New Laptop

[GoodSense]

I bought an Asus eee pc 1000-HE, which came out earlier this month. So far I love it. The keyboard is almost the same as full-size, and Asus fixed the problem with the Shift key, so it types like a normal keyboard. It has a 10-inch screen and 160GB of HD. I upgraded the RAM from 1G to 2G. It does everything I need with no problem (watching hulu, browsing the web, office software, etc.). Would recommend it!

The battery life is amazing. They advertised 9.5 hours. I'd say it's more like 7 hours. Nice to not have to haul a power cord around.

Amazon.com: ASUS Eee PC 1000HE 10-Inch Netbook (1.66 GHz Intel Atom N280 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, 10 GB Eee Storage, Bluetooth, XP Home, 9.5 Hour Battery Life) Blue: Electronics

 

[Rustic23]

I have been looking at netbooks for a couple of months now. I have been reading articles that Windows 7 will come out on netbooks around Sep/Oct. Most reviews say it will run faster than XP. I am in no hurry, so I may wait. Looks like best reviews are for the Asus 1000HE and the Samsung 10 inch is also getting good reviews.

 

[ziggy29]

I have been looking at netbooks for a couple of months now. I have been reading articles that Windows 7 will come out on netbooks around Sep/Oct. Most reviews say it will run faster than XP. I am in no hurry, so I may wait. Looks like best reviews are for the Asus 1000HE and the Samsung 10 inch is also getting good reviews.

I just ordered the 1000HE last night once I managed to overcome my cheapness gene telling me not to buy a new toy. But I wanted a cheap, long battery-life surfing and general use machine I can use anywhere in the house, and this looks like it'll fit the bill. I'm supposed to receive it on Thursday and I splurged the extra $20 for a 2 GB memory module.

 

[tuixiu]

I've been coveting an Asus 1000 too.

You guys should look into installing Puppeee Linux on there, it's an extremely lightwight distro that can run very fast by using a RamDrive, plus it's built for the Eee so it'll come configured for everything to work out of the box.

http://linux.com/feature/131070

 

[ls99]

New concepts galore. From the linked article above (131070):

During boot, the entire system loads into RAM and runs from there, which significantly boosts the system's overall speed and saves the Eee PC's solid state disk (SSD) from unnecessary wear. Better yet, since Eee PC's SSD is soldered to the motherboard and cannot be replaced, you can still use the machine with Puppeee if the SSD dies by booting from an external device.

Saving solid state disk from wear. Them must be really abrasive electrons in Puppee Linux.

 

[ERD50]

New concepts galore. From the linked article above (131070):

During boot, the entire system loads into RAM and runs from there, which significantly boosts the system's overall speed and saves the Eee PC's solid state disk (SSD) from unnecessary wear. Better yet, since Eee PC's SSD is soldered to the motherboard and cannot be replaced, you can still use the machine with Puppeee if the SSD dies by booting from an external device.

Saving solid state disk from wear. Them must be really abrasive electrons in Puppee Linux.

It is a very real problem:

Solid-state drive - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Limited write (erase) cycles: Flash-memory cells will often wear out after 1,000 to 10,000 write cycles for MLC, and up to 100,000 write cycles for SLC[13]

Some application do some write balancing, so that no one block is written to more than the others. No, it's not physical wear (well maybe on an atomic level?), but it is very real.

-ERD50
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive#cite_note-CWorldLackluster-12

 

[NW-Bound]

New concepts galore. From the linked article above (131070):

During boot, the entire system loads into RAM and runs from there, which significantly boosts the system's overall speed and saves the Eee PC's solid state disk (SSD) from unnecessary wear. Better yet, since Eee PC's SSD is soldered to the motherboard and cannot be replaced, you can still use the machine with Puppeee if the SSD dies by booting from an external device.

Saving solid state disk from wear. Them must be really abrasive electrons in Puppee Linux.

It sounds funny and bogus, but flash memories do have a limited number of write cycles. Once the data is written, it can be read indefinitely, but an operating system (Windows or Linux) tends to update or rewrite its internal files numerous times during a user's session. Such actions do wear out the SSD after a few years.

Note that we tend to not subject a USB flash drive to the same write cycles as an OS would an internal drive. Hence the external USB flash drive does not have this problem.

An excerpt from Wikipedia on this subject follows.

Limited write (erase) cycles: Flash-memory cells will often wear out after 1,000 to 10,000 write cycles for MLC, and up to 100,000 write cycles for SLC, while high endurance cells may have an endurance of 1–5 million write cycles (many log files, file allocation tables, and other commonly used parts of the file system exceed this over the lifetime of a computer).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive


PS. I prepared my post at about the same time as ERD50, whose post did not show up at that time. It's not surprising though that all roads lead to wikipedia.

