ASUS Eee PC 701 PC Notebook

I wanted one of these the second I saw it advertised.
I had one imported from China as soon as it was on ebay & I wasnt disappointed, these laptops boot up very fast & I found it to be a very capable laptop.
Ive heard alot of people complaining about the harddrive space on these but I brought an 8GB sd card for the sd card slot & problem solved!
I installed windows xp on it & tweaked it a bit & it runs it very well & it still boots up very fast.
I think if you want a nice small laptop to carry around with you dont look any further, for the price you pay for this laptop there isnt anything on the market that competes.
BUY ONE!!

This little machine has been nothing but a godsend since I received it. Weighing in at 902g it was light enough to take on holiday and use to view movies, store pictures from my camera to keep its memory card empty for more shots; to connect to the internet for free at the bar; to work on my work files, to play music in teh room with surprisingly good speakers for a laptop this size. In fact, I don't know how I coped on holiday without this before now.

If you get the chance to buy one of these, do so, you wont regret it, ever.

needed a small laptop as I travel a lot, bought this and it is great. Starts up quicker than my Dell full sized Laptop, it is very good on battery life overall no complaints at all, I would completly reccomend these to anybody who travels, my wife has been using this over Christmas and loves it too so gues I will need another soon.

Absolutely love this little laptop, if you just want to surf the web, chat to mates online or need a laptop for uni etc this is it. You can install windows, or keep the linux it comes with, both are great, battery life is a good 3 hours and nothing can prepare you for how small this actually is! If I lost mine today id buy another straight away.

I bought this for University back in November for £200, for the price i didn't expect much but i was pleasantly surprised.

GOOD POINT'S

Boots up quickly

Super light at around 920grams

About the size of the average hard back book, will fit in almost any bag you carry

Memory card reader that Will take SD cards up too 32gb, (i currently have a 6gb card)

Solid state drive(SSD), far higher damage tolerance as opposed to a hard disc drive (which is handy since you're gonna be carrying this around a lot)

Wifi included.

Webcam

Very small charger pack

BAD POINTS

4GB standard memory, 30% of which is in use by Linux Operating System (Easily sorted by buying a large SD card)

SUMMARY

It's under £200 for a tiny, leightweight and nimble machine that you can easily carry to work or school.
Any memory problems are pretty easy to sort so in conclusion i would say it's an absolute great buy.

p.s buy a 3g mobile broadband modem and you have the ultimate portable laptop.

Hope this helped

I have wanted to get hold of one of these since they first came out and got rave reviews from all the geeks I know!

It is dainty, light, FAST, and fun to use. The linux operating system is very easy to get used to and the little poppet starts up so fast I want to get rid of my slow old desktop and just use this.

Battery life is excellent-2-3 hours even with my children using it for the sweet little games.

In fact that is the only problem-everyone wants a go and doesn't want to let it go. It is really functional as well as small and truly portable-unlike my old man's lovely but hefty Sony Vaio laptop...nah nah na nah!

I am a big person and find the little key board easy to use and the track pad pleasant-though I do not like the 'click' that the left/right button makes, that is my only complaint.

Try one out-I think you will like it and the price is really good-not much more than a nintendo DS lite..

Eleanor

I bought this to use on the go and its perfect for the job.... I was worried that the screen would be just too small but its excellent. Crystal clear and still easy to read. For a cheap laptop it actually feels remarkably well built. It runs XP very well and my diagnostic software also works perfectly.

This would also make a god investment for parents as a starter laptop for thier child. It does everything a larger , more expensive unit does with a much better price tag.

I have not used the linux software that came with it so i cannot comment on that, sorry.

i would give it a firm 10 out of 10 ... excellent well built piece of kit.

I was intrigued to find out what all the commotion surrounding this laptop was about, so I bought one to discover it first hand.

When I first took the Asus EEE out of the box, my first reaction (as well as everyone else's) was one of shock at how small this laptop really is and how Asus managed to cram all that technology into such a small frame.

It hosts:

* 802.11B/G WiFi
* 10/100mbps Ethernet
* 56k modem
* 300K Webcam
* Stereo speakers
* Microphone
* 3 USB 2.0 ports
* VGA output port
* SD card reader.

The 4GB solid-state hard drive not only has the advantage of ruggedizing the stored data, but also enables the laptop to have much faster access rates, loading the operating system in about 15 seconds! I own a top-end Sony ultra-portable which I bought for over £1000 and this is much lighter and smaller, not to mention about a the quarter of the price!

