Eee!!! It’s your next PC!
December 16th, 2007 by 
Rory Harper
I figure this is another of my posts on a subject that you all already know about. But, just in case you’re not as deep into computer-porn as are Rachael, me, and, most especially Unca Stevie, here’s the very hottest geek toy I’ve seen in the past ten years.
It’s the EeePC sub-sub-sub notebook computer, and it retails for $399. If you can find one.
She Who Is Awesome first pointed it out to me, because she’s been obsessing about finding a portable computer that will meet her cool, on-the-go-at-all-times-lifestyle need to be fully connected to the Interwebs and her loved ones, no matter where or when she might be. She got herself a Fujitsu LifeBook touch-screen tablet PC last year, but it just wasn’t cutting it in the speed and functionality department.
The EeePC is a joint venture between Intel and Asus. The damn things are vanishing off the shelves and from Net stores so quickly that I panicked and grabbed one for her from Costco at an above-retail price last week in fear that literally none would be available by now. There were NONE to be found in Austin.
It’s two pounds of svelte black perfection. It’s smaller and lighter than most trade paperback books. Has a 7″ screen with a resolution of 800 x 480. A customized distro of Xandros Linux pre-loaded and running gracefully on a 900 MHz Centrino CPU, 512 MB of RAM, 4 Gigs of Flash memory for storage instead of a hard drive, built-in high-speed WiFi, built in webcam with sound, preloaded with Skype. Boots in under 30 seconds. Has USB2 ports for additional storage or to plug in another keyboard or mouse. The included keyboard feels extremely good, though. Can drive a full sized monitor to 1600 x 1200 pixel resolution.
It feels quick and alive to use. It’s solidly built. There seem to be no compromises made in its execution that might leave its intended audience unsatisfied in any way.
And it’s fucking gorgeous. It makes Apple’s arty-farty design aesthetic look pretentious by comparison. It is perfectly the thing that it was meant to be.
Rach got hers this weekend as her big Yule present. It think it was love at first sight, but it also bodes to be a harmonious long-term relationship. It just flat ran out of the box into her hands. It picked up and attached to signals and surfed the Web at multiple in-crowd bistros, and at the Godddam Hippie Commune, and she and I and Unca Stevie have successfully committed video Skype using theirs.
Yes, the reason that I was having trouble finding any EeePCs last week is that Unca Stevie has bought almost all of them. I think he’s trying to corner the market.
She has no trouble with typing fast on it. The small screen doesn’t feel crowded or insufficient, as I’d feared it would. It’s bright and clear and detailed.
The software and hardware hackers have already descended on this thing like a pack of hungry werewolves. Windows loads on it, and people are already modifying the hardware that it comes with, as details about chipsets and other components are relentlessly ferreted out by people who were born holding a soldering iron in one hand and an oscilloscope in the other.
One of the most feverish forums I’ve ever seen is to be found at www.eeeuser.com, which Unca Stevie turned me on to. I highly encourage you to go there now and catch the fever. You might even be able to acquire one before Yule, if you’re willing to do a little kicking and biting to get to it.
Unca Rory says: Check It Out!
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Posted in Rachael is Awesome, Rory, Steve, Technology, Toys | 
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