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Asus Eee PC 900 Review

Author	Riyad Emeran
Published	16th Apr 2008
Manufacturer	Asus
Price	£286.09 (Exc VAT)
as reviewed	£329.00 (Inc VAT)
Latest Price

Design
Features
Performance
Value
Overall

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Few could argue that Asus created something special when it launched the Eee PC last year. The idea of making a truly mobile, yet very affordable mobile computer was welcomed by the Press and consumers in equal measure. Although the Eee PC 4G 701 that Andy reviewed back in October 2007 was a great machine, there were a couple of issues that took away some of the shine. Now however, I have the Eee PC 900 to play with, and it looks as though Asus may have got everything just about perfect this time.

Anyone who's got a few years under their belt, like myself, will be well aware that the concept of a basic, portable computer with solid state storage and no moving parts is nothing new. About ten years ago I did a significant amount of my writing on a Psion Series 5, which was laughably referred to as a PDA. In the Series 5, Psion created a device so usable, that I was able to write entire features on it while sitting on the train. The company then pushed the boundaries even further when it launched the Series 7 and eventually the NetBook.

What Psion got right with its machines was a balance of essential functionality, small form factor and great battery life. As time moved on, though, fully fledged notebooks became smaller and lighter and end users wanted to run feature rich (read bloated) operating systems on their mobile computers. All this spelled the end for Psion hardware (although it did spin off its EPOC OS as Symbian), and for a long time we simply didn't see machines like the Series 7 and NetBook. Thankfully Asus realised that there was room in the market for a basic, affordable machine that didn't need to run the latest version of Windows - thus the Eee PC was born.

For anyone who hasn't heard of the Eee PC before (where have you been hiding?), let me give you the low down. The Eee PC is a very small machine measuring 225 x 165 x 35mm (WxDxH) and weighing around 1kg. that puts it well and truly into the ultra-portable sector, being lighter than even a Sony TZ31MN, and smaller too. This is a machine built to be used on the move, without the need to make much space for it in your bag. The Eee PC comes in two colours, pearlescent white, like the one I'm reviewing here and black - yes, that does sound very similar to Apple's MacBook range, but that's most definitely where the similarities end.

Latest 4 of 15 Comments

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Jim Mickle said on 27th December 2008

I note that there is no mention of the battery drain when off. The drain is about 10% per day. Asus is still fumbling around on a fix. I'm currently waiting on the third try. ... more

Driver said on 21st January 2009

Val19800 and others

I bought an external CD/DVD player writer for about UK£25.00 which is perfectly adequate for program loading etc.

The bonus is it ... more

jonesm said on 6th March 2009

Not recommended for the internet.
Anyone thinking of using thsn eee pc for the internet should take into account their slowness. Typically it takes over 10 mins to connect t... more

Alex Samson said on 21st April 2009

Let me get to the point straight away: I love my Eeepc, I don't love Asus. I have been a victim of the dreaded battery controversy. I purchased by Asus late last year from a c... more

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