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Asus put out like 40 models of a laptop called the “Eee PC” (2021)

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Re: Asus put out like 40 models of a laptop called the “Eee PC” (2021)

#51
I had one. It was good. I installed Debian and Ubuntu on it (even dual booted with Windows). It was excellent. Very good little guy back in the day (around 2011).

I had two actually. I really loved them. Tiny, cheap but a real PC. Such a cutie. Brings back great memories of my Eee PCs. Loved it! :)

Re: Asus put out like 40 models of a laptop called the “Eee PC” (2021)

#53

My takeaway from the article: Microsoft gave ASUS a deal they couldn't refuse. ASUS took the bait and sold the Eee PC with Windows preinstalled but the version of Windows was a little too crappy. Ultimately this sealed their fate as people upgraded to a "real computer," resigning the Eee PC's position to that of a toy. Is this right?

I have two EEEPC 700 machines here, one I bought with a Linux on it new, the other I picked up at the tip shop for $5 that had windows XP on it.

Waiting for windows to boot on that thing is a real exercise in patience. The supplied Linux was OK but I'm pretty sure Debian boots on it without issue.

The real reason they became a toy was that people realised the keyboard is just too cramped for regular use. The 11" laptops that followed were a lot more sensible and not a lot more money.

Re: Asus put out like 40 models of a laptop called the “Eee PC” (2021)

#55

The Eee PC 701 was amazing. It was really good for students who needed something small and light that they could take to the library, etc. The alternative back then was a heavy power-hungry full-size laptop. This is before all the stuff we take for granted today like tablets, etc. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 was the next really good netbook. After those, Apple introduced the Macbook Air which came in a 11.6" size. Even…

As a student the 701 was great. It fit in my (large) coat pocket, supported up to 2gb of ram, ran Xubuntu fine, was sturdier than my main laptop, had amazing battery life, and a real keyboard. It fit in that annoying niche between my tiny consumption-oriented phone and big work-oriented laptop, when I needed a full Linux environment for something but didn't mind if the command took a little while longer to type or run.

Later netbooks were all missing something. They were either expensive, had exclusively soldered parts, were thinner and less sturdy (but not smaller), had driver problems on Linux, or had terrible battery life.

Re: Asus put out like 40 models of a laptop called the “Eee PC” (2021)

#56

The Eee PC 701 was amazing. It was really good for students who needed something small and light that they could take to the library, etc. The alternative back then was a heavy power-hungry full-size laptop. This is before all the stuff we take for granted today like tablets, etc. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 was the next really good netbook. After those, Apple introduced the Macbook Air which came in a 11.6" size. Even…

If you are actually interested in buying something like that you just described the Pinebook/Pinebook Pro. I've got the Pro and love it

Re: Asus put out like 40 models of a laptop called the “Eee PC” (2021)

#57

The Eee PC 701 was amazing. It was really good for students who needed something small and light that they could take to the library, etc. The alternative back then was a heavy power-hungry full-size laptop. This is before all the stuff we take for granted today like tablets, etc. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 was the next really good netbook. After those, Apple introduced the Macbook Air which came in a 11.6" size. Even…

As for why manufacturers don’t make netbooks… it’s a fair point if you’re only looking at the major PC makers I guess, but overall they actually do! Think GPD Pocket series, One Mix series, (soon) MNT Pocket Reform. It’s a niche, but the hardware exists!

Microsoft makes two netbook adjacent devices! The Surface Go is a netbook with a tablet form factor. And the Surface Laptop SE is an (admittedly slightly large) netbook.

Re: Asus put out like 40 models of a laptop called the “Eee PC” (2021)

#59
I had a 701. I loved that thing. I got linux on it and used it in college so much. I eventually upgraded to an 11" macbook air but man, that eeepc was a workhorse for me. Yes it was slow, but the battery life was incredible with the bigger battery and having a full OS laptop in a tiny form factor was amazing. What was even more incredible was that dell mini laptop.
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