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| Brand: Asus
List Price: $596.65
Buy New: $369.99
You Save: $226.66 (38%)
New (7)
Rating:  122 reviews
Sales Rank: 62
Color: Galaxy Black
Media: Personal Computers
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: Yes
Operating System: Linux
CPU Manufacturer: Intel
CPU Speed: 0
CPU Type: Intel Xscale PXA250
Processors: 1
System Memory: 512
Memory Type: DIMM
Hard Drive Size: 4
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Modem: None
Display Size: 7
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 6.3 x 8.9 x 0.8
Warranty: 2 years warranty
MPN: ASUS EEE PC 4G - GALAXY BLACK
Model: 90OA01A20112111U125Q
UPC: 884840175223
EAN: 0884840175223
ASIN: B000YEMKGY
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 portable felicity February 8, 2008
Justin Findlay
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
I've had this Asus laptop for about 3 weeks and I've used it as my primary machine during that time. The distro that ships with it is a modified version of Xandros. The Asus repos are very sparse, but all the SW on the machine itself works perfectly with the hardware. I love being able to flip the lid down/up without anxiety and go. One really annoying thing about the GUI is there's no way to get to a terminal. The first few times I had to open the Xandros file manager and enable the system directory tree, navigate to /usr/bin and click on konsole, but then I found about t and then run konsole from there. Whenever you power cycle the machine you can get rid of the GUI by doing `ps aux | grep -i asus` and then killing the associated PID. Getting any other distro on here seems a little challenging, so I haven't done it yet.
I keep having to remind myself how small it is. You really need to look away often to rest your eyes. The keyboard is quite tiny but I got used to it after a few days and am quite as proficient as on any standard keyboard, although sometimes I hit the top row vowels, 'u', 'i', and 'o', on an angle and though the key will still give feedback sometimes it won't input the character. I've had to do a little relearning as a result and don't have much problem with it any more. In fact, most keyboards, even ordinary laptop keyboards seem huge now, like I have to stretch my fingers out to reach the keys. The placement of the right is a little awkward right next to the key and there is no right , but I've gotten used to these things as well.
I wish the screen could have taken up more lid area, but this is a minor trade off for the many nicenesses. The size and weight are trivial enough that I usually don't even notice that I've got it in my backpack. The battery lasts for about 4-5 hours worth of use interspersed throughout the day. The CPU fan is very quiet when it comes on. Otherwise the machine runs perfectly quiet. Occasionally when I wake it up the speakers will whine until I nudge the volume slider. There is no lumbering HDD to spin up and down, and all of the advantages and disadvantages of flash storage apply. The absence of an optical drive is trivial since most live CD's can be put onto USB storage devices and any media I could want to play would be easy to stream from a myth server.
Probably the worthiest advantage of all is that this machine comes free of the Microsoft tax. $399.99 total (no tax, no shipping, no Windows) is an excellent deal for an extremely portable, full-purpose computer. This computer will add felicity to your life, or maximize felicity when you remove yourself from the burden of your heavy tank-like notebook.
 Finally, a good small laptop March 3, 2008
D. McInnis (Rochester, NY, USA)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Ok, it's not a processing monster but that's not why I bought it.
It's a very affordable, very lightweight alternative to a full-blown laptop. I just need something to take notes on and check email, and lugging around the ol' 7-pounder had gotten rather tedious. This thing is perfect for these simple tasks.
Keyboard:
I'm a thin guy with average sized hands. As such the key size is the *absolute* minimum it could be and still be ok for touch typing and a decent speed. (I believe normal keyboards are somewhat over-sized.)
The quality of the keyboard is surprisingly nice. Almost silent, good solid feel, just the right amount of travel.
Screen:
Yep, it's small alright, both physically and resolution-wise.
Both aspects are tolerable, though I'd willingly pay a bit more for a 9" screen that's 1024 pixels wide. Oh well. Having reached the age where I need glasses for reading I was worried, but all is well. You'd be surprised how easy browsing is on this small of a screen.
The actual display quality is merely mediocre. It's not bad, but my 8 year old Sony Vaio screen looks better in terms of sharpness, color, and brightness.
Touchpad:
Again a bit small but very functional. Tapping is a little touchy.
