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Get J720 w/linux or wait for Asus?

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PDXMark

Posted 2007-08-22 1:47 PM

H/PC Philosopher

Posts:	397
Location:	Portland, Oregon
Status:

So, let me see if I can summarize the options that have been discussed so far:

1. J720/728 + linux - would be challenging for me (as a linux noob) to install and configure, but would provide the online capabilities I'm looking for and meet my other needs (except for maybe presentations); 728 or upgraded 720 would be preferred.

2. MP 900/900c - Could use Opera browser, but the 900 is no faster (and maybe slower) than the J728. Would I have to have the 900c, or would a 900 work?

3. Older Libretto or other mini-laptop - About the same size as the MP 900, and I would have full MS desktop software or linux available; I could look into a CF-IDE mod to avoid HD problems.

4. Wait for the Asus.

I'm grateful for all the feedback - it's very helpful! Let me know if I missed anything or if there are other options.

RTFM

Posted 2007-08-22 11:11 PM

H/PC Elite

Posts:	639
Location:	Green Bay, WI
Status:

1) I wouldnt say challenging to configure, as the userland is already premade and ready to use. Installation might be a bit tricky for a n00b, but there are 2 or 3 installation guides floating around here and jlimes forums that are very detailed and straight forward. Definately upgraded 720 or 728 for use with firefox, no real big gain over a 720 for most anything else.

2) 900 or 900c doesnt matter. They are the same unit, just that the 900 comes with hpc2000 and 900c comes with ce.net 4.2 for OS's. You can easily flash upgrade a 900 to a 900c. Opera will only run on ce.net 4.2 currently, and is a time trial that will expire ( cheat by turning date back, but that messes up calendar/alarms/email etc ). Alot will argue that the 728 seems faster than the 900c including me, and some will argue the 900c is faster. That debate is up in the air. Battery life however is 2x better on a jornada. 7-9 hours vs 3-5 hours.

3) Libretto, great little machine, 800x480 resolution, fairly snappy for its age and isnt limited to pocketpc/wince applications. I use mine as a gps unit in my truck. Never had hard drive issues yet, and i drive 390 miles a day on average. Its on the dash stuck to a rubber dash mat and has held up fine so far. ( though i did cram a new 40 gig hd into it vs the stock 4 gig )

4) And wait, and wait, and wait....

I own all 3 units, and they all fit different needs. Personally i LOVE my 728 and wish i could afford 10 more. The libretto is great for the price and size and im very happy with it. The 900c, eh, i wont go there, but i will say its my least favorite.

Cheers.

Edited by RTFM 2007-08-22 11:19 PM

cmonex

Posted 2007-08-23 4:53 AM

H/PC Oracle

Posts:	16,175
Location:	Budapest, Hungary
Status:

Quote

PDXMark - 2007-08-22 7:47 PM

So, let me see if I can summarize the options that have been discussed so far:

good summary

Quote

RTFM - 2007-08-23 5:11 AM

Opera will only run on ce.net 4.2 currently, and is a time trial that will expire ( cheat by turning date back, but that messes up calendar/alarms/email etc ).

you can buy, register and install the full version with special patch.

deusexaethera

Posted 2007-10-05 3:09 PM

Status:

Wait for the Asus EEE or whatever it's called. Then, install Kubuntu linux or Lime linux on it.

lggagnon

Posted 2007-10-06 8:37 PM

H/PC Newbie

Posts:	12
Status:

Quote

deusexaethera - 2007-10-05 12:09 PM

Wait for the Asus EEE or whatever it's called. Then, install Kubuntu linux or Lime linux on it.

The Asus EEE already comes with a Linux distro on it (a customized version of Xandros). You "might" be able to install Kubuntu on it but that would easily use up most of the flash hard drive as Kubuntu is a heavyweight Linux distro and I would not recommend it. By "Lime Linux" I assume you mean JLime? It is compiled for a different CPU processor (ARM) so will NOT work with the Asus EEE.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASUS_Eee_PC

bruisedquasar

Posted 2007-10-08 11:03 AM

H/PC Philosopher

Posts:	317
Location:	United States
Status:

PDXMARK,

I would definitely wait for the Asus Eee PC. I own and use Jornada 690, 720;
NEC 780, 790, & 900c. I am currently looking to dump all of them except
for the 900c, which I will give to my 8 year old God son to play with. I figure
once the word about the Asus gets around my current handhelds will be
worth peanuts & may be impossibile to sell. Furthermore, Asus is doing what
Jornada and NEC never did. Asus is targeting the general public, especially
young people. It seems that it never occurred to NEC or Jornada to market
handhelds to the general public. I thought I was mobbed with questions when
I took my handhelds on campus. I figure I will get no peace at first in public with
an Asus Eee. I plan to have flyers with me, so I can hand them out and get back
to work.

