Asus $400 UMPC..perfect laptop install?

JohnMP3 · 10-31-2007, 08:10 AM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220244

Just add a 500 gig usb hard drive and go!

CPU
CPU Type Intel processor
Chipset
Chipset Intel Mobile Chipset
Display
Screen Size 7"
Wide Screen Support Yes
Display Type Wide VGA
Resolution 800 x 480
Operating Systems
Operating System Linux
Graphics
GPU/VPU Integrated Graphics
Video Memory Shared system memory
Graphic Type Integrated Card
Hard Drive
HD Capacity 4GB
HD Spec Solid-State Disk
Memory
Memory Size 512MB
Communications
LAN 10/100Mbps
WLAN 802.11b/g Wireless LAN
Ports
USB 3
Video Port 1 x VGA
Audio Ports Audio Jack - Out (3.5mm)
Audio Jack - In (3.5mm)
Audio
Audio Hi-Definition Audio CODEC
1 Internal Microphone
Speaker 2 Internal Stereo Speakers
Supplemental Drive
Card Reader MMC/SD(SDHC)
Webcam Yes
Power
AC Adapter
Battery 4 cell 5200mAh
Battery Life 3.5 hours
Physical spec
Dimensions 8.86" x 6.30" x 0.79-1.26"
Weight 2.0 lbs.

ajamils · 11-01-2007, 11:04 AM

for $400 you can easily get a decent laptop with a lot more computer power and hard drive space.

FusionFanatic · 11-24-2007, 01:54 PM

I just bought one of these [ASUS eeePC 4G] mini-laptops (I waited until they were available in black). I have no intention (not yet at least

) of using it as a carPC, that's not what I bought it for... but it wouldn't be a bad idea, in many ways it would make a great carPC

1. this thing is so small you could mount it almost anywhere in the car. (get creative and you could mount the entire laptop in the dash

)

2. it is almost completely silent. it has a small fan but you can barely hear it (you would never be able to hear it in a car)

3. it uses very little power. instead of a large power brick like most laptops (which require 18v-20v@5A) the eeePC's uses a small AC adapter which outputs 9.5v@2.3A

4. comes with 512MB DDR2

5. it has a 4G solid state hard drive (there is an 8G model coming out soon)

6. built in SD card slot for additional solid state storage

7. built-in wi-fi (but no bluetooth)

8. has two mini-PCI-express slots (wifi card is in one of them, the other is free)

8. VGA output

9. 3 USB 2.0 outputs

10. 1 audio output, and 1 mic input

currently it's only available with a pre-loaded linux OS (proprietary, based on Xandros). it cold boots in about 22 seconds, resumes from standby in about 6 seconds

you can run windows on it as well. it comes with instructions for installing and tweaking windows. it also comes with a support DVD which includes all the windows drivers. next month they will offer models pre-loaded with windowsXP.

as far as performance it concerned, it's pretty good given it's size. it has a 900MHz Celeron-M ULV 353. don't let that clock speed fool you, it's based on the pentium-M which is much better than a Pentium-4. in benchmarks it performs similar to a 1.5GHz Pentium-4

so yes you can get laptops with more power, but this already has enough power for the majority of carPC users. it runs audio, video just fine. once I install windows on mine I'll test iGuidance on it (but since I currently run it on my 650MHz P3 laptop in my car I have no doubt that it will run it with no problem).

androo · 01-24-2008, 12:53 AM

yeah i was thinking of using the eee as a carputer but seriously... its not worth it because the lack of power. the operating system it comes with is a light version of linux. yes you can install windows xp on there but its a bit sluggish i already tried it. after awhile you'll want more power.

honestly, i would wait about another year until asus can find better ways to put in faster procs in there.

and solid state memory is cool and all but its still a bit slow when compared to a 7200rpm hard drive or better yet a 10,000rpm raptor drive.

so for now, stick with a regular laptop. i'm building my carputer using this railing system i made that sits underneath the passanger seat. i just slide the laptop underneath into this slot i made and it automatically hooks up to the power supply. this way i can still use my laptop for school and a carputer. cool.

cMags · 01-24-2008, 07:59 AM

One of the biggest issues with using these solid-state based machines for a Windows install, I've read, is that Windows is a disk-write whore. This is the reason they come with Linux. Flash memory has a far-shorter read/write lifetime than magnetic disks and I've read that Windows can write enough to the disk to wear it out in about 1-2 years worth of average use.