 

[ls99]

Thanks for the info. Seems I've been out of the current technology update mode.

 

[Rustic23]

Got an Asus 1000HE yesterday. I also ordered the 2 gig module for another $19 all from Amazon.

Out of the box I had only one problem. It would not validate my wireless network. I went online with another computer and solved the problem. I had to turn off 802.1x authentication. Once I did that it hooked right up.

I went you Youtube and viewed a video on how to install the memory. It took about 5 min or less.

Keyboard takes some getting use to, but this would be a problem with any computer this size. It is light, generates little heat, and the battery life is rated at 9 hrs. I have not tested that yet, but it is a lot longer than my other lattop. (6 min!). Cost of the computer was about $389, if I remember correctly.

So far I would recommend this for anyone wanting a small computer for traveling. With a 160 gig hard drive, it does just about everything my desktop did. However, I doubt it would be any good for games other than solitaire.

 

[tuixiu]

For people who just use a netbook for browsing, email, watch videos, and light word processing the next big wave (third generation?) could be the ARM-based ones that are rumored to be showing up later this year, if they're willing to give up Windows XP.

Microsoft Rules Netbooks Now, But ARM/Linux Threat Grows | ITworld

$200 netbooks with longer battery life that are capable of doing everything 95% of netbook users user 'em for? What's not to like?

 

[ziggy29]

Microsoft Rules Netbooks Now, But ARM/Linux Threat Grows | ITworld

$200 netbooks with longer battery life that are capable of doing everything 95% of netbook users user 'em for? What's not to like?

There are a lot of people running Ubuntu on netbooks already. The problem is that many of them paid for XP and then wiped it out and installed Linux over it. If this gains more popularity, then netbooks can more readily be packaged with Linux instead of XP, and the cost of licensing Microsoft software would be eliminated.

The netbook segment is growing AND is the most price-conscious segment in the PC market, and thus Microsoft is right to be concerned. I believe they have to discount Windows licensing on netbooks just to keep Microsoft-based netbooks at a price point that will maintain its market share.

 

[bright eyed]

I'm having a love/hate - well more like/dislike with mine so far. It is excellent for travel - I never feel burdened with it and it's perfect for getting online at the airport while waiting to finish off a few emails or read some docs. It's perfectly fine for taking notes in class, and I've loaded 2007 office onto it. But I don't use it at all at home except for my class readings that are downloaded onto it, or quick checking of websites.

I've actually ordered a 15" dell to replace the 17" one because I know at home I love the larger screen and don't want to get frustrated viewing larger docs when I'm trying to do some hard core work, and want a zippy upload etc.

But overall having both works well for me...

Oh and btw I got my case for the asus at TJ Maxx for about $10-12 it's a Targus case for 10" dvd players! They have them in the men's accessories section.

 

[Rustic23]

I have played around with Linux. Puppy and Ubuntu. I came back to XP. I run Web Expressions to update a couple of websites. It only runs in Windows. I tried Ubuntu runing Wine, but had no luck getting it installed and working.

Asus came with Star Office, I have Office 2007, but have not installed it yet. My financial spreadsheet runs in Star, I have little use for a Word Processor, and no use for the rest of the package.

I liked Linux, but in the end returned to XP because of several programs I run. I have two other laptops and a desktop. I use the laptop while watching TV to check email and such. I don't have enough experience with this little one to come to a valid conclusion, but I think it will make a perfect travel computer, and maybe all round home computer. I still use the desktop to backup DVDs.

 

[bright eyed]

Asus came with Star Office, I have Office 2007, but have not installed it yet. My financial spreadsheet runs in Star, I have little use for a Word Processor, and no use for the rest of the package.

.

i tried the star office for a while, but for spreadsheets, it couldn't do all my calculations for work stuff - which aren't that complicated, so had to move on to the office ones...it worked fine for basic word processing and basic spreadsheets though...

 

[ERD50]

i tried the star office for a while, but for spreadsheets, it couldn't do all my calculations for work stuff - which aren't that complicated, so had to move on to the office ones...it worked fine for basic word processing and basic spreadsheets though...

I'm surprised at that - I thought the compatibility was very high.

Were these macros in the spreadsheets? I think macros may be a problem for them, even simple ones.

-ERD50

 

[bright eyed]

I'm surprised at that - I thought the compatibility was very high.

Were these macros in the spreadsheets? I think macros may be a problem for them, even simple ones.

-ERD50

Mm, I don't think so.

The calculations are relatively simple - taking #'s from various columns and multiplying/dividing etc. So I was surprised it didn't work either. When I tried to save them it would say that some of the calculations wouldn't be preserved...or when opening something made in excel, that they couldn't open them...

