A toy even for the big boys: Asus Eee PC 900 review

By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net IT'S just over an inch bigger than the first model but it still is a tiny thing and it works really well. Asus really took the ultramobile PC (UMPC) business by storm (though technicall y the Asus Eee PC is not a UMPC). Worldwide, the Taiwanese firm had wanted to t arget a very specific niche market and did not intend to land itself into the m ass PC market. Instead, it made a name for itself, even farther from its succes s as a motherboard maker and basically boosted the idea that a UMPC is a viable product. The company launched the first Eee PC (model 701) in the middle of 20 07. Few thought that a solid-state drive (SSD) could present itself as a replac ement for mechanical hard disks, especially with the upper limit of 8 gigabytes , which was relatively small capacity at the time. But since then, it became ob vious that SSDs would spur manufacturers to integrate SSDs into their own noteb ooks. Now there are copycats of other UMPCs using SSDs but with almost nothing coming close to the Eee PC. Blame it on being mesmerized by a fully working notebook on such a small scale but as long as it actually worked then it's fine by me. B esides, the first Eee PC was pretty cheap (at least P16,000 for the 4-gigabyte model) and it worked quite well even with just a Linux operating system. A few tweaks and it could even be installed with a Microsoft Windows XP operating sys tem though it was a bit risky as the remaining space on a 4GB SSD might not be able to fully accommodate any other application. Out-of-the-box feel Those familiar with, or who own a previous Asus Eee PC model, will feel right a t home with the new Eee PC 900 model. The box containing the Eee PC is nothing spectacular but the contents are neatly tucked inside. The Eee PC comes with it s charger, an application CD, its manuals and the battery pack. If you're the n ostalgic type, you'd want to keep the box but I suppose that's impractical beca use keeping a clunky box defeats purpose of buying a UMPC. The Eee PC 900 comes in two colors: black and pearl white. For this review, Asu s provided the white version. It's surprising how differences in color can affe ct how one perceives the Eee PC 900: is it for girls or for boys? Regardless, b oth have the same functions and form. The Eee PC 900 also comes in two models: the 12 GB SSD with Windows OS and the 20 GB with a Linux OS. One would wonder why the 12GB only uses Windows and the 20 GB doesn't. The target market of the Eee PC might not bother to get the 20GB because they need Windows This hardware is slightly larger than the Eee PC 700 series, at 225 millimeters x 165 mm x 35 mm. Still, it is small enough to fit in a bag. Even ladies' bags or children's bags would do well for the Eee PC 900. Asus claims that their ne w model is tough enough to survive a three-foot drop, which could happen more r egularly because how light the notebook is (barely 1 kilogram). Better be caref ul not to accidentally drop the bag where the Eee PC is stored. Playing with it Using the Windows XP version Eee PC 900 can be summed up in two things: it's ve ry portable and works like a breeze. Even the robust system requirements of Win dows doesn't affect the device's operations. People who have used Windows XP kn ow how notorious it is during startup. But with the Eee PC 900, the startup is just around 15 seconds, or nearly half the time Windows XP loads on an ordinary notebook. This is because of the use of an underclocked 900 Megahertz Intel Ce leron processor and a 1GB memory module, which essentially speeds up operations . This is coupled by the fact that the SSD has a faster load time compared to o rdinary hard disks. Not surprisingly the Eee PC does slow down a bit when applications are being in stalled and these become active during startup. Instant messaging applications such as Yahoo! Messenger, which install on Windows' startup applications list, have to be turned off to lessen the slowdown. It is recommended that users opt for customized installation instead of automatic installation. A user can cradle the Eee PC in one hand and type away with the other. The keys are nearly a third smaller than in a full-sized keyboard and some of the keys are not placed as they should be. It does take some getting used to especially for touch typing. It's actually easier to use just three fingers on each hand a s there's a tendency for fingers to bump each other while pressing some keys. Normally, people would find it hard typing even with two hands on the Eee