Connectivity:
Nice, no problems here. USB2.0, wireless G, SD card slot, ethernet port, headphone jack.
Sound and webcam:
Dunno, don't care. It makes sound and I've no use for a webcam.
System:
I used the original Easy mode for a couple of hours and was surprised that it's pretty well done. If I wasn't such a geek, I'd have left it alone. As it is I switched to the Full Desktop mode, a Debian flavored distro I think. It too was fine, no complaints at all... except that I wanted the same distro as my other computers, Mint Linux w/Enlightenment (E17). Installation was quick and painless.
Performance:
(Note, immediately after verifying the machine fired-up, I popped in a 1GB stick of RAM.)
Good. Yes, you could bog it down easy enough, but it handles the basics with ease. Playing videos on it either from an SD card or streaming was glitchless.
Being picky:
While not everyone is right-handed, most of us are... so why are the LEDs for power, etc placed exactly where they will almost always be hidden by your hand??
Overall:
I love this thing. It's gotten a lot of use and has become my primary means of note taking. If they come out with improved versions at the same price, count me in.
Nice, but newer Eee PC models with better screens will be out soon March 22, 2008
Pearson Wung (United States)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
I've had my ASUS Eee PC 4G (7" screen) for about three months now. I went with the regular 4G rather than the Surf 4G because of the better battery (5200mAh/3.5 hrs vs. 4400mAh/2.8hrs), not so much for the extra webcam.
- SIZE/WEIGHT: Perfect size and weight for on-the-go computing. Even the AC adapter is light, not the usual big fat brick.
- PRICE: Price is obviously a big selling point of the Eee PC. Prior to the Eee PC, you typically had to pay a hefty premium for notebooks this size/weight.
- CONSTRUCTION: Feels satisfying solid and sturdy. The SSD, instead of a hard disk, should make the Eee PC more durable when it comes to drops.
- SCREEN: As expected, the small screen size and low resolution (800x480) is the biggest problem with the Eee PC. The browsing experience is less than ideal because most websites are designed for at least 1024x768.
- KEYBOARD: Surprisingly usable for its size and spacing. The keys feel pretty good when typing, though they *sound* flimsy (like tapping on empty eggshells) because of the thinness of the keys. My only complaint is that ASUS stuck the up arrow key in between the ? and right shift keys.
- SOUND QUALITY: Disappointing, considering the relatively large 1" wide speakers on each side of the screen.
- WIFI: I had problems when I first tried connecting to my wireless network. Turns out Eee PC's drivers can't handle punctuation in a WPA key. After changing my WPA key, I was ok
So why shouldn't you buy an Eee PC (7" screen) at this time?
If you're not in a hurry to get an Eee PC and are willing to shell out another $100 or two, I would wait for the newer Eee PC models.
- The upcoming Eee PC 900 Series will have a 8.9" screen with a resolution of 1024x600. It'll still be roughly the same size and weight-- the speakers currently on each side of the screen will be moved to fit the larger screen.
- The Eee PC 900 will reportedly cost around $500 and be available in April 2008, though I'll believe that when I can actually order one someplace. My guess would be closer to $600 and mid-year, but I will definitely buy an Eee PC 900 whenever it's available.
- For those who prefer it, Windows will be available pre-installed in some of the newer models.
 Buyer Beware! This is not a user friendly computer! March 30, 2008
Theodore Kramer
7 out of 36 found this review helpful
I have my Asus Eeepc 4gb for 6 weeks now, what a nightmare! Customer, technical support not at all helpful or friendly. Stay with a windows based system, Linux for those without extensive prior experience is impossible to be comfortable with. User forums are filled with customer problems & frustrations this is clearly a "Heads up". I will be selling this unit ASAP! Theodore Kramer.
Good concept January 23, 2008
Andrew D. Cohen (Santa Rosa, CA USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
So far experience with it has been pretty good. We kept it Linux. It reads shared dirs ok. Everything works fine and it's relatively quick. Only glitch so far is it self set the trackpad to the lowest sensitivity and it was not easy to reset it.
Trick now is will ASUS follow through and support the product.
Needs much more RAM; both as a HD and for RAM.
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