Netbook Review, notebook review, tablet review, PC review » eee

ASUS Eee PC 1001HA makes its apperance at the Global site

Brooke — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:05:24 +0000

ASUS has now officially launched the EEE 1001HA. It carries the Seashell tag just like ASUS EEE 1008HA and ASUS EEE 1005HA. It carries an obsolete CPU: Atom N270 which was used by the netbooks of yesteryear.Specifications:

10.1-inch 1024×600 display
1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU
1GB of RAM
160GB HDD
Wi-Fi 802.1 b/g/n
0.3MP webcam
3 USB ports
Windows XP or Linux OS
3-cell battery

Ouch! A 3-cell battery in the era of netbooks where each netbooks sports 6-7 hours of battery life? Stupid move, ASUSThere is no information regarding its availability or its exact price, but we expect it to low due to its shabby specs ($320-$350)[EEE 1001HA official webpage]

SONY VAIO X quick analysis on basis of pictures – direct from Japan’s CEATEC 2009

Brooke — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:49:57 +0000

It is not an unknown fact that SONY has done a great job with the extremely elegant-looking Sony Vaio X. When one looks at it, he/she immediately gets the impression of how sleek this netbook/mini-notebook is. Apart from its nicely designed keyboard, it has a great touchpad with two left and right click buttons too that do not require much effort to register clicks.Thanks to the great engineers at SONY, they did not go for the flaps to make it look streamlined (like the case in ASUS EEE 1008HA). The two USB 2.0 ports are fully exposed to the user. Also present is a the Kensington lock, power port and earphone jack.Click on read more to read the full report!

ASUS EEE PC Seashell Range noticed with Windows 7 in Italy’s Online Stores

Twinkle — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:56:29 +0000

Looks like very soon ASUS is going to announce Windows 7-based Seashell netbooks. Current Seashell models (1005HA (299 Euros), 1008HA (399 Euros) and 1101HA (399 Euros) ) are being spotted in some online stores.The EEE 1101HA is complemented with Windows 7 Home Premium instead of Starter Edition like the 1005HA and 1008HA. Reason being the fact that in most of the countries, it is being sold with Windows Vista Home Premium. Also, looks like all of them will be undergoing HDD upgrades too. 160 GB are things of the past now and 250GB HDD will be used as new standard. Also 2GB RAM will come as default instead of 1GB.Commentary: ASUS Eee PC currently comes with Windows XP and it is nice that ASUS is on toes in rolling out Windows 7 based netbooks. The Seashell netbooks, especially EEE 1008HA and EEE 1005HA, both have enjoyed enormous success and Windows 7 will make things only better.Also read: EEE 1008HA review

ION-Powered 12-inch ASUS EEE PC 1201N Netbook coming soon

Twinkle — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:43:30 +0000

ASUS is very soon going to unveil its first ION-powered netbook, EEE PC 1201N in the month of October. Having an 12.1-inch display, this netbook is surely not going to be as compact as the current seashell line of netbooks by ASUS (read our EEE 1008HA seashell review). Packing a respectable 1366x768 resolution, it also has a GeForce 9400M G ION chipset coupled with an Intel Atom N270 processor (1.6GHz). It has 250GB HDD and 2GB RAM.Along with standard radios (Bluetooth, WiFi-n), it is backed by a decent 6-cell 5200mAh battery that is rated to give you up to 11 hours of runtime. It will be bundled with the Windows 7 Home Premium OS and will be priced at $499

For Pro Xandros Linux users only: Change wallpaper

Paul Merak — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:19:08 +0000

Nobody knew that changing the wallpaper in Xandros would be so difficult. Anyway, karmatronic at eeeuser has come up with a python script that lets you easily change the wallpaper of your Xandros-driven EEE.Note that you need to install python-qt4 on your EEE to use it.Unlike most netbook websites, that are covering nothing but JoliCloud Linux, we have actually covered and REVIEWED other more popular Linux distros for the netbooks

Get the script from here

Julong = Eee Box clone

Twinkle — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:03:58 +0000

If the netbook clones were not enough, here come the clones of nettops! Meet the Julong Eee Box which is an, um, an EEE box clone. Unlike most of the recent nettops, this does NOT have an ION or ION LE chipset. It uses the bog standard Intel Atom N270 processor, 160GB HDD, 1GB RAM, 3 USB ports and VGA port. No HDMI.Available at price of $150 USD in China, we cannot complain much.

WiFi not working under UBUNTU on EEE 1008HA? – here is how to fix it

Paul Merak — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:25:13 +0000

I'm sure most of you must have loaded the UBUNTU NBR on your EEE 1008HA just to discover that you are not able to connect to the WiFi network. Well, do not worry. Just follow these steps to get the Internet working:

Download Ethernet drivers from here from another computer having access to Internet connection and install them on your EEE 1008HA
Reboot
Now, on your EEE 1008HA, with Ethernet cable now plugged in, download Wireless drivers by typing this in the terminal:

sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-jauntyReboot again and WiFi will now start working.

