My new EeePC

I had been following the progress of the Nokia N770 (and N800) would probably have bought one, except they dont sell them in Australia. Also, after careful evaluation of my needs, I had come to the conclusion that the Nokia devices weren't quite what I needed.

Then I heard about the ASUS EeePC that was still being developed. At the time there was only a small bit of information released about it, and a whole lot of conjecture, and I expressed to my wife that when they finally make it to the market, I'd like one of them.

When I noticed them being sold, I mentioned it to my wife, and she went and got one for me. The last one actually.

I love it. But first a warning. This kind of device is not for everyone, however, it could be.

It has some incredible advantages:

• Low cost ($496 in australian bills)
• Small and quite durable.
• Truly mobile.
  
• Fully functional.

There are of course plenty of other specifications, but if you want those, do a bit of googling. I have had a number of laptops in the past, and although I enjoyed them, I did long for a smaller and lighter version. Apple has a really nice small laptop, however, I didn't want to spend that much money.

With the EeePC, I can literally take it anywhere. I throw it into my bacpack and take a train ride into the city. No need for a special bag. No need to carry a heavy bag. The EeePC weighs about the same as a small hardback book.

I use linux for everything, and this device comes with linux. Everything that I can do on my big desktop, I can actually do on this small device, with no limitations (well, mostly).

The keyboard is very small. But after using it for a little while, I discovered that I quickly got used to it. I'm actually typing this blog post on it, at about the same speed I would normally do on a bigger keyboard.

The only critisisms that I have are:

• Need more battery life. Currently getting about 3 hours usage. If we could double battery life, it would allow me to use it in more places without worrying about carrying the (usefully small) AC adapter with me.
  
• Ability to automatically use low-power mode when not using AC.
• A hardware dial for volume. Due to the way the keys are spaced, you need two hands to change the volume of the device. A bit inconvenient. An actual physical dial would be awesome.
• Bluetooth. I dont currently use bluetooth, but when first looking at the EeePC I was looking forward to getting a bluetooth mouse and keyboard, without having to use USB devices. When I discovered it didnt have bluetooth built in, I was a little dissapointed. I got a new wireless mouse instead and quite happy with that, and probably would never use a wireless keyboard to be honest. Still...

People who are used to WindowsXP might have a different experience, but I love using linux, and this device is perfect for me.