Overview
Taking your laptop to work can be massive a chore especially if it feels like you are carrying a ton of bricks on your shoulders. Whilst you day dream in the midst about finding a laptop which is light and functional and won’t stretch the company budget then let me introduce to you the Asus Eee PC – An ultra portable laptop that costs as little as £169 (Asus Eee PC 700) or it’s updated brother the Asus Eee PC 900 (costing around £329.00 Inc VAT).
Review
For anyone who hasn’t heard of the Eee PC before, all I can say is where have you been! So in case you missed out here’s the low-down…The Eee PC is a very small and light weight machine, measuring 225 x 165 x 35mm (WxDxH) and weighing around 1kg (0.99 kg / 2.2 lbs), with the weight and size of this machine it is clear that it's built to be used on the move, especially since it has a solid state storage drive and has no moving parts (no more throwing out broken hard drives!)
Although the case that houses the Eee PC 900 is almost identical to the 700 (just a few millimetres extra), once you open the lid you see the first major difference between the two. The screen on the 900 is a huge improvement (8.9" diagonal, full screen resolution is 1,024 x 600) from its predecessor (7" diagonal, 800 x 480), making this new Eee PC much more attractive.
The 900 comes in either Pearl White or Galaxy Black colours, Wireless (Wi-Fi), 3 USB 2.0 ports (2 more than the Mac Book Air – and for quarter of the price!) and like the Mac Book Air, the Eee PC 900 has multi-touch gesture-based input where you can resize, zoom in and out and scroll using the Touch pad.
Now for the 'Geeker' bit:
"¢ It has a 900 MHz Intel Celeron Mobile processor (that's nice and nippy),
"¢ 1GB of RAM (that you can upgrade to 2GB),
"¢ A 1.3MP webcam built into the lid above the screen,
"¢ A VGA (normal monitor output) D-SUB port (up to 1600×1280),
"¢ 802.11b/g WiFi, and a wired Ethernet port
"¢ MMC / SDHC memory card reader
"¢ And depending which version you get (900 – Linux or XP) you get either a 20GB Solid State Drive(Linux), or a 16GB Solid State Drive (Windows)
The difference in Solid State Drives is because Asus wanted to keep the price between the Linux and Windows XP versions the same. Also none of the Eee PC range comes with a CD/DVD Rom Drive.
As you can tell from the specs, you're not going to be able to run graphically intense games like ‘Age of Conan’ or Processor hungry applications like 3D software or Hi-Def video editing, but it is powerful enough to play ‘World of Warcraft’ (FTW!) and play back Hi-Def movies.
Gaj-it Verdict
Design: 9/10
Usability: 10/10
Features: 7/10
Value: 8/10
We Say
Asus have done an amazing job, the 8.9" wide screen makes the Eee PC 900 a joy to use, the Eee PC a real alternative to a normal notebook, especially since it’s so small and light (I'm refusing to say 'cute', I just cant do it). Ultimately, if you want a notebook that’s small, light but still very affordable, the Eee PC 900 should be at the top of your list.
Shop for it.