The Keybaoard is a little on the small side, but you soon get used to it and find youself typing at full speed.

The 7" screen is of good quality (not as good as the Sony) and has the advantage of being useable in lit environments with minimal reflections as compared to the glossy screens.

This laptop would be perfect for someone who is after a computer that can be easily carried around (it does have 3hours of battery life) to do internet browsing and office-suit work. The OS is a Linix-based, but my mother found it very intuitive to use, and that’s saying something!

Wow, I come on to ebay just to check messages and they have me writing reviews, the cheek! Haha.

Well first of all I think that I should start with why I chose to buy the Asus EeePC both in general and over the competition.

The main point of course is portability. The machine sits at around 8.9", of course it only has a 7" screen but that's fine. I've seen a lot of reviews out there that slate the machine for certain hardware points, or limitations, but you've got to remember that if you buy a machine like this, you don't buy it to replace your desktop! It'd never stand up to the challenge.

I find the size perfect and was actually surprised how well it all fits. The machine is tiny though the keyboard is perfectly proportioned so that you (or rather I) can still touch type on the machine, which is a VERY big part of the choise, I've had many small machines that have driven me crazy purely on the basis that I can't type on them due to keyboard layout, size, etc.

There are a couple of keys in different places, as you always get on laptops, noticably the ` has been moved up to be inbetween the [ESC] and the [F1] keys, and the right [SHIFT] key is next to the "up arrow" key. Neither of which made any serious issues to me and if it causes you major dramas there are tutorials out there on how to remap your keyboard so you can make your own layout.

The machine comes with a built in custom version of Xandros, which is perfect for young children, school users and people who just want to write reports, surf the web and instant message (so most people who are going to buy this machine then).

I was very tempted to dual boot the machine with my standard Linux distribution purely because I love the fact that the Xandros boots in 23 seconds!

Though in the end I did take it off and have put on my own custom Slackware (which comfortably boots in 30 seconds though there are reports of people getting it a lot lower still).

I use the machine at work because I can slip it in my bag or in a pocket (Yes it fits in the pockets of my work uniform!) and use it when I'm on the go. I use it a lot for writing reports and research when I'm out of the office and it has practically replaced my existing laptop because it is so much more portable and the battery is great at 3 1/2 hours.

The CPU runs at 900MHz though I have it underclocked to 630MHz as is quite common, this helps with heat and battery life and all. I've put more RAM in and got it to 1G (though it supports 2G) which is great for me.

I've got a 16GB SD card and basically live off that, 20G is definately enough to use for a docking system.

Sound quality is great and it's damn loud for such a little machine, I just plug my iPod in and amarok takes over my musical needs.

I know I'm running out of space now so I'm trying to comment on as much stuff as possible here.

I definately like the placement of the USB ports, one on one side and two on the other, it makes it a lot easier for plugging in memory cards and peripherals and stuff.

I think the only thing that I didn't like about the machine in the end was the fact that the built in OS (Xandros), the GUI is crying out for a touchscreen, being icon based. So I think when I get round to it I'm going to hack one into it.

That's what I love about this machine, it's not that everything is quite customisable. Well I'm out of stace so that's me done for this report I guess...

Will.

SPECIFICATIONS:
900MHz Intel Celeron M; 512MB DDR2 RAM; 4GB solid-state flash disk; integrated graphics; 7in 800 x 480 TFT; D-SUB out; integrated high-definition audio; 3 x USB2; 802.11b/g WLAN; SD card reader; (0.3-megapixel webcam or additional speaker); Linux OS; 1yr RTB warranty.

