EEE PC gets XKCD'd

[andygates]

Who's going to be the first to make one, then?

[Charlotte]

You're not having mine, you bugger 

[andygates]

My python-fu is too weak.  Anyway I'm saving up for that little tablet...

[Flying_Monkey]

eee-PC is so ten years ago.  I had a Toshiba Libretto way back when - which I even converted to Linux - which is basically what the eee-PC is copied off... for some reason they stopped selling them in the UK, but they carried on in Japan for some time afterwards. Still, they are kinda funky...  But you won't get me off my MacBook now...

[andygates]

The Libretto always was great.  No reason not to continue the form factor: a paperback book is a good size for a Daily Thing.

[mrcharly-YHT]

I see you libretto and raise you one Quaderno. Fab little A5 PC AT. 10 meg hard drive, 16 lvl greyscale, built in mike and recording software (which even worked with the lid closed). Man it was stylish. I'd take it to interviews and get the contract just because of the coolness of the little beaty.

[harrumph]

Can't see the point of the Eee "PC" when a Dell Vostro 1000 is £259.

Even more so when a second hand Compaq Evo N410c is no more than £150 on eBay and still allows me to run Tracklogs and carry all the mapping I need around with me.

[border-rider]

Can't see the point of the Eee "PC" when a Dell Vostro 1000 is £259.

Because it's bigger, heavier, slower and more delicate ?

I have a Dell Latitude D420, which is tiny, lightweight, fast, elegant and cost a lot more than £259.   I also have an eeePC, and each has its place.  For cycling to meetings - or working in cattle class on Iberia - the eeePC wins hands-down.

[harrumph]

Can't see the point of the Eee "PC" when a Dell Vostro 1000 is £259.

Because it's bigger, heavier, slower and more delicate ?

And why should smaller/lighter be any more expensive?

Besides which, the Eee has a 0.9Ghz processor to the Vostro's 1.7 GHz.

I would consider an Eee only if it cost a lot less than £259. Until it does, somebody is making excessive profit out of other people's fascination with the bijou.

[pcolbeck]

And why should smaller/lighter be any more expensive?[/url]

With electronics smaller and lighter is always more expensive. It's a law of engineering. Miniaturisation costs money.

[harrumph]

With electronics smaller and lighter is always more expensive. It's a law of engineering. Miniaturisation costs money.

The Eee has a small screen. It has a slow processor, and a (very) small solid state hard drive. Is any of these more expensive than the equivalent components in the Vostro?

[Flying_Monkey]

The Libretto always was great.  No reason not to continue the form factor: a paperback book is a good size for a Daily Thing.

Indeed. I am still waiting for 'The Thing to Come' - i.e.' when Apple finally stop arsing about and produce a coat-pocket-sized device that does everything the i-Phone and a laptop do - and has decent hand-writing recognition. This is possible now, so why oh why oh why oh why... (well, I know why, but still...)

[border-rider]

Can't see the point of the Eee "PC" when a Dell Vostro 1000 is £259.

Because it's bigger, heavier, slower and more delicate ?

And why should smaller/lighter be any more expensive?

Besides which, the Eee has a 0.9Ghz processor to the Vostro's 1.7 GHz.

I would consider an Eee only if it cost a lot less than £259. Until it does, somebody is making excessive profit out of other people's fascination with the bijou.

erm, my eeePC cost £200.


Smaller and lighter means a cooler-running processor which uses less power, BTW.  These are not just slower processors, they are processors optimised for small devices.  They're actually dearer than the 1.7 GHz jobs in the Vostro cos they have a more modern, skinnier architecture.  Like the 1.2 GHz dual processor designs.

I don't think it is slower in every-day use; we have an Acer laptp with a 1.6 GHz processor and that's a slug in comparison.  Architecture and morality memory are probably bigger factors than clock speed.

But yeah: it's convenient.  I didn't need one - I could use my 2004 vintage Dell X300 - still smaller than your Vostro and worth pretty-much zero now.  But having a PC that fits in your coat pocket is really useful.

[harrumph]

erm, my eeePC cost £200.

That'll be the one with the 7" screen, then. I don't think many people will be buying those when the version with the 9" screen in the same size package becomes available shortly.

Anyway, whatever floats your boat... I would dearly like a Hewlett Packard 2133 Mini Note, but I've got better things to spend £452 on - like bike bits 

[border-rider]

erm, my eeePC cost £200.

That'll be the one with the 7" screen, then. I don't think many people will be buying those when the version with the 9" screen in the same size package becomes available shortly.

I doubt it'll be the same size unless the screen is a very odd (=unusable) shape - and it'll be dearer.  The clear benefits of the one I have are smallness and cheapness.  Make it 2" bigger and add £150 to the price and I agree - better to buy a proper ultralight laptop.

They've sold millions of the current model.

[andygates]

They've sold millions of the current model.

Because at £200 it's worth a punt.  At £350 it's something you save up for and think about.  The EEE's an impulse-buy computer, and that's a tasty niche.

[harrumph]

I doubt it'll be the same size unless the screen is a very odd (=unusable) shape...

I dunno, shape looks all right to me...

Battery life doesn't, though 

I want a small, spartan PC with the battery life of a handheld. Why can't I have one?

What is the point of small laptops for which you have to lug around heavy, bulky, awkward power supplies?

[border-rider]

It does, which means it must be bigger in both directions, i.e the whole box is bigger.  The aspect ratio of the current one tends to widescreen and here isn't a lot of space above and below the screen.  Moving the speakers would buy you width, but as I said that alone would make the screen a very odd shape

The process of bloatation begins: deeper, wider, taller, heavier, more power-hungry and able to run Windows out of the box.   It becomes a low-end ultraportable  - and all the geeks already have high-end ultraportables - not the tasty niche toy that Andy described.

[Charlotte]

The eeeeeeeepc is bloody great as it is.  Forget any upgrades beyond a decent SD card.  I paid £220 for mine when they were hard to get and it's worth every penny.  The small screen isn't an issue and the battery on my one (running eeeXubuntu) will do about three and a half hours, which is about as much staring at a computer screen as I want to do in one sitting thank you very much.

I can bring the power supply with me because it's no bigger than the one which charges my mobile phone.  In fact, the computer is no heavier than a hardback book - it gets lost in my Chrome meini-metro courier bag, hardly a big space in the first place.

I've yet to show it to someone who's not said "coooooool - I want one!" and this is because once they find out how cheap it was, it's the sort of thing that pretty much anyone can justify buying.

[Zipperhead]

Atom powered ones coming in June

[Wascally Weasel]

The eeeeeeeepc is bloody great as it is.  Forget any upgrades beyond a decent SD card.  I paid £220 for mine when they were hard to get and it's worth every penny.  The small screen isn't an issue and the battery on my one (running eeeXubuntu) will do about three and a half hours, which is about as much staring at a computer screen as I want to do in one sitting thank you very much.

I can bring the power supply with me because it's no bigger than the one which charges my mobile phone.  In fact, the computer is no heavier than a hardback book - it gets lost in my Chrome meini-metro courier bag, hardly a big space in the first place.

I've yet to show it to someone who's not said "coooooool - I want one!" and this is because once they find out how cheap it was, it's the sort of thing that pretty much anyone can justify buying.

My battery only lasts about an hour and half.  Mumble.