PC bu t the point of having the device is to have a secondary notebook instead of lug ging around a huge laptop. While the Eee PC may have all the basic laptop funct ions, and then some, it is still primarily for quick document editing, Internet browsing and chat. Nevertheless, there are still some advanced functions that it could do. One in particular is video editing. Using software such as Solveig MM AVI Trimmer and MPEG Streamclip, I was able to edit and convert videos on th e Eee PC. However, there was a noticeable lag but it was not enough to cause co ncern. In fact, while I was splicing videos together, I was already uploading o ne of them to a media sharing site. Larger screen, louder speaker A major improvement of the Eee PC 900 over the Eee PC 700 series is a larger LC D screen at 8.9 inches, about 1-inch longer diagonally. It is also brighter and has better resolution. Whereas the Eee PC 700 could only render up to 800x480 pixels, the Eee PC 900 can render 1024x600 pixels, or about 1 megapixels. This is just about the same quality as many 32-inch LCD TVs. Because of the larger s creen and better resolution, it becomes a treat to actually use the Eee PC 900 for watching video files. Depending on the available video software and codecs installed that have to be installed separately, the Eee PC 900 can view AVI, MP EG and MPEG-4, MOV and WMV files. The video quality on its screen is not top no tch but users might still be able to enjoy watching a few homemade or downloade d videos for a while. The size of this model doesn't hide the fact that it's louder than many other n otebooks. In fact, it can turn up the volume high enough to be heard within 50 feet. The speakers are hidden beneath the unit but that doesn't muffle the volu me. The only drawback is that the speakers, despite being touted as stereo, do not sound that good compared to other basic notebooks. A better-sounding earpho ne or headset can be plugged into an audio jack on the left side (facing screen ), which is also joined by a microphone jack. Incidentally, the loud, monotone-sounding speaker is best used when using the E ee PC 900 to make voice-over-IP calls, whether though Skype or Yahoo! Messenger . The audio is pretty clear but nothing too fancy and the built-in microphone c an capture even ambient sounds but only in front of it. According to Asus, the VOIP calls can work well with the Eee PC's webcam functions (a 1.3 megapixel we bcam is on top of the screen). Surprisingly, there are some problems using the VOIP functions along with a two-way video call, which can be noticed in Yahoo! Messenger. This may be because of my Internet bandwidth or some limitations wit h Windows XP or even because of the low 1GB memory. I had no way to compare its performance with the Linux version for two-way video calls and VOIP. Hopefully , it's a problem of the software and not the hardware. Battery life Battery life has always been the main weakness of all handheld devices and the Eee PC 900 is no exception. It still uses the same 4-cell battery pack that giv es only a maximum of 2.5 hours operational period, with all the wireless connec tivity and USB devices turned off or removed (it has up to 3 USB slots, one con veniently placed on the right side for a USB mouse and the other two on the opp osite side for external peripherals). If the wifi receiver is turned on, the un it could last at exactly an hour. An external USB device, especially a 2.5-inch hard disk, would significantly af fect battery life as it drains power through its USB connection. Normally, it w ould take nearly 40 minutes before the battery runs out when an external disk d rive is connected. It would have been truly a treat if the Eee PC 900 used the much more energy-efficient 6-cell battery. However, a longer-lasting battery me ans using a larger and heavier battery pack, which may not be the most efficien t way to go. Regardless, a user can just bring out the Eee PC 900's power suppl y cable and plug it into a wall socket. The power cable itself isn't that big a nd can be mistaken for another toy. Overall, the Asus Eee PC 900 is a reliable piece of equipment for those looking to do nitty-gritty work on the road or anywhere else. It's not among the bigge r laptops in the market and cannot do much of the same work that other notebook s do, yet it serves its purpose for specific target markets. Asus says its prim ary market includes ladies, students and those needing secondary laptops, but t he Eee PC 900 can be used by anyone. They just need to get past the P24,990 selling price. If so, they're better off with this one.