# Asus EEEPC



## Rhys (Feb 5, 2008)

Is the EEEPC worth bothering with when you have a normal sized laptop?

I looked at it and thought it's a handy size to toss in a camera backpack. It's also handy because it's got a solid-state hard drive so it doesn't matter if it gets bumped and banged. 

I have a Hyperdrive HD80 that would work well with that. The only problem is that as the thing uses Linux I might not be able to find decent RAW editing software for my XT and 30D files.

Idly I was thinking of it because I am looking at a couple of long flights in the near future.


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## jedithebomber (Feb 5, 2008)

900mhz celeron, 512mb ram, 8gb flash memory, 7in 800 x 480 lcd. It would be hard to imagine a more horrible photo editing experience. It may be a good way to store photos, and maby view them on the go?


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## Antithesis (Feb 5, 2008)

I've seen a few fellow students taking notes on these and I wondered what they were. Seems like a cool idea. If you had a larger hard drive and you could try and calibrate that dinky little monitor, it wouldn't be too bad for doing basic exposure and color correction on the go. 

It also appears that you can get a version with a gig of ram. My only concern using that little thing would be the frustratingly small hard drive.


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## Sideburns (Feb 5, 2008)

I've seen one.  Seriously, it's too small and slow to be good for anything more than store and view photos on the go.
The keys aren't even normal size...

I guess it's ok if that's all you want..but then again...you can use an iPod as a photo storage and viewing device as well...and they come with huge harddrives...


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## Garbz (Feb 6, 2008)

There's another problem too. As far as I remember this thing has only 1 USB socket. Given the hdd is 8gb and a bit of that taken by the OS, chances are you can't even download an entire memory card. And given that it has 1 socket it means external HDD AND a usb hub. All of a sudden you're lugging a lot of crap around again.

If you want something small for photo editing I'd wait till the Lenovo X3000 comes out (i think that's the model anyway). It's slightly larger but significantly more useful. I've been wanting the Asus EEEPC for ages but I simply can't find something I could do with it.

As far as I am concerned it's a machine for writers who just need a keyboard and maybe some email.


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## Rhys (Feb 6, 2008)

Lol. Yes. I love the size. I love the fact it has a SSHD. I can't say the rest of the package is all that great. The MacBook Air looks more interesting although if I wanted to spend $1600 then I could just stick a 128GB SSHD into my existing laptop.


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## Alex_B (Feb 6, 2008)

I am using the Lenovo X60s for storage and processing while travelling.

not the best screen ever, but at least it has got enough power to batch convert 
RAW and to work with photoshop properly 

And compared to my camera gear it is lightweight and small ..


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## Rhys (Feb 6, 2008)

Looks neat. I'm amazed Lenovos are so expensive given that they're Chinese.


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## Atropine (Feb 6, 2008)

Rhys said:


> Looks neat. I'm amazed Lenovos are so expensive given that they're Chinese.


And Macs are produced in a castle in Switzerland? I thought everyone knew by now that practically all components in our elecronic equipment is made in China or some other low salary country. And they are often able to produce any quality you want on the stuff as long as you are willing to pay.


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## Antithesis (Feb 6, 2008)

Garbz said:


> There's another problem too. As far as I remember this thing has only 1 USB socket. Given the hdd is 8gb and a bit of that taken by the OS, chances are you can't even download an entire memory card. And given that it has 1 socket it means external HDD AND a usb hub. All of a sudden you're lugging a lot of crap around again.
> 
> If you want something small for photo editing I'd wait till the Lenovo X3000 comes out (i think that's the model anyway). It's slightly larger but significantly more useful. I've been wanting the Asus EEEPC for ages but I simply can't find something I could do with it.
> 
> As far as I am concerned it's a machine for writers who just need a keyboard and maybe some email.



It has 4 USB 2.0 ports according to their website. If you did have an external HD like the poster mentioned, I don't think it would be too bad of a little computer. I used to run photoshop 9 and several other programs on a 600 MHz, 128mb ram POS laptop, as well as doing most of my school work on it, and it worked just fine. 

I was thinking it would be cool to have one and use my 80gb Ipod as storage, but I already have a Macbook and I'm not all that concerned with carrying an extra 4 lbs.


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## Rhys (Feb 6, 2008)

I'm kinda 50/50 over the Asus. It looks neat but so often the neat-looking stuff turns out to be a lemon. As somebody else said: it's an "emerging" technology. I like the fact it doesn't use Windows. There's a lot to like about it. Practicality though means it's probably not up to more than basic web surfing and email applications.

Generally I'm moving more toward using an external hard drive for everything and just keeping the laptop/desktop clean.


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## Garbz (Feb 7, 2008)

Antithesis said:


> It has 4 USB 2.0 ports according to their website.



You're right, sorry my mistake I got confused with the Macbook air.

I'm amazed Macs are so expensive given they are made in China


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## Rhys (Feb 7, 2008)

Garbz said:


> You're right, sorry my mistake I got confused with the Macbook air.
> 
> I'm amazed Macs are so expensive given they are made in China



Seriously... Look at it like this...

A shirt made of American cotton grown by American farmers in America, harvested by American workers (not illegal immigrants), baled, spun and woven by American workers then sold in American shops will be much more expensive than a shirt made of indian cotton, grown by Indian workers in India then shipped to America and sold in American shops. 

All the labour intensive stuff is done overseas and the parts sourced overseas. The Chinese make the electronic components, put the electronic components together with Chinese labour. We all know that the average Chinaman lives and works for a week on less than the price of a cup of coffee from Starbucks. So where are the savings? Why are Lenevos (designed, built from Chinese made parts in China using Chinese cheap labour) so horribly expensive? 