 

[Rustic23]

I just took a look at my budget spread sheet. It works as advertised. It is a complex spread sheet with several vlookup tables, and multiple linked tables within. It has the inflation data and dow data histories in it, and when you put in a date it applies the increase and decreases to various columns to form a 25 year forecast. There is also a tax system that figures approximate income tax on earnings. This has a social security section to calculat how much is taxed. The thing figures a 25 year forecast of income and expenses based on two savings columns, 4 income colums, and the budget column. So it is a fairly complex spread sheet. It has some macros, but they were used for printing and I have not checked to see if they work. There are also no financial or other functions used. I have office just have not installed it as it is too much like business!

 

[ERD50]

Mm, I don't think so.

The calculations are relatively simple - taking #'s from various columns and multiplying/dividing etc. So I was surprised it didn't work either. When I tried to save them it would say that some of the calculations wouldn't be preserved...or when opening something made in excel, that they couldn't open them...

I suspect there was something else going on. Maybe some complex formulas or macros that were ther,e but that you didn't see? I ended up hitting the macro key by mistake once, and somehow got a macro saved in my sheet, and it took me a long time to figure out where it was and how to get it deleted. Some of those ss can carry a lot of old 'baggage' with them.

I've played around a bit with an old (2007) version of OO - I just checked again and it read some of my fairly complex SS just fine, including one with simple formulas, but lots of graphics and formatting. It looked just fine. In fact, it looked so good I think I'll try Dl'ing the newest versions and give them a spin, I'm sure they have improved a lot from 2007-2009.

-ERD50

 

[bright eyed]

I don't have the time, tech ability or patience to figure out why!

 

[ERD50]

I have played around with Linux. Puppy and Ubuntu. I came back to XP. I run Web Expressions to update a couple of websites. It only runs in Windows.
...

I liked Linux, but in the end returned to XP because of several programs I run. I have two other laptops and a desktop.

Just curious - if it was not for those few programs, would you have stuck to Linux?

-ERD50

 

[Rustic23]

Maybe. Ubuntu is a lot like Windows or Mac in that it is a strong gui interface. It is easier to get things working with Mac/Windows than Linux. Printers, Scanners, WebCams, and such. It was easy getting my wireless working on Puppy and the laptop. It was H*LL getting Ubuntu to do the same thing. Broadcom wireless that you can turn off and on require a download from Broadcom and there is not a public domain driver. Took some internet searching to make it work in Ubuntu. All three major browsers, Ie, Firefox, and Opera worked well with both linux installs.

I got the printer, an hp all in one, working in both, but never got the scanner workiing. I got the webcam working but not for all applications.

So I would have no problem using either if it came installed on the computer and configured for use and I was surfing the net. If I wanted to expand it, or add new programs, it is not plug and play. Windows/Mac make it easy to add stuff, Linux does not. Having said that, I do have a desktop with Ubuntu on it. It is connected to the TV and it streams video through the net.

By the way, Puppy is much faster booting than Ubuntu, and Ubuntu seems to boot a little faster than Windows. I think I am going to try Puppy on a flash drive on this Asus and see how it works.

 

[tuixiu]

Puppy does boot very fast, I use it booting from flash drive on my laptop at work. Since it runs from a ram drive everything runs very quickly, it's a great option to make an older laptop perform well if you've got enough memory in it.

The version I have doesn't run Star or OpenOffice is uses Abbiword which I've found to be fairly compatible with Word, and Seamonkey web browser which does occasionally give me drama with fonts and css.

 

[Rustic23]

I have downloaded firefox and opera, used it on both puppy and ubuntu. I prefer it to seamonkey.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Linux is behind on printer/scanner/fax drivers as many manufacturers (e.g., Canon) don't bother to produce Linux drivers and it is darn hard to write one without their co-operation. There is one commercial Linux driver package, but I don't know if it works for any multi-function printers (print/scan/fax) or how many printers it actually deals with.

This, and having to use Windows programs for work stops me from using Linux for my business machinery.

 

[ERD50]

Linux is behind on printer/scanner/fax drivers as many manufacturers (e.g., Canon) don't bother to produce Linux drivers and it is darn hard to write one without their co-operation. .

Thanks for the replies all.

As far as printer drivers, back in the early days of Mac OS (10.2), I got my MIL's Mac to run with her unsupported old Epson printer by installing C.U.P.S. - it worked great, it just didn't have all the bells and whistles from the Epson drivers (cleaning, test prints, etc, but all could be done with buttons on the printer panel).

That was years ago, it probably is much more functional now.

CUPS

-ERD50