Author Topic: Asus 3epc  (Read 418338 times)

adf

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« Reply #45 on: November 03, 2007, 06:58:27 pm »
Quote from: Tom61
Quote from: fpp
Quote from: Tom61
The 800x480 screen is pretty much a deal-killer for me. I'd gladly replace my Lifebook P1120, which is down right now anyway, with this if it had a 1024x600 display. I can put up with the limited onboard storage, and the lack of Bluetooth, but browsing on a 800x480 is not good enough for many websites.
Do you know this for a fact ? Have you actually tried it ?

It is more opinion than fact, but yes, I have tried it. I have both a Nokia 770 and a Libretto 100CT with 800x480 displays and have browsed the web with them. IMO, while tolerable for quick things, longer uses (say over lunch) the horizontal scrolling gets to be annoying, and is even worse for Flash based sites that expect 1024x768. While likely a huge step up over browsing the web on a VGA Zaurus(I've only had a QVGA Z in the past, so I can't say), it still has limitations for my usage. Even the reply window on this forum is bigger than 800 pixels wide. Switch to 800x600 resolution and size a Firefox window to fit that, you might be surprised how limiting it can be with some websites.

I'm still contemplating purchasing it anyway, as my Lifebook is still down, and I'm not sure I can revive it.  Around $300 to replace it with another P1120, or $400 to get a serious step up in processing power and RAM, but with a lower resolution display.
Has anyone looked into the video out options? a mid sized lcd is fairly cheap for home use (and I bet most of us have acquired an extra monitor or two, anyway)...  what about conversion for tv screens at hotesl (I know ..a likely loss in resolution, but fine for movies)
**3100 Zubuntu Jaunty,(working on Cacko dualboot), 16G A-Data internal CF, 4G SD, Ambicom WL-1100C Cf, linksys usb ethernet,  BelkinF8T020 BT card, Belkin F8U1500-E Ir kbd, mini targus usb mouse, rechargeble AC/DC powered USB hub, psp cables and battery extenders.

**6000l  Tetsuized Sharprom, installed on internal flash only 1G sd, 2G cf

Tom61

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« Reply #46 on: November 03, 2007, 08:02:40 pm »
Quote from: adf
Has anyone looked into the video out options? a mid sized lcd is fairly cheap for home use (and I bet most of us have acquired an extra monitor or two, anyway)...  what about conversion for tv screens at hotesl (I know ..a likely loss in resolution, but fine for movies)

There is a VGA out port that goes to 1280x1024. I suppose you could take a PocketTV converter for hotel use. I'm not sure how many people that would suit, though. For me, I would use this for times I would be away from a monitor or TV I could control. I have a box at home that is much more powerful.

I've been looking into retrofitting a different display into the spot where the current LCD is. I'll need a lot more information on the LCD interface, and how much space there is in the top.

Download Squad released a couple of videos of the software with the shipping version of the unit(definately view before deciding to purchase one):
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cdZ5PWFRFBs

Some bad points; the 'advanced desktop' option is gone, only 1.2 GB of storage free, websites don't all work well with the resolution and they recommend the 'Fuller screen' extension to mitigate the limited vertical size, and the normal add/remove programs only have updates to the programs that it ships with so far.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WTLEQdifeBU

Some good points; the terminal is invokable, and Konqueror can be loaded from there, full Synaptic is available and you can add Debian repositories to it. More bad, but likely fixable; the applications installed via Synaptic don't show up in the basic desktop.

speculatrix

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« Reply #47 on: November 03, 2007, 08:07:46 pm »
it's not as expensive as first thought - well, only if you happen to get five for the price of one!
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/11/02/five_eee_pcs/
Gemini 4G/Wi-Fi owner, formerly zaurus C3100 and 860 owner; also owner of an HTC Doubleshot, a Zaurus-like phone.

adf

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« Reply #48 on: November 03, 2007, 10:53:06 pm »
Quote from: Tom61
Quote from: adf
Has anyone looked into the video out options? a mid sized lcd is fairly cheap for home use (and I bet most of us have acquired an extra monitor or two, anyway)...  what about conversion for tv screens at hotesl (I know ..a likely loss in resolution, but fine for movies)

There is a VGA out port that goes to 1280x1024. I suppose you could take a PocketTV converter for hotel use. I'm not sure how many people that would suit, though. For me, I would use this for times I would be away from a monitor or TV I could control. I have a box at home that is much more powerful.

