Stan Beer
Wednesday, 14 May 2008 13:47
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
The thing that grabs you from the moment you take the Eee
PC 900 out of the box is the elegance and simplicity of its design. In
fact, it is reminiscent of the Apple MacBook, down to the white smooth
plastic casing. When I set the review machine up, everything was neatly
packaged and plug-and-play. Aside from the battery and power cord, all
that came with the notebook was a simple manual, quick use guide, a
Linux recovery disk and a support CD that runs under Windows XP (I
guess that one's for the Windows model.
Upon booting the Eee PC 900 up, you know that
this sub-notebook was purpose built to be packaged with this particular
implementation of Xandros Linux in much the same way that Macs are
packaged with Mac OS. Yes, you can put Windows XP on it (as some Asian
resellers have done with the smaller screened version) but then all you
end up with I believe is an underpowered sub-notebook running an OS it
was never really designed for.
You could also install an alternative Linux distro as some hobbyists
have done but doing so defeats the purpose of what the Eee PC concept
is all about – Easy to Learn, Easy to Work, Easy to Play.
The appeal of the Eee PC 900 (and the smaller screened version) is the
integrated user interface. From the instant it boots up, most new users
should feel at home. This will be especially the case if they spend a
lot of time online.
The first screen users will see is the Internet menu page, where they
can choose to connect to a wireless network. I had absolutely no
trouble at all connecting my home wireless network on the first try,
after which I brought up all the familiar tabbed web pages that I have
permanently running when I'm working. I also logged in to Skype.
Being a Gmail, Google Calendar and Skype user, the Eee PC 900 is
perfect for traveling with when I'm working. I can either connect to a
network at a Wi-Fi hotspot or I can use my 3G phone as a USB wireless
broadband modem. Provided I can go online - and let's face it most of
us need to go online if we want to do useful work when we're on the
road these days – then I can pretty much do anything that I usually do
on my desktop in the office, including making Skype voice calls using
the built-in microphone. CONTINUED
