Asus Eee PC 900 Review

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. Will find out if they fixed it on Wednesday, when it is scheduled to be back from Fremont, CA.
The 901 does not have the problem as far as I know.

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 works from the internal battery of the PC; a slightly double edged sword as it will deplete the limited battery life further...however the drive is supplied with it's own external PSU so can be mains powered for those moments when the base program needs restoring.

Adding programs in Linux is done via the inter-web no drive being required, just a trawl through the thousands of programs available and a few key strokes via the repository to download and install your chosen game etc.

The are many support groups for the Eee who can point owners in the right direction to get the conventional 'desktop' working for the supplied Linux program.

Blue tooth dongles are easily available and the smallest one can be fitted in one of the USB ports without spoiling the smooth line of the Eee.

The only issue you may have with the Linux version of the 900 is the required driver may not be available, so you may end up having to load Ubuntu 8.10, M$ XP or the Beta version of M$ 7 to get your bluetooth working.

The alternative is to buy the slightly more expensive Eee 901 or Eee 904 then you get blue tooth built in.

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 to the internet, and often takes over 20 mins. If you need a computer for the internet I would strongly recommend that you look elsewhere.

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 computer store I trust implicity and have always used. They sold me the Eeepc on the understanding that the battery would provide 3-4 hours battery life. Being a mobile user who spends a lot of time on the road this sounded ideal. Unfortunately Asus missold the product to the shop and the shop in turn fed me inaccurate information.

In the summary the issue is this: Asus supplied the UK and US market with Eeepcs powered by 4400 mAh batteries and the Asian market with 5800 mAh batteries. The 4400s provide just about 2hrs if you're lucky. The 5800s go much longer. Asus neglected to tell the store this.

Luckily for me, the store are fighting my corner because they appreciate that I did not get what I was paying for. Asus apparently offered a month/2 month window during the summer of 2008 to exchange 4400 batteries for 5800 batteries for a fee of £10. Because I purchased my Eeepc in the December I can't even get that concession. As a result I have been fighting for a battery for the last 4, nearly 5, months.

Is it worth Asus' relationship with my store to debate this issue or should they simply hand over a battery? I don't know the answer to that, but as a consumer I have lost all faith in the brand, which is a shame because the product is very cool. The problem is, Asus don't seem to understand or appreciate the relationship between the product and the brand image. Ultimately, I'll keep using the Eeepc until it dies and then move back to the safer territory of HP, Dell, or Sony.