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Asus Eee PC

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Asus Eee PC
DeveloperASUSTeK Computer Inc.
TypeSubnotebook
Media2/4/8 GB flash memory
Operating systemLinux Xandros
CPU900 MHz (factory underclocked to 600 MHz) Intel Celeron-M ULV 353, fan
Memory512 MB/512 MB/1 GB DDR2-667 RAM (2G/4G/8G)
Display7 inch (diagonal) TFT LCD with LED backlight; 800×480 pixels (pels)
GraphicsIntel UMA
InputKeyboard
Touchpad
Camera (Optional)
Microphone
0.3 megapixel video camera (4G and 8G models)
Connectivity10/100 Mbit Ethernet
802.11b/g wireless LAN
3 USB 2.0 ports
MMC/SD card reader
Power4 cell 4400 or 5200 mAh battery

The ASUS Eee PC is a subnotebook computer designed by ASUS and Intel. At the time of its introduction, it was noted for its combination of light weight, Linux-based operating system, solid-state drive and low cost. In the UK, the ASUS Eee PC is distributed as the RM Asus Minibook by RM.

According to ASUS, the name Eee (pronounced as the letter e, IPA /iː/) derives from "the three Es," an abbreviation of their advertising slogan for the device: "Easy to learn, Easy to work, Easy to play".[1]

History

Asus announced two Eee PC models at COMPUTEX Taipei 2007: the Eee PC 701 and the Eee PC 1001.[2] The 701 based model Eee PC 4G was released on October 16, 2007 in Taiwan. Three additional models followed. The originally announced second model (1001) was also expected, but later ASUS renounced any plans to release it to the market. ASUS sold over 300,000 units in 2007,[3] and plans to sell several million in 2008. Intel has described the Eee PC as in line with its “World Ahead” marketing drive — which aims to provide anyone around the world a chance to own a PC.[4]

Both the price and the size of the device are relatively small in comparison to similar devices, such as Ultra-Mobile PCs. The Eee series is viewed partly as a response to the XO-1 notebook from the One Laptop per Child initiative.

ASUS has announced a new model with a 8.9" screen expected to be released in mid 2008. The new design will reduce power consumption by 36%, from 11 W TDP to 7 W TDP. ASUS may also remove the fan to further reduce power consumption and noise.[5]

At the Intel Developer Forum 2007, Asus demonstrated the Classmate PC and the Eee PC, and listed specifications for four models of the Eee PC. ASUS at the time claimed that models may start at US$199, and range up in price and features to US$399.[6]

The final price and specifications for the Eee PC, officially announced in September 2007, differed from ASUS’s initial plans. The price rose to US$245, from US$199, while the size of the included solid-state drive was reduced from 4GB to 2GB, the VGA camera was dropped, and the included RAM was halved to 256 MB. As of October 25 2007, the price range was expected to be US$299–399.[7] The 2G Surf has since gone on sale with 512 MB of RAM included.[8]

Since October 13, 2007 the ASUS website shows revised specifications. The products now have the marketing names EeePC 8G, 4G, 4G Surf, and 2G Surf instead of the model numbers 700 and 701 shown in pre-release information and on the Eee PC label and on the packaging.[9] ASUS no longer uses the model numbers in marketing materials for the systems. The 4G Surf uses socketed RAM but some revisions do not have a door to access the slot.[10]

ASUS announced a desktop version of the Eee PC, without an integrated display, to be released in 2008.[11]

ASUS announced that a version of the Eee PC with Microsoft Windows XP pre-installed would be released by the end of the year 2007. It was, however, not released until January 2008. In Japan the version is known as the 4G-X.[12] The XP version of the Eee will be released in the UK in

On 29 January 2008, it was announced that 4G Eee PC would become available in India. It was officially released on February 2, 2008 in the city of Mumbai and came shipped with the customised Xandros OS and not the Windows XP Starter Edition as was speculated earlier. It is priced at Rs. 18,000 (which is around US$ 420) [13] XP version of the Eee have been confirmed for Europe in 2008. [citation needed]

Asus have announced a new model of the Eee PC, the Eee PC 900. The system, which will cost 399 Euros and launch in Summer 2008, has an 8.9-inch 1024x600 pixel screen, 1GB RAM as standard, an 8GB to 12GB SSD, a larger trackpad, and is "Windows ready". Units on the CeBIT show floor were running both Windows XP and Linux[1], and Microsoft are reportedly in talks with Asus regarding a version of Windows 7 optimised for platforms such as the Eee[2]. Its dimensions are a little larger than the original variations. It is speculated that the system will be based around the Intel Atom chipset[citation needed], but no CPU specifications have been announced.