ASUS EEE T91 user manual

Paul Merak — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:14:44 +0000

User manuals are great for knowing about the features and functions about a device . We have just found out that ASUS has made its manual online and is available for download.By looking through its manual, we were able to learn about the new ASUS utility: EEE Docking Touch Tool Bar, which is used to give the user access to frequently used functions.Another interesting utility that we came across was the Touch Gate utility, which lets you do some basic functions like opening applications stored on your EEE in a very finger friendly manner.[Get user manual from here]

Performance comparison: XP versus Windows 7 on EEE 901 – XP still wins!

Paul Merak — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:58:21 +0000

Windows 7’s release is just around the corner and is destined to finally replace the aging Windows XP on the netbooks (and notebook). Johnny at his personal blog has compared the performance of both Windows XP and Windows 7 on his EEE 901 netbook, which comes with standard netbooks specs (Atom N270 processor, 160GB HDD and 1GB RAM). However, he has swapped the hard disk for a fast Runcore SSD drive and is using 2GB RAM instead of 1GB RAM. So your mileage may vary.

Windows 7 actually shows modest gains on XP in SSD performance. This wasn't surprising, given the press coverage that has been dedicated to this very topic. However, this is where Windows 7's dominance ends. XP bests it in every other measurable way on the 901.

That said, Windows 7 is going to be a worthy successor to Windows Vista, which just was not given “thumbs up” by most of the IT professionals and computer savvy folks. I have tried Windows 7 on every computer I have and I must say that I have been very pleased with its performance.

Cracking panel issue in the EEE 1008HA netbook

Paul Merak — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 12:25:38 +0000

ASUS has commented on the cracking panel issue that has affected some of the EEE 1008HA netbook. ASUS says that they had seen the defect before it reached the hands of consumers. Fortunately, there is nothing to worry about as the defected netbooks won’t reach the consumer market.

Asustek noted that the cracking was not due to faulty design or manufacturing, but because it has been using panel components from a secondary supplier

TIP: Improve WiFi performance on your EEE 1000HE by installing WiFi drivers of 1005HA

Paul Merak — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:13:28 +0000

ASUS has made the drivers available for the EEE 1005HA and it seems that after installing the WiFi drivers of 1005HA on the EEE 1000HE, the WiFi performance has improved a lot. Some of the users were complaining about the occasional disconnections and the new Atheros WiFi driver has solved that problem.[Download 1005HA wifi driver]

ASUS Releases New BIOS for EEE 1008HA netbook

Paul Merak — Mon, 25 May 2009 16:04:13 +0000

ASUS has released new BIOS for the EEE 1008HA. It claims to improve the wifi performance of the netbook.[download here]

EEEbuntu 3.0 now available – based on Ubuntu 9.04!

Paul Merak — Sat, 23 May 2009 13:30:49 +0000

Update: Right now, only base version is available. Other versions will be available in few daysEEEbuntu 3.0 has been released today, which is based on the latest Ubuntu 9.04. Although the Canonical did released a netbook version of Ubuntu 9.04, the EEEbuntu uses a custom kernel which makes all the hot keys and shortcut buttons work out-of-the-box!Like earlier versions of EEEbuntu, it also comes with 3 versions:

Standard version: All the standard stuff
NBR: Standard version + netbook remix launcher
Base: This comes with only basic applications like web browser installed.

[Download EEEbuntu 3.0]

ASUS total netbook line to be slashed to just 3 netbooks

Paul Merak — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:45:55 +0000

ASUS has pretty odd down plans coming up for the next few months as they are planning to reduce the total lineup of the ASUS EEE PCs to just THREE MODELS. All will be running Windows XP and will come equipped with 160GB HDD. Which three are they going to be? It was not a job figuring out the models though. First is the just released EEE 1008HA followed by 1005HA, which is basically same as 1008HA but with removable battery and an extra USB port. Third will be their first netbook-cum-tablet, the T91.ASUS has pretty odd down plans for the coming months as they are planning to reduce the total lineup of the ASUS EEE PCs to just THREE MODELS. All models will be running Windows XP and will come equipped with 160GB HDD. Which three are they going to be? It was not a tough job to figure out those models though. First is the just released EEE 1008HA followed by 1005HA, which is basically same as 1008HA but with removable battery and an extra USB port. Third will be their first netbook-cum-tablet, the T91.This actually marks the demise of the EEE 1000HE and other models like EEE 1002H. What is ASUS thinking? At first, we saw them rolling out an EEE every week or so and now they are slashing down all of their popular EEEs (including the EEE 1000HE which is selling so well!). EEE 1000HE is one of the netbooks in the world, which can give you 7+ hours of battery life in real world use. This is sad, really sad.

