Android x86 review – Runs great on the EEE PC!
Frankly speaking, I was a bit reluctant and was not excited at all when I thought of running Android on my EEE PC. Primary reason could be the bugging fact that I was going to install an OS that was actually meant for a mobile phone. So, how was my experience? Read the full review to find out!
How did I install it?
First, I downloaded file by the name of “android-x86-1.6.iso” from here. Then, I used unetbootin to burn it onto my flash drive.
Installation
Instead of dual-booting with XP, I decided to force myself to use Android whole day. The Android takes mere 20MB of space! Yes, it is that small.
Just a word of precaution: to get the grub working, I had to use ext3 partition. For some weird (unknown) reason, the grub was not getting installed on my EEE 701 when installation was done on an ext2, FAT or NTFS partition.
By the way, the installation time is somewhere around 30-40seconds! Have you ever seen a whole OS installed on your computer with that speed?!
Booting
Booting up takes around 30 seconds. Shutting down takes less than a second. I’ve never seen an operating system shutting down that quick.
Takes 3-4 seconds to get out of standby mode.
Web Browsing
After all, what is the main purpose of a netbook: surf the net, right? Well, this passed the test with flying colors. I was amazed by the speed at which it loaded websites! Even a heavy website like engadget was loaded so quickly. It loaded every single web-page faster than my Acer Aspire D250 which was running Firefox 3.5 and Windows XP as its OS.
Everything just works, including email. I set it to download my email after 5 minutes and it worked without a problem. It is definitely the MOST RESPONSIVE OS that I have ever used on my netbook so far.
Android Market
To be honest, I had no expectations that this module would even work on EEE. But, Appstore ran beautifully just like all other apps. I was able to install any application from Appstore with absolutely no problems at all.
Running below an app that I downloaded from Android market: Swift
The Android built that I have been testing has been tweaked for EEE PCs, so even the Fn combo functions work. Again, very very quick, it is!
The webcam works under its camera app, but you will need an SD card to save the pics as Android does not like saving pics in the main memory.
Glitches
Its browser does not support flash. Although HTC has managed to bring flash to HTC HERO, it has not been implemented in this built.
When I plugged in the mouse, it did not recognize it. But, a quick reset solved the problem and the mouse was working without any problems. The right click open up the menu and I must say that Android was a pleasure to use with a mouse. It never occurred to me once if I was using an operating system that is meant for the mobile phones.
Bottom Line
Boy! I had underestimated Android so much. It is wonderful to use on a netbook. Also, there is no harm in keeping an OS that occupies just 20MB of storage and provides the fastest browsing experience.
Sign up to the Gadgetmix Newsletter (free) for news and reviews mailed directly to your mailbox CLICK HERE
great job Kamal, this is going onto my news feed
:)
[...] via gadgetmix [...]
[...] gadgetmix AKPC_IDS += "206,";Popularity: unranked [?] View commentsComments | Permalink | Subscribe Post [...]
As a main developer of Android-x86, I’d like to say thanks you for this nice review article.
BTW, you can use adb + ddms (available in Android SDK)
to get more nice screenshots.
Here is a basic usage of adb:
http://www.android-x86.org/documents/debug-howto
Thanks Cwhuang, I will try that
Awesome, I am SO installing Android on my 701! Does the camera work? Everything?? Amazing for such a small footprint!
Hey Jeff! I am sorry as I no longer run Android on my 701. I reckon everything worked when I last tried it on my Eee
My EEE A900 doesn’t seem to want to see the bootable USB, any thoughts?
Tom, Did you use unetbootin? Also check the boot disk and boot sequence in the bios
Kamal DS… I did use unetbootin and changed my boot sequence to 1st boot Removable Dev.
Tom, try using a different USB stick. Sometimes, some sticks just do not work :)
Yup… that was it. THANKS!
I have installed Android X86 on my tablet pc (Drive F). Main OS is Windows 7.
The problem is how to make dual boot for Windows 7 and Android. I did not install grub bootloader trough Android Live USB because I’m afraid I will make MBR error.
Instead I have installed Grub Boot Loader with EasyBCD, I dont know what I have to write on menu.lst
I hope you may help me with any solution.
Some clue is here
http://groups.google.com/group/android-x86/browse_thread/thread/c6cf7f992851c854/ab557b4dbb33ffe4?hl=en_US&lnk=gst&q=dual+boot#ab557b4dbb33ffe4
but I can not understand it
Tried it out and I just didn’t feel it, but then again, I’m not a fan of Android phones. I hope the dev community can keep improving upon it because it definitely is a really fast os; I just feel it’s pretty shallow feature-wise. I’ll keep checking on it though, thanks!
Thanotassassin – Feature-wise it is shallow because there the developer cannot include closed source apps that require license and can only work in Smartphones. Let’s hope that gets sorted out in future smartbooks/netbooks
hi, i’m trying in my eee 701 and works fine, but i can mount or use the sd card, and can’t install new apps. I’ve experience with debian and ubuntu, but i can’t find a fstab or similar in android. I’ve try with a sdcard and whith other partition but nothing. How i can get work the /sdcard ? I’m very noob in android.
Juanmol,
I am having the same problem on my 701 where the sd is not recognized. By chance are you using the Android via the Live CD(on a memory stick) or did you do an install?