Ads-Spot.Com

(img Source : laptoping.com)

The concept of mini laptop is not new, but there are many broken teeth. Last attempt to date: IPOC (Ultra Mobile PC) platform ultralight halfway between the personal and ultraportable. Too expensive, not powerful enough nor sufficiently ergonomic (without keyboard), IPOC is a product of the “niche”, although Asus is precisely one of the few manufacturers to offer a model that takes the distance (see our test of the Asus R2H).

In the category above, the ultraportable has, in turn, demonstrated its potential models with versatile and highly mobile as the Sony Vaio G11, the HP Compaq 2510p or the Thinkpad X61 Lenovo. However, this category is still expensive confined to the wealthy elite and executives nomads.

Is it impossible to manufacture a machine at once effective, ultra mobile and cheap? Fortunately, no. Asus has taken on this challenge and we are very pleasantly surprised with the Eee PC, mini laptop for less than a kilo, sold at the rate of 300 euros incredible.

While smaller…

Available in white or black, Eee PC prima seduced by its gauge ultra compact and beautiful design. Stored in its cover, it can be easily accommodated in a bag or a small bag. Even plastic materials used in the hull seem robust and little prone to scratches. Eee The PC includes a 7-inch monitor framed by two speakers, a full keyboard and a pointing device with touch pad. It is very pleasant to use, and reactive. The right and left keys that accompany it lacked a little flexibility. Somewhat picked up and with keys smaller than normal, the keyboard requires some time to adapt. Entering text may lead quickly to commit many errors at the beginning.

In terms of the display, Asus has opted for a screen of 7 inches diagonal. It is a bit cramped, especially as the resolution (800 x 480 pixels) seems inadequate. Indeed, on the Web, most sites now displayed with a width of 1024 pixels, requiring the PC Eee often resort to horizontal elevator (scrolling) to browse the page. The screen is proposed, however good: with a coating tower and light correctly, it provides is a very good viewing angle and excellent resistance to glare.

Simple Interface

In place of a painstaking (and expensive) operating system Windows XP or Vista, Asus opts for lightness and simplicity with a Linux system Xandros. Ideal for anyone debutante Computing, Interface Eee PC is not only graphically but also very successful with ease! Four tabs combine all the functions of mobile Internet, work, play and learn. We find the best applications of the platform open and free Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird for the Web and e-mails, the OpenOffice office suite (word processing, spreadsheet and presentation), Skype, Pidgin for “chat” The presentation by… icons greatly simplifies life: in the Internet, for example, there are direct access to Web content or Wikipedia as the most famous webmails.

It was difficult to take if the Eee PC. As part of a basic use, it’s all there: multimedia player (DivX), decompressing ZIP, PDF reader, managing and editing photos, video and webcam Skype or MSN, and even an anti-virus… There are also some applications ludo-éducatives and games that stress Eee PC within reach of children. In all, forty applications are installed.

Installing Windows XP

If it is intended primarily for use family, Eee PC can seduce anyone, novice or experienced, in search of a small computer for Internet access. The connection WiFi (802.11b / g) is indeed the advantage of this mini portable. Unfortunately, we encountered some problems connecting, including a Netgear router using a WPA key with a high level of encryption. The procedure, however, remains simple and transparent to the user. Connecting to a PC Eee external DVD player, a printer or a USB drive is just as easy via USB.

Those who prefer to further customize their Eee PC can try installing Windows XP (not supplied). Asus explain in detail the procedure in its manual, and puts all the same device drivers available.

A Flash memory of 4 GB

Side technical features, the PC Eee did not revolutionize the genre: it is based on an Intel mobile platform, based Celeron processor ultra low power consumption and 512 MB of RAM. This is sufficient for Xandros Linux OS and applications on the PC Eee, far less demanding in resources than Windows. During operation, the PC Eee is reactive and almost silent. We have not found any excessive delays in the opening and reading large files. Only the launch certain applications a bit heavy (or documents as a result of personal information management PIM) took an additional period of a few seconds, but hardly embarrassing.

In terms of connectivity, it boils also comes despite the compact size of the PC Eee, although it regrets the absence of a Bluetooth wireless link, which would have easily exchange data with mobile terminals.

Technical innovation of Eee PC has its storage space: instead of a bulky and fragile hard drive, Asus has integrated 4 GB of flash memory. There are many advantages to this technology: a system startup faster (between 10 and 12 seconds), and data are protected because the Flash memory is insensitive to shocks, and also greater autonomy. Disadvantage major storage capacity still low. Of the 4 GB initial, they remain just under half for the user’s data, forcing the use, where appropriate, to a means external storage: external hard drive, USB, etc..

With a battery 4 cells, the PC takes Eee without charge for 2 hours 45 minutes by intensive use: WiFi connection activated and a video playback DivX. It may exceed 3 hours if the WiFi is not activated at all times. Autonomy is correct, but the Pc Eee will not compete with some ultraportables. It is no battery charge is long enough: count about 4 hours. Furthermore, the indicator of battery level is very short: no information on the level of load current, or the time remaining before extinguishing the portable.

The Eee Asus PC will be available in French as soon as January 23, 2008 at a price of 299 euros. It will also be proposed by SFR pack, with a key modem 3G +. A good idea for those who seek a more extensive mobile access to the Internet.