

ASUS Eee PC X101 runs Linux, costs only $200 (video) - moe
http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/30/asus-brings-out-extra-skinny-eee-pc-x101-running-meego-hands-on/

======
cstross
I have some design criticisms.

To start with, look at the edge-on photo comparing the X101 to the Macbook
Air.

Now, in the graphics editor of your choice, re-colour that battery step at the
back of the X101 in the same colour as the machine itself, rather than (nearly
invisible in photos) black.

Suddenly, it's twice as thick! Who'd have guessed? Yes, this machine _looks_
like a Macbook Air competitor, but only because they used a user-removable
battery, which means a big hunk'o'plastic sticking out of the underside.

Next, look at the photos of the keyboard layout.

In _particular_ , look at the location and width of the right shift key.

This is a particular beef of mine with Asus -- and most other far eastern
vendors: the right shift is the size of a regular letter key and is positioned
to the left of the up-arrow. If you're an English-speaking touch-typist you
will end up hitting up-arrow half the time when you mean to type a capital
letter from the left side of the QWERTY block. (I suspect Chinese, Korean, and
Japanese keyboard mappings ignore the right shift key, hence it tends to be
deprecated by designers who don't do their usability testing on American or
European users.)

Upshot: it _looks_ gorgeous (especially for $200!) at first glance, but I'm
pretty sure it would drive me insane within half an hour if I had to actually
do any typing on it. Regardless of operating system.

~~~
moe
_keyboard layout_

I'm in the market for a netbook right now and have the same concerns.

Currently I'm torn between the Asus X101 and the Lenovo S100 (both announced
to launch this month). The Lenovo comes with an 98%-size keyboard that looks
really promising on the photos:
<http://ces.cnet.com/2300-32488_1-10006040-2.html>

~~~
cstross
The Lenovo keyboard layout looks kosher for touch-typists. If I was in the
market for a netbook I'd jump in that direction.

(The right-shift-FAIL seems to be a bad habit of Asus and a few other
Chinese/Taiwanese vendors; I suspect Lenovo still have some input from IBM.)

~~~
veeti
One thing that bothers me about IBM/Lenovo is that the Fn key is where control
should be.

I have an Eee PC with the same style of keyboard as the X101 and I can't
really think of anything negative about it. It's the best laptop keyboard I've
ever used and I've reached speeds up to 130 wpm on it.

~~~
gorloth
A friend of mine recently got a lenovo thinkpad and it had a BIOS flag to
allow swapping of the Fn and control key, sadly the physical keys are
different size so you can't swap them to match the new function but at least
it's an option

------
drats
My first home computer in the 1990s was well over $6k in current inflation
adjusted USD and had a 12 mhz CPU with a 800x600 (or lower, can't remember)
14" CRT screen, a dot matrix printer and two games.

At $200 this computer is coming in at couple of days or a maybe one week worth
of post-tax salary at some of the lowest wages in many first world
countries[1]. And it has a 1.5gighz processor and access to an advanced unix
operating system and open source (rather than the limiting DOS for example).

[1] envelope calculations: it seems it takes under two days after-tax with
19.5k pound UK salary (the average for someone with one year of work
experience). Edit: I should add that most of a low income salary usually goes
on rent, food and transport so the disposable income calculation to reach $200
is different/takes longer. Nevertheless, an amazing reduction in price,
1/30th, and increase in processing power, 100x + (mhz for mhz..).

------
loevborg
Remember that ASUS shipped their first EeePCs with Linux pre-installed. They
soon ended up selling most with Windows, though, after Microsoft made XP
available for them and cheap. They didn't put a lot of commitment into Linux,
using idiosyncratic Xandros as their distro and rarely providing any updates.
Now they seem to be doing this again, with MeeGo. I'm curious whether they
will manage to have the computer boot up without an ugly DOS-style cursor
blinking, and also in Macbook-quality suspend-to-ram.

~~~
regularfry
That they were able to force Microsoft's hand like that says a lot about the
desirability of a Linux notepad at that end of the market.