I've been looking into retrofitting a different display into the spot where the current LCD is. I'll need a lot more information on the LCD interface, and how much space there is in the top.

Download Squad released a couple of videos of the software with the shipping version of the unit(definately view before deciding to purchase one):
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cdZ5PWFRFBs

Some bad points; the 'advanced desktop' option is gone, only 1.2 GB of storage free, websites don't all work well with the resolution and they recommend the 'Fuller screen' extension to mitigate the limited vertical size, and the normal add/remove programs only have updates to the programs that it ships with so far.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WTLEQdifeBU

Some good points; the terminal is invokable, and Konqueror can be loaded from there, full Synaptic is available and you can add Debian repositories to it. More bad, but likely fixable; the applications installed via Synaptic don't show up in the basic desktop.
One would think the desktop could be replaced entirely....or edited to suit.  I hope Asus hasn't decided to make that difficult
**3100 Zubuntu Jaunty,(working on Cacko dualboot), 16G A-Data internal CF, 4G SD, Ambicom WL-1100C Cf, linksys usb ethernet,  BelkinF8T020 BT card, Belkin F8U1500-E Ir kbd, mini targus usb mouse, rechargeble AC/DC powered USB hub, psp cables and battery extenders.

**6000l  Tetsuized Sharprom, installed on internal flash only 1G sd, 2G cf

brashley46

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« Reply #49 on: November 05, 2007, 03:11:57 pm »
Okay, I've actually had my hands on one now for five minutes ... it's cute, and powerful, but the regular Xandros KDE desktop is missing, and I'd really rather have that. (But I run Xandros on my home desktop machine, so I'm used to it.)

The only one Canada Computers on College Street in Toronto had left was a return, because the wifi wasn't connecting. So I don't know what the 'net looks like on the boxlet. The display is readable, though.
B. Ross Ashley
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Home desktops: Hewlett-Packard Kayak XM600 running Xandros Desktop Home Edition Premium (4.1), on a P3 Coppermine processor w/ 20G harddrive, 256 MB RAM; Abyss X2 server running on a local shop-built special with Intel Celeron 1.8GHz processor, 40G harddrive running Win XP Home SP2; and my wife's eMac running OS X3.9

Handheld: C860 running CACkO 1.23, with a Panasonic Class 2 1G SD card and a GXT 1G CF card; AmbiCom WL1100C-CF wifi card, and a CE-AG06 camera card.

Tom61

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« Reply #50 on: November 05, 2007, 05:44:20 pm »
Since it can boot XP, there's little doubt that it can't run a another distribution of Linux(have to find out if there are any binary drivers to muck things up, but there are ways around that). Also, it seems that most everything is either already installed or installable from the full Xandros, so the only thing missing is the button on the pre-release and/or Asian models to go to advanced mode.

Does anyone know of B&M stores likely to have the EEE in the US? A hands-on would really help me nail some things down.

ArchiMark

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« Reply #51 on: November 06, 2007, 02:45:55 pm »
Quote from: Tom61
Since it can boot XP, there's little doubt that it can't run a another distribution of Linux(have to find out if there are any binary drivers to muck things up, but there are ways around that). Also, it seems that most everything is either already installed or installable from the full Xandros, so the only thing missing is the button on the pre-release and/or Asian models to go to advanced mode.

Does anyone know of B&M stores likely to have the EEE in the US? A hands-on would really help me nail some things down.


Depends where you're located, Tom61....

I'm in Silicone Valley, so I saw one at the local MicroCenter on Sunday...used it for about 5 minutes and I was sold on it!

