Asus Offers Travelers Small, Mobile Eee PC, but It’s Too Cramped
The computer industry has been trying for years to come up with a portable PC smaller than the smallest standard laptops. The idea is to create a highly mobile device, larger than a smart phone, for frequent travelers, students and others who would love the size and weight savings.
Unfortunately, every attempt at this concept has included too many compromises to justify their often surprisingly high prices. I’ve been testing the latest effort at such a device, the Eee PC, from a Taiwan-based laptop maker called Asus. It does better than some of the earlier contenders in certain respects, such as text entry and price. But it still is likely to prove unsatisfying for many road warriors.
Asus doesn’t even call the Eee a computer, referring to it as a “mobile Internet gadget.” Instead of using Microsoft Windows as its operating system, the Eee uses a specially designed version of the open Linux operating system, and comes preloaded with a variety of open-source programs for Web browsing, performing office tasks, playing music and videos, running games and managing photos.
The Eee has a much smaller footprint than even the subnotebook category of laptop, such as the much-publicized MacBook Air unveiled by Apple this week (which I’ll review after I have thoroughly tested it), or subnotebooks from Sony and Lenovo. It weighs a mere two pounds, is just under 9 inches wide and just over 6 inches deep. It is thicker than the new Apple and some other subnotebooks, ranging from 0.79 inches at its thinnest point to 1.26 inches at its thickest. The overall effect is small, but stubby.
The Eee’s price is only a fraction of what typical subnotebooks cost — from $300 to $500, depending on configuration. The model I tested, called the Surf, is the base $300 entry. With its pastel blue lid, and tiny size, it looks like something Barbie might use. But it can perform real work, even though it comes with only 512 megabytes of memory and a scant two gigabytes of storage space.
One reason the device costs and weighs so little is that there is no hard disk. Files are stored on memory chips. It is possible to add storage by popping in a flash memory card or by connecting a USB drive to one of the three USB ports.
Unlike some computers in its category, the Eee isn’t a tablet. It takes the clamshell form of a traditional laptop and, when opened, reveals a full, if very cramped, keyboard. By including a real keyboard and charging so little, Asus has overcome two of the problems that plagued Samsung’s Q1 ultramobile computer awhile back.
Asus Eee PC
The user interface on the Eee is simple and clear. It consists of tabs labeled Internet, Work, Learn, Play, Settings and Favorites. Each tab contains large, colorful icons. For instance, the Work tab includes icons for Documents, Spreadsheets and Presentations. These tabs lead to various modules of the free OpenOffice suite, a competitor to Microsoft Office.
The Internet tab has various icons, such as Web Mail, Web and Wikipedia, that open the Firefox Web browser. You get to this tabbed screen by just pressing a Home button.
In my tests of the Eee, I was able to use all manner of Web sites, send and receive Web-based email, compose and open Microsoft Word documents from other computers, play music, and view photos.
So, with a low price, a small size, a real keyboard, and a clean user interface, what’s not to like about the Eee?
Well, for starters, its tiny 7-inch display is just too stingy for serious work. You can make up for a small screen size with high resolution, but the 800 by 480 resolution on the Eee — which can’t be changed — is so wimpy that very few lines of text can be seen at any one time. This means you’ll have to do so much scrolling, it’s likely to drive you crazy.
Also, the lack of a hard disk, and the relative paucity of truly simple Linux software, means that most nontechie users will be stuck with the included programs, which can’t be removed and which don’t include a calendar or contacts program, or even an email program. You can only use Web-based email.
And just below the Eee’s simplified user interface lurks the complicated terminology and software design characteristic of Linux. Some error messages I saw were indecipherable.
Beyond that, many of the Linux programs included were far cruder and harder to figure out than, say, Microsoft’s Photo Gallery or Apple’s iTunes. The Eee wouldn’t automatically reconnect to a known wireless network, and it wouldn’t recognize my Kodak digital camera.
Some of these problems can be solved if you install Microsoft Windows XP on the Eee. Asus includes instructions on doing so. But you have to supply your own copy of Windows.
The Eee is a valiant effort, but it still has too many compromises to pry most travelers away from their larger laptops.
Email me at mossberg@wsj.com. Find all my columns and videos online, free, at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.
Comments
I just bought an eee pc and am pleased with it. As a writer, I can work up content - not as fast as on my desktop computer - but I can do it ANYWHERE.
Yes, the keyboard is small - even smaller than the keyboard on my old Sony Picturebooks - but I can still do about 25-30wpm with reasonable accuracy.
