ASUS Eee PC 900 8.9-Inch Netbook (Intel Mobile Processor, 1 GB RAM, 20 GB Solid State Drive, Linux, 4 Cell Battery) Pearl White
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend The new Eee PC 900 offers you more options for your mobile computing needs. Incorporating a shockproof design and weighing 2.18 pounds, you will find it "Easy to learn, work and play" - making it your best outdoor companion anywhere, anytime. The large 8.9? screen size allows for more screen space - making it more comfortable on the eyes reading and editing documents when viewing a single A4 page without the… Product details and pricing info |
|---|
64 Customer Reviews Posted
- you can (and I do) use XP
- All those who say you cannot use XP are silly. I have XP pro loaded on the 20GB version (used an external CD drive to load it) used the provided instructions worked great. I loaded ALL OF MY OTHER programs on to the larger C drive (16GB) such as open office (great and free by the way!), firefox, thunderbird, skype (and the built in mic and speakers and camera work great for this!) etc etc. It all works fabulously. I will admit the processing gets slow when not plugged in and I have not figured out how to change this. The battery life is ok (2.5-3 hours), but you can but high capacity batteries for a bit more (they are just ugly and weight more than the AC adapter). I also upgraded to 2GB of ram (for @$40) and that was as easy as can be.
This is a great travel computer. No it is not a powerhouse, no it is not as slick as a Sony (but is is more than $2,000 less than one) and yes it functions MUCH MUCH better than a cheap, but heavy laptop trying to run any version of Vista (which basically just sucks).
Now of course I am waiting to see if and when the 901 and the 1000H come out....since this was so inexpensive I can afford another one! - 2008-07-02, 4 of 4 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Very impressed
- This machine has already met my expectations even though I've only had it for 2 days. The build is good quality, certainly doesn't look or feel cheap. The keyboard is rigid and works very well. I use a mini 87-key keyboard as my main keyboard for my desktop PC so there was barely any transitioning to do and typing is quick and virtually error free. Only slight problem I have is the size of the right shift key. That needs a bit of adjusting to, otherwise all the keys are positioned and sized correctly, and the key movement is definite.
The screen is excellent, crisp and clear. If you use this machine indoors the screen brightness is perfect, no complaints. I haven't used it outdoors so can't comment. The viewing angle is really good, much better than my other bigger 14" laptop.
There is no noise, haven't heard the fan power up at all, and for the African climate that's very good. The touchpad works extremely well - even more precise than my other laptop, and the smart functions are a bonus. The left pad button is a bit stiff, no problems with the right one. I quickly learnt that one has to depress the buttons from the top and not from the side or an angle. They feel stiffer if you don't depress them directly from above.
The 900 is ideally sized. It hardly takes any room on your desk and the screen can be viewed from up to a metre and a half away. The network and internet connections are very easy to setup.
Still a bit uncomfortable about Linux, probably because I don't have any previous experience with using the terminal. However I am warming to using it. The Synaptic package manager works very well and provides additional applications within a few click's reach. I'm going to give Linux a chance as it is very responsive and will continue to be developed.
One piece of advice - don't try to install Kicker without first reading up on it on the various forums. I tried to install Kicker and the extended Ksmserver desktop and my File Manager and Network icons disappeared rendering my machine worthless. However I rebooted and pressed F9 a few times to bring up the 900's built-in recovery system. Everything was restored back to normal, although had to re-install Wine, so that was resolved quite painlessly. Linux beginners must read up about any desktop replacements before installing them, find out from other users' experiences.
Overall, very happy. No reservations about the hardware, webcam works fine, battery lasts a long time, screen and smartpad are good. Just have to adjust to Linux, but have come a fair way in just 2 days, so looks promising.
Update for this review:
My purpose for this machine is Bible study and was a bit worried when the E-Sword modules didn't install, however one can install GnomeSword from the Synaptic Package Manager and one can update it with Bible, Commentary, and Dictionary modules from within the program. I installed the IceWM start menu (web address is wiki dot eeeuser dot com slash howto:useicewm) which looks like the XP start menu and my friend edited the Menu using VI (can use nano or the text pad) to create a program group and a link, making running GnomeSword very easy. The application is saved on the system as gnomesword2. Gnomesword meets all my study needs, so no need for E-Sword. I also installed Bible Reference Exporter (available at theChristadelphians dot org) and run that using Wine. The Linux Eee 900 now meets all my requirements so no need to downgrade it to XP. - 2008-07-02, 4 of 4 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- If you wish to use Windows XP...forget about it!
- This is a nifty little computer, but if you plan to use Windows XP on it, forget about it. The tech data indicates that it is easy to convert from Linux to XP...which it is. But, the miniscule 4GB F drive is totally taken up with Windows applications so the computer cannot function due to lack of space on this drive. I spoke to am Asus tech specialist, and there was no way he could make the computer work due to these limitations on the F drive. Of course there are another 16 GB on the C drive, but they are meaningless for functionality.
Don't buy this rip-off if you want to use XP. - 2008-07-02, 3 of 11 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- people amaze me
- i havent purchased a eee900 as of yet working on the funds. But its simply amazing how people treat tech toys like this. When u buy this yeah it has a small keyboard, but its alot better then say using a txt msg phone like the env2 from verizone. its a full blown computer that will do just about anything you want it to do i unlocked the xandros desktop on my 2g surf. That was so easy it wasnt funny and i am not even a linux person. There are so many forms and blogs that will walk u through the whole process all u have to be able to do is read. You can unlock it while u are useing it. the touch pad is a little sensitve and the clicks not very responsive. Thats an easy fix all u have to do is go in to the settings tab and adjust it just like a regular notebook.
Plain and simple if you want a machine that is easy light weight dang near indestructable this is for you.If you cant handle this the hope over to your local walmart they have the acer aspire with a 14.1 screen 2gb ram and 120gb h/d for about 500.00 and guess what it has windows vista which makes it a great paper weight.
All in all the eee pc is great for kids to adults to seniors simple and easy to use. shoot you can even hook it up to a pc monitor with a vga cable slap in a usb mouse and keyboard and go to town as if it was a full desktop. Nothing expensive required.
So stop your crying and stop expecting that this is something more then it is because it is exactly what is shows to be.
viva la eee revolution - 2008-06-30, 4 of 9 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Good value for the money
- Unit is easy to use. Uses FireFox web browser for the operator interface and is easy to use. Has most of every thing a novice needs without the Microsoft Headaches. This make the unit inexpensive compared to a windows unit with anti-spyware and anti-virus subscriptions.
- 2008-06-30, 2 of 3 people found this review helpful, Rated:
