Apple Keynote: "The World's Thinnest Notebook"

[mtnbkr]

I think they're the bees knees for light duty, portable computing.  Like I said, it would probably satisfy most users' needs, including my own.

Chris

[mtnbkr]

It stands for "Easy to learn, Easy to work, Easy to play".

Chris

[mtnbkr]

More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASUS_Eee_PC

Chris

[Gewehr98]

Yup.

Got my finger on the trigger to get an Asus EEE, for to play with Ubuntu. 

[mtnbkr]

Before you start modifying it, could you give it a day or three and report back what you discover?  I'd love to know just how functional this thing is.

Chris

[Mabs2]

It's thin.
Woopty doo?
Do they want me to give them a cookie or something?

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

I read today that Sony released a 0.75 inch thick laptop back in '03. 

[MillCreek]

The Asus eee pc looks perfect for someone like me who travels on business. When I travel, I am mainly using the laptop for connectivity back to the office, web browsing and email and showing Powerpoint slides.  I am not gaming or doing video production. 

 I understand that Asus will release one that runs XP in the next few months.  Microsoft is allegedly creating a XP and Office version that will run off of a 3 or 4 GB memory card, for sale outside the USA.  I think it is part of their supporting one laptop, one child.

[wooderson]

I'd like to see one of those Asuses in person. The size of the screen (and HD) seems off-putting, but the price is certainly right.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

I'd definitely consider one of the Asus mini laptops.  It'd make a great spare computer to keep in the car or briefcase or something. 

It's sorta like my Kel tec .380, the gun I carry when I'm not carrying a gun.  The Asus would be the computer I carry on days when I'm not carrying my computer around.

[roo_ster]

I saw one of the eee laptops in person.

I was reminded of the old small & thick fomat laptops with small screens, but not a thick.

I didn't get to play, but it seemed a decent little laptop for the 75% of folks out there who don't hammer them like the other 25% of us.

[mfree]

Hrmm. I have a Compaq Armada M300 sitting here on my desk that measures 7/8" by 10 1/2" by 8 3/4".

Granted it's ancient, but minaturization isn't exactly new.

[mtnbkr]

Remember the little Toshiba Librettos?  I so wanted one of those when they first came out in the late 90s.  My project manager at the time had one.  He had me set it up.  It ran Win95 (the standard at the time) pretty well, I bet it would run Linux well too.

Chris

[RevDisk]

Apple's industrial design is astounding. And it IS design, not just clunky assembly.

Pick up an iPod Touch. Would you think, even a couple of years ago, that something that wafer-thin could show full movies and browse the web with an intuitive interface?

And my Macbook Pro...the thing is the laptop equivalent of a Stradivarius violin. It's just...perfect. Fast, reliable, can multitask huge creative-product apps without a crash or performance hiccup, just cranks out product day after day after day. Which is what you ought to expect by 2008.

My laptop is a Dell XPS M2010.  18.3 lbs, 20 inch monitor, RAID'd HD's, full sized keyboard, and running Server 2003.  I've load tested production apps on it before that'd kill a top of the line server from a couple years ago.  Oh yes, comes standard with wireless headphones, mouse, gyroscopic remote (kinda like a Wii), TV tuner and built in cell modem.



It's the laptop equivalent of an Abrams tank.

[Strings]

Ok, on this Asus Eee: I need something that; I can fit in a briefcase easily; can run Word, Firefox, download photos from a camera, and hotsink my Palm. Preferably with WiFi capability, and for less than a grand. Opinions on this machine?

[mtnbkr]

It apparently has OpenOffice, which has enough compatibility to satisfy most needs.  I think it has Firefox.  It does come with WiFi.  No clue on the Palm compatibility or ability to download pics from the camera. 

Chris

[Strings]

I sent the link to my 'puter advisor...

 Biggest problem I have with most current laptops is size: I need something that will fit in a standard briefcase, with all my paperwork. During summer, I'll almost always be on the bike, and don't feel like lugging loads of stuff around...

[bunni]

I think a lot of the criticism comes from folks that were never in the sub-notebook market to begin with. I've been shopping Sony's TZ Vaios... they start at $2,100. The base model is running at 1.06ghz, not 1.6ghz, 11inch screens, not 13.3, and 1gig of ram, not 2. And they start at $300 more - if you've been shopping a sub-notebook it's a no-brainer. 



Plus, it's pretty. 

[Iain]

Ok, on this Asus Eee: I need something that; I can fit in a briefcase easily; can run Word, Firefox, download photos from a camera, and hotsink my Palm. Preferably with WiFi capability, and for less than a grand. Opinions on this machine?

As long as you are ok with openoffice then the only issue you might have with the linux version would be the palm syncing. The future XP version might be easier.

http://forum.eeeuser.com/

I believe Everex have a rival on the way that uses a conventional hdd around 30gb in size.

[mtnbkr]

I'm unclear on whether or not you can install apps on the Asus, but there were utilities for Linux Palm syncing years ago.

Chris

[Harold Tuttle]

don't forget the mac will also run windows OS & apps

[Manedwolf]

Apple's industrial design is astounding. And it IS design, not just clunky assembly.

Pick up an iPod Touch. Would you think, even a couple of years ago, that something that wafer-thin could show full movies and browse the web with an intuitive interface?

And my Macbook Pro...the thing is the laptop equivalent of a Stradivarius violin. It's just...perfect. Fast, reliable, can multitask huge creative-product apps without a crash or performance hiccup, just cranks out product day after day after day. Which is what you ought to expect by 2008.

My laptop is a Dell XPS M2010.  18.3 lbs, 20 inch monitor, RAID'd HD's, full sized keyboard, and running Server 2003.  I've load tested production apps on it before that'd kill a top of the line server from a couple years ago.  Oh yes, comes standard with wireless headphones, mouse, gyroscopic remote (kinda like a Wii), TV tuner and built in cell modem.



It's the laptop equivalent of an Abrams tank.

Why would you want an 18.3lb laptop?

My 17" Macbook Pro is a litle over 6lbs, 1" thick. It goes comfortably in a backpack.

What's the point of a laptop that weighs that much? Why not just have a desktop, or call it a "portable workstation"? That's no laptop. You'd cut off circulation.

[ilbob]

Funny, the Dell laptop I was given for work and the Dell laptop I own personally both acquire and use wireless connections for which I either have the security info or are open without any input from me.  The only time I have to touch them is for those connections with some flavor of security.

Both have XP installed, but I had the same experience with Win2k.

Chris

me too. never had any trouble connecting to any network I had access too, except for one WiFi card that is just flakey.

[mtnbkr]

A guy in my radio club got some hands-on with the Asus EEE recently.  He was not impressed.  I don't think it was any specific issue, but the entirety of the package.

Chris

[Gewehr98]

I just received a couple 4Gb Compact Flash cards from the Geeks.com website ($13.50 each!), and may keep one on the side for an Asus EEE.  It may be fun running TinyXP or Ubuntu, and the 10 hour battery life is certainly a good thing.