For email, web browsing, skyping and such it is perfect when there is a hotspot. When the 3, 4G or some other wireless data network is commonplace…this solution will be extraordinary.
The heavy lifting still requires a full sized computer or laptop, but now I am no longer chained to my desk when the weather is beautiful.
I do not disagree with your comment that the keyboard is cramped and screen resolution poses some problems. However, it is an excellent, affordable solution for a writer like me who would rather do content development under a tree on a beautiful day than be stuck in the office.
Posted by steve hammill at January 16th, 2008 at 9:41 pmAs a kid I was a fan of Mad Magazine, and I remember their spoof of Consumer Reports (from Google I have learned it was #132, January 1970, for fellow Mad fans). A story in the spoof noted that the editors had forgotten to review a model of toaster in a previous issue, and that the review could be found elsewhere in the magazine. Of course it was. They reviewed it under sewing machines, complaining about the smell when they put cloth in it.
The Asus Eee has to be judged in the intent of its owner for its use.
No one has expectations of it being able to do sophisticated work, but it is a “get me through my traveling day” computer that lets you surf, do your mail, look at documents, get ideas down before you forget them, and deal with multimedia. I had hoped to do these things with PDAs but was always disappointed.
I can see myself using it for presentations when all I need to do is to connect to a projector, do my thing, and head back to the office without dragging other gear with me.
I’m biased, as I’m a Linux fan, especially for Xandros, which through the Eee has a winner that can ensure the company’s survival. I’ve been watching the Xandros forums, and the Ubuntu ones, and those crafty geeks are doing all kinds of neat things with the devices and just loving it. I’m waiting for the wider screens to be released later this year as I do a lot of spreadsheet work, and need to view them more than text documents.
All of us love Walt and the work of his growing staff of associates who have no fear of saying what they think, thankfully. On two of my favorite subjects, he got the Ubuntu review right (not ready for non-geek prime time), and got the Yahoo! mail review wrong (I love GMail and find YM slow, inefficient, and unpredictable in its daily use).
If this was baseball, getting a hit 1 out of 3 times can get you in the Hall of Fame. But reviewers are judged differently. Walt’s swinging and missing a few times of late; luckily, spring training is just a few weeks away, and he’ll get his context back. In the meantime, we’ll still be reading Walt. Even if we disagree with him there’s always hope he’ll knock one out of the park.
Posted by Joe Webb at January 17th, 2008 at 4:47 amWalt,
Posted by Adolfo Mendez at January 17th, 2008 at 6:00 amYes, you are correct that the Eee PC is not a business class machine, but it is nonetheless an excellent machine.
I purchased one of these as a gift for my wife this past Christmas in part because I knew she’d love its size and especially how light weight it is (remember, this was pre-MacBook Air). She’s also had no problems with the keyboard and uses the laptop mostly for what it is best at — Web surfing.
I have used the machine to build a spreadsheet and it is a bit cumbersome, but nonetheless possible.
For serious work, a full-size keyboard (such as the desktop I am typing on right now) is much to be preferred.
You give credit to Asus for its price and that is well deserved praise. The Eee PC is not going to be your main computer, but at $299, this is an excellent deal for a reliable, stable product, to have if your main desire is to surf the Web, and at times do some office work on it.
I also just bought an EEE PC, and I agree that you have to evaluate it based on its intended usage. I was looking for a convenient reader for all the pdfs, text files, postscript files, etc I have lying around—most of these are large, technical documents. None of the ebook readers out there are up to the task—either they are too slow turning pages, they only support proprietary formats, they don’t support pdf at all (or only in some poor way), they’re too expensive (like the Iliad), etc. The EEE PC is a full computer so it reads all these formats perfectly and the display is large enough to comfortably read all the fine techincal details. At the same time, because it’s a PC, I can bring up a text editor and be making notes as I’m reading, plus I can surf the web and download new docs at will and read email if I want to (a bonus feature as far as I’m concerned). All this for less than some dedicated ebook readers (like the Kindle) and providing vastly more. So yes, if this is supposed to be your primary workhorse, this is not a good choice—but for the flexibility of carrying around essentially a paperback book that has a reasonable screen (much bigger than the iPhone or any other PDA) in which you can do every computing task you need…well, I think it’s outstanding.
Posted by Jeff Billeter at January 17th, 2008 at 6:24 amIt wasn’t long ago that our laptops had 800 by 480 resolution and we got plenty of work done. Not long before that we were productive with that resolution on our desktops. Eee looks like the machine I have been waiting to travel with. (ps. I suspect if Apple had released the same item and called it the iSmall, Mr Mossberg would be drooling).