Also, CentralComputer here in SV has them for sale.....

It's hard to find them in stores yet....the few places that got them, sold most or all of them right away....

Costco selling them but only online, I checked... ;-(

HTH,

Mark
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fpp

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« Reply #52 on: November 06, 2007, 05:15:09 pm »
Quote from: Tom61
It is more opinion than fact, but yes, I have tried it. I have both a Nokia 770 and a Libretto 100CT with 800x480 displays and have browsed the web with them. IMO, while tolerable for quick things, longer uses (say over lunch) the horizontal scrolling gets to be annoying, and is even worse for Flash based sites that expect 1024x768.
Well, I've never laid my hands on a Libretto, but I've also had a 770 for the past two years, and a Kohjinsha SA1 (which is exactly the same form factor as the EEE) for the past year, and it's very clear to me that the browsing experience at 800x480 is totally different between the two.

Surfing on the 770 (with the built-in Opera) does involve some compromises and generates much swearing ; while sufing on the SA1 (with a regular Firefox and all the useful extensions) feels quite natural to me. I have used it for days on end without feeling frustrated or limited (but then I tend to avoid Flash sites like the plague, so maybe our prerequisites are very different :-)

Quote
Switch to 800x600 resolution and size a Firefox window to fit that, you might be surprised how limiting it can be with some websites.
I did that a while ago when coding an app to run on my VGA Zaurus, and I believe that resizing a window on a regular desktop monitor gives you only the faintest of ideas of what the actual result will be on the target display (which is generally better).
« Last Edit: November 06, 2007, 05:16:19 pm by fpp »

Tom61

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« Reply #53 on: November 06, 2007, 11:15:38 pm »
Quote from: fpp
Well, I've never laid my hands on a Libretto, but I've also had a 770 for the past two years, and a Kohjinsha SA1 (which is exactly the same form factor as the EEE) for the past year, and it's very clear to me that the browsing experience at 800x480 is totally different between the two.

Surfing on the 770 (with the built-in Opera) does involve some compromises and generates much swearing ; while sufing on the SA1 (with a regular Firefox and all the useful extensions) feels quite natural to me. I have used it for days on end without feeling frustrated or limited (but then I tend to avoid Flash sites like the plague, so maybe our prerequisites are very different :-)

I did factor out the limitations of both devices as best I could (N770's very small display and limited browser, and the Libretto's near antique status), and focused on the display resolution vs. page width itself. Also, I was browsing with a system limited to 800x600 browsing the time with Firefox at the time of the post.

As far as browsing it depends on the sites most important to you I suppose. Horizontal scrolling gets on my nerves easily, someone that cares less about it can probably tolerate sites that think everyone has 1024x768 displays. Also, it depends on what you're used to, I have an ultra-portable in this size with a 1024x600 display that I've been using for a while, going down to 800x480 for roughly the same size  of notebook (the EEE is one inch less wide) is a hard to consider.Here's the two laptops I keep mentally reference when thinking about the EEE: http://flickr.com/photos/tom61/477501224/


Quote from: ArchiMark
Depends where you're located, Tom61....
I'm in Silicone Valley, so I saw one at the local MicroCenter on Sunday...used it for about 5 minutes and I was sold on it!

HTH,

Mark

I'm in Missouri, so most shops in California aren't accessible to me. There might be a MicroCenter hiding somewhere, I'll have to check Google Local.
« Last Edit: November 06, 2007, 11:29:05 pm by Tom61 »

Tom61

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« Reply #54 on: November 09, 2007, 01:01:07 am »
Add a Start Menu with addition applications:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?pid=9249#p9249

Apparently, this notebook uses a themed IceWM by default.

Anybody keeping track of any good blogs dedicated to this notebook?
« Last Edit: November 09, 2007, 01:03:02 am by Tom61 »

cwaig

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« Reply #55 on: November 09, 2007, 08:47:55 am »
I just took delivery of one of an EeePC (for my wife) - it's really very cool. Reminds me of the clamshell Zaurii when I first saw them.