Technical overview

Black model in proportions comparison with tissues and Kensington lock

Display

The 7 inch (178 mm) screen, measured diagonally, has a resolution of 800×480 pixels.[14] The screen does not cover the entire space within the lid; instead it is flanked on the sides by stereo speakers and, above, by the (optional) camera in the trim at the top.[15] A 8.9" display model is slated for sale in mid to late 2008, though it is currently unavailable. [16] External display is supported through a standard VGA connector. Maximum resolution and display configuration (mirroring, extended desktop) are dependent upon the operating system and display settings. Some users complain that the Kensington lock slot is too close to the VGA out connector, making it impossible to use both at the same time.

Storage

The Eee PC uses a solid-state drive for storage (instead of a hard drive), which consumes less power, allows the device to boot quickly and is less susceptible to shock damage. In the 2 GB and 4 GB models, the SSD is permanently soldered to the board, to reduce manufacturing costs. In the 8 GB model, the SSD is a card connected via the internal mini-PCIe connector for greater expandability.

The 4 GB and 8 GB Eee PC models use 533/667 MHz DDR2 RAM via a standard SO-DIMM module, which can be swapped out. The hardware supports up to 2GB but the preinstalled Xandros kernel (out of the box) itself only supports 1GB . Users can expand the storage space using the Secure Digital Card compliant memory card slot located on the right side. SD and SDHC memory cards mount virtually flush into the spring-loaded slot. The memory card is removed by pushing in the card until it clicks and ejects.

Software

OpenOffice.org Writer running on the Eee PC

On top of the base Linux system, which boots in 20-22 seconds,[17] the Eee PC runs a custom tab-based interface and uses IceWM as the default window manager. The quick start time brings the operation of the device closer to that of small electronic devices such as mobile phones and PDAs. Bundled software includes OpenOffice.org, Mozilla Firefox, Skype,[18] Tux Paint and other educational entertainment software, E-mail, and Internet radio applications, Google Docs and Wikipedia look-up tool.[19].

The operating system drivers for the ACPI and Wireless devices supplied with the pre-installed Xandros operating system are versions of software licensed under the GNU General Public License. The company released the source code as a ZIP file along with the product; however, it has been reported that a small percentage of the source may be missing, and some device driver software appears obfuscated.[20] In the absence of necessary source code, other Linux kernel versions and distributions on the device are less easy to use with some of the hardware. ASUS has requested people help by identifying specific source code which is still missing[21] and has since released the source code for the ACPI module.[22] They have also released the patched Linux kernel sources and their Busybox sources, and worked with Atheros to release an updated driver to the Madwifi project.

The Synaptic Package Manager and apt-get can be used to install additional software through the repositories.

While the software package does not include Windows XP, it does include copies of the drivers and instructions necessary to install a separately purchased copy at a later date. ASUS announced on October 16, 2007, that a future version of the Eee will be sold with Windows XP.[23] Microsoft agreed to lower the price of Windows for Eee PC users to under US$40.[24]

The Eee PC uses an ext2/ext3 file system. It uses UnionFS to make the root file system, by merging a writable, ext3 USER partition with the read-only, ext2 SYSTEM partition. The SYSTEM partion contains the out-of-the-box operating system and applications, with the USER partition containing user installed applications and data. This allows users to update everything on the file system and still reset the operating system to factory defaults later by simply clearing the writable partition. Storage on the image, however, cannot be fully recovered: if a software package is uninstalled (eg. OpenOffice.org, thunderbird etc), no space is freed, and if a package is updated it may take up space twice[citation needed]. On 4 GB models, 1.4 GB is available to the user; on 8 GB models, 5.1 GB is available.

On the 2G models, some of the software applications which are standard for the higher-capacity versions are not installed, including the email client (thunderbird), webcam software, some games, etc. This reduces the size of the loaded software to 1.6 gigabytes, leaving about 400 megabytes free for user documents and applications.

