Using an Eeepc
My Mom was given an Eeepc 701 late last year as she needed it for her consultancy work. After poking around it for a while, I decided to keep the Linux OS and orient my mom with the bundled open office. Firefox was bundled as well.
The 701 had a 7 inch screen with a resolution of 800 by 480, the linux OS as well as the bundled applications worked well together.
Keyboard
The keyboard size is a tad smaller than standard and for users like me who have big fingers, it’s really a hassle, I get a lot of typos. Although, attaching a external keyboard might help but it would defeat the purpose of it being handy and mobile. Also, using the 701 without ambient light is hard as I cannot see the keyboard, it being smaller than standard, touch typing is hard and I have to look at the keys often.
4GB SSD
The built-in 4GB solid state drive makes a challenge in storage, as current multimedia files require a bit larger storage, however, the SD card slot which can support 16GB SD cards do help in storage of files.
OpenOffice
The bulk of the work my mom does with the unit is through writing, so the most used application is OpenOffice(OO). Although it does work and is compatible with MSOffice files, There was a little bit of learning curve for using some of the other often used functionalities and features. OO loads fairly quick and performs generally well.
File Structure
One of the drawbacks is that the file structure is a bit hard to navigate, even I, who is a bit tech savy, get’s lost where specific files are, much more with my mom. Frustrations have aroused and heated debates with my mother where she saved her files as I was tasked to print and send it through emails.
Thumb Drives, SD Cards and External Optical
Attaching additional storage devices and optical drives is painless, they are detected immediately. The drawback again goes to the file structure, I get lost where the device and files are.
Connectivity
The 701 easily detects and connects to wifi, also with the ethernet connectivity. Range is pretty decent, it has better range than my powerbook.
Internet
Surfing the net is easy, the 701 comes with Firefox pre-installed. There is a chat client but I was not able to use it as it did not support the webcam, or maybe I just did not know how to make it work.
My impressions
The screen at 7 inch is a bit to small, the resolution limitation makes web browsing a hassle as I need to scroll right and down as often and I don’t get to see the site as how it was intended by the designer as I needed to scroll more. The file structure is a bit hard to navigate and I get lost from time to time and during all the months it was running on linux, We were not able to make use of the webcam. The keyboard is smaller than standard and a bit hard to type in.
On the brighter side, it’s great as a handy secondary mobile device, very convenient for quick typing of articles, surfing the net, instant messaging and the occasional movie, slideshow or presentations. The price and mobility of the 701 makes it a sure winner for the mobile user, it is also a good thin client for basic computing usage, specially with the current web application trend.
For non-mobile use, having an external monitor, mouse and keyboard helps.
Full specs of the unit
CPU type Celeron-M
CPU speed 900 Mhz
Graphics Intel GMA 900
OS Linux
Display Size 7″ 800 X 480
RAM 512 MB
Flash 4000 MB
Keyboard YES
Mouse Pointer YES
Battery capacity 37 (W/hr)
Battery Life (tested) 3.4 – 4.1 hours
Weight (Ounces) 32.5 oz.
Size (w/h/d inches) 8.9/6.5/1.4
Physical Interfaces
Ethernet 10/100
USB2.0 (x3)
Line-out
MIC-in
VGA
SD card slot
Wireless Interfaces
802.11b/g
Additional Specs and Accessories (can vary)
WebCam