I'll be honest and say it kills the Zaurus dead in terms of the software/hardware support. A quick play with it showed that vast amounts of standard linux apps came pre-installed as standard (kde's PIM stuff, Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice, Acrobat Reader, etc) - and all configured and working. YouTube video worked first time, suspend just worked, WIFI was easy, sound + video playback  - the list goes on....

It's roughly twice the size of a clamshell Z. But I have to say, it wipes the floor with it.

And this is me, long time Zaurus fanboy (SL5500, SL6000, etc) talking. I'd still keep an SL series Z for reading ebooks on the move, but beyond that, I don't see a reason to own the clamshell Zaurus anymore - the Eee is just too well done, and astonishingly cheap.
SL5500+Origo WIFI+Pocketop Keyboard+BlueMonkey Bluetooth+IBM Microdrive+SL6000+iRiver USB host+PackardBell USB RF mini-mouse+Cheapo Kingmax USB laptop Keyboard+Dynamode USB Ethernet Adaptor
Wrote a couple of things....
IRK, SubApplet, QMode2, NetActive, SimpleEdit, zPocketScript.

speculatrix

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« Reply #56 on: November 09, 2007, 09:18:13 am »
Quote from: cwaig
I'll be honest and say it kills the Zaurus dead in terms of the software/hardware support. A quick play with it showed that vast amounts of

I think the comparison is a little bit unfair - the Z's processor is only 400MHz ARM designed for very low power and relatively low CPU performance with passive cooling.

The eepc has  a highly advanced 600MHz Intel with superscalar architecture, being eight times the volume means there's lots more room for a large battery and cooling fans; even then it doesn't manage the usage on batteries of the Z.

If, and it's quite possible, the eepc could be reduced in size to make it only a little bigger than, say, the Nokia tablets, then I think the compariso would be fairer.
Gemini 4G/Wi-Fi owner, formerly zaurus C3100 and 860 owner; also owner of an HTC Doubleshot, a Zaurus-like phone.

desertrat

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« Reply #57 on: November 09, 2007, 09:36:59 am »
I have just got myself the black model of this thing (I think it looks much better than the white). First impressions are it is quite a sturdy little beast, it feels solid and there are no give and no squeaky parts or anything like that (in contrast to some of the reports that I've read which says construction is flimsy). Haven't managed to get wireless working yet. Using the wired ethernet skype and web browsing is fine, youtube works even.

Funny thing: maybe because I got my Eee in HK it comes with an English<->Chinese dictionary, in the settings you can configure the font size and one of the choice is "Largerest", you can also configure the language used for the interface but the label is "Laguange". I sure hope that the dictionary entries themselves are not full of mistakes  

If there is any interest I may write up a more comprehensive report after I've played around with the thing a bit more.
SL-C3100 / Ambicon WL1100C-CF / pdaXrom 1.1.0beta3 / IceWM

zmiq2

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« Reply #58 on: November 09, 2007, 11:22:22 am »
Can any of you comment on:

- does it make noise?
- wifi surfing battery life?
- firefox is standard firefox, i.e. extensions can be installed on?

I'm waiting also to see if anyone is able to use the unused internal minipci to install a 3G card there !

Thanks
sl-c750, archos av580, socket cf [bt, wifi, modem], noname cf lan, audiovox rtm800 gsm-gprs cf, rom: sharp -> oz3.5.3 -> cacko -> oz3.5.4.1

ArchiMark

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« Reply #59 on: November 09, 2007, 01:48:48 pm »
Quote from: brashley46
but the regular Xandros KDE desktop is missing, and I'd really rather have that. (But I run Xandros on my home desktop machine, so I'm used to it.)

brashley46,

Check out the eeeuser.com forums as well as the following webpage link below which has very simple way to enable 'Advanced Desktop Mode' which gives you the regular KDE start menu and desktop that you miss...

I did it and it works great....

Enable KDE Advanced Desktop Mode on eee PC


Guys, for the price, this lil' bad boy can't be beat....lots o' fun....

 
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