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I love netbooks but Asus is blowing it

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Re: I love netbooks but Asus is blowing it

#41

Post by uxp »

_cbsz wrote: post #11
zephyrfalcon wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That does seem to be the point of netbooks, although I never really understood the reasoning behind it. It's underpowered but you are supposed to surf the net with it? If there's one program that is a performance and memory hog, it's a web browser.

> If there's one program that is a performance and memory hog, it's Flash video. FTFY, based on my experience with my Eee 1005HA. Web's fine, but the world hurts when I try to view Flash video. Doubling the RAM to 2 GB helped with everything else. To be fair, I haven't tried to view any other video on this thing...

> If there's one program that is a performance and memory hog, it's a program that consumes a lot of memory and CPU.

If we're getting into this dumb meme, then FTFY.

Re: I love netbooks but Asus is blowing it

#42

Post by _cbsz »

uxp wrote: post #41
_cbsz wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If there's one program that is a performance and memory hog, it's Flash video. FTFY, based on my experience with my Eee 1005HA. Web's fine, but the world hurts when I try to view Flash video. Doubling the RAM to 2 GB helped with everything else. To be fair, I haven't tried to view any other video on this thing...

> If there's one program that is a performance and memory hog, it's a program that consumes a lot of memory and CPU. If we're getting into this dumb meme, then FTFY.

It's a cliched rhetorical device, not a meme.

Re: I love netbooks but Asus is blowing it

#43

Post by pyre »

NonIdentifiable wrote: post #14
archangel_one wrote: post #7

I think Asus had blown it already with no assistance from the iPad. They've been moving away from their core market for some time - the original 7" Eee was a hit, but now it seems to have been entirely replaced by larger, more expensive models. They've diluted their brand significantly too; originally they were quite distinct from laptops but now there's a lot of crossover. And far too many models - a local compariso…

The different model numbers has put me off from purchasing a product as there is no clear way for me to figure out which one has higher specs, not only that but based on just the model number I can't tell the difference apart.

After serious searching, I found that the 1005PE and 1005PR are good models. The 1005PE has a '14 hours' battery life, and the 1005PR has '11 hours' battery live, but with increased screen resolution and a built-in HD decoder chip (allowing it to play 1080p). [The only issue with the 1005PR was that a lot of people were complaining about getting products with the HD chip missing or non-functional out-of-the-box.] I'm typing this on a 1005PE now. My only complaint is that I couldn't upgrade to 4GB of RAM (which I'm not necessarily hugely upset about).

Re: I love netbooks but Asus is blowing it

#44

Post by pyre »

robryan wrote: post #26
sliverstorm wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bigger screen size is useful. The 7" was, admittedly, a little too small. However, you're totally right on everything else. If they could offer $200-250 models again, I might even buy one on impulse. They really need to compete hard and drive the price down; the Kindle, iPad, cell phones and new Android tablets are making the market more competitive.

The 9inch that I had might be the sweet spot for me. Although it was the keyboard that killed it for me, slightly small and the tilde key was removed an all the numbers pushed left as a consequence. Could never really get used to it. If they could somehow get a bit more key space on the 9inch that would be good but otherwise I'd probably need a 10inch. That said very happy with the mobility vs size tradeoff that my 1…

My biggest complaint is that no one is designing a netbook with TrackPoint rather than a trackpad. (Lenovo doesn't count, b/c their netbook offerings have been horrid.)

Re: I love netbooks but Asus is blowing it

#45

Post by rwmj »

jsz0 wrote: post #30

What could Asus really do to make a netbook better? This is a problem of working within the constraints of x86/Windows. They can't make them faster because they're relying on Intel for parts. They can't do a whole lot on the software side because they're relying on Microsoft for software. I know they blamed the iPad for poor sales but I think it has more to do with better competition from Dell, HP and overall saturat…

You've answered your own question: Use ARM and install a reasonable Linux Netbook distro (not the lame rubbish they install at the moment).

Re: I love netbooks but Asus is blowing it

#46

Post by ZeroGravitas »

cubicle67 wrote: post #37
nanairo wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that just an ultra-portable PC, rather than a netbook? I thought the whole point of a netbook is that it was very cheap but underpowered (though more than enough for the internet, hence its name).

Microsoft still sells XP to Netbook OEMs, but places hard (they don't change over time) limits on the hardware they can use [Edit: can find very little on the XP limitations, apart from a 1Gb memory limit, but found the following conditions on using Win 7 Starter * Screens cannot exceed 10.2 inches * Maximum 1 GB of RAM * Maximum 250 GB HDD or 64 SSD * CPU must not exceed 2 GHz, and have a CPU thermal design power th…

You've basically just listed the specs for my new Samsung netbook. I'm really not sure how to feel about the fact that it's design was dictated by the fact that it shipped with Windows 7 starter.

It's one of the best things I've bought in a while, though some level of credit for that has to go to Ubuntu which I stuck on it shortly after getting it. I did actually give Windows 7 a go and think about dual-booting, as I thought they might work better with Flash and the touchscreen, the combination of which make this a good iPad alternative for my young son too.

I was somewhat relieved to find that both performed better under Ubuntu and various other annoyances with Windows 7 led to it getting wiped completely.

Re: I love netbooks but Asus is blowing it

#47

Post by wazoox »

jsz0 wrote: post #30

What could Asus really do to make a netbook better? This is a problem of working within the constraints of x86/Windows. They can't make them faster because they're relying on Intel for parts. They can't do a whole lot on the software side because they're relying on Microsoft for software. I know they blamed the iPad for poor sales but I think it has more to do with better competition from Dell, HP and overall saturat…

   > This is a problem of working within the constraints 
   >  of x86/Windows.
Windows, you said it. Asus and Acer sold tons of linux netbooks until microsoft used their big iron monopoly fist. Thinking of it, don't you feel that warm fuzzy feeling towards RMS?

Re: I love netbooks but Asus is blowing it

#48

Post by [deleted] »

jsz0 wrote: post #30

What could Asus really do to make a netbook better? This is a problem of working within the constraints of x86/Windows. They can't make them faster because they're relying on Intel for parts. They can't do a whole lot on the software side because they're relying on Microsoft for software. I know they blamed the iPad for poor sales but I think it has more to do with better competition from Dell, HP and overall saturat…

[deleted]

Re: I love netbooks but Asus is blowing it

#49

Post by JeffL »

ohashi wrote: post #34
jrockway wrote: post #22

Oh yes, Dave Whiner #. I like Asus' netbook. I needed an extra Windows box at work, so I picked up a $300 eeepc. Very useful, and the battery lasts forever. It's like an iPad, except that I can do whatever I want with it, and it's cheaper. If this is "failure", I like failure.

I like my Asus too. I had an EEE, now I am on something a bit bigger (UL30V). It's nice having the performance and battery life (2 graphics cards and settings that change with 2 keys).

I love my UL30V like no laptop I've ever had. Two dual graphics cards and 12 hours battery are so great, I don't know how other laptops can compete.

Re: I love netbooks but Asus is blowing it

#50

Post by ent »

sorbus wrote: post #23

"Maybe the battery lasts longer, but they maxed out that spec when they hit 7 hours use per charge." My 1005HA was rated for 10+ hours; running linux I generally got 8-9, but another person on HN reported 16 hours with Windows 7. It's not like Asus has been hiding the 10+ hours figure, either; looking through their product information, it's pretty clearly advertised. Does it take too much effort to do the basic resea…

I understood the maxing out to mean "more than enough" so that increasing it won't add more value. Of course, that is also quite an arguable point but for most people it's valid.
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