The ASUS EEE for portability is excellent last week i was on a plane laughing at a woman because she had this wacking great big mac book and kept knocking her drinks off her little table and of course with the asus eee me and my girlfriend were sat there watching a dvd and eating lunch with lots of space, don't be fooled by the pc spec it comes with a preinstallation of linux which in my opinion is rubbish it would be better with maybe PHLAK or backtrack 2.0 or even redhat. The best feature about the laptop is flexibility you can mod the device easily and change the entire OS in roughly half an hour i have tried all methods of changing the OS but by far the easiest is by getting a portable dvd drive (get them here on ebay for about £20).
Within five minutes of the device arriving i had completely taken the device into parts to perform a RAM upgrade (1GB roughly £20 in shops) just look up a youtube video for how to perform this ram upgrade. The device comes with warranty as well included, i am currently running a tweaked version of Vista Ultimate on mine and due to the SSD (Solid State Drive) which is nice and quick it runs smoothly, i know that in the spec it says its only got a 900mhz processor but the SSD makes up for it and i would say due to the hard drive responding so quickly i would say in realistic terms the processor could pass for a 1.2 - 1.4 ghz. Also the device has a massive battery life of three hours, by using my version of vista if the battery life informs me i have 10% battery time left if i put the brightness down 3 notches it goes back up to 80%, the keyboard on the device to first tme users will be starnge but after about a months worth of use typng on it becomes second nature, the wireless adapter inside the device is an Atheros AR5007EG which might i add has the most insane range ive ever seen on a laptop for picking up wireless i was sat in birmingham airport and managed to pick up every wireless hotspot in the terminal no matter how weak the signal i was still able to connect. The graphics for the device is an onboard 128mb intel, despite it not being a gaming machine with about an hour of scowering the internet for graphics tweaks you can get it to play half life one, playstation emulators, and of course i even managed to get the windows aero working on the asus eee. The sound quality that comes off the asus eee is rather good for such a little device no hissing good sound quality from a realtek audio card. The touchpad is a little small but not beyond use it takes some getting used to, but i bought a usb powered optical mouse which has improved the overall ease of use of the device. The device having three usb ports is very useful as there is enough usb bandwidth allocation dedicated to hold three demanding usb connections simoultaneously. There is also an SD card port which is extremely useful for space i bought an 8GB class 6 Transcend for £30 to add more space to the device and it really has made all the difference.
My advice to people is if your looking for portability this is for you, not only is it lightweight at 3pounds but its affordable, user friendly and easy to adapt to your needs. overall BUY IT ITS GREAT!

This is a lovely little laptop that should be used for a specific purpose. If you expect a desktop replacement machine you will be disappointed.

I use this as an Ultra Mobile PC - to take when I need to check email and Surf and runs Office 2003 (or OpenOffice) - It has a limited size screen and you will need to turn off the low resolution warning. I upgraded mine to 2Gb of RAM and then ran "Game XP" tuning tool to disable all the uneeded services that take up my processor cycles so I can run some lesser games. but this is not needed if you only use business apps. The only other fault is the short battery life but the charger is small so its no a problem really.

As a mobile XP system I give it 7 out of 10
the Eee PC lost points due to
1/ the low resolution
2/ the short battery life (3 Hours)

the Eee PC gained points because
1/ it does what it says on the tin (or box)
2/ it is so much lighter and smaller than the big laptops
3/ it looks cool on the train even if the train is crowded

For years I have been looking for a small word processor/organiser/photo viewer. Something that I can take on the train or on holiday and not worry about the size or weight. I didn't want anything as big and bulky as a laptop. For the last few years I have been using a Sony PEG UX-50, but the keyboard was frankly pathetic, and nowadays I'm lucky if the battery lasts for 30 minutes... That cost over £400 when it came out.
I was originally interested in the "One Laptop Per Child" movement, and wanted to try their pay-for-two-get-one-yourself offer, only to discover that they were only running it in the States...
Then I saw the first mention of the EEE PC. Not one to buy things without looking into it first, I read up on it. I looked at reviews from magazines like Computer Buyer, Computer Shopper, Custom PC, etc.
Basically, there are only two models to seriously consider: The 4G and the 8G. The two "surf" models (that ironically don't come with at webcam!?!) are only worth considering if you never envisage needing more than 512MB of RAM, as they aren't upgradeable...
It comes with Linux (Xandros) pre-installed, but the manual explains how you can install and run Windows XP if you so wish. Personally I find the Xandros interface straightforward, and does everything I want, so I probably won't "upgrade" to XP...
This is a great machine. It weighs less than 1kg (2 pounds), has 3 USB2.0 interfaces, 1 SD card slot, and Wi-Fi built in.
If you can find one, buy one.
I don't regret it.

I bought this laptop for my mobile needs, and found it truly mobile device.

