ASUS eee mini-laptop: full disclosure
So, I'll admit that I love my funny little laptop.
That said, it's not perfect:
-A colleague was trying out my machine, to see if she'd get one of her own. She tried to install the Linux version of the special software needed to use my university's wireless system. She gave up.
-Today, as I was tweaking the options for the word processing software, the whole machine locked up. Even the "task manager" wouldn't let me "kill" the application; instead, the task manager locked up as well. Supposedly, this doesn't happen to Linux machines - but, it did.
-Somehow I've lost the little "underline" in the word processor that indicates mis-spelled words. I'm pretty sure that I've ticked the box that **should** make it return -- but it hasn't.
-If you "mute" the speaker via the function keys, and then try to "un-mute" it from the speaker icon at the bottom of the system tray (i.e. at the bottom of the screen), it claims to un-mute it -- but it doesn't. You gotta go back and toggle it back on via the function key.
-The dictionary app that comes with it has a faulty "look up word" function. I typed in "comm" -- and it jumped to "cost-effective" (??!!!). I then had to "page up" for quite a number of pages to get to the "com-" section. I managed to reproduce this error with a few other words -- although generally, this function **did** work.
-Unlike my wife's laptop, which reports the battery level to the nearest integer (e.g. 87% charged), the eee rounds it to the nearest 10%. This means that I was worried for a while, because it seemed like it wasn't actually recharging when I plugged it in: it seemed to be at 20% for a looong time... and also at 90%.
Still: a fun little machine. And it does what I need it to do: word-processing, spreadsheets, and "Powerpoint" presentations, whereever I need it.
(It's entirely possible that there are downloadable fixes to some of these issues online -- or that I ought to report them to the eee forum. But, at the moment I can't be bothered; it's not a priority.)
--GG
posted by Gye Greene @ 10:27 PM
3 Comments:
If the laptop comes with a restore CD (e.g., a safety net), then wiping it and trying out some other flavors of Linux might be worth while. Ubuntu probably has the best chance for auto-detection. Of course, I've always been partial to Windows 95 to this day (USB issues not withstanding). Then again, there's always Belinx :-)
It does come with a DVD -- which I'm not sure if it's a DVD-ROM, or a "viewing" DVD -- haven't taken the time to look.
Sadly, I'm physically distant from my ''safety net'' of Linux-savvy friends, and at the moment I don't want the downtime of mucking around.
Once I get inspired (or have more time), there's apparently a thriving online community: I'll ask them there. :)
--GG
I have to say, GG, this latest geek-out of yours has been quite entertaining/educational. I'm just catching up on your posts and have loved the laptop stuff! Thanks for sharing!
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