I got an Eee PC just before christmas. I’ve used it for a few days, so here are some first impressions.
First, the good: the build quality is good, the screen is excellent, the sound is good as is the microphone. The webcam works fine, the touch pad is well tuned and the OS it ships with is very nicely put together. The wifi worked out of the box with WPA, which is better than I can say for any laptop I’ve used before, with any OS.
There’s a lot of talk about how to put Windows XP on them. I honestly can’t see the point.
In fact the whole package is ludicrously good for it’s price point. So good I think Asus have really invented a whole new category (Charlie Stross has some well-considered thoughts on this). Any PC manufacturer who isn’t now planning their own line in this new category is an idiot.
There have been “Ultra Micro” PCs before, but the price is a key factor – this is the first disposable general purpose computer. There’s no point fretting about the lifetime of the integral solid state drive, because you will have bought a new eee pc before it runs out. I’m already planning to get another one (and this time it’ll be black).
One of the things you notice about new technology categories is that you find new use cases you didn’t know you had. I’ve started listening to podcasts in bed – the eee functions as a bedside internet radio. Last night, the Now Show. The night before, In Our Time. Honestly, it’s worth getting one just for bedtime podcasts.
There are some downsides. The 800×480 screen is not big enough for a number of websites. I hope this encourages developers to consider small screens when building sites – I’ll certainly be testing our new sites on the eee myself. There is enough physical room in the lid of the machine for a larger screen, and I bet that’s near the top of their list for new models.
Not as high, I hope, as bluetooth. This is the only real gripe I have (apart from a perennial one below). Bluetooth is so ubiquitous I was really surprised to see it absent. It’s amazingly useful for mobile Internet, something I use quite a bit anyway (even if mostly with train or coffee shop wifi).
You can plug in a bluetooth dongle into one of the three (3!) USB ports of course, but it’s nowhere near as neat. This machine really needs bluetooth. Obviously 3G, when it comes, will be even better. As soon as they release a machine with integral 3G, I’m getting it.
Other models will obviously have more RAM and a larger disk, but the RAM is field upgradable and the disk is actually large enough for most people, even with only 4GB. Adding an SDHC card for storage is trivial, and cheap. Play.com do a 16GB one for 50 quid.
My one other gripe? The keyboard is designed for right handers. The space bar doesn’t work if you tap it on the left. If you are a left-handed typist you hit the space bar with your left thumb. I’ve had to change my hand position on the otherwise perfectly usable keyboard so I can hit space.
Us left-handers are a sizable minority of the population. We are honestly worth considering when designing stuff. Saying “ah well 10% of our users are going to have a substandard experience because we cannot be bothered to support them” is NOT good enough. Asus are nowhere near alone in this though. Perhaps fuel for a future post.
All that said, I’m writing this post on the Eee, and it is more than acceptable. This really is one of the best designed bits of tech I’ve got in many many years. You should seriously consider buying one, you are bound to use it more than you can imagine.
