Asus eee 901 Update
A while back I wrote about some problems with the eee 901 model – namely the update tool seemed broken and the eee download site that allowed one click install of a variety of apps didn’t work. Well, I reinstalled the Xandros OS the other day and was pleasently surprised to see that both these issues are fixed. My update installed and I was able to click and install Opera and a few other apps from the website – pretty slick actually. Maybe Asus didn’t think these would be issues for their average customer, but it would have been nice if their tech support could have said they were aware of the issues and working on them. While I’m glad they eventually fixed these problems, I think thier tech support could still use some work.
I know a lot of people don’t seem to like the simple, tabbed Xandros OS, but for a device like this I think it works well. Even with desktop Ubuntu or XP most people will just use a computer like this to surf the web and maybe play various media content and Xandros handles this just fine. It’s great that Linux is finding a home on these types of computers. I think it bodes well for the future of Linux.
On a related note, I noticed that the Dell Mini 9 will ship with what looks like a modified version of Ubuntu. It seems a bit of a cross between the simple Xandros OS and desktop Ubuntu. Who knows, maybe this is the magic combination. I ordered one to test for work, and I thought it was interesing that the configuration I wanted (1GB RAM, 16GB SSD, 1.3 mp webcam) only came with Ubuntu. I was actually going to order it with XP as that is what my district supports, but through the education store they said my build would have to come with Linux. I thought that was actually pretty cool – that Ubuntu was an option but not XP. Usually it’s the other way around. I should be receiving this soon and will share my thoughts when I can. In the meantime, this site has a few screenshots.
How did you get a Dell mini with ubuntu & a webcam? I tried ordering from their site to find the webcam missing. I even called and they couldn’t help me.
Hey Derek. Long time no see. You going to the release party? As for the Dell I don’t have it yet so we’ll see if I get what I ordered. However, I ordered mine through Dell’s K-12 sales and I told the sales rep what I wanted and she said fine but only with Ubuntu. Maybe you could order from there too – pretend you are a charter school or something and you need one to demo. Might work.