Customer Reviews

ASUS Eee Box PC (1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, Linux EZOS) Black

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased this for my wife who is a long-standing Windows user. She loved it from the start because it worked with all her files, booted quickly, and did not hassle her with incessant pop-up reminders. If you want a simple computer for web-surfing then look no further. This computer just works. It works well enough for her to do some data analysis (using R), word processing, web surfing, and email (via gmail) simultaneously.

For those of you who are more technically inclined and interested in linux, I would also recommend the Eee box as a thin client or as a stand-alone machine. I run the ltsp package on Ubuntu for both my research lab at my university as well as at home. Yes I am a true geek. These computers work very well as powerful thin clients or stand-alone computers. Each one runs silently (or almost silently) and generate little to no ambient heat. I was so impressed with my wife's computer that I purchased a few more for my lab at school. Gigabit ethernet and 802.11n make networking fast and efficient. The linux OS is tight (small, fast, efficient, and stable) and works well for most academic, personal, and professional applications. If you are a windows user and prefer XP or Vista, you might find this computer a bit underpowered.

The size is great - It mounts on the rear of my 17" touchscreen monitor takes up no desktop space. The preloaded Linux software is sufficient if you're not a hard-core programmer. Stable, easy to set up, very quickly. Virtually no noise whatsoever. 4 usb ports for external peripherals are convenient placed on the front and back of the PC. The wireless picked up my network immediately. Only limitation: using [...] instead of MS Word, Excel, and powerpoint. Alternatively, Google has a great spreadsheet program thats fills in the Microsoft Office Void.

Stability, no crashes so far. Happy to work with Linux UI instead of Windows. $[...] Was a great investment for this machine.

I actually own two of these - a black model and a white one.

1) I have set up the white eee Box as a Windows Home Server (bought a WHS OEM version here on Amazon). This works very well, as the machine is quiet, energy efficient and unobtrusive, i.e., it blends well into our home. I exchanged the internal HD with a bigger disk (which was very easy to do) and added an external 1 terabyte USB HD to have enough space for backups and media files. This works very well for streaming audio files in combination with the Logitech Squeezebox/Slimserver. However, it's a bit underpowered for video streaming.

2) I set up the second (black) machine as a hackintosh for my kids as they use Macs at school. This was quite easy and works well enough for this purpose.

Of course the installed Xandros Linux system may also be suitable for your needs, but I had no use for it. The main reason for buying the Linux version was to avoid buying an additional XP Home license that I did not need.

Although I don't know much at all about computers, my husband (who is a comp guru) recommended I pick a small computer and install it myself. Simple!! I've enjoyed it and have my own work space now. I'm fine with it not having Windows installed. It still fulfills all my tech needs.

This is a great looking computer and it's very quiet. Unfortunately, it's also very slow. My five year-old, low-end, HP laptop is two to four times faster than this machine.

I thought the speed might have been due to the included OS, so I replaced it with the latest version of Ubuntu. Both my old computer and this one are running the exact same version of the software and this machine is still s-l-o-w.

I'm giving it one star because of Asus' abysmal support. The keyboard failed within the first week. Their Customer Service department told me that they would immediately send a new keyboard after I filled out the forms that they faxed.

Two weeks later, no keyboard, so I faxed the forms another time.

After a month of waiting, I called. This time, I was told that I would have to mail the keyboard in for repair. I said "no" and was put on hold.

Then they told me the computer didn't come with a keyboard and that the retailer must have added one of his own. I assured them the keyboard was theirs, that it came in their box, etc.

After another long hold, I was told that even though the computer came with a keyboard, that it was a "bonus" and that Asus was not obligated to repair or replace it.

For obvious reasons, I will never buy another Asus product.

- - -

Product update a few months later: The computer randomly started shutting itself down. Believe me, it has an easy life. It's in the open, so it shouldn't be overheating. My mom uses it for email and internet, so not much is being asked of it. Oh yeah... sometimes, it doesn't restart.

I recently bought a MacMini. Frankly, I'm not a Mac fan but there's no denying that it's a wonderful product. It costs twice as much, but at least it works and the Apple Store's support is excellent.

