The Netbook Thread

[HGFB]

http://uk.gizmodo.com/2008/06/02/asus_e ... wered.html

It has an 8.9in screen, 1GB of memory and a memory card slot. The Windows version will come with a 12GB solid state drive (SSD) while the Linux version sports a 20GB SSD. The Eee PC 901, which weighs a very bicep-friendly 1.14Kg - will have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth but Asus confirmed that there’s also a Wimax version planned. It will be available in black and white versions. No pricing yet.

[Kemper_Boyd]

Eee desktop specifications and prices, and look at the picture at
the bottom of the page.
http://www.hothardware.com/News/ASUS_Ee ... ls_Emerge/

[HGFB]

Damn. That's small.

[Kemper_Boyd]

If those dimensions are correct it's about 70% of the volume of a Mac mini.

http://www.sizeasy.com/page/size_compar ... e-Box-B202

[VNVObit]

Yay a replacement battery programmedetails here

just waiting for it to be on asus website update on story

The nutters comment reminds me of the comments O2's CEO in Ireland made about apple users (or :macwanker:s) being freaks (although it isn't Asus's commentsin this case)

[matt303]

The Eee box might make an interesting media box when they do one that can keep up with decoding HiDef H.264 video and doesn't have such a noisy fan.

ASUS Eee Box: Initial Impressions and Dissection

[Kronos]

Mentions H.264 in the official Atom chipset anyway.

However it's too weedy for a home machine (Mac mini is much higher CPU) and businesses would stick to CITRIX and basic thin clients if they know what's good for them. Any laptop for 300 quid will trounce it and has a screen and DVD writer built in so I can't see what mass market they are hoping for here myself.

[HGFB]

I'd buy one to use as a small server.

[HGFB]

The new laptops are now official.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/03/eee- ... d-pricing/

Up to 7.8 hour battery?

So Mr Asus. Can I buy a new 901 before I go on holiday in July?

[HGFB]

Comparison pic between the three models here

http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/03/asus ... 701-fight/

[HGFB]

I have a dilemma. Should I wait for a 901 or should I get one of these?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Notebook-H ... 82&sr=8-21

I've seen the physical size of these in Tescos and while not as small as an Eee they're still very small indeed (Especially compared to the 17inch Macbook Pro I have on my desk at work).

I find myself wondering if the Acer will run Dwarf Fortress at a respectable speed. Does DF need the cpu or the graphics card more?

[Kemper_Boyd]

Mentions H.264 in the official Atom chipset anyway.

That's the Poulsbo chipset not the one in the Eee Box.

However it's too weedy for a home machine (Mac mini is much higher CPU) and businesses would stick to CITRIX and basic thin clients if they know what's good for them. Any laptop for 300 quid will trounce it and has a screen and DVD writer built in so I can't see what mass market they are hoping for here myself.

You are ignoring the good attributes such as size, power and cost.
It's not aimed at people wanting to edit HD video or run CAD software.
It would be just fine for 90% of what most people do with PCs.

[Dio]

DF uses OpenGL, but only for the graphics. I can't imagine it's any kind of drain unless the programmer is really dumb or the graphics chip is astronomically bad.

I'd imagine that machine would outdo any of the Atom-based machines by a factor of five or more on DF. Not sure what the battery life will be like mind.

[xav]

However it's too weedy for a home machine (Mac mini is much higher CPU) and businesses would stick to CITRIX and basic thin clients if they know what's good for them.

I've never understood why no company has tried to sell thin clients to home users yet. Speaking from a Linux perspective (where you don't end up having to buy client licences) I'd have thought one "proper" family PC (wth hard drive and DVD writer) with the option to buy several cheap thin client machines (for the kids, or for other rooms in the house) would have had some appeal.

If the vendor does a decent job, then the main machine would have easy to use tools for blocking and filtering internet access, as well as a means for the parents to lock out certain users' logins at specific times, and clear logging so that they can keep an eye on what the client machines are up to.

I know several people who are worried or concerned about their teenage kids having a computer in their room, but also appreciate the benefit for them to do their homework. I would think that something that at least gives parents the illusion* that they are controlling their kids computer access would sell like hot cakes.


Bringing this vaguely back on topic, Asus are part-way there already with the Desktop EEE machines as thin clients (in both senses). With a small family Linux server, and a variant of the desktop EEE that's cheaper and only does a net boot (no hard drive) they could make a rather disruptive move into the "Family PC" market.



* Let's be honest, the kids will see through their parent's ultra hard passwords (usually the name of the family cat) in about three seconds. Any company producing such a system would be well advised to use hardware keys to identify users.

[Dio]

I've never understood why no company has tried to sell thin clients to home users yet.

Games.