There may be some ways to tweak out Windows to lessen the read/write cycles, but you're still going to run into a much shorter lifespan on the solid-state disk than you would with a Linux OS. I haven't looked recently, but what's the state of carPC software for Linux (front ends, navi, etc.)?

FusionFanatic · 01-24-2008, 10:17 AM

the eee has more than enough power to run windows. you just have to "de-bloat" it first with nLite (which any carPC user should do anyways). once its installed you should also turn off unecessary services like system restore, etc. and disable the paging file. once you de-bloat and tweak windows, then it flies on the eeePC.

SSDs are faster than magnetic HDDs. the transfer rate is about the same, but the seek time is much faster on an SSD than mechanical HDD. HDDs have to physically/mechanically seek/retrieve the data, then transfer it. SSDs don't suffer from mechanical latency and as a result seek time is almost instantaneous.

don't worry about the SSD lifespan, windows or Linux it will last for years under normal use. don't confuse an high-endurance flash in an SSD with the significantly shoter lifespan of a removable flash card. modern SSD's are good for at least 1,000,000 write/erase cycles. at a constant 40MB/s transfer rate it would take over 3 years of continuous writing to kill a modern SSD. the technology is over 10 years old now and is ready for use as a reliable HDD replacement.

cMags · 01-24-2008, 01:12 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by ComputerGeek

don't worry about the SSD lifespan, windows or Linux it will last for years under normal use. don't confuse an high-endurance flash in an SSD with the significantly shoter lifespan of a removable flash card. modern SSD's are good for at least 1,000,000 write/erase cycles. at a constant 40MB/s transfer rate it would take over 3 years of continuous writing to kill a modern SSD. the technology is over 10 years old now and is ready for use as a reliable HDD replacement.

I stand corrected. It must be true, coming from a user whose name is ComputerGeek.

I wonder when we'll see reasonable SSD's in IDE or SATA - hell a 16GB flash drive is down to like $60 in places. That'd be more than plenty for C:\...

FusionFanatic · 01-24-2008, 02:19 PM

$60 is pretty good for a 16gb SSD (unless it's a useless expresscard SSD).. who sells them for that price?

Kimota · 01-24-2008, 02:41 PM

Quote:

$60 is pretty good for a 16gb SSD (unless it's a useless expresscard SSD).. who sells them for that price?

Pretty good? Hell that incredible I just paid $261 for and 8GB flash drive..... Hhhhmmmm I'd like to know where too.

anik321 · 01-24-2008, 05:22 PM

screen man .. screen.

its all in the daylight readable screen.

FusionFanatic · 01-24-2008, 06:04 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by anik321

screen man .. screen.

its all in the daylight readable screen

what's your point?

you can use whatever screen you want. :/

skuller · 01-25-2008, 12:58 AM

eee pc is too expensive for carpc
I just bought intel BLKD201GLY2 board and all the stuff (mem, hd, etc) except the screen for about $320

definitely better then eee (auto on-off with the psu, smaller)

FusionFanatic · 01-25-2008, 11:34 AM

they are not expensive... don't forget this thread is a few months old now. at the time, the $399 4G was the only one available. now you can get other models brand new for $250.

I can't see how your setup could be any smaller than the eeePC. your motherboard alone will be about the same size if not bigger. add the HDD, PSU, etc and its much fatter/thicker.

also, the eeePC is self-contained and fully assembled. your time is worth money too

cMags · 01-26-2008, 05:27 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by ComputerGeek

$60 is pretty good for a 16gb SSD (unless it's a useless expresscard SSD).. who sells them for that price?

Sorry, when I said "flash drive", I mean't a USB thumb drive - I wouldn't go so far as to classify it as an SSD, since it's certianly not in the same class as far as the high-endurance SSD's.

But in case you're still interested, I saw it here:

http://www.supermediastore.com/adata...y_080124InactA

bling23 · 01-30-2008, 05:46 PM

ASus EEE doesn't come with touch screen does it?

and so, how do u expect to use it as a carputer