It is all round a great item and would recommond anyone who is looking for mobile

internet access to his/her emails or simply browsing the net on the goooooooo

well, for the price, this is an excellent piece of kit!
mine runs windows xp, despite the low cpu speed (900mhz) compared to modern PC's, it runs fast, windows is loaded within 10 seconds, my dual core desktop (5.3ghz) can't manage that kind of speed!
SSD (solid state drives) or memory cards as they are more commonly called have extremly high access speeds compared to normal physical, making the small amount of power from the CPU being used very effectively, the half a gig of ram helps too!
the screen is nice and clear, there are many case colours to pick from, it is totally silent too, no CPU fans, no HDD, very portable too.
The battery lasts a decent time, wireless connection is excellent, the keyboard is nice and clear, mouse pad is spot on.
Although is screen resolution is a bit low (800 by 480), it's not a problem for most applications, you can increase to 1000 by 600, but the image is a bit fuzzy then, and it CPU slows down, there is a standard monitor output too,
To load anything from CD or DVD rom, you will need a USB CD/DVD rom drive, but these are not expensive these days.
This Laptop can not replace the home desktop computer or main laptop, this must be made absolutely clear now, but to keep your kids off the main PC or for students to work on, or for your wife to use for shopping, it can not be faulted! Fully Recommended!

I first came across the Eee PC when looking around on a forum that I'm a member of. At the time, I had just purchased another item on eBay, the PocketSurfer 2 by Datawind. After having problems with the PocketSurfer 2, I decided to look for a small laptop which is when I came across the Eee PC.

At first, I was a little apprehensive to buy an Eee PC due to the storage capacity, but after finding a suitable external storage device, in the form of a 16GB memory card, I decided to buy one.

I was told by someone who already owns a 701 that the memory card slot heats up quite a bit during the laptops operation, so with this in mind, I decided to purchase a USB adapter for the memory card. Since I didn't already have a USB card reader, I had to buy one, but in doing so, I was able to transfer files to and from the laptop and my PC, thus extending the laptop's usability.

My Eee PC came with Windows already loaded on the internal flash memory card, so getting the laptop set up in a way I am used to was very straight forward. The flash memory card is in a way, better than a standard hard drive because it is more durable and can take shocks far better.

I've owned at least one other modern laptop in the last 3-4 years, but in my experience, the Eee PC is far much more compact and mobile, it is in every sense of the word, an Ultra Mobile Personal Computer (UMPC). In its size, it takes up half the space of a laptop with equal power (since it is about the same size as a DVD case). It is also lighter than other normal sized laptops.

I couldn't recommend a better laptop than the Eee PC 701, other than others in the ASUS Eee PC family; they truly are mobile computers.

I hope this has been of use to those looking for a new laptop.

I needed a small laptop to use when we go down to our caravan in Devon.

I found I was missing out on some items I was watching on E bay when we were away, as I did not have a PC. So having looked around the Asus seemed to fit the bill, it is small lightweight and has the WiFi connection to get onto the internet without a phone line, oh and it is a lot cheaper than a normal laptop so I followed E bay and finally got one at a sensible price.
I have found this to be brilliant I just drive to a local hot spot and hey ho I'm in. I have also used it once to update some XL charts from info on a memory stick, I do find it easier when I use a rollerball mouse though.

Brilliant would not be witout it !!!

I bought this Notebook to take on my boat. It serves as a Navtex engine (for weather reports) and also - with the addition of an added full-size keyboard (from a different supplier) - as my "typewriter". Emails and internet are a breeze, and (after an initial glitch) the wireless connection also works well. No complaints about this machine - and lots of praise.

It's a diddy computer, the size of a Portable DVD player (Cases for those are ideal as EeePC bags).

Don't buy a 2GB or a Surf model

If you can try and get one with expanded RAM, 1 GB is good!

Everyone that has seen it, loves it!

Have you ever found a conventional laptop too large, too heavy and with a battery life far less than advertised? Screens get bigger from 13" to 15.4" to 17" but so does the laptop. You end up wondering whether a decent desktop might not be a better solution. Might not be that much less portable.

Well here is the solution - the new ASUS series of Micro-PCs.
By now you'll know all about the features and novel design decisions (such as no hard disk but a solid state 4GB memory).

Is it for you?

For occasional use, internet access and extreme portability it is a quantum leap away from the devices being peddled elsewhere. Take into account the price (risen to c.£240) but still a fraction of what you might expect and you have a disposable winner.

Disposable?