~~~
joe_the_user
Yes,

The problem is that in a niche market that threatens to make inroads, MS has
an incentive to lower their price to zero or even negative to prevent a
competitor from entering the field (and Linux actually never costs zero since
no one gives away reasonable quality Linux support and configuration).

------
piinbinary
Here is what amazes me about this: an iPod touch costs ~$230, and it is
considered by some to be cheap for what you are getting (compare it to small
Android tablets).

This is a whole laptop for less than that price.

Also, I don't think that comparing it to the MacBook Air makes much sense -
this is not the laptop designed to be the thinnest, it is designed to be the
cheapest.

~~~
Derbasti
I guess they want to market it as if it were competing with the Air, though.

But that is comparing Apples to Oranges, if you ask me. Comparing a tiny SSD
(SDCARD?) and a wimpy Atom and a plasticky case and a sexy price to a full-
fledged SSD, a Core2Duo (i3 soon?), superb build quality and a hefty price
tag? Doesn't make sense. Apple is marketing for thin, elegant, expensive. Asus
should be marketing for cheap, tiny, gets-the-job-done.

~~~
moe
I think they should be marketing for "Go everywhere laptop".

Would you take your MBA to the beach? Hiking? Partying?

I don't. Too concerned about my $1000-device getting sandy, dropped, stolen or
having drinks spilled over it.

$200-device? No-brainer. Could buy a new one every year and still be cheaper
than the expected lifetime of a MBA.

------
huertanix
I really want to love the MeeGo Netbook UX and ran it for a month on my Lenovo
s10-3t but can't get over its filing-cabinet UI; I can't just get to an
application outside of the 6 or so on the quick launch box. You have to click
on a tab, then play category bingo to figure out or try to remember which
category panel to expand and find it in--and only one can be expanded at a
time.

Also, the glittery nonsense on the paint job is sort of horrible. I hate it on
my Lenovo netbook too; This is supposed to be a Netbook, not a Twilight
character.

~~~
bergie
I actually worked with a MeeGo netbook for some time. In reality you launch
apps with Alt-F2 and first couple of chars of app name, or just use the search
box. Fast and efficient.

~~~
slowpoke
While I really agree with you on the convenience of the run-prompt (or dmenu-
style launchers, which I use on my Arch+Xmonad machine), try to tell a regular
user to start a program this way. He/she will stare at you in disbelief and
then go back to clicking through menus. If you want MeeGo to sell/gain market
share (and I'd group MeeGo together with Ubuntu/Mint-like Linux distros, in
other words, consumer/enduser-oriented), you need a consistent and simple GUI
(which doesn't mean that the capabilities for advanced users have to be dumbed
down, though).

~~~
bergie
In MeeGo netbook the search box is at least visible in the Apps tab. This
makes it a bit more approachable

------
glymor
The windows 7 version costs $310.

Coming out in July.

Specs: "1.33GHz, single-core Atom N435, a six-cell battery, and a small SSD
(probably of the 16GB variety)"

[http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/27/slim-asus-eee-
pc-x101-to-...](http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/27/slim-asus-eee-pc-x101-to-
hit-shelves-next-month/)

------
bgarbiak
Why they just don't make a 200 dollar tablet out of it? Probably would be a
bit thicker than what's now on the market, but with such a price tag? People
wouldn't mind.

~~~
cryptoz
I don't think you can get a 10" touchscreen and 10 hour battery at that price
point. As soon as they make this a tablet, it's no longer $200 or if it is,
the battery will last 30 minutes and the screen will be resistive.

------
BvS
Give me a Chromebook at that pricepoint an I'm in!

~~~
robert-boehnke
Is it possible to install Chrome OS on this?

~~~
BvS
As far as I know it's not. I would also love to install Chrome OS on an old
Windows XP laptopn of mine which currently needs like 5 minutes to boot but
that seems not possible as well.

------
wazoox
Nice, I've been missing this for a while to renew my family's netbooks.