I am not sold by all this outsourcing to China on the basis that the price of goods has not reduced accordingly. I pay the more now (counting inflation)  for items that are made in China that I was paying before for items not made in China. There is no knock-on saving for the consumer although the goods are now of more dubious quality.

The economics are that stuff made in China and shipped is cheaper. I have a suspicion that somebody in Lenevo is milking the market and that somebody in Apple is also milking the market.


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## Alex_B (Feb 7, 2008)

the lenovo design (well, based on IBM design) is very robust, those laptops you actualy can drop while the harddrive is on.


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## Rhys (Feb 7, 2008)

Alex_B said:


> the lenovo design (well, based on IBM design) is very robust, those laptops you actualy can drop while the harddrive is on.



This is one reason why I'm waiting with baited breath for solid-state hard drives to plummet in price. They will survive impacts of 1500g and will be usable at high altitude.


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## Garbz (Feb 8, 2008)

Rhys said:


> I have a suspicion that somebody in Lenevo is milking the market and that somebody in Apple is also milking the market.



Really? 

What you have said so far is all basic economics. The other half of the economics is what the market is prepared to pay. As long as consumers fork out for the expensive crap companies produce the cost will remain high. When the consumers dissapear companys can actually make more money by reducing the retail price to increase their sales volume.

Lenovos aren't necessarily cheap because they are designed in china, they have to pay back the costs of buying the entire business from IBM, everyone outsources to china the cost is the same. Don't confuse the underpaid chinese workforce on the production line with the rich product design team.


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## adolan20 (Feb 8, 2008)

I'm not too fond of Macs.  Not because they're OS, I actually like their OS much better, it's just the fact that I have to pay for a laptop that is $2000 which is basically the same hardware wise as a $800 Windows laptop.  So basically, I am paying $1200 for just the OS, and a few pounds lighter.


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## Rhys (Feb 8, 2008)

adolan20 said:


> I'm not too fond of Macs.  Not because they're OS, I actually like their OS much better, it's just the fact that I have to pay for a laptop that is $2000 which is basically the same hardware wise as a $800 Windows laptop.  So basically, I am paying $1200 for just the OS, and a few pounds lighter.



This is the problem Apple has...

Do they go fully PC compatible and sell solely OSs or do they sell computers at a premium, keeping the price high to maintain exclusivity and image? If they did the former, how many O/Ss would they sell? OSX is better than Vista because Vista is so new. Is OSX better than XP? It's a close call to the end user although as a former programmer I know OSX has advantages over XP.

You can buy a Mac and run Windows or OSX or you can buy a PC and run solely Windows.


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## usayit (Feb 8, 2008)

Like it or not....  its the nature of business in the America.  You are free to sell something for as much as you can... the market will decide if you are asking too much.

It is working for Apple as they have a following of happy users (me included) and a thriving business to prove it.  I like to say that Macs are not expensive, its just that everyone else is so cheap (you get what you pay for).  

One could say that the same thing for all those who commute in expensive Mercedes... to me they are hardly worth it... in other places they are used as taxis.   It is essentially the same as any other car (body, doors, chairs, engine etc..) at several times the cost and still provides the same service too (getting from A to B).

You say that you like the OS but don't want to pay for the hardware?  Well.. I'd like that nice smooth Porsche boxster engine in a Miata at the Miata's price point.  The price for admission IS the entire Porsche not a portion.   As is the price of admission for Mac IS the entire package not a portion.


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## usayit (Feb 8, 2008)

Rhys said:


> Seriously... Look at it like this...
> 
> A shirt made of American cotton grown by American farmers in America, harvested by American workers (not illegal immigrants), baled, spun and woven by American workers then sold in American shops will be much more expensive than a shirt made of indian cotton, grown by Indian workers in India then shipped to America and sold in American shops.
> 
> ...



Its also cheaper to import razors than it is to make it here in the US.... keep in mind we were one of the top steel producers in the world not too long ago.

In regards to China...
People must understand that China's economics do not necessarily abide and play by the same rules as it is here in the US.  China's economy and business is heavily controlled by the Chinese government.  Please note, it is not regulated but CONTROLLED.  Free market economy just doesn't play by the same rules.  Wages/earnings/profits are not set by the market.  They are simply decided and set.  A huge chunk of what we buy in the US is made in China but I assure you the typical household income of China doesn't follow suit.  It is to the best interest of the Chinese government to keep labor cheap... very cheap...  they do so by their authority.. they do so artificially regardless of supply, demand, or market.  Even their currency was kept competitive with the US dollar by being tied to the dollar.    It is an extremely powerful political move.... and it is working..  American business are playing into it.


If you took the most brilliant American business minds and placed totally control of the US economy and business infrastructure under a single company/control, the US would be an unbeatable force in the world market.  The problem is the civil liberty and freedoms that would have to be sacrificed in order to accomplish that feat.


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## usayit (Feb 8, 2008)

btw.. I was at the Microcenter the other day to take a look at the eepc.  I could not imagine trying to do photo editing on that thing.  It makes for a wonderful "access point" for the web and such.. but thats about it.  

for extra storage on the road.. use an image tank. 

For editing..  you are still better off on a decent machine with a calibrated display.


By the way... aren't solid state laptop drives now available.  Wouldn't it make sense to just install one in a laptop or buy a new laptop with one installed?


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## Rhys (Feb 9, 2008)

I have a feeling you're right about it being handy for on the road uses. I looked at that basically because I'm thinking of taking a couple of 8 hour flights and wanted something to play with on the way. Having said that, at $400 as they seemingly can't be used for photo editing, this is a non-starter - too expensive for maybe 5 hours total use. I'd be better playing the same boring old games on my PDA and using my normal computers. I wasn't planning to take my laptop with me, flying. It's just too big a chunk out of the carry-on allowance.


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