not give Xandros a cut of whatever Xandros will get per Eee PC sold). I think that this waiting is a good idea for ASUS.
If they came out with a 8GB, or 16GB Flash card (user replaceable), then that would be cool too.
September 29th, 2007 at 8:17 am
I do not understand why some get so upset about the waiting. I think I want a 701 (I cannot be certain until it is available with verifiable final specifications) and I want it even at the higher price because there is no comparable product by other manufacturers. I do not mind waiting a month, or two or three, or even half a year. Unless there will be a more attractive competing alternative then, I will still want the 701.
September 29th, 2007 at 11:09 am
If they ramped up the storage to 8 or 16 GB… that is a worthwhile delay. And added battery time, or OLPC low power LCD screen for longer battery???
If they made it lighter, on the application side, like what you find at http://maemo.org (for N800) then that would be worth the wait (if no larger storage).
If they waited to test Ubuntu Mobile on the Unit (due 10-20-07 maybe), then that would be worth the wait.
Anyway you look at it, if they are improving something, it is worth the wait. I will still buy one or two… (I got a special friend that it would make an nice gift for).
September 29th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
@space toast
Wow. You know anything about the medison celebrity? That’s the candidate. And the winner.
This is ASUS. They’re a big name. It will happen. Maybe not in 2007 at all, but it will happen.
September 29th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
I was going to buy one of these.
I was told definitely September - now I am bored with it. I am buying a small powerbook instead.
I might put my name down for an OLPC - it might even be cheaper to buy 1 for 2 of those the way the Asus prices keep heading North. And they have more character.
September 29th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
I don’t know if the Medison Celebrity even exists. If it does exist, for me it is no competition for the EEE 701 at any price, because it is (if it exists) a normal sized laptop. What is special about the 701 is that it is ultra-portable, small and lightweight, with still a useable screen and keyboard.
September 29th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Maybe the delay is so they can bundle in Duke Nukem Forever?
September 29th, 2007 at 7:30 pm
@Jake:
In my book, there’s a line between vaporware and outright fraud. Even the Phantom Game Station appears to have been an attempt to gain funding for a real console, made by a group of people woefully unprepared to execute any — much less every — stage of the process. The Medison Celebrity was a series of stolen photos on a “company” site run out of a UK P.O. Box by a known Swedish fraudster.
Asus has thus far overpromised and not delivered on a product with working prototypes already in the hands of the press/blogosphere. (There’s a slash that’ll scare the newspapers.) To my mind that’s the acme of vaporware.
September 30th, 2007 at 6:05 am
Asus did fall back on the deadlines (and might not be acceptable nowdays) nevertheless the eee pc is somehow a class of its own. It looks promising as it can a lot more that a smartphone/pda for the price. I am anxious to get an eee pc. perhaps it is a rather good treat for the christmass holidays…..
September 30th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
OK, here is my update on the Asus EEE PC.. (BY THE WAY - I am writing this post sitting on the street in front of H&M Shop and I am typing it on what else than EEE PC !!!)..
OK.. here is my experience so far… Please keep in mind this is a pre-release model I am working on..
So far so good, I am happy. In my mind I think, ASUS EEE PC is going to be the same revolution to laptops and palmtops and PC as iPod was to mp3 players. Plus - it is cheap. It looks great and it is easy to use. Boots fast.
There are currently 2 major areas of concern with this device:
1) problems with adding USB mouse. Once I plugged in USB mouse I started have a problem with keyboard and touchpad. It sometimes freezes. When I plug in normal USB Mouse, the USB mouse works. … (btw. it is Microsoft mouse, so I’m not sure whether these 2 guys hate each other MS mouse/Linux… or what)…
To solve this I have to close the lid and let it go to stand-by mode (because pressing keys doesn’t work)…
After I wake it up from stand by the keyboard and touchpad work again..
So I am sure this is software issue.
Seems this problem comes with the latest BIOS upgrade, so be careful when you flash the BIOS. If you don’t need to, just don’t do it.
