I have had my eye on a mini laptop for close to a year now. I became
extremely close to picking up Walmart's exclusive Cloudbook which was a
mini netbook running with 30GB instead of Asus' Eee PC which at the time
only came packed with 2GB, or 4GB for a much higher price.
However after reading numerous negative reviews on the Cloudbook
shortly after it's release, my excited 'I have to buy it mood' vanished.
The Cloudbook and I would of never worked out.
Thankfully I waited, and was able to snag the ASUS Eee PC 900 16G,
which has a better screen resolution, more space, and a better touch
pad. All in all at Amazon's listed price of $329.99, I felt like it was
as best a deal I would ever come across on the Asus Eee PC, especially
with that much space.
My need for the ASUS Eee PC was more novelty than it was practical. I
wanted the mini laptop simply because it looked cute, and I am a huge
fan of cuteness, and of course electronics. However after reading
up more and more on the ASUS Eee PC 900 16G I learned that the mini
laptop was more geared at Internet roaming, email, and documents. Still
though, I wanted it, and at the price it was being sold for, I had to
buy it.
I figured I could afford to purchase it, play with it for a while, and
then pass it on to my mother for Christmas, thus killing two birds with
one stone. I would get the chance to get my hands on the mini notebook
to see what the hype was all about, and then I could pass it on as a
gift come December.
Perfect!
She has been pining for a computer for quite some time now, but seeing
that she couldn't afford to drop a hefty $1,200 on a brand new desktop
or laptop, I knew she would love the Asus Eee PC.
Seeing that Linux operating systems are supposedly easy on new comers,
and those less computer saavy folks, it would be perfect for her. She
recently has been working on an old outdated computer from the late 90's
which runs at a snails pace, and whenever she needs help with something
I personally don't have the patience for it, especially when one web
page is taking 5 minutes just to load.
I figured with the ASUS Eee PC 900 16G, she would only require a quick
hands on lesson, and then she would be off... to roam the world wide
web with speed!
For my review, I will get right down to the nitty gritty and let you
know how the ASUS Eee PC 900 16G worked for me. The good, the bad, and
the ugly.
Size and Weight:
The ASUS Eee PC 900 16G is approximately 8.9 inches wide, by 6.7
inches tall. It's a pretty small notebook, and weighs in at 2.2 pounds,
making it light enough as to where you can carry it along with you
wherever you go, and small enough as to where you can stuff it into your
bag, or even a large purse without an issue.
I was able to stuff the ASUS Eee PC 900 16G into my purse without an
issue, and really the 2.2 pounds of extra weight is nothing.
Screen:
The ASUS Eee PC 900 16G screen is an 8.9-inch wide TFT LCD with a 1024
x 600 pixel resolution. This new resolution supposedly makes things
easier on the eyes. The older models of the Asus Eee PC were harder on
the eyes, so Asus amped it up a bit!
For me, the screen is perfect. I did not find that I was squinting or
having difficulty navigating around the computer, or the Internet. Those
who don't have great vision though may find that strain will play out
after staring at the screen for longer periods of time.
Speed:
I had come across quite a few forums and reviews on the Asus Eee PC,
and a few of them mentioned that the Eee PC is slow loading pages, or
browsing around the net. I did not come across this issue at all.
There however was one 'crash' where the system would not respond. This
happened on MySpace, where the page had to much going on, and the Asus
for some reason decided to no longer function. I had to Ctl, Alt, Del,
and kill the application in order to get it back to normal.
This though didn't really bother me, because most PC's have a
difficult time displaying over stuffed MySpace pages. PC's in the
thousand-dollar range will even struggle on MySpace at times.
Games:
There is a nice little collection of games built into the ASUS Eee PC
900. You have some weird little tetris game, suduko, some weird bubble
game, solitaire, and a few other games. None though are very impressive,
but they are fun when you first get the ASUS Eee PC 900. Overall though
the games are pretty low key, 2D arcade type games. Nothing impressive,
but cool nonetheless.
Desktop:
When the ASUS Eee PC 900 first came I thought was going to have a hard
time navigating around the computer due to the fact that I had never in
my life worked on a computer running Linux.
I will say though that everything is neatly laid out in tabs that
allow new users to Linux to navigate and find applications without
difficulty. My mom who is pretty new to computers in general was even
able to figure things out. On Windows operating systems I would have had
to teach her all night and into the next day about navigating around.
Navigating Linuxs' desktop was simple, and she picked it up immediately.
Web cam:
I have come across all too many folks complaining about the lack of a
web cam on the ASUS Eee PC 900. This is far from the truth, odds are
these people bought the 900A model, and accidentally misread there being
a web cam.
The 900A does not have a web cam, but the 900 16GB does.
The ASUS Eee PC 900 came packed with a web cam, and I was quite
surprised to see how fast, responsive, and how clear the little thing
worked! You can videotape home movies, or take instant photos with it.
Besides the web cam though, there is also a nifty little sound
recorder that will tape your voice and allow you to save your messages
to send to other people through email, myspace, or whatever else you
want to use it for.
Voice Recognition:
This was probably one of the coolest features on the little notebook! I
personally loved it because I had never had a computer, or laptop with a
voice recognition included!
