Eee PC Review

So I’ve had my 4 GB, 512 MB Eee PC (stupid name!) for a couple of weeks now.  Here are a few first impressions:

1. It’s so very small and light.  In comparison to my previous laptop (HP Z-Series 15″ screen) it weighs nothing.  It’s easy to hold in one hand without worrying that it will slip.  I took it out in public and sure enough, strangers were accosting me as if I had a cute baby with me.  Could the Eee pc be used to meet women?  Maybe!
2. OK, so the screen is small (7″ diag).  The quality is excellent, nice and bright and sharp.  No complaints there.  Sometimes, however, necessary buttons will be off the screen and  you’ll have to use the ALT-Drag trick to pull them onto the viewable area.  It took me a while to figure that out.
3. In ‘Easy Mode’, where the GUI has insultingly large kiddy-buttons to press for preset programs, the Eee starts up in about 15 seconds. Whee!  In Full mode, where you have a more recognizable PC desktop, it takes about a minute.  Also, it’s not easy to add buttons to the easy desktop, so if you want to use less popular programs (like remote desktop) you have to go to full mode.  I suppose there might be another way, I just haven’t found it yet.  I am not really insulted by Easy Mode, and I tend to use it unless I need to start some non-represented app.
4. The wireless reception is excellent.  Much more sensitive than my previous laptop.
5. The keyboard…pretty small.  I can span the whole board with one outspread hand.    It’s tough for me to touch-type on it, but I’m guessing it will become easier with use.  Some of my favorite navigation keys, such as page up/down, are in different places from the standard PC keyboard and require the fn button to function.  Tab and Enter buttons, etc, are single-sized instead of the standard double.
6. The software included is comprehensive.  You may have to install some less popular ones before they can be used.  I have heard some complaints that the OpenOffice suite apps are slow to load, but I haven’t noticed that yet.  Firefox is the browser, and it works a treat.  I find myself using the ‘full-screen’ firefox mode more often than on other laptops.
7. Skype works great, and the microphone and speakers have surprising quality.  The built-in camera is adequate.
8. I was a bit cranky to plug in my digital camera and not have it recognized.  I haven’t had time to rectify this yet.  However, the Eee PC has a card reader, so that hasn’t been a problem.
9. 3 USB 2.0 ports.  Sweet.  The Eee recognized my portable HD w/o trouble.
10. The power cord has no brick.  How does it smell?  Awesome!

Windows Vista – A Review Roundup

I get Windows Vista free as a result of my being a slave to the system(s); should I or shouldn’t I upgrade from XP SP2? I searched out a list of reviews that consider to be from (relatively) reputable sources:

• PC Magazine
  
• Software Review Blog
• CNET Asia-Vista Home version
• CNET Asi-Vista Home Premium version

So far, may answer:  No, XP seems to work just fine, thanks.

Pointless Tech Purchase!

I bought an Asus 4GB Eee PC today. I figure I can sell my larger HP Laptop and cover most of the $350 cost, and the Eee is much more portable. I’ll provide a review when it actually arrives. Still pointless!

Actually, I thought my first laptop purchase was pointless, too, so this isn’t so bad.

Ebooks – Amazon Kindle

I’ve been looking for an electronic reading device that works for, oh, I guess about 40 years now. Lately more are being developed, but they all have one thing in common – they’re too expensive. Amazon’s Kindle is no different, coming in at $400. It has nice features…that are still not worth $400. Sorry, please play again.

The Kindle, by Engadget

p.s. also, it’s ugly.

Libraries and ‘Adult Materials’

More like ‘Adolescent materials’…Atlanta public library patrons are up in arms over alleged viewing of pornography at library workstations.

Viewing pornography is a private activity which should be restricted to one’s home.  If one doesn’t have a home, though, who am I to deny adults their rights?   And who decides what is pornographic?

A few days ago I saw another story about a public library that had two internet areas: one monitored; one un-monitored.  This struck me as eminently sensible.  Kids to the right; perverts to the left.

“The library system is not a baby-sitting service, and the librarians are not our children’s nannies,” he said. “Let’s not surrender our parental responsibility to a software package, the librarians and the county government.” – A library patron from the article.

I agree.  Filtering software has been shown (at least to my satisfaction) to be  poorly programmed, and likely to block sites based on oversimplified textual criteria (breast cancer information, for instance.)   Who will decide what is pornographic – “community standards”?  Oh, please…I personally don’t care to surrender my personal tastes to my community’s lowest common denominator.

Launchy streamlines programs

I usually don’t bother with ‘productivity applications’ because I think they’re just another way to waste time playing with freeware.  But Launchy has proved itself to me as a way to skip the annoying hunt for shortcuts and Start menu items.  Launchy provides a quick way to start applications by typing instead of mouse-clicking.  It’s free, so try it out.  For Windows only.

Buzzword

Buzzword is an impressive new Flex/Flash based online word processor app. You can create an account and try it out for free:

http://www.buzzword.com

Cranky early morning opinion on Microsoft Office 2007

Slow, over-featured, non-intuitive, massively modified because of product developers constantly whining that management is ’stifling their creativity’ until management gives in and lets them rearrange everything.

Score!

I attended the IU Macromedia Users Group meeting this afternoon, and won an Adobe travel mug in the “Others got to go to conferences and pick up free-bees for the rest of the losers” raffle.

There are a lot of interesting developments in the Adobe Apps community these days, but unfortunately, few venues in which for me to practice them. I do get a bit of Flash work in whenever I can manage it. And I use Photoshop regularly.

I’m still waiting for the CS3 versions of the Adobe apps, however…