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ASUS EEE PC

When I first got my EEE PC, I thought that it really missed a touchscreen. Why? Because it’s a very light little device that easy to hold in your two hands while using it. The touchpad is quite small and its tricky to type on the small keyboard while balancing it on your knee. The EEE PC is after all made for more than standard desktop use – it’s a “legtop”.

Other than that the screen is very small, so there wouldn’t be much area to cover. One could almost get everywhere with your thumbs.

So I ordered a solderless touchscreen kit from Ebay seller Kiddshop. It made its way over here all the way from Hongkong even a little faster than expected (in 13 days instead of 3 weeks as promised).

Opening up the EEE PC was more fiddly than I thought, but I managed without inflicting any damage to the plastic casing. I had to consult loads of YouTube videos showing the procedure to be sure what to do. But after 2 evenigs, the touchscreen was installed and ready to go. So I looked into the issue of installing the drivers. That’s when I found out that Kiddshop’s touchscreen is mainly used on EEE PCs running Windows XP, but mine is still running the pre-installed Xandros Linux operating system. The Linux system is easy to use and boots up in 20 seconds, so I was in no mood to replace it with a big slow Windows setup.

An entire week and legions of helpful hands from forum.eeeuser.com later I finally got the drivers installed and working. The setup is now summarized in an easy to follow guide on the eeeuser.com WIKI:

Howto install drivers for the Kiddshop touchscreen under Xandros

I love my new touchy-feely EEE PC. Pressing buttons or scrolling webpages is a real joy. It clicks where you touch – that’s how all small ultra-mobile PCs should operate!

I mentioned in my mini review of the EEE PC’s hardware capabilities that the mini laptop offers a built-in webcam and microphone. Both are extremely useful for making Skype internet telephone and video calls. The version of Skype that came pre-installed on my EEE PC wasn’t quite ready for video yet, but Skype has recently finished Version 2.0 of Skype for Linux. Here’s what it looks like: (more…)

ASUS EEE PC

Now that I’ve had my EEE PC for a couple of days it’s time to share a few thoughts on the tiny little laptop that has captured the imagination of so many users the world over. My mini review is for the ASUS EEE PC 4G (Model 701).

Part 1: The Hardware

The thing is tiny! It doesn’t feel like a normal laptop and it definitely is NOT a normal laptop. It really is very, very small. That is the reason for a couple of compromises on the department of plastics and metal:

The casing: A lot of people have commented on the screen or the keyboard (see my own two cents below), but few reviewers have spent much time on the casing. The box is certainly very pretty – I have the pearl white model and it mimics the stylish design, that has made Apple products so popular. The case is well constructed, sturdy and doesn’t creak. Actually I could only find one semi-serious problem that nobody else objected to so far: (more…)

Just a quick note to test out my latest toy. I am writing this on an ASUS EEE Pc, which has finally made it across the Atlantic.

It’s small, it’s white, it’s cute. What a wonderful little gadget. The keyboard feels small and I keep hitting the wrong keys – but I’ll get used to it or I’ll just shave off my fingertips a little.

So to all those nay-sayers: It really does work and it’s very simple to use – It took me about 1 minute from switching it on for the very first to getting online and opening up my blog. Well that’s just marvelous.

If I get up to something cool I’ll post it here, but I won’t be tearing up my new EEE anytime soon to install touchscreens or the like.