Improvising an Eee PC

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j-dawg · #1 Post by **j-dawg** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 12:27 am

My old Thinkpad X-series is on its way out, but I'm going to get a new laptop before I go off to college next year. I love the idea of the new Asus Eee PC ( http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/laptops/0,390 ... 7-1,00.htm ) but I don't think I would spend another $250-400 buying an Eee PC if I'm just going to buy a new laptop next summer. How hard would it be to build my own?

I'm thinking one of these:
http://www.memory4less.com/m4l_itemdeta ... d=27208117 [memory4less.com]

combined with Xubuntu or some similar lightweight operating system in my current Thinkpad X24, and I would have a relatively quick machine that uses little power and weighs less than 3lb (actually, it already weighs something like 2.8lb). In other words, most the advantages of an Eee PC in a slightly bigger package without the full investment.

I'm willing to tolerate only 4gb of storage space, but I don't know if something like this is particularly practical.

Any suggestions? I'd really like to give this a shot if it were possible. It would be a simple project with useful results.

pianowizard · #2 Post by **pianowizard** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 7:37 am

j-dawg wrote:it already weighs something like 2.8lb

Did you weigh it on an accurate balance? I weigh all of my laptops and the X24 should weigh at least 3.3 lbs, unless you took out the battery.

j-dawg · #3 Post by **j-dawg** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 10:12 am

No. Why would I do that?

Why do you do that?

Anyway, I was just trying to say that the computer is already a light machine.

pianowizard · #4 Post by **pianowizard** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 10:34 am

j-dawg wrote:No. Why would I do that?

So that you can get an idea of how much lighter the real Eee laptop would be compared to your X24.

j-dawg wrote:Why do you do that?

Because I am extremely picky about laptop weight. 3.3 lbs vs. 2.8 lbs is a huge difference for me.

BTW, the Eee is better than the X24 not only in terms of weight but also size. The 7" Eee can fit into some jacket/pant pockets, whereas the X24 can't.

qviri · #5 Post by **qviri** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 12:58 pm

pianowizard wrote:The 7" Eee can fit into some jacket/pant pockets, whereas the X24 can't.

Better be a big pocket, because the 7" Eee has not so much of a bezel around the screen as a screen inside a bezel...

j-dawg · #6 Post by **j-dawg** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:22 pm

True, true.

Anyway, I'm familiar with the size of the X24 because I've been carrying around for a year and a half. I'm not expecting it to get any smaller because I put an SSD in it. I was just wondering about what sort of performance increases I'd get using an SSD and a really lightweight OS. Would I be able to get the mega-short boot times the Eee PC supposedly gets? It already takes me ~30seconds to get out of sleep mode, onto the desktop, and ready to run. Cold boot to desktop takes a few minutes. I suspect I've got something gunking up my system, but even on a fresh install it's not that fast.

I asked about this in a couple of places and one particular pessimist (there are many) noted that 4500-5400RPM drives don't use all that much more power than an SSD. I then lose the speed factor, but it's something to consider--I've got a 4200RPM drive sitting around somewhere.

You also raise good points about how the Thinkpad isn't going to be nearly as light as the Eee, even with an SSD. I'm mostly thinking of the speed factor and the battery-life factor, though I don't expect too much of an improvement out of this ancient battery.

pianowizard · #7 Post by **pianowizard** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 6:12 pm

qviri wrote:Better be a big pocket, because the 7" Eee has not so much of a bezel around the screen as a screen inside a bezel...

The depth of the machine will be the main limiting factor. The Eee is 6.5" whereas the X24 is 8.9", so the Eee will require smaller pockets. Of course, not many pockets are wide enough even for the Eee, but some are.

#8 Post by **KristianJ** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 8:20 pm

pianowizard wrote: The depth of the machine will be the main limiting factor. The Eee is 6.5" whereas the X24 is 8.9", so the Eee will require smaller pockets. Of course, not many pockets are wide enough even for the Eee, but some are.

I can only envisage it being suitable for an interior pocket of a suit coat myself. It seems impractical and uncomfortable to try and wedge it in one's back trouser pocket.

Miller88 · #9 Post by **Miller88** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 11:14 am

I want an EEEPC

BruisedQuasar · #10 Post by **BruisedQuasar** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 1:23 pm

I do not think any Thinkpad is properly compared to the Eee PC, which is a different class of mobile PC. First, it is a true mobile PC which no notebook or Laptop PC is really.

Like the enterprise NEC MobilePro and HP Jornada
lines, the Eee PC is more of a handheld PC.
The MobilePro line (the last one was the 900c which NEC dropped late last year) have no moving parts, are instant on and off, touch screen and a touch type keyboard 74% of
a full sized Keyboard. The displays are 7",
they weigh less than 2lbs, get 9 hours active
use per battery charge, come with a stylus, built-in Infrared, Phone modem ports. The
draw back that may have killed the hand helds
was they relied on goofy Microsoft Windows
Mobile O/S, which never advanced display
capability from a 2001 level. They also cost
over $1,000 each. The NEC & Jornada lines
are very adaptable as they came with flashcard and PCMCIA slots, which are used by ethusiast
owners for Wifi & extending operating memory.

The Eee PC is a revolutionary advance in
mobile PCs. It has touch screen, no moving
parts, USB ports that allow booting from external devices. They come with a Asus
version of a full operating system and many top quality programs embeded in ROM! XANDROS
Linux & an easy version that looks like Windows
XP authored by Asus techs.

The hardware needed to design and make such
a PC has existed for 6 years but goofy Windows
Mobile O/S severely limited handhelds.

The Eee is handheld small but has the power of a desktop PC. Asus techs have installed and
run Win XP, so Asus has support (drivers) for installing and running XP. Better yet, owners should be able to install Win 2000 Pro,
Win XP without the bloat.

The Eee is available in North America now.
Visit this site for retailers, models and prices

http://www.allasus.com/catalog/product_ ... g0upr20sv0

--Bruised

--Are You Part of the Problem or Victim of the Solution?

godling · #11 Post by **godling** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 10:02 am

Check the "ThinkPad X2/X3/X4x Series incl. X41 Tablet" area for a thread titled "Has anyone tried an SSD in the X41?" ... some excellent testing of currently available SSDs and CF cards (used like a SSD) compared against the specs of 5400/7200 rpm drives, including power usage, access times, boot times, etceteras. You'll have to read them all, but page 4 has a bunch of tech specs that are particularly useful.

-Jon

BruisedQuasar · #12 Post by **BruisedQuasar** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 9:19 am

The rich guys who pledged to buy thousands of
the goofy MIT Professor's $100 laptop project
to theoretically uplift tribal, near nature people
to what the Professors decided was better, civilized living (note: nature people have no
youth drug or crime problem, live outside
government, have no broken family problems
negatively affecting children, etc, etc), have
backed away from the now in production $170
PC project.

They are still committed but they are fascinated
with the new for profit 2gb Asus Eee PC.

Surprise! Surprise! The Goofy $100 PC project
cannot get a single African government interested in buying the PCs for their tribal
children. The out to lunch professors do not
seem to get it that these governments are
rule by bloody dictators for the benefit of the
dictator and his brutal henchmen.

They are definitely not interested in the
Eee PC either. But the vile For Profit Asus
senior executives already knew that.

--Bruised

Are You Part of the Problem or Victim of the
Government Solution?

Improvising an Eee PC

Improvising an Eee PC

Re: Improvising an Eee PC

SSD vs 4200/5400 drives

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