The Netbook Thread

WiteWulf · Post by **WiteWulf** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 7:47 pm 0

All sounding good so far...it just remains to be seen how easy it is to actually get hold of the little blighters now!

WiteWulf · Post by **WiteWulf** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 9:02 am 0

Unboxing new models in Taiwan and shots from the manual:

http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php ... st=3851470

*edit*

And order now from Asus UK:

http://www.asuslaptop.co.uk/products.php?cat=53

The memory configuration is muddied again, they're doing two models both with 4GB SSD but on with 512MB RAM and one with 768MB RAM. This (to me, at least) suggest a combination of soldered and socketed RAM in this model.

Asus UK appear not to be offering the 256MB or 1GB models.

Oh, and El Reg also mentioned an optional, internal, 3G HSDPA card.

HGFB · Post by **HGFB** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 10:06 am 0

I'll preorder one of those when I get home I think

WiteWulf · Post by **WiteWulf** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 10:17 am 0

I just went popped one in the basket on there to see if there were any hidden extras....Â£17 shipping!

HGFB · Post by **HGFB** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 12:00 pm 0

Do we know when they're likely to be available and in what quantities?

WiteWulf · Post by **WiteWulf** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 12:17 pm 0

From what I've read online they'll be in American stores on November the 1st, no mention of UK stores or retailers. Also, it appears that not all models are going to be available straight away, the 'Surf' models aren't out until the end of November by the looks of things.

HGFB · Post by **HGFB** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 12:19 pm 0

It's a shame they don't seem to be selling the 8gig models. Knowing my luck I'll buy a 4gig one and the 8gigs will come out a week later.

HGFB · Post by **HGFB** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 12:27 pm 0

Yay! Preordered.

I'm actually looking forward to this more than my N810. It'll be a damn sight easy to port apps to this thing too.

WiteWulf · Post by **WiteWulf** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 4:00 pm 0

Looks like Asus haven't quite got the stock yet...shipping in The States has been delayed until 'mid-November' and this site:
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/97512/from/rss09
..reckons on a European shipment a month after America.

I think we'll be lucky to see any stock in Europe at all before Christmas

Gorecki · Post by **Gorecki** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 4:12 pm 0

There's an interesting article about it here that talks about how Asus are marketing this as an electronic appliance as opposed to a personal computer.
Is the Â£199 laptop a PC or an appliance?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/oct/18/news

Ok, I'm officially very interested in one of these (or something like it) as my 12" iBook has all but died on me. My main criteria are it must be small, light, it can't be running windows and it must be very cheap. Now I have a few questions for some of the more techy minded people in this thread.

How difficult is it going to be to throw something like Ubuntu on this thing? And how well does Linux work as a laptop OS (ie does it do the really smart auto suspend that macs do when you close the lid?) and how well does it network with Apple Mac OS (I have a Mac mini as a music server/desktop machine)

And secondly, what's the likelihood that this machine is the start of a new wave of small, light, cheap laptops from other manufacturers (and I'm looking quite intently in Apple's direction here)?

WiteWulf · Post by **WiteWulf** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 4:27 pm 0

Gorecki wrote: How difficult is it going to be to throw something like Ubuntu on this thing?

It comes with an Ubuntu/Debian derivative (Xandros) pre-installed. While you may want to roll your own isntall it'll probably be good idea to check out what kernel modules are loaded for it's hardware and make a note of the xorg.conf

And how well does Linux work as a laptop OS (ie does it do the really smart auto suspend that macs do when you close the lid?)

Very well, I've been using debian on a Sony Picturebook for years and software and hardware suspend work just great.

and how well does it network with Apple Mac OS (I have a Mac mini as a music server/desktop machine)

Well, as OS X essentially is a unix they network together very well via SAMBA.

And secondly, what's the likelihood that this machine is the start of a new wave of small, light, cheap laptops from other manufacturers (and I'm looking quite intently in Apple's direction here)?

Very high, I would imagine...Asus are gonna make a mint off this machine and I imagine there'll be hordes of clones in the next few months (not including stuff like the OLPC).

Having said that, you can scrub the word 'cheap' from any upcoming Apple product announcement, if/when Apple announce their ultra-portable I'd imagine it'll be pitched at a higher spec than this machine. Processor- and memory-wise this machine is capable of running OSX (albeit with most of the eye-candy turned off) but it wouldn't be very usable on an 800x480 screen, imho. Don't forget the EeePC has no bluetooth, either.

Acronym · Post by **Acronym** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 4:39 pm 0

WiteWulf wrote:
And secondly, what's the likelihood that this machine is the start of a new wave of small, light, cheap laptops from other manufacturers (and I'm looking quite intently in Apple's direction here)?
Very high, I would imagine...

Not so sure. This thing's a spoiler for the OLPC in any case. I can't see Apple getting involved in such a low-margin game in a hurry - not their style.

WiteWulf · Post by **WiteWulf** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 4:44 pm 0

Acronym wrote:I can't see Apple getting involved in such a low-margin game in a hurry - not their style.

Which is why I mentioned that you can't expect anything cheap from Apple. 'The Analysts' seem certain that Apple are going to launch an ultraportable sometime soon but it won't be as low-spec or anywhere near as cheap...

Gorecki · Post by **Gorecki** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 4:55 pm 0

Cheers.

WiteWulf wrote:Very high, I would imagine...Asus are gonna make a mint off this machine and I imagine there'll be hordes of clones in the next few months (not including stuff like the OLPC).

Having said that, you can scrub the word 'cheap' from any upcoming Apple product announcement, if/when Apple announce their ultra-portable I'd imagine it'll be pitched at a higher spec than this machine. Processor- and memory-wise this machine is capable of running OSX (albeit with most of the eye-candy turned off) but it wouldn't be very usable on an 800x480 screen, imho. Don't forget the EeePC has no bluetooth, either.

I don't mind paying a premium to use Apple OS but the current minimum price of an Apple laptop is far too much for me (Â£699, I paid less than that buying my iBook and Mac Mini plus another iBook for my parents combined. I don't work for PC World anymore though and can't take advantage of managers with fuck-all stock control knowledge). I'm probably going to get something like this to use in the meantime and then hope their success drives the price of Apple stuff down.

Kemper_Boyd · Post by **Kemper_Boyd** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 4:55 pm 0

I think Apple will launch a UMPC/MID in 2008. It won't be as cheap
as some of the systems, but there's no reason it shouldn't be
significantly cheaper than a MacBook.

Putting it very simply the Eee is based upon crap laptop parts.
Intel is building parts specifically for such systems. They will be
faster, lower power and cheap. They'll get about 2,000 dies from
a single wafer. Intel think that the Silverthorne processor is as
important as Nehalem. If they are right this will be a huge
new market.

OS X on the iPhone and iPod Touch shows that Apple have the OS
software ready, the annoucement of the SDK shows Apple are willing
to have third party software on their 'appliances'. Why wouldn't Apple
want a shot at this? The opportunity is huge.