It trully doesn't matter what the CPU is rated at, it is still overclocking when you personally override the thermal envelope of the little machine and clock it as you see fit.
These machines hit a price point and size that other brands should compete for. That or at least ASUS needs to refresh the hardware within this product.
1GB RAM = $20 or so... and there are more thermally efficient procesors out there. 2GB = $35.00 ... so why the heck are we still dealing in 512MB?
Its nice to see a review on the eee here, but there are some things that could have been done to shine a much better light on it:
1. 3Dmark01 should be run in the LCDs native rez of 800x480 - if you run it at 800x600 the driver has to stretch it to make it fit which kills the benchmark numbers.
2. the asus supplied drivers stink for gaming. you have to get the latest intel drivers, there are some modified ones on the eeeuser.com website that support resolution stretching and stuff.
if these things are done you can easily get a score of 3200 in the benchmark.
the stock mhz on the celeron in the eee is 900mhz, they do clock higher than 900 and I have seen one guy hit 1.2ghz almost. I am able to set mine to 1.044Ghz and when I do this I get a score of 3600 in 3dmark01. temps are 67c running warcraft for a few hours and fan on max.
if you do all of the above you can even play wow on it, I use it now instead of my 17" lappy and prefer it. its neat to play on it for some reason... I get around 30+fps grinding and 10 or so in the cities. except for shatarath, its like 4fps there for some reason.
I don't think "misleading" is quite accurate - I'm generally quite pleased with the Eee, Asus did a great job with it and it's a nice little machine, and I think the article reflects that. Point taken that you can squeeze some more gaming performance out of it, but it's clearly not a gaming laptop. I wanted to show a few fun games that can average 30+ fps with a minimum of user effort, just to shine a light on the fact that some gaming here and there is possible and enjoyable with older titles.
When you are reviewing any portable devices in the future, please explicitly state the mA-hr capacity of the battery supplied in the review unit(s) AND confirm with the manufacturer of the product that exactly the same-capacity battery will be shipped with the for-sale product - especially when you are publishing the available use-time between charges.
Asus has been apparently been playing fast and loose by supplying higher-capacity batteries to reviewers of the EeePC than those offered in for-sale units and thus implicitly shafting some first-round real customers.
I've asked Asus for a response on this and am awaiting a reply. From what I've seen also digging around on the web, the $399 model doesn't have the mouse or SD card. As you can see on page 1 from our retail packaging picture, though, it clearly calls out the mouse and SD card on the label. This makes me suspect that Asus didn't scrap it entirely, but may reserve it for some slightly higher priced config. This would alter my thoughts on this package, since the mouse and SD card really represent a good bundle for usability. I'll update here when I hear back from the manufacturer.
IE6 is what comes with Windows XP SP2. From what I've seen, it is NOT standard practice for PC vendors to install IE7. Perhaps it should be, but it isn't so far.
I haven't installed XP lately (been doing more in the way of Vista installs), but I'm pretty sure XP SP2 doesn't include IE7. Should ASUS install all the current Windows Updates? Probably. But it wouldn't shock me if they didn't. At least SP3 should be out soon....
43/68 don't seem too bad for idle and load temps. That's around what my T43 runs with the 1.86GHz Sonoma if I'm getting the load number from batch processing files in Photoshop CS2.
You trimmed down the toolbars in IE, but you didn't hide the windows taskbar. Do that and you'll get another line of extra space for your browsing experience.
F11 full screen still forces a status bar. IE can be configured to take as little screen space as F11 full screen mode by reducing the toolbar buttons and placing them on the same bar as the file/edit drop down menus. Then, disable the status bar and hide the Start menu bar. Voila!
Not so much. I was hoping computers like the EEE and the OLPC would help push linux but all these companies are quickly finding that it's easier to just ship with windows. Your customers like it, your developers like it and it's already been tested and proven so that saves on RnD. Maybe they still will help push linux in the long run but it sure doesn't seem like it for now.
The EEE 900 with the bigger screen, even if it's more friendly to those older games it will come with a major drawback of even lower frame rates. Don't forget that. What the EEE needs is more power, for less power.
Microsoft recently posted a video to their Ch9 website, of work they'd done to reduce the disk footprint on smaller systems. They demonstrated fully functional XP AND Office-2003 installed in 1.2GB of disk, on an EEE
In regards to the Diablo 2 benchmark, the eeepc doing 25-30 fps is normal. D2 was capped at that for single player mode, which judging by the screenshots is how the game was benchmarked. More than likely it would perform better played on bnet.
There seems to be something funky going on with the page navigation in the article. 3 pages are named "Windows XP", and you can't go to a previous page from them.
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gochichi - Saturday, April 26, 2008 - link
It trully doesn't matter what the CPU is rated at, it is still overclocking when you personally override the thermal envelope of the little machine and clock it as you see fit.These machines hit a price point and size that other brands should compete for. That or at least ASUS needs to refresh the hardware within this product.
1GB RAM = $20 or so... and there are more thermally efficient procesors out there. 2GB = $35.00 ... so why the heck are we still dealing in 512MB?
Alphafox78 - Thursday, April 24, 2008 - link
Its nice to see a review on the eee here, but there are some things that could have been done to shine a much better light on it:1. 3Dmark01 should be run in the LCDs native rez of 800x480 - if you run it at 800x600 the driver has to stretch it to make it fit which kills the benchmark numbers.