ASUS EEE 1005HA in the works, basically a EEE 1008HA with removable battery

Paul Merak — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:47:51 +0000

Many tech sites criticized the 1008HA for having a built-in battery. Well, looks like the ASUS has listened to your wishes. ASUS EEE 1005HA is in the works which is basically a 1008HA with removable battery. It also comes with an extra USB port, making USB ports to a total of 3.There are more differences between 1005HA and 1008HA. The 1005HA comes with 6-cell battery with a capacity of 2200mAh. The 1008HA comes with a 4-cell battery. It will be priced around 350 euros.

Eee PC 1000HE BIOS update for better video

Peter — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:17:49 +0000

Asus recently created a new BIOS update which is must have for those watching videos often on their Eee PC 1000HE. User reports suggest that the new upgrade frees up some valuable memory from the netbook when playing video, thus giving a slightly better viewing of high-definition videos. It also improves gaming display and other applications which require heavy graphic capabilities.Moreover, you may overclock the 1000HE at 1.9GHz, which will enable you to watch Hulu, Netflix and YouTube videos better than it was with the old BIOS and regular settings. However, before you consider the update, you should know that doing so would remove your 1000HE's support for DOLBY digital sound. So, its a decision to choose sound over audio.READ our EEE 1000HE review

EEE 1000HE keyboard works fine on EEE 1000H – here is the proof!

Paul Merak — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:00:14 +0000

There are two main differences between EEE 1000H and EEE 1000HE: chiclet style keyboard on the EEE 1000HE and bigger battery. Some great folks at eeeuser have been to swap the EEE 1000H keyboard with the chicklet keyboard of the EEE 1000HE.Best part is that everything works, including the extra 'fn' key.

There is no use of using N280 + GN40 combo if you are using Windows XP

Paul Merak — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:34:35 +0000

Intel N280 processor and GN40 chipset provides better hardware video decoding and 3D graphics performance only if you are using Windows Vista. This is because only Vista (or later) gives you directX 10 and DXVA 2.0.Unfortunately, most of the netbooks are still shipping with the Windows XP. With Windows XP, you only get DXVA 1.0 due to which hardware video decoding does not work properly. With Vista, DXVA 2.0 is available and hardware decoding worked fine.Right now, only Eee PC 1004DN and Gigabyte Technology's Touch Note T1028 have GN40 chipset. It may be true that netbooks with N280+GN40 combo may offer better hardware video decoding, but the overall performance with a BETA product like Vista is simply horrible on the netbooks.I tried Vista on my EEE 1000H with 2GB RAM and the performance is disappointing. I will (patiently) wait for the Windows 7 instead.

Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix to be available soon!

Paul Merak — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:20:35 +0000

Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, has announced the availability of Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix. The newer version of ubuntu is going to be made available this coming Thursday. The newer version sports faster boot times. It also comes with an interface which lets them launch their favorite application easily and quickly. Other improvements include better power management and easier switching between networks.Although, I really enjoyed EEEbuntu, which is actually an Ubuntu 8.10 with EEE drivers, but its long bootup time was the main turn off. That is the reason, I kept going back to Windows XP. I'm really looking forward to download the Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix version. I hope the improvements are enough to make me use the Ubuntu full time.

Toshiba unveils the UX Series Netbooks

Peter — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:45:34 +0000

Toshiba launches its new 10.1 inch widescreen range of netbooks in Japan this week, with a price tag of £400. The UX Series boasts of a longer battery life of about 4 hours compared to the NB100 netbook with battery life of 2.9 hours. However, inspite of its larger screen the model is smaller, at 263 x 192 x 31mm and weighs between 1.2 and 1.3Kg depending on the configuration. The other specifications are same as many other netbooks in the market, like:

Intel's N280 Atom processor
1GB RAM
160GB Hard Disk Drive
1,024 x 600 pixel resolution

The new netbook from Toshiba looks very promising. The chicklet keyboard seems to be of much better quality than the found on ASUS EEE 1000HE (reviewed here)

EXTREME MODDING: Replacing the 4GB internal SSD of EEE 701 with a 16GB SD card

Paul Merak — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 08:12:51 +0000

Some people are either too enthusiastic or some are just simply crazy. A user(gtisingh) from EEEforum loves his EEE 701 to death and after owning from nearly 2 years now, he went ahead to replace the small 4GB SSD with a 16GB SDHC card. He did not stop there. He installed some fancy blue LEDs under its bonnet too!Click on read more to see the amazing mod!

ASUS EEE 900 just $149 at woot!