Posted by Harry Mangurian at January 17th, 2008 at 7:52 amDammit, we want it all! We want a tiny Internet communications device that fits in our pockets but still has a large screen and a big keyboard! Smartphones and PDAs are too small to do “serious” work on, but even small subnotebooks are too big to pull out just to read/send an email or answer the phone, and using them on a train or plane is still uncomfortable.
The problem is not with these devices that compromise between legible screens with reasonable keyboards and the ability to pull the thing out from your jacket pocket, the problem is… with US! We need to design human beings to have tinier fingers and sharper vision so that devices like these are more usable. After all, do we imagine that these devices exist to serve us, or do we exist to… um, wait a second…
Posted by Rich Rosen at January 17th, 2008 at 8:30 am“cramped” does not mean “useless”, quite the contrary as the EEE can go anywhere, heck fits into my [cargo-pant] pocket! (also note the charger is no larger than a phone charger - no big brick to lug).
It’s also a quite capable machine, 1GHz and 512MB of RAM, when connected to an external monitor it’s a dream.
Plus, I can toss it in my pocket and read articles anywhere rather than waste my time waiting in line.
Posted by Hugh Bert at January 17th, 2008 at 8:31 amWalt- A good review- the above reader comments echo my thoughts although I haven’t yet laid my hands on an ASUS. Having both a good desktop and full-size laptop, I’m simply looking for a two pound replacement for my long-used Toshiba Libretto 110CT which was lots easier to travel with. I’m off to Frys to look at these tomorrow. Jerry Gropp Architect AIA PS
Posted by Jerry Gropp at January 17th, 2008 at 11:06 amWalt, you completely missed the Thunderbird, conveniently labeled as “Mail” in the Work tab (as opposed to “Web Mail” in the Internet tab), which can do email and contacts by default, and calendar with an extensionas well as the PIM, which handles all three functions, under “Accessories” in the Work tab, right next to the calculator. I started playing with the OS yesterday (don’t have an eee myself just yet, I wanted to play with it a bit first). I saw the review, said “that can’t be right”, took 10 seconds to look, and found both programs. Real thorough review there.
Posted by Yoni Gross at January 18th, 2008 at 7:06 amYoni: He tested a 2G surf which doesn’t come with Thunderbird installed. Not sure what Asus is thinking with that decision.
In general I agree with the rest of the comments that its kind of missing the point to compare the EEE to a full-size laptop. Web-surfing, email, note taking, movies, etc. Are all I want to do on a trip and the EEE is more than up to the task.
Posted by Fred Derfman at January 18th, 2008 at 11:32 amI’ve had a good rummage around usa.asus.com but couldn’t locate the description “mobile internet gadget”. Either the “PC” in its name overstates its power, or the “gadget” handle understates it. Having seen Ubuntu with Compiz perform on it at Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRP8fPcaSzI&feature=related) convincingly points to the latter. Of course, you wouldn’t want to type a PhD thesis on something this small. But getting off a few letters, collecting mail or reading the news on the move is another matter. The difficulty of getting hold of one suggests many people think likewise.
Posted by Mel Fraser at January 18th, 2008 at 2:14 pmI notice that the writer didn’t have one in his hand in his video, I thought that his review was relatively negative toward the device.
Reports that I have had are that the Eee PC just works and to say that the it is hard to fix is a non issue.
It comes pre packed with heaps of installed software, including a full Office Suite, this is a significant feature of the device. When I went to play with one I was impressed with what I saw.
Also the author started out saying that the Device fills the need between the Smart Phone and Ultra small laptop, so expecting it to be a full laptop is a bit unrealistic.
Given that they are selling them at a rate of one every 6 seconds (according to their web site) I think that these are pretty popular.
Posted by Darrin Ritter at January 18th, 2008 at 4:30 pmWalt,
I’m an avid reader of your Personal Technology column in the Wall Street Journal. I have to say though, I was a little disappointed in this particular article. Lately, it seems the only products you recommend are Apple products and even though I’m a loyal reader, I’ve become less confident on your reviews for non-Apple products. Yes, Apple does make fine products but for those of us that use that live in the corporate Windows/Linux/Unix world…we know Apple isn’t the only company out there doing IT right.
I fully admit that I do not own an Eee PC, so your review about this device may be accurate. However, from what I get in the majority of reviews I’ve read on this device…the Asus Eee PC is a winner.