The Samba protocol is only partially supported. If you have access to a file server you will be able to open a file from it, but the Eee PC will make a local copy and you won't be able to save to the file server. [citation needed]

Potential security issues

The original version of the Eee PC was vulnerable to a remote root attack : the shipped version of Samba (3.0.24) presented a vulnerability (the vulnerability was disclosed May 14 and patched that same day by the Samba community) for which an exploit, published by RISE Security, is available in the Metasploit Framework since July 2007. The problem was amplified by the fact that the Xandros derivative used does not provide a fixed version. RISE Security. "ASUS Eee PC rooted out of the box". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessed= ignored (help)

Specifications

As noted above, the final Eee PC specifications and pricing differ substantially from Asus' original announcement. A 2 GB SSD model was in the initial announcement for $199,[4] although many news stories carried the information incorrectly much later and indicated that a 4 GB model would be offered at $199. It was reported that the price of the low-end model rose from US$199 to US$245 (reportedly at least partly due to rise in prices of 7 inch (178 mm) LCD displays[25]), while the solid-state drive went from 4 GB to 2 GB, and the VGA camera was dropped when ASUS published the Eee PC models with the Surf/non-Surf model names.


Component Eee PC 2G Surf (700) Eee PC 4G Surf (701) Eee PC 4G (701)1 Eee PC 8G (701)
Display 7 in (17.8 cm) 800×480 TFT LCD with LED backlight[26]
Graphics Integrated Intel GMA 900 graphics processor (Shared Memory Architecture), additional VGA port (up to 1600×1280 pixels)[14]
Storage 2 GB Solid-state drive (SSD) flash 4 GB SSD 8 GB SSD
Processor 900 MHz Intel Celeron-M ULV 353[27] which has 512 kB L2 cache RAM,[28][19] @ 630 MHz (70 MHz x 9) cooled by a fan. The eee comes from the factory underclocked at 630 MHz. The 2G uses the same processor, but with a lower clock speed of 800 MHz, and an L1 cache of only 32 KB. The standard BIOS limits the clock speed of the 2G processor to 570 MHz.
Memory 512 MB[8] DDR2-400 RAM[citation needed] 512 MB DDR2-533/667[29] 1 GB RAM DDR2-533/667
soldered RAM[citation needed] 1 (one) socketed RAM, upgradeable to 2 GB
Battery 4-cell, Li-Ion, 4400 mAh, 7.4 volts: 2 h 45 min battery life 4-cell, Li-Ion, 5200 mAh, 7.4 volts: 3 h 30 min battery life
Camera No 0.3 megapixel; up to 640×480, up to 30 fps[14]
Pricing NT$7,999[30] (around 245 US$);
US$299 in USA		 NT$9,990[30] (around 307 US$);
US$349.99 in USA		 NT$11,655 including 5% tax[30] (around 357 US$);
€299 in Europe;
US$399.99 in USA		 NT$13,800[30] (around 425 US$);
US$499.99 in USA
Other
  • OS: Xandros[31] (Linux based distribution) running KDE and IceWM. Capable of running any other off-the-shelf Linux distribution.[32][33] Hardware compatible with Windows XP.
  • Communication: 10/100 Mbit Ethernet (Attansic L2), 802.11b/g wireless LAN mini PCI-E card (Atheros-based)
  • Audio: Realtek ALC6628 Hi-Definition Audio 5.1 CODEC;[14] built-in stereo speakers; built-in microphone
  • Connectors: 3 USB 2.0 ports, MMC/SD (HC) card reader, Ethernet port, Modem port (non-functional, empty), Microphone input, Headphone jack, AC power jack, VGA out, Kensington lock slot
  • Dimensions: 225 × 165 × 21~35 mm (8.9 × 6.5 × 0.9~1.4 in)[31]
  • Weight: 920 g (2 lb ½ oz)
  • Colors: Pearl white (Non-Surf only), Pure white (Surf models only) or Galaxy black; Lush Green, Sky Blue, Blush Pink[34] (spring 2008)
  • Chipset: Intel 910GML series[14]
  • Expansion: two PCI Express Mini Card connectors: one occupied by the wireless network card; another empty, accessible from opening on back of unit, which supports only Asus-approved SSD expansion units. The second PCIE connection is unavailable on many current-generation EeePCs.[35]
1 In the UK the Eee is also promoted as the RM Asus Minibook,[36] which is targeted at students; however, the unit itself is no different.