The ASUS Eee PC 900 voice recognition works with simple voice
commands. By speaking certain commands, the ASUS Eee PC 900 will perform
them immediately.
I really loved seeing how responsive it was up until I commanded the
thing to go onto the net. The voice recognition software would repeat
'web', but it wouldn't take me to the web, so I was a little
disappointed at that command not working.
Keyboard:
When I first began reading up on the ASUS Eee PC 900, I came across a
lot of complaints about the keyboard. My mom however had no issues
because she has never really used a keyboard in her life, so she picked
up the ASUS Eee PC 900's cramped little keyboard in no time at all.
I however had slight difficulty typing with speed due to the weird
cramped style of the keyboard. I imagine though that after an hour or so
of typing non-stop I would get the hang of it pretty quickly.
At the top of the small keyboard you have volume keys, which worked
without an issue. The volume is very loud on this little guy so if you
are into watching movies on the Internet you won't have any issues
hearing it. I was very impressed with the speakers built into this
netbook. They actually work better than my higher end laptop.
Personalization's:
When the ASUS Eee PC 900 first started up we were taken to the desktop
where our work, play, and other tabs are located. At first we liked the
background, but not long into messing around with the mini notebook, we
both agreed that the plain background with Asus' logo on the far right
bottom of the screen had to go.
I went into a tab where a folder called personalization was located.
Here we couldn't change the background, but we could change the
backgrounds color. Neither of us was impressed. We wanted to add
something more personal than just color.
We tried saving one of the photos we had taken on the web cam as the
background. Hitting right click brings up a small screen that says 'save
as background'. We did this, but got a 'program set' error.
After looking this up in forums we discovered this ridiculous set of
instructions just to add in some wallpaper. I didn't have the time or
patience for it, but for those who are looking to add wallpaper to their
Asus Eee PC, do know that there are forums on google that will take you
to a set of instructions. I don't have these instructions on hand, nor
do I understand them because I wasn't all too concerned with wallpaper.
I'll save that for a rainy day.
Network Setup:
Our home already has a wireless network, and when I went to hook the
ASUS Eee PC 900 up to the network I was surprised at how simple it was.
All I had to do was click on Network, and find out networks name, then
hit connect.
I was shocked to see that it actually worked. When I work on Windows I
sometimes have to connect a few times before it actually works.
Connecting the ASUS Eee PC 900 was a 3 click deal, and done. Click on
network settings in the Internet tab, click on your network name, and
click connect. Done!
One issue popped up that I didn't see coming though...
When we powered the ASUS Eee PC 900 up a second time it was no longer
connected to the network. I found that every time you turn the Asus off,
and then back on it is not hooked up to the newtwork anymore. It's
annoying having to connect to the network every time you turn the
computer on. Especially seeing that my mom is new to computers. I would
have liked if she could have avoided this step every time she powered
on.
Internet Browsing:
I unleashed a demon. As soon as I gave my mom a quick tutorial on how
to navigate, find things she wanted, check email, upload photos, and
download music she was off into the unknowns of the world wide web.
I am very impressed because she actually 'gets it'. When she attempted
using a older Windows operating computer she questioned me to death
about everything, and still couldn't figure it out, even after being
shown over and over again.
I pretty much gave her a brief little tutorial on the ASUS Eee PC 900,
and she was off. She hasn't questioned me, or anyone else in the family
on how to go about doing things on the little laptop, and that alone
was worth the purchase.
Quality:
There is nothing about the ASUS Eee PC 900 that I would consider low
quality. The mini PC seems to be made with hard solid plastic, a nice
screen, and a responsive keyboard. Nothing about it seems cheap,
rickety, or low quality, which is very surprising considering it's low
price.
Pros:
-The ASUS Eee PC 900 is fast. It gets the job done, and does it just as efficiently as a higher end computer.
-The 16GB allows plenty of room for photos, music and whatever else you feel like downloading
-Newcomers can pick the computer up and figure it out on their own with little or no help
-Very lightweight! Makes it easy to tote the little guy around just about anywhere you want
-Inexpensive
-Comes with a web cam that is fast, and clear
-Volume is loud and clear
Cons:
-Voice recognition works, but refused to respond to my 'computer web'
command. Instead of taking me to the Internet, it did nothing.
-Have to hook up to your wireless network every time you power on the computer
-Somewhat cramped keyboard
-Have to seek help online on how to add wallpaper to your desktop
Overall:
For the low, low price of the ASUS Eee PC 900 is works great. Although
there are some minor issues, the ASUS Eee PC 900 is perfect for those
who are entirely new to computers. The Linux system makes things easy
for children, the elderly, and even those who are used to only using
Windows. Everything is simplistic, making it an excellent and reliable
little notebook.
Pricing and Availability:
I picked up the ASUS Eee PC 900 online at Amazon.com for $329.99. It
was well worth the price compared to what Target is charging for the 4GB
or 8GB system at their store.
Recommendation:
Buy a wired, or wireless mouse for browsing the net. I found it to be a
lot easier than the touch pad. The touch pad works fine, but I find
them to be uncomfortable in general to work with.
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