In my opinion, technology writers for the masses are in rut…with very few willing to look and promote devices that aren’t Apple or Windows. I’m amazed writers haven’t caught on that consumers are ready for something different than Windows and even different from Apple. At my “day job”, my people easily switch back and forth between Windows XP and Linux platforms and I’m not sure why technology writers see Linux as “difficult”. Some of these same people (including myself) also own Macs at home. Oddly, these same people that own Apples and say bad things about Windows, rarely say anything negative with regards to Linux (we use KDE on RHEL for the desktop). Linux is more Mac-like than Windows…so many of my Apple fans see Linux as better than Windows.
Posted by Bryan Ruby at January 19th, 2008 at 8:06 amWalt,
Your reviews are usually spot on, but in this case, I think you do a disservice to your readers. The version of the Eee PC you are reviewing is the Surf, which is apparently badly hobbled. Most people buy the regular versions which have all the missing functionality you talk about.
My Eee PC automatically connects to known wireless networks. It is a setting in Networks, under the Internet tab. Highlight the access point name, and set the auto connect in Properties.
There is an email program - Thunderbird from Mozilla.
There is a calendar and organizer.
Although I am a Windows veteran, I was able to install new software following instructions in online forums.
As an experiment, I took an Eee PC on an 8 day holiday instead of my usual ThinkPad. I was able to continue to function, including connecting to my work email. The lack of a hard disk is easily fixed with an 8Gb SDHC card in the slot. I was also able to download my Canon camera pictures to the Eee, freeing up its memory card.
There is always a trade-off between screen size and resolution. Frankly, with middle-age eyes, I can’t read the high res screens on most UMPC. The clear, bright screen on the Eee is fantastic, and yes, you have to scroll somewhat, but going to full screen mode helps a lot.
You didn’t mention it, but the Eee is also quite capable of playing video and music files. It makes a very cheap player in that respect, with excellent quality playback.
I added a 1 Gb memory SO-DIMM to the unit to increase the main memory just because I could.
I think you have missed the niche it fills. You say “its tiny 7-inch display is just too stingy for serious work”. That is like saying a Porsche 911 has lousy seating for 4. Asus has sold more than 350,000 units and are predicting sales of 5-6 million this year. That doesn’t happen unless people are perceiving value.
The Eee was an impulse buy for me initially, but now it has become part of my toolkit. Great for surfing in the living room, excellent accessory for my camera, good media player, CHEAP. For the price, which is half of a smart phone, Asus has made a marvelous device.
Waleed Hanafi
Posted by Waleed Hanafi at January 21st, 2008 at 7:37 amSingapore
It is fine if don’t like the EEE (personally I love mine), but you owe your readers a correction. The device does automatically reconnect to wireless networks. I can personally vouch for this. It is a very simple setting to update, and it is outlined in the owner’s manual.
Posted by Rob Johnson at January 21st, 2008 at 10:37 amI think eventually we’ll see a laptop that folds up/out into 4s or eighths. Super compact, but unfoldable into something usable.
Posted by rod sandcones at January 21st, 2008 at 2:34 pmi understand the complaints about the thing “out of the box”. sigh.
well, being more of a geek than most, i installed the full KDE desktop. There are instructions aplenty on the web for doing this.
Now that i have a real desktop, and, using a real repository (Debian–beyond what Xandros offers) i was able to successfully install and run a whole slew of linux applications and customize the device to my liking. at this point, i’m pretty happy with the machine.
My only big complaint is the battery life, which is even less than the paltry 3 hours they advertise.
Posted by alan kaiser at January 22nd, 2008 at 11:19 amWithout the need for a physical hard disk, this machine should be able to run for 12 hours or more without a charge, imo. I guess the Intel chipset (which really heats up the back of the device) makes this not a viable option for now.
Hopefully (please??) Asus will come out with a next generation that does not lock them into the energy hungry.
When the school year is in full swing around here getting on a terminal in the public library, just to use the catalogue can be a PITA but with the EEE pc I can wi-fi into the catalogue and bypass the long wait.
Posted by David Goodmacher at January 31st, 2008 at 12:04 amThe EEE pc is also great for surfing while in bed and you can use the built-in microphone and speakers to make a Skype call although I do have to admit that the sound quality in this operation is better on my Macbook than it is on the EEE pc. For the $400 that I paid for it, and for what it does, as far as i am concerned you can’t beat it. I also build my own PCs and have used Asus Motherboards and components in the past and have always been pleased by the quality of their prodicts.
These _meaning User Groups_ are very important to the computing world.
Posted by george pope at January 31st, 2008 at 2:33 pm