Configurations

Naming of the models of the device appears to relate to the size of installed SSD, camera, and battery size.[37] The Eee PC Surf models include the 4400 mAh battery pack and no webcam, while the non-Surf models have the 5200 mAh battery pack and a webcam installed. The model numbers (700, 701) may still be the same as has been seen on pre-production samples. ASUS may offer upgrades for the SSD storage via the empty Mini PCIe slot, which has been shown to be labeled FLASH_CON in take apart photos of the 4G.[35] When a Mini PCIe card is inserted into the spare empty slot, the internal SSD gets disabled, making the device unable to boot from the original SSD.[38] There are also signal lines for a USB port on the Mini PCIe pins which have been used to connect various USB devices internally. Some 701 models with serial numbers starting at 7B do not have a second mini PCIe slot soldered onto the motherboard, though the circuit traces and solder pads remain.[39] Asus originally announced both a 7-inch and 10-inch Eee PC,[4] but later indicated that they do not intend to produce a 10-inch model at this time. At CES 2008, Asus confirmed that new models would be released in Q2 with new features which would include WiMax, and the option of a 7 or 8.9 inch display.[40]

A controversy over a "warranty void if removed" sticker on the RAM access cover panel has prompted ASUS to release a statement clarifying the matter, stating that "merely breaking or removing this kind of seal will not void the ASUS Limited Warranty" (emphasis is original). Since then, ASUS has offered to replace the labels with ones specifying merely that ASUS will not be held "responsible for the damage caused by improper hardware change." Furthermore, ASUS altered their Limited Warranty to "eliminate any provision stating that the ASUS Limited Warranty will be voided simply because the product is serviced by a non-ASUS-approved service facility, or if non-ASUS-approved components or software are installed or used."[41]

The pre-installed Xandros operating system has a Linux kernel with a kernel option set limiting the detected RAM size to a maximum of 1 GB, even if a larger RAM module is installed. The actual capacity is shown in full in the BIOS setup and under other OSes.[42]However it is possible to recompile the kernel with support for more RAM.

Educational use

On November 8, 2007, Fresno Unified School District, in Fresno, California announced a digital portfolio and laptop pilot program, in which 16 schools will use the mini-laptops in the classroom at a ratio of one laptop for every two students. Eventually the district expects that all 78,000 students will create and manage their own web-based portfolios from kindergarten through 12th grade.[43]

In the UK, RM Education, a large supplier to the educational field has contracted as a distributor of the Eee PC and is distributing their re-branded version to schools and colleges in the UK, and showed two models at the 2008 Education Show at the NEC, Birmingham.

See also

References

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  3. ^ Chen, Shu-Ching Jean (2007-06-07). "$199 Laptop Is No Child's Play". Forbes. Retrieved 2007-06-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b c "Enter the 'E' Era with ASUS Eee PC" (Press release). ASUS. 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2007-06-28. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Ting Chen, Yen (2007-09-05). "Asustek aiming for strong brand notebook business; to launch second-generation Eee PC in April 2008". DigiTimes. Retrieved 2007-09-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Asustek's EEE now expected in October". The Inquirer. 2007-09-23. Retrieved 2007-09-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Jackson, Jerry (2007-10-25). "Asus Eee PC Initial Hands On and Video Review". NotebookReview. Retrieved 2007-10-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
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  13. ^ http://eeepc.in/
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  32. ^ Goodwins, Rupert (2007-10-26). "Ubuntu 7.10 Gibbon swings on the Asus Eee". ZDNet. Retrieved 2007-11-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  33. ^ Breeezy based on Puppy Linux - sub-64 MB build for educational PCs at Eee User
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  39. ^ "It's True: New Batch of Eee PC's Missing Mini-PCIe Connector". EeeUser.com. 2007-12-02. Retrieved 2007-12-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  40. ^ "Next-Gen Asus Eee PC Packs WiMax, 8.9-Inch Screen". Gizmodo. 2008-01-01. Retrieved 2008-01-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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  42. ^ Cheung, Humphrey (2007-12-18). "Asus Eee PC – pc power in the palm of your hands". Retrieved 2008-01-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  43. ^ "SFGate Eee PC coverage". 2008-02-24. Retrieved 2008-02-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Citations

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