ASUS have been oerwhelmed by the astonishing success of the Eee and there are many rumours about larger screen, increased memory, XP on board (and the like) models in the pipeline. So should you buy one now when something better may be just about to be launched? Doed it matter if you want to change it in a year or so? If you get 12 months usage this is still cheap computing.

Currently supplied with the Linux operating system and around 40 freeware programs the ASUS emulates Windows and Office functions and is compatible with these Microsoft products. So no worries there. I had to change to XP (a process fairly well explained in the Instrction Manual) to make use of a Lexmark WiFi printer and to get rid of the annoying SD card message on bootup (probably a work round but couildn't find one). If you do opt for XP back up your freeware packages before installation. To load XP in memory saving fashion go to: http://www.eeeguides.com/2007/12/this-tutorial-will-show-you-how-to-slim.html and you'll be taken by the hand through a process that will save at least 50% of the storage normally taken by cutting out inessentials.

Eee User pages on the internet also give many tips and hints that are invaluable. You are not alone, there is a wealth of help for you online. I obtained a 16GB SD card and a 16GB flash drive (to boost storage), upgraded RAM to 1GB (you can increase to 2GB but do you really need to? Purchased a CD/DVD USB drive for loading XP (not reqired but much easier and you can trasnfer other programs and data) and a mini-mouse (a personal preferance).

Buy, Read the blogs and web advice, experiment and enjoy.
Good luck!

Good Points: very small and portable, light enough that you need never think twice about including it in your luggage; powerful enough for most tasks; fits into my Lowepro camera bag, along with its power supply, and my Canon EOS 350D and all lenses and accessories (very handy); great for reading etexts.

Bad Points: Integral keyboard is usable, but you won't be touch typing on it unless you have tiny hands; battery life nothing to write home about.

Do not delay - buy one today! What can I say - size - just perfect. Stylish - fit it in a nice leather cover and it looks just like an A5 Organiser.
Definitely - get the 8Gb Not yet in UK but available on e-bay through Hong Kong) - upgrade to 2G DDR - and an A Data 16GB SDHC.
Takes Windows XP (SP2) no problem. Great with Skype.

Recommendation - for those short Air Journeys - when you only want to take a 'carry-on' it is just perfect. Wireless connection works perfectly.
Why waste the money on a Mac Air when you can have this (including all upgrades) for a fraction of the price!
Have now recommended to 2 friends who both love them. Buy the Black - looks much better.

Terrific notebook, the most innovative idea for a while in lap top world. Very easy to start up, program updates a breeze and light as a feather, recommend this product for internet junkies needing connectivity on the move. Couldn't be easier

I'd missed most of the hype surrounding the eee pc, and only recently discovered them whilst looking for a budget laptop. The order of the day wasn't about high specs and being Vista capable: I only really needed something to do a bit of coding on, surf the web, check email, and occasionally watch the odd avi or mpeg whilst being ultra portable.

And ultra portable this thing is! Oh my, it's just so dinky! It took just one look for my girlfriend to shout, "oh, I want too!". The guys in the office were just as surprised, and delighted at it's size. With most machines this size costing a grand, you could get 4 eee pcs!!!

I was also surprised that it does everything it says on the box, and with little or no setting up. I haven't found an open hotspot yet that I can't get a connection to! For novices, this machine would be really confidence inspiring. For someone like myself who remembers the old days of the DOS command line, this machine is even more of a joy. Having never really played with Linux myself, within an afternoon of trawling through the forums I was able to "unlock" the advanced desktop, and install a few extra packages!!! This machine is bloody awesome!!! Next task -- beryl ;)

There are always going to be compromises in the a machine of this size and spec:
> It's not going to run Zista or run any really 3D intensive games,
> Watching vids with subtitles is a pain on such a small screen (but I hear 8.9 inch eee pcs coming soon),
> The keyboard is going to be a bit cramped for those with chubby fingers and/or vast hand spans,
> There's no optical drive.

The latter two issues can be resolved however (there's 3 USB 2.0 ports so an external optical drive and keyboard/mouse combo could be added with space to spare). If all you're looking for is a properly portable machine to do pretty basic tasks, or someone interested in tinkering with Linux, or you need a cheap 2nd pc for the family, this is great and should be a serious consideration for the price.

Edit: I would go paying £350 or more for a 4GB EeePC (like I've seen on elsewhere). Even UK machines can be picked up much cheaper with a bit of looking. Happy hunting!