Asus Eee has been available in its original Chinese language version for
several weeks in Asia (particularly Indonesia), for $199 and up. It was released
a few weeks ago in UK & Australia (see UK ZDNET) and it appears to be
available in America for $259 to $399.

Asus has a slick 4 page advertisement in the new issue (November 2007) of
PC World beginning page 123. The Eee is announced on the last page, page 126.
Those interested are directed to: usa.asus.com/eeepc or ca.asus.com/pcworld

There is already a support group forum with current news at:
http://www.eeeuser.com/wiki/eee_pc_701

You can get details and detailed specs there.

By the way, Asus techs and enthusiast owners have installed Win XP on an Eee.
Asus has free drivers for those who wish to install XP. Since Linux (Xandros)
is embeded in hardware, there are plenty of resources for Win XP, which means
Win 2000, which is significantly smaller and faster, will do even better.

The engineers were intelligent about the BIOS. You can boot from external hdd or
from pen drive. Out of the box, current owners report, you can plug and play
external drives and devices. Why anyone would want to run XP instead is beyond
me. Asus has two versions of Xandros, standard full version and their own
particularly easy version which looks and feels like Win XP. Owners just push a
button to switch from Easy to Full Xandros. Also several powerful Linux programs
come loaded. Wifi, multimedia, etc are ready to use out of the box.

This "PC" is the most advanced handheld ever. In fact, it is a new type of PC.
The released models have a display the size of the NEC 900/900c and it is the
most advanced display ever included with a Handheld size PC. Next year Asus
plans to include a model with a 9' or 10" display.

Once I get an Eee PC, I doubt I will ever again use any of my NEC or Jornada handhelds. Before I would do that, I would get my old Commodore V20 out of mouthballs and load up the old Berkeley Softworks GEOS GUI & bang my head on
the wall attempting to connect and surf internet with it!

--Bruised

Edited by bruisedquasar 2007-10-08 11:10 AM

mr-mac

Posted 2007-10-08 2:31 PM

H/PC Elder

Posts:	1,973
Status:

Quote

bruisedquasar - 2007-10-08 4:03 PM

PDXMARK,

I would definitely wait for the Asus Eee PC. I own and use Jornada 690, 720;
NEC 780, 790, & 900c. I am currently looking to dump all of them except
for the 900c, which I will give to my 8 year old God son to play with. I figure
once the word about the Asus gets around my current handhelds will be
worth peanuts & may be impossibile to sell. Furthermore, Asus is doing what
Jornada and NEC never did. Asus is targeting the general public, especially
young people. It seems that it never occurred to NEC or Jornada to market
handhelds to the general public. I thought I was mobbed with questions when
I took my handhelds on campus. I figure I will get no peace at first in public with
an Asus Eee. I plan to have flyers with me, so I can hand them out and get back
to work.

Asus Eee has been available in its original Chinese language version for
several weeks in Asia (particularly Indonesia), for $199 and up. It was released
a few weeks ago in UK & Australia (see UK ZDNET) and it appears to be
available in America for $259 to $399.

Asus has a slick 4 page advertisement in the new issue (November 2007) of
PC World beginning page 123. The Eee is announced on the last page, page 126.
Those interested are directed to: usa.asus.com/eeepc or ca.asus.com/pcworld

There is already a support group forum with current news at:
http://www.eeeuser.com/wiki/eee_pc_701

You can get details and detailed specs there.

By the way, Asus techs and enthusiast owners have installed Win XP on an Eee.
Asus has free drivers for those who wish to install XP. Since Linux (Xandros)
is embeded in hardware, there are plenty of resources for Win XP, which means
Win 2000, which is significantly smaller and faster, will do even better.

The engineers were intelligent about the BIOS. You can boot from external hdd or
from pen drive. Out of the box, current owners report, you can plug and play
external drives and devices. Why anyone would want to run XP instead is beyond
me. Asus has two versions of Xandros, standard full version and their own
particularly easy version which looks and feels like Win XP. Owners just push a
button to switch from Easy to Full Xandros. Also several powerful Linux programs
come loaded. Wifi, multimedia, etc are ready to use out of the box.

This "PC" is the most advanced handheld ever. In fact, it is a new type of PC.
The released models have a display the size of the NEC 900/900c and it is the
most advanced display ever included with a Handheld size PC. Next year Asus
plans to include a model with a 9' or 10" display.

Once I get an Eee PC, I doubt I will ever again use any of my NEC or Jornada handhelds. Before I would do that, I would get my old Commodore V20 out of mouthballs and load up the old Berkeley Softworks GEOS GUI & bang my head on
the wall attempting to connect and surf internet with it!

--Bruised

I agree with some of that but in my mind it misses the most important diffrences... If you want modern reasonablly quick hardware with access to lots od desktop applictions then an eee will, I`d think, be lovely.

However if you are say a journalist or writer, want to be able to look up contacts, email on the move, carry database info etc (while have access to web for use here and there). Then I would say the instant on and seriously extended battery life of an HPC is without doubt far more valuable.