I tried to downgrade the BIOS flash (you can choose from 5 different editions using the software update utility)… Now I found out the problem with touchpad/keyboard freezing dissapeared, but I have problems to wake up the eee pc from stand by mode.
I tried different settings, but no help…
So now I am going back to the latest BIOS with freeing problem.
To summarize this:
To me - it seems that the reason WHY ASUS IS DELAYING the shipment is because they have problems with the software. When I look at the 5 BIOS upgrades, they are like weeks apart. And there are several issues that are getting fixed with each upgrade. Like e.g. version 144 or 145 upgrade fixes the problem with Card Reader being not able to wake up from stand by with memory card inserted… and things like that… So I am confident, they didn’t release it yet because there are problems…
I contacted ASUS but because they don’t have EEE PC registration details on their website yet, it is difficult to get some help from them at this point.
—-
The second area I am fighting with is the fact that I am a total and a hopeless newbie in LINUX. I thought I am reasonably experienced with PCs, so it will be easy ride with Linux (8 years after I first touched Linux)…
But nope - while the easy mode on this Xandros Linux is easy like for kids (you don’t need to have any knowledge with computers)… the standard mode of Xandros is a full blown Linux.
So I am right now desperate because I don’t know how to install anything on Linux. Got downloaded packages, there are 100s different types of installation files and procedures like there are penguins in Antarctis. Seriously
For you guys who never touched Linux, this will be a juicy challenge. Linux is the real world. Forget what you learned so far in Windows. That is not gonna help ;-))
So I am deep up to my ears reading Linux stuff.
(if you are frightened… don’t worry, you can install Windows on the machine as well, using a USB disk that has a bootable image of Windows installation. You are safe ;-O
Cheers
Polocanada (newly baked and fast-tracked Linux user)
……
September 30th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
[...] DziaÅ‚ajÄ…ce prototypy można byÅ‚o testować już od czerwca 2007 roku, jednak ostatnia informacja od Asusa brzmi – “bÄ™dziemy je mieli pod koniec października”. A powód? ChcÄ… doÅ‚ożyć do nich wiÄ™cej linuxowego oprogramowania. [...]
September 30th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
I’ve written it in other comments before, I don’t think Asus will ship large volumes of $199 or $259 laptops anytime soon. If you get a $259 model, you’ll be one of a few lucky bloggers that Asus will want to have writing on blogs that they got a $259 laptop from Asus when really that model isn’t going to be available in any significant volumes.
http://www.olpcnews.com/sales_talk/competition/price_classmate_pc_asus_eee.html
September 30th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Polocanada-
Have you been on the Xandros forums for help? I use Xandros for my current laptop, really like the OS, and have found the forums to be of great help. When I installed Xandros Linux was new to me too, but relatively quickly I was able to reach ‘competent user’ status.
http://forums.xandros.com/
September 30th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
[...] Reviews: Part 1 and Part 2 Posted as comments on this [...]
September 30th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
There is a “preorder”section on their website. Unfortunately, I forgot to bookmark it and can’t find it now. It said they will ship in “early October.” You make a $150 deposit now and the rest is billed when it ships
Three models are listed. Top model is $399 for 4GB bottom model is $299 for 2GB. Mid-range model is 2GB with camera and carrying case.
I’ll post a link to the page if I can find it again. This is driving me nuts…
October 1st, 2007 at 5:04 am
[...] EEE PC sufre un nuevo retraso, Asus espera realizar los primeros envios a finales de octubre o principios de Noviembre. Sin [...]
October 1st, 2007 at 10:13 am
@polocanada
Did you try to run Windows from SD-card? And is it a PE version you tested or can you install XP like having a second hdd?
October 2nd, 2007 at 4:31 am
[...] this is all old news. The Eee was announced back in July, and a few days back Asus announced that it would be delayed until late October / early November. But hey, I just wanted to let everyone who’s been living [...]
January 25th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
[...] the Cloudbook follows the tradition started with the Eee PC, we may be looking at a 1 month delay. Let’s hope it’s a little [...]
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:34 pm
vikki vogue…
vikki vogue…
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Hoq To Make A Girl Squirt…
Hoq To Make A Girl Squirt…