When I got this machine, I put Ubuntu on it and use it a web server. So far, I have not had any problems from it.

This little computer is fantastic. Comes preloaded with Windows XP, and nearly all the software you will need to get started. Very fast, super quiet, and you can move it around for dusting or alternate placement without much hassle. It has 2 USB ports in back for peripherals, 2 USB ports in front for data, speaker, earphone, and microphone jacks and a built in mem card reader. Great for people who keep data directly on PC, mem cards or USB drives. There are a few drawbacks that you should know going in:

1. No CD drive. If you have programs or music on CD that you need to install you WILL need to purchase an external drive that can be plugged in via USB. You can buy these at a range of prices, starting around $20.00. (We already had one, so no big deal) However if this is an issue for you, there is a newer model that DOES have a built in disk drive.

2. NOT very compatible with older hardware. Unless you plan on using adapters which are very easily found at office supply stores. There is no standard "printer port". It uses the newer USB printer hookups. Asus does however provide an adapter for older monitors. - I have an ANCIENT monitor, and the included adapter works.

3. Asus Keyboard is..wierd. Keys are placed a bit differently than a standard qwerty. Shift key is placed oddly. I simply bought an adapter and am now using my old keyboard. However the included Asus mouse is a very sleek cute little laser mouse. LOVE it.

I LOVE this computer. Amazingly easy to set up. And it would be so easy to move, or change. SO worth the price and thensome.

So here it is. If you use your computer for internet, photos, digital downloads, media, music etc. and you transfer most of your data using USB, you are going to LOVE this PC.

I bought this computer to use on my new 52" LCD HDTV. I liked the low profile (it's physically tiny, about the size of 2 DVD cases) and the simplicity of it, especially since I was putting it in my living room. I could essentially just hide in the DVDs. Hardware-wise, this is a great machine. It's small, quiet, and simple. It even came with its own keyboard and mouse, which I didn't expect.

Unfortunately, the software was significantly lacking. I'm quite a computer geek (I'm an engineer) but I had barely jumped into the realm of Linux. I decided I'd give it a try with this machine. I was looking forward to avoiding Windows (and I wanted to save the $50). The Linux OS is built by Asus specifically for this machine. Unfortunately, this "EZ OS" is too basic for my taste. You can easily and simply access all the standard stuff like internet, email, word processing, etc. But you don't have many options as far as configuring the OS. The capability of customization and configuration of the OS was almost nill. And the help files were no help at all. The help was very very basic, just basic intro to the OS and that's it. It didn't have anything you couldn't figure out by just looking around a little. Google Chrome isn't compatible yet with Linux, and neither is Google Picasa 3. In addition, I couldn't figure out how to even install any software on the computer. It seems that Linux doesn't use executables to run installers.

I liked the quick-launch feature on this computer but I have to note that it doesn't launch the main OS with the quick launch. It's basically a super-light Linux OS that launches within a couple second of the computer booting. This quick-launch OS allows just a couple things: internet browsing, email, Skype, pictures, and something else. If you wanted to launch the main OS, this quick-launch OS has a button to do so.

The Atom processor on this computer is a lot slower than I was expecting (which is still the case on the Windows version). Programs took a considerable amount of time to load, and sometimes even just to navigate the desktop.

All these frustrations convinced me to return the computer and get the Windows based one. It was worth the extra money. The Windows version still has the quick-launch OS if you want to use it, but otherwise, Windows still takes the same standard amount of time to launch. This isn't a big deal considering the computer uses so little power. I just leave it on all the time. The slowness of the chip is still noticeable but it doesn't seem as bad as on the Linux machine (surprisingly).

In conclusion, if you're just looking for a very basic computer, especially if you're not doing much more than simple internet browsing, you'll probably be perfectly happy with this computer. Setup is real simple and really quick. The OS is reasonably straight forward and gives you all your basic functionality. The computer itself is a great low-profile computer. But if you want the familiarity, customizability, and functionality of Windows, then get the Windows version. But also realize that this is a low power computer and can't handle more than a couple applications at a time.

The EEE Box 202 is a small machine with very limited computing power. I knew this when I ordered it, but was