2. the asus supplied drivers stink for gaming. you have to get the latest intel drivers, there are some modified ones on the eeeuser.com website that support resolution stretching and stuff.
if these things are done you can easily get a score of 3200 in the benchmark.
the stock mhz on the celeron in the eee is 900mhz, they do clock higher than 900 and I have seen one guy hit 1.2ghz almost. I am able to set mine to 1.044Ghz and when I do this I get a score of 3600 in 3dmark01. temps are 67c running warcraft for a few hours and fan on max.
if you do all of the above you can even play wow on it, I use it now instead of my 17" lappy and prefer it. its neat to play on it for some reason... I get around 30+fps grinding and 10 or so in the cities. except for shatarath, its like 4fps there for some reason.
Matt Campbell - Thursday, April 24, 2008 - link
I don't think "misleading" is quite accurate - I'm generally quite pleased with the Eee, Asus did a great job with it and it's a nice little machine, and I think the article reflects that. Point taken that you can squeeze some more gaming performance out of it, but it's clearly not a gaming laptop. I wanted to show a few fun games that can average 30+ fps with a minimum of user effort, just to shine a light on the fact that some gaming here and there is possible and enjoyable with older titles.kmmatney - Friday, April 25, 2008 - link
The original half-life game is probably playable as well - and I think it was OpenGL which would be a good test.kilkennycat - Thursday, April 24, 2008 - link
To all Anandtech reviewers:-When you are reviewing any portable devices in the future, please explicitly state the mA-hr capacity of the battery supplied in the review unit(s) AND confirm with the manufacturer of the product that exactly the same-capacity battery will be shipped with the for-sale product - especially when you are publishing the available use-time between charges.
Asus has been apparently been playing fast and loose by supplying higher-capacity batteries to reviewers of the EeePC than those offered in for-sale units and thus implicitly shafting some first-round real customers.
See the following:-
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/asus-eeepc-batter...">http://www.tomshardware.com/news/asus-eeepc-batter...
cputeq - Thursday, April 24, 2008 - link
battery life tests.Maybe continuous MP3 playing, or better yet, looping movie playing without power management, esp. in the underclocked and normal configs.
johnsonx - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
The 4G XP models on NewEgg:http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Sub...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...;descrip...
Don't appear to include the Mouse and SD card. Anyone know what the full story is here?
johnsonx - Thursday, April 24, 2008 - link
I also inquired over at Best Buy today - same thing, their 4G-XP's (the only model they carry thus far) doesn't include the mouse or SD card.Matt Campbell - Sunday, April 27, 2008 - link
I've asked Asus for a response on this and am awaiting a reply. From what I've seen also digging around on the web, the $399 model doesn't have the mouse or SD card. As you can see on page 1 from our retail packaging picture, though, it clearly calls out the mouse and SD card on the label. This makes me suspect that Asus didn't scrap it entirely, but may reserve it for some slightly higher priced config. This would alter my thoughts on this package, since the mouse and SD card really represent a good bundle for usability. I'll update here when I hear back from the manufacturer.nubie - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
I won't use Internet explorer unless forced, why no Firefox?cputeq - Thursday, April 24, 2008 - link
Because....he didn't install it?regnez - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
That looked like an IE6 icon on the desktop. If that is true and this computer ships with IE6, shame on Asus.johnsonx - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
IE6 is what comes with Windows XP SP2. From what I've seen, it is NOT standard practice for PC vendors to install IE7. Perhaps it should be, but it isn't so far.JarredWalton - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
I haven't installed XP lately (been doing more in the way of Vista installs), but I'm pretty sure XP SP2 doesn't include IE7. Should ASUS install all the current Windows Updates? Probably. But it wouldn't shock me if they didn't. At least SP3 should be out soon....Matt Campbell - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
It is, indeed, IE6.strikeback03 - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
43/68 don't seem too bad for idle and load temps. That's around what my T43 runs with the 1.86GHz Sonoma if I'm getting the load number from batch processing files in Photoshop CS2.Baked - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
You trimmed down the toolbars in IE, but you didn't hide the windows taskbar. Do that and you'll get another line of extra space for your browsing experience.ChronoReverse - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
They could even press F11 and get full screen mode.Zap - Thursday, April 24, 2008 - link
F11 full screen still forces a status bar. IE can be configured to take as little screen space as F11 full screen mode by reducing the toolbar buttons and placing them on the same bar as the file/edit drop down menus. Then, disable the status bar and hide the Start menu bar. Voila!grgraphics - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
I would be interested to see some benchmarks comparing XP vs Linux on the EEE.1. Boot time
2. Web browser performance
3. Battery life
4. Video playback
Nihility - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
What about batter tests of XP vs Linux? Considering what a mess there was with the reviewed EEE 900's this should be tested.Nihility - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
Not so much. I was hoping computers like the EEE and the OLPC would help push linux but all these companies are quickly finding that it's easier to just ship with windows. Your customers like it, your developers like it and it's already been tested and proven so that saves on RnD. Maybe they still will help push linux in the long run but it sure doesn't seem like it for now.The EEE 900 with the bigger screen, even if it's more friendly to those older games it will come with a major drawback of even lower frame rates. Don't forget that. What the EEE needs is more power, for less power.
turkeyjob - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
Microsoft recently posted a video to their Ch9 website, of work they'd done to reduce the disk footprint on smaller systems. They demonstrated fully functional XP AND Office-2003 installed in 1.2GB of disk, on an EEEamasephy - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
In regards to the Diablo 2 benchmark, the eeepc doing 25-30 fps is normal. D2 was capped at that for single player mode, which judging by the screenshots is how the game was benchmarked. More than likely it would perform better played on bnet.Matt Campbell - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
Good point - I did the Diablo II tests at the very end of the article (actually as an add-on after it was written) and didn't try multiplayer mode.1up949 - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
I guess anything can be made to run anything if you cripple it enough...Sc4freak - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
There seems to be something funky going on with the page navigation in the article. 3 pages are named "Windows XP", and you can't go to a previous page from them.Matt Campbell - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - link
Thanks, fixed.