ASUS Eee PC 900 8.9-Inch Netbook (Intel Mobile Processor, 1 GB RAM, 12 GB Solid State Drive, XP Home, 4 Cell Battery) Pearl White
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend Ever feel that most notebooks are still too large to travel with? 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… Product details and pricing info |
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38 Customer Reviews Posted
- Great Laptop for Travel
- I've been wanting a small laptop or UMPC for a while because I didn't like lugging around my Compaq laptop when I travel. I've had my eye on this Asus computer and when I heard Microsoft would stop shipping Windows XP, I knew I had to get this with XP preinstalled.
I did some research ahead of time on various forums & found out that the hard drive is partitioned 4GB/8GB, with XP using most of the first partition. Some tips to maximize performance: turn off the swap file, change temp & tmp file locations to D:, install new apps on D:, move My Documents to D: and delete fonts and apps you don't need. I chose not to install Office programs, but rely on the programs that shipped with it (which can save documents in Office program formats).
The keyboard is small and the touchpad is very "touchy", but you get used to that after a while. It's so great to carry around a 2-lb laptop instead of a 15-lb one, especially at the airport. This laptop does everything I need it to do in a small package. I highly recommend it. - 2008-07-12, 4 of 4 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- The Best
- Truelly this is the best and the fastest notebook I have ever owned. I highly recommend this product. I really do!!
- 2008-07-10, 2 of 3 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Had to Return Two of These
- I wanted this cute PC so badly. The first one I ordered had a loud hum so I had to return it. The second one could not be connected to wireless internet. Customer service at Asus was perfectly nice but not very helpful. Had to return 2 of these. What a disappointment. In this case-- two strikes and they're out!
- 2008-07-08, 5 of 9 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- ASUS Eee PC 8.9" with XP
- I love this mini PC! I got it because my laptop is a Compaq with a large screen, and it is really too heavy to lug around, especially when traveling. I can read e-mail. It has a power point viewer, and Microsoft works. There are some games already loaded.
I had some problems connecting to my wireless network at home. I contacted ASUS tech support, but what they suggested did not work. I took it to the Geek Squad, and they straightened that out. It works great!
I am glad I waited until the 8.9" screen came out to buy it, but I wish that it had been available in black. I had the 7 inch black one on my wish list. It comes with a case made of material, sort of like foam padding. I wish that it came with a case that would also store the charger. - 2008-07-03, 1 of 2 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Serious drawbacks
- I bought this computer to replace my wife's Sharp MM20,that was uneconomical to repair due to a damaged screen,and is no longer available new. I searched for a replacement for weeks and bought the EeePC 900 which seemed the best replacement available at a reasonable price. I have waited for a month to learn about the machine prior to writing a review. Had I written my review sooner, it would have had more stars, here is why I reduced the star rating.
Out of the box everything worked, except I had difficulties getting a good connection with my wireless router. I got the connection established, but, it constantly tried to validate my identity. Two calls to tech support, failed to resolve the issue. The best thing I can say about tech support is that you can reach them relatively easily. They are not particularly nice nor competent. They are quick to shift the problem to others, saying we don't deal with that, call your internet provider or other software provider.
When my wife, a flight attendant, returned from her first trip using the ASUS 900, I had to try again to resolve the wireless issue since she was unable to connect with the internet at hotels where she has always been able to connect with her Sharp. This time when I contacted Tech support, I got a better representative, we deleted the wireless adapter from device manager and reinstalled it. That seems to have fixed the problem, since yesterday we went to a public WiFi location and were able to establish an internet connection.
Now for the more serious drawbacks. I have Network Magic installed on the unit so downloaded files, some of which can be large, can be transfered to a server on our home network. This is to preserve precious disk space on the PC900. Unfortunately, I keep getting warnings that an important update for XP is available and needs to be installed. That update is XP SP3. That is where things got messy. The hard drive is partitioned with 3.75 GB devoted to C: and the remaining 8.25 GB assigned as D: Trying to install SP3 failed due to insufficient space on C:. I began looking for items to delete or remove from C: to try making room. After several hours of trying I called tech support seeking suggestions; they offered none. Only telling me I needed to remove stuff from C: to make room. So into Control Panel Add/Remove Software I went - looking for stuff to remove.
The machine comes with OEM software installed, some on C: some on D:, however, from Add Remove Software, I could not determine on which drive the software was installed, and regardless, shared files are on C: even if the program is installed on D:. Hours later, after removing software and trying to move files and directories on C: I still encountered the insufficient disk space message. I decided to forget about SP3 and return to my prior configuration. That is when I discovered that the Restore function is turned off and cannot be activated. I had now messed up my configuration and removed programs and moved files, which would not work properly and in some cases would not reinstall. Without Restore the only alternative was to hook up an external DVD Drive and return the machine to original configuration. Good bye hours of work installing and configuring other software.
Conclusion: Things work as advertised. The installed software is questionable. There is a DVD player without a DVD drive. Who in their right mind buys a miniature computer for convenience, then carries an external DVD player. Star Suite 8 is installed, taking 866mb of disc space and seems to be identical to Open Office that uses less than 375mb, Huh!!. In addition to the DVD player and Star Suite 8, the PC900 comes with Skype and MS Works. With disc space severely constrained, why are two office type programs installed? ASUS makes a 20GB hard drive version that has Linux installed, why they don't make that drive available with XP, I cannot understand. The larger drive would allow larger partitions and solve a host of problems. Another review talks about buying that model and installing XP, if you have the XP program and the know how, that certainly seems a better option. Would I buy this unit knowing what I know now, probably not.
I hope you find this review informative. - 2008-07-01, 81 of 95 people found this review helpful, Rated:
