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[BeckyJ]

In November 2007 I bought the first generation ASUS Eee PC 701 and also participated in G1G1 for the XO. How do the two measure up from my experience since that time?

Well, although I use both "netbooks," I use the XO more, especially since installing Ubuntu, last quarter of 2008.

Why do I prefer the XO? I prefer the little green one for these features: Screen, battery life/recharge time, WiFi radio, transportation ease, and general ruggedness. The ASUS, which runs the full version of Xandros, wins for keyboard, processor speed, and ability to do video, e.g., YouTube.

Hence, on balance, and in terms of hours used, I prefer the XO. It wouldn't take much, in terms of upgrades, for the XO, or a similar netbook, to win all the categories that are important to me.

[BeckyJ]

I want to add the XO is a better eBook reader than the ASUS.

The sunlight readable screen is a big plus for all forms of reading.

[MarkS]

I want to ad the XO is a better eBook reader than the ASUS.

The sunlight readable screen is a big plus for all forms of reading.

The netbook world is expanding at light speed. ASUS and Acer seem to be creating new entrees every couple of weeks. Now you can get an Asus EEE with ten inch screen, real keyboard, windows xp, 160 G hard drive, and 9 hour battery life ... all for less than the G1G1 program.

This pretty much leaves robust construction and daylight readable screen as the only significant advantages of the OLPC over a commercial netbook.

[goney3]

I want to ad the XO is a better eBook reader than the ASUS.

The sunlight readable screen is a big plus for all forms of reading.

The netbook world is expanding at light speed. ASUS and Acer seem to be creating new entrees every couple of weeks. Now you can get an Asus EEE with ten inch screen, real keyboard, windows xp, 160 G hard drive, and 9 hour battery life ... all for less than the G1G1 program.

This pretty much leaves robust construction and daylight readable screen as the only significant advantages of the OLPC over a commercial netbook.

You're forgetting no moving parts (less wear and tear ie. fan failure) and no dust/heat clogging problems.

[BeckyJ]

You're forgetting no moving parts (less wear and tear ie. fan failure) and no dust/heat clogging problems.

Indeed, no moving parts is a big plus for the XO.

The ASUS has a fan and gets warm+ whereas the XO doesn't reach that kind of temperature.

I also always bag the ASUS when not in use. The XO sets beside my PC with the handle positioned ready to grab. I only bag the green one if I'm taking it on the road.

[MarkS]

You're forgetting no moving parts (less wear and tear ie. fan failure) and no dust/heat clogging problems.

Is "no moving parts" necessarily an advantage? It comes at a cost of a much smaller hard drive. And, flash drives seem to go buggy even faster than hard drives. I've never heard of a laptop fan going out. Maybe a compromise would be to be make a fan that is easy to service. A snap-off lid that would allow you to open it up and blow it out.

[sracer]

You're forgetting no moving parts (less wear and tear ie. fan failure) and no dust/heat clogging problems.

Indeed, no moving parts is a big plus for the XO.

The ASUS has a fan and gets warm+ whereas the XO doesn't reach that kind of temperature.

I also always bag the ASUS when not in use. The XO sets beside my PC with the handle positioned ready to grab. I only bag the green one if I'm taking it on the road.

I too have both.  My 701 runs XP Pro, is highly tweaked and optimized and boots to the desktop in 20 seconds, and fully 10 seconds later.  Installing EeeCtl helps run the 701 cooler and quieter than factory.  I consistently get a full 3 hours of heavy use including wifi.  EeeRotate makes it easy to rotate the screen so that it can be held like a hardcover book.  It is significantly lighter in weight than the XO.

I still use the XO from time to time.  Mostly to demonstrate Sugar.  I had been running Moocapean's XUbuntu for ages but upgraded to teapots distro and am pleased with that.  I just wish that the boot time was faster but that's the limitation of the hardware I guess.

The XO's hardware is still impressive IMO.  I wish that I had time to tinker with it more... I'd love to see it able to boot DOS.  My ultimate goal would be to install GeoWorks on it.  It would boot up within seconds and would perform extremely well on it.

[BeckyJ]

My 701 runs XP Pro, is highly tweaked and optimized and boots to the desktop in 20 seconds, and fully 10 seconds later.  Installing EeeCtl helps run the 701 cooler and quieter than factory.  I consistently get a full 3 hours of heavy use including wifi.  EeeRotate makes it easy to rotate the screen so that it can be held like a hardcover book.

How do you deal with security and virus issues connected with XP on the 701?

Does XP load exclusively from internal memory?

TIA

[sracer]

My 701 runs XP Pro, is highly tweaked and optimized and boots to the desktop in 20 seconds, and fully 10 seconds later.  Installing EeeCtl helps run the 701 cooler and quieter than factory.  I consistently get a full 3 hours of heavy use including wifi.  EeeRotate makes it easy to rotate the screen so that it can be held like a hardcover book.

How do you deal with security and virus issues connected with XP on the 701?

Does XP load exclusively from internal memory?

TIA

I take a 3 layer approach to security.... first a good antivirus tool.  I have found Avast to be extremely efficient and doesn't put a noticeable drag on a system.  I have a configured hosts file that redirects domains of known spyware and adware to localhost.  And last, I use AdBlock Plus plugin for Firefox.

Yes, I have WinXP loading exclusively from the internal flash.  But I did spend $40 upgrading the RAM to 2GB.  I have a 701 4GB and have 2GB free after installing XP Pro, MS Office 2003, e-Sword, RightNote, and the rest of my application mix.  I use an SD card for my data files and configured Windows to point "My Documents" to it.

A friend has a 701 2GB and we were able to get it all running (trimming XP and Office 2003) with room to spare.

I disabled virtual memory, defragged the flash, and ran BootVis to optimize the boot sequence.

[eden]

I've been using Mandriva 2009.1 for about three  weeks on my Asus 701 4G and I love it.  I can browse, manage photos, and write documents much faster than I can with an XO.   I still have the regular Sugar install on both my XOs.  I use them to read books, play with the programs written for the XO, and as media players.  If I had to be stranded on a desert island with only one laptop, I would definitely take the XO because of the longer battery life, longer-range wifi and mesh abilities, being able to turn off the backlight, being able to charge it with a solar panel, and its durability.