This year Jules and I both got a holiday bonus for our hard work at our jobs, so using that money and the extra cash I got for selling all those things on eBay, we upgraded our media PC by giving it more RAM and a video card and bought two Asus eeePCs.

(In the above photo, I included my hand to give a sense of scale. Afterwards I realized that my hands are tiny so the scale doesn’t come across properly, so my apologies.)

The eeePC is an ultra-portable, very affordable, very SMALL laptop. For ages now Jules has been in the market for a laptop but didn’t want to spend a lot of money on something that would be more than he needed and be obsolete too quickly. I have been enamored with the idea of an eBook reader for about as long and when the Amazon Kindle was released last year it was all I could do to keep from ordering one right away. The price ($399) was the one thing that stopped me. That’s $400 for a device that does ONE thing. No thanks. The very same day I stumbled upon an article about the eeePC which pretty much sold me on it immediately: it is a fully-fledged computer which also works as an eBook reader, for the same price as a Kindle! We both bought the version with the 4GB solid state hard drive and upgraded to 2GB of RAM (for $40 each!)

The computer comes with the following specs:

• Display: 7″ LCD
• Graphics: Integrated Intel GMA 900 graphics processor (Shared Memory Architecture), additional VGA port (up to 1600×1280 pixels)
• CPU: 900 MHz Intel Celeron-M ULV 353
• Hard Disk: 4 GB Solid State
• RAM: 2 GB RAM DDR2-667 (upgraded from 512MB)
• Battery: 4-cell, Li-Ion, 5200 mAh, 7.4 volts: 3 h 30 min battery life
• Webcam: 0.3 megapixel; up to 640×480, up to 30 fps
• OS: Xandros Linux running KDE. (Now running eeeXubuntu Linux)
• Communication: 10/100 Mbit Ethernet, 802.11b/g wireless LAN mini PCI-E card (Atheros-based)
• Audio: Realtek ALC6628 Hi-Definition Audio 5.1 CODEC; built-in stereo speakers; built-in microphone
• Connectors: 3 USB 2.0 ports, MMC/SD (HC) card reader, Ethernet port, Microphone input, Headphone jack, AC power jack, VGA out, Kensington lock slot
• Dimensions: 8.9 × 6.5 × 0.9~1.4 in
• Weight: 2 lb ½ oz

I can’t stress enough how TINY this thing is. Basically it is the dimensions of a short hardcover book and about as heavy. The keys are about 75% the size of a normal keyboard, which makes it difficult to type at first but is easy to adapt to (give yourself an hour if you’re adept at computer usage.) Jules put eee xubuntu Linux on it which is more robust than the Xandros distribution it comes with and I’ve mainly been using it as a reference for crochet patterns while I’m working and an eBook reader, which is what I wanted it for in the first place! It is easy to transport since it’s so small and lightweight, so taking it on the bus is no hassle. The battery life is about 3 hours so it is fine for a daily commute both directions. It can easily pick up a wireless signal from inside our apartment and is plenty quick for usual web-based tasks (obviously you wouldn’t want to run a modern PC video game on it or do video editing, but it is perfect for Skype or email or web browsing.) The webcam and microphone on it are of decent quality (better than you might expect.)

The coolest thing about it is its capacity for expansion. Hooked up to an external monitor you can add screen real estate very easily and add a 2GB or larger SD card and suddenly you have plenty of space for temporary storage. I’ve kept my eBook collection on a Kensington 2GB SD card and it works really well! Our cats are enjoying them as well as they are the perfect size and shape for them to curl up on when they want a warm place to sleep and the sun is not out!

Pros:

• Extremely portable and lightweight
• Affordable at $400 (lower-end models are available for $300)
• Full of features usually expected only on high-end notebooks
• Fast enough for almost any daily task
• Expandable
• Extremely CUTE

Cons:

• Battery life isn’t as long as I would like (Asus will be releasing higher capacity batteries sometime soon)
• Keys are so small it is difficult to type at first (with a little practice this is a moot point)
• Small hard drive capacity (expandable through SD cards and online storage)

I totally recommend this for anyone who wants an extremely portable internet device that affords a great deal of flexibility. If you are thinking of getting an eBook reader, I would take a peek at this machine before you decide. I’ve been using fbReader the past few weeks and it does everything the other devices do and more (you can choose your own FONT and line-spacing and read in full-screen mode, ZOMG what a time we live in!)

Links:

• official site
• Wikipedia entry