Asus Eee PC 4G Netbook

Review with XP SP2 Installed

Strengths: The laptop loads XP, Office 2003, CDBurnerXP, Trillian, SMPlayer, VirtualCloneDrive, Firefox,Bluesoleil, Paint.net, PrimoPDF, RocketDock, and WinRAR oll on its 4GB Drive.

Weakness: The keyboard is like an inch too small for my hands, but I'm a large male, they keyboard fits my girlfriend and little sister perfectly. The trackpad is adjustable with generic Synaptics drivers but still hard to use.

I am in class writing my review of my new favorite toy. It has become my primary PC despite the fact that I own 4 other laptops, ranging from a new TX1000Z to an old slate tablet pc to a centrino laptop with a 15.4in screen. It is the most usefull laptop I own despite the fact that it is 'slow' and lacks bluetooth, a mouse, and a decent sized keyboard The Good The laptop loads XP, Office 2003,...
Read Full Review

I am in class writing my review of my new favorite toy. It has become my primary PC despite the fact that I own 4 other laptops, ranging from a new TX1000Z to an old slate tablet pc to a centrino laptop with a 15.4in screen. It is the most usefull laptop I own despite the fact that it is 'slow' and lacks bluetooth, a mouse, and a decent sized keyboard
The Good
The laptop loads XP, Office 2003, CDBurnerXP, Trillian, SMPlayer, VirtualCloneDrive, Firefox,Bluesoleil, Paint.net, PrimoPDF, RocketDock, and WinRAR oll on its 4GB Drive. This is every application I used on my full sized laptop. It is necessary to hack Windows XP and Office 2003 in order to reduce the size, this only involves removing foreign languages, built in drivers, and components I don't use. The laptop opens up all three office apps simultaniously in less then 2 seconds, so applications load faster on this then they do on Core2Duo laptops with 2GB RAM and 7200 RPM Hard drives. The laptop used in conjunction with a 1650x1050 LCD, wireless keyboard and mouse, and a USB DVDRW makes it suitable for home use as a primary laptop which is not something I expected.
The Bad
The keyboard is like an inch too small for my hands, but I'm a large male, they keyboard fits my girlfriend and little sister perfectly. The trackpad is adjustable with generic Synaptics drivers but still hard to use. Websites look good but most are designed for XGA resolution, so vertical and horizontal scrolling is required, which is fixed by Fullerscreen and keyconfig, which allows me for the nicest browsing I could have ever imagined. The 4GB hard drive stores everything I use, but just barely, running out of storage space (occupied by temp files) occures frequently and requires heavy use of SD cards to keep non-essential data off the device.
Overview
This device is perfectly fast with Windows XP, faster then most desktops with the speed of the SSD and 2GB DDR. The program setfsb20b17w will allow you to de-underclock the processor and get up to 920MHz without issue, but I keep mine at 898.

By jekylltech - Mar 1, 2008

great portable pc with room to grow

Strengths: compact, lightweight, Linux (Microsoft alternative); useful software

Weakness: small keyboard; right shift key placement; some ports too close together; limited operating system control

I bought this PC for 4 main reasons: light weight, compact size, Linux operating system and battery life. The EEE PC 4G (model 701) is about the size of a standard hardcover fiction book and a bit heavier. One incentive to buy this PC was the opportunity to get familiar with Linux. I've used DOS 3 through Windows XP and don't think an upgrade from XP is necessary, but it will be discontinued...
Read Full Review

I bought this PC for 4 main reasons: light weight, compact size, Linux operating system and battery life.

The EEE PC 4G (model 701) is about the size of a standard hardcover fiction book and a bit heavier.

One incentive to buy this PC was the opportunity to get familiar with Linux. I've used DOS 3 through Windows XP and don't think an upgrade from XP is necessary, but it will be discontinued anyway and I'd be forced to upgrade again at great expense, so I want to get familiar with an almost free alternative before the last minute.

There is limited administrative access to the operating system. That may be to protect Linux beginners from deleting vital system information while learning. I'll need to learn basic Linux operating commands in order to work around that limitation.

I knew before making the purchase that the keyboard and screen were small, so I don't have a personal complaint except that the right shift key is in an awkward position and can easily get mixed up with the "up" arrow key. There is a way to change the keys around on an online forum and I'll try that when I'm more confident with the operating system. The touchpad works okay in a pinch (I had to adjust the sensitivity in the settings), but I use a wireless notebook mouse instead. An external keyboard and monitor can be used when needed.

Some of the ports are too close together and make it difficult to install some usb items side by side; also the cable lock port probably could not be used while an external monitor is connected. Fair warning...

The battery is rated to last from 3 to 3.5 hours and is the reason I chose this model over the 4G Surf and the 2G Surf which have less battery capacity. In actual use, I've had it last for 2.5 hours, but that may reflect the accessories I had connected and in use.

The WiFi works well. There is no dial-up modem so if one is needed, a usb modem would need to be purchased separately. There is a network port, but I haven't gotten it to work yet as I don't have much experience with network port connections.

Overall, the EEE PC meets my expectations and I believe it will prove to be a useful purchase. I would recommend the purchase of this unit if one can adapt to the keyboard size. A larger screen and Windows XP are available for those who need them... at a higher price.

I'll give it 4 stars for now and may upgrade it later. I'll update the review with future experience.

By IB2ChillE - Jul 9, 2008

ReviewGist for ASUS Eee PC 4G Notebook PC

Performance is Average according to 11 Notebook experts. -- "Very good performance for the price."-laptopmag.com -- "solid-state hard drive is fast and efficient."-reviews.cnet.com -- "Overall performance was pretty snappy, even though this machine uses a Celeron processor."-laptopmag.com Read more to find expert opinions on more features like Battery, Interface, Display, Multimedia, etc.
Read Full Review

By reviewgist.com - Dec 14, 2009

Asus Eee PC 701 4G - Intel Celeron M

TestSeek.com has collected 101 expert reviews for Asus Eee PC 701 4G - Intel Celeron M and the average expert rating is 82 of 100. The average score reflects the expert community’s view on this product. Click below and use TestSeek.com to find all ratings, product awards and conclusions.
Read Full Review

By testseek.com - Oct 22, 2008

Asus Eee Pc 4g

Asus Eee Pc 4g receives an overall TopTenREVIEWS score of 2.87 out of 4.00. It is ranked the #17 netbook computer of all time. The overall rating represents an intelligent balance of features, value as a function of price to features, and a summary of reviews from a variety of sources. The TopTen REVIEWS' formula gives a picture of important consumer features, market value, and a product's...
Read Full Review

By TopTenREVIEWS.com - Jul 16, 2008