The EEE PC has a very short battery life so you will likely need a charger at home and work (or at least 2nd battery or extended battery). and if you need to use for extended periods you will need to carry the charger with you.

I will buy an eee PC myself but it will certainly not replace my HPC. It will replace my Laptop, the eee is bigger than 900C so I think an ultra potable laptop desription fits it better than HPC replacement...

John

chiark

Posted 2007-10-09 9:43 AM

H/PC Sensei

Posts:	1,330
Location:	North of England
Status:

Just a note on eeepc availability: it should be for sale in the UK through RM (formerly research machines) for 169 for the base model, and 199 for the higher capacity model.

I'll be in the queue for one

cmonex

Posted 2007-10-09 1:23 PM

H/PC Oracle

Posts:	16,175
Location:	Budapest, Hungary
Status:

and i will not be in line for one

(big, sucky battery, not instant on)

PDXMark

Posted 2007-10-09 6:44 PM

H/PC Philosopher

Posts:	397
Location:	Portland, Oregon
Status:

Again, I appreciate all the input! I think bruised's comments are apropos to where I'm at.....ideally what I want is an all-in-one device: near-instant on/off for quickly accessing PIM functions, full desktop software (at least word processing, presentations, e-mail, & web browsing), small & lightweight, decent memory and battery life.........I do like the Jornada's size, but I also like that the Asus will come with wireless and more up-to-date software. And given my currently available resources, the delayed delivery of the eee isn't necessarily a bad thing.

bruisedquasar

Posted 2007-10-12 4:02 PM

H/PC Philosopher

Posts:	317
Location:	United States
Status:

I am thrilled that apparantly, at Asus, intelligent engineering
ruled, rather than the MBAs. I am sure the Eee will take the markets by storm, especially since Asus is only geared to make about
330,00 units for most of 2008.

I suspect the MBAs were a little leary of what engineering told them. This PC is taking Asian markets by storm. I hope the very excited
pre-marketing blitz response to this handheld woke up Asus management. I think it did, since a 9inch model is already in the
works for 2008.

It is not pie in the sky like the Ultra violet-radar full sized light keyboard which is still trapped in a net of lawsuits for three years
now.

The Eee PC is being manufactured and it is in consumer hands in Indonesia and examination models are in the hands of dozens of
critical reviewers. Who give it a big pass!

This practical use small sized PC comes with the bells and whistles handheld users have wanted for endless adaptability. It runs on
full-sized Operating Systems and runs full sized programs: Linux and\or XP. USB deviceS are bootable, the most advanced display ever in a handheld size... I am sure it isn't The Perfect Mobile PC but it has me excited.
--Bruised
mobile device

bvjones

Posted 2007-11-24 9:02 PM

Factorite (Senior)

Posts:	91
Location:	North Brentwood MD, USA
Status:

Hey folks!
The Asus is OUT now in the US. Cost is between $350 and $420 depending on where you look and the time of day... and whether they can keep them on the shelf long enough

. The two companies I saw specifically were NewEgg and Best Buy, but I think others with some connection with Asus are selling them too.
This device is getting rave reviews and they are flying off of shelves. It is essentially an ultra-mobile PC, not a handheld (too big) nor an ultra-lightweight notebook (not powerful enough). But there is some upgrade-ability even in the 4Gb model.
The aforementioned eeepcusers web site has a cool link to an interactive page that lets you "try out" all the built-in apps. Okay--not exactly running the apps, but you can click on each program icon and get to a screen shot showing what the program looks like. You would never really know it was Linux unless you're a Linux buff and recognize some of the program names.
I'm trying really hard to be patient and wait till I have the extra cash - but hey! it's a good 1/3 or less the price of other UMPC's... PATIENCE....

B

Edited by bvjones 2007-11-24 9:04 PM

thcrw739

Posted 2007-11-24 9:12 PM

H/PC Sensei

Posts:	1,007
Location:	Las Vegas, NV
Status:

Quote

bruisedquasar - 2007-10-08 8:03 AM

it appears to be
available in America for $259

Where?

Clearview

Posted 2007-11-29 8:06 PM

Status:

I recomend you the *INFINITY* miPC (mobile internet PC)
Comes with VIDEO OUT, Softmaker Office 2008, Calligrapher, CE AGENDA etc..
Multimedia, digital pic/video recorder, web,email, msn, voip etc...
GPS/NAV, WIFI B/G, BLUETOOTH, USB, SD/MMC, MIC IN, SPEAKERS, MIC OUT etc...

bvjones

Posted 2007-11-29 8:38 PM

Factorite (Senior)

Posts:	91
Location:	North Brentwood MD, USA
Status:

thcrw, I haven't seen a listing anywhere less than about $350 - and the folks at the eeepc users site seemed REALLY excited to see that price.
B

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