I have a theory about gadgets, which is that we all get fixated on a particular type of gadget, on account of the particular sort of life we lead, or were leading when the fixation struck. I now live a very settled life, so, although I love my favourite sort of music considerably more than life itself, the iPod now holds no appeal for me. When on the move I prefer to read books. But when I first got bitten by the computing bug (which rapidly became the computing necessity), I lived a very unsettled life, and I thus became fixated on the idea of a really good, but really portable, computer. My first computer was an Osborne, which I could just about shift from one work surface to another, or move from one house to another, every few months. But, not surprisingly, I yearned for something lighter. Much lighter.
Laptops as currently understood have never enthralled me. Too expensive to take everywhere, and risk losing, to accident, forgetfulness or thievery. And still too big and heavy for my feeble arms.
So it is that I have been tracking the Eee PC, ever since they first announced that they were working away at it to the point where they would be able to announce it for real, with things like specs, a price, and somewhere you could actually go and buy it. The trouble with all ultra-portable computers up until now is that the smaller they have been, the more expensive they have been. What I have always wanted is a proper computer small enough to fit into a big pocket – and by the way why don’t they make pockets bigger? – yet cheap enough to be purchasable out of semi-petty cash, and hence, at a pinch, if someone does pinch it, or if I drop it or something, I can just about afford to buy another without severe financial meltdown.
So anyway, the news now is that I am apparently not the only one on this planet thinking like this. The Eee PC is about to become a runaway hit:
The company first said the computer would be on shelves by August, then September, before it finally arrived Oct. 17. The holdup, says Shen, was making sure the interface worked well. To test it, Asustek took 1,000 prototypes and distributed them to employees and vendors, with strict orders to share them with family members of all ages. Bloggers on Eee PC Web sites that sprung up after the Computex show groaned that the product was taking too long to come out, but that didn’t bother Shen. “The user experience must be very high,” he says. “So we delayed, because with all the momentum built up around this product, I want to make sure it’s exactly right.”
There’s nothing as cheap as a hit, and when you have a hit, make ’em queue round the block. Bloggers groaning? My oh my. But yes, me too.
However, I will not be buying an Eee PC until I can physically handle one, either owned by a friend or in a shop. Or, you know, maybe I’ll meet a stranger with one and ask to have a go on it. I hope the keyboard is very small, so that it is. I have very small hands, and you know what that means. Finally, this may be of some advantage to me.
I had one on pre-order with Clove Technologies, but today a friend at work had one, delivered by RM yesterday and I’ve had a good look. It looks great. I can just about fit it into my Barbour pocket. Keyboard is small but fine to use. It looks a little odd at first when you see Windows (he didn’t like the Xandros based OS) loaded in the 7in monitor in the middle of an inch or so of blank surrounding area – almost as if it’s working at the wrong resolution on a bigger screen. I’ve immediately switched my order to RM so I can get mine early next week instead of waiting for non-educational retailers to get them. Memory is upgradeable on the better specified machines, though it apparently voids the warranty. I will almost certainly want to put a 4 or 8 gig SD card in it permanently as it doesn’t have a whole lot of space left on its internal SSD once the OS and applications are loaded. But overall, looks and works great enough not to want to lug my Powerbook to meetings – I’d be pleased showing off this machine.
I looked into this machine quite a while back when I began to realize the notorious “$100 dollar laptop” was beginning to look like a bust-flush. I have been after a machine like this for exactly the reasons Brian says and the Eee PC seemed to almost fit the bill. I say “almost” because there are still reasons I wouldn’t go for it. It’s on the right lines but I don’t think it’s quite there yet. I’m going to leave this sector a bit to develop. I’d like to see a hand-crank charger, a touch screen (with the capacity to fold into a tablet format) and much more flash RAM. I want something really different. It will happen and then I’ll buy it.
Was the server down earlier this morning? I couldn’t get SD up though everything else worked…
Jock: how much?
…from your description the ipod touch might suit what you’re after. It does wifi internet and email (if you add it yourself) and is really pocket sized. The music player bit of it is really the add on, its the touch interface that is brilliant. I no longer drag my laptop outside but the touch goes everywhere.
Dabin: It is a brilliant video player too – it is the first handheld device I have had on which watching video and browsing the web are actually enjoyable. Apple’s new platform for portable devices that we see so far on the iPod touch and the iPhone really is something exceptional.
I am not sure it is yet what Brian is looking for though. The touch is great for browsing and watching, and it is good enough for knocking off the odd e-mail, but it is not really a device for composing large amounts of written material. The touch screen keyboard is certainly better than any other touch screen keyboard, but it is not good enough for working for an prolongued period of time. I don’t think we are going to see that on a pocket sized device for a while, if at all.
Predictably, the only Eee PCs I can find for sale are “upgraded” models for $399 — I haven’t found the stripped-down $199 version anywhere.
Oh, and the 10″ version is being released in January, which may make it an easier read.
Just this past Tuesday I got an ATT 8525 phone. AKA HTC Hermes. It has a slide out hey board as well as a touch screen, and came with Windows Mobile 5.0, which I promptly flashed to v6, as well as MS Office Mobile, WiFi, 4 band GSM and various data connection frivolities.
Not quite what you are looking for, but close. And $150 through my employers discount with ATT that allows employees to purchase for themselves.
Not as capable as the one listed in the article, and no dual boot option, but I have a 2GB SD chip in it that I can upgrade at will and can do quite a lot just using open WiFi access points.
And this is in the US where the cell phone market is crippled by government regs that allow the cell carriers to abuse the market with impunity. What may be available in the EU or Asia must be far superior.
What I want is a Psion organiser running Linux.
Ian, you should try out the Sharp Zaurus C1000, which unfortunately, has just been discontinued. I have one and it’s great – I also have a full ARM Debian install as well.