Paul Merak — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 19:39:53 +0000

Woot.com is selling EEE 900 for just $149 (+$5 for shipping). This is a great price for such a great device!

8.9" LCD
4GB SSD
512mb DDR2
802.11b/g
OS: Linux
Color: Available in Black and White

[woot.com]

ASUS EEE 1000HE case

Paul Merak — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 09:49:28 +0000

PDAir has released a leather case for the EEE 1000HE. The case costs $68 and shipping is free.

Contains 2 credit card slot and 4 memory card slots.
Opens and closes with magnetic ,for ease of use.
White stitch finishing,making this case look more beautiful.

It can be obtained from THIS link

EEE PC T91 for just $549! – ASUS to redefine the price range of Tablets?

Paul Merak — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:16:18 +0000

Looks like ASUS is really going to make the tablets finally popular among the consumers. Let's face it, tablets have always been confined to the executives and businessmen. The main reason that the tablets were not received nicely in the consumer market was due to high 'price'. But, with the $549 price tag, ASUS has hit the sweet spot between functionality and price. Also, we have heard that ASUS has added few really exciting utilities that are very finger friendly. This is already looking like a winner to me.Click on read more to know the full specifications of this exciting tablet

Touchscreen Acer netbooks to appear by the end of the year

Paul Merak — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 08:12:50 +0000

President of Acer (JT Wang) himself has confirmed that the Acer has been working on touchscreen netbooks, which will be made available by the end of this year. The EEE T101 is NOT going to left alone in competition of touch screen netbooks/tablets. I hope they make them with swivel display so that they can be used as tablets

Eee PC 1004dn review

Paul Merak — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Folks at pcauthority were able to get their hands on the EEE PC 1004DN, the first netbook with built-in DVD burner.The real killer feature here is that optical drive; it's a big departure for the netbook category, and adds backup capability and software installation possibilities that other systems lack. In addition, there's an Eee Storage function, to wirelessly backup your system.The 1004DN is powered by Intel Atom N280 processor clocked at @1.66GHz speed. The HDD capacity is 120GB and it comes with 1GB of RAM. Obviously, the main feature of is the DVD burner, which is surely going to catch the attention of those who did not give much attention to the netbooks due to lack of DVD burner.Personally, I still do not see the need to have a netbook with built in DVD burner.

ASUS Eee Videophone – Another EEE accersory

Paul Merak — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 08:31:37 +0000

Since the launch of the first EEE PC, the ASUS has been paying special attention to their EEE product line. They started off with just the EEE PCs and gradually added more products under the EEE brand. Their recent addition is the EEE Videophone, which claims to be the "World's First PC-free Videophone for Skype". It comes with a large 7-inch display and a rather shabby 0.3MP camera. The display resolution is WVGA (800x480)It comes with built in wifi to effortlessly connect it to the skype and do video calling. For the folks who do not have wifi at home, they can use the not-so-sleek Ethernet connection to get online. It comes with a rechargeable battery. Weighing at 1.6kg, it just offers 20mins talk time and a rather long 2 hour charging time. You better use it on power adapter as you are not going to be able to do a lot of talking if you are not on AC adapter.

ASUS giving away four EEE PCs for free

Peter — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:33:13 +0000

Who does not like free stuff? ASUS is giving away 4 mystery EEE PCs for free. Winning is simple. Simple visit EEE PC group in Facebook and leave a valuable feedback on the four products. To know about these four products, you will have to visit their YouTube channel, Facebook profile and Myspace page. The products will continue to appear till April 10, 2009.Please note that this contest is open for only those who are living in the US.

ASUS to launch the EEE 1004DN in month of April

Peter — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:44:51 +0000

We first heard about the ASUS EEE 1004DN during the CES 2009. Now, the final release date of DVD-drive totting 1004DN is getting close. It will be launched in the middle of April. It will have the new Atom N280 CPU and GN40 chipset. It will come with 120 GB HDD and 1GB RAM. It will be available for a price of around: $531-590.ASUS is also planning to launch 1008HA in the month of May.

How to: Recover using recovery partition in EEE 1002HA

Paul Merak — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:49:18 +0000

There are two ways to recover bakc to factory settings:

using restore DVD
using restore partition

The hidden restore partition contains the restore image of the Windows XP home. To recover using this method, follow the following steps:

disable boot booster in BIOS.
press F9 key during the bootup
this will make your EEE to boot into recovery console
you will given the warning that the recovery process will delete all the data
click on 'tick' button to start the recovery process. It should take about 5 minutes to complete the recovery process

commentary: this is a great step by ASUS to let the users to recover back to factory settings when they do not have access to the external DVD drives. Also, it is a faster way to get back to a working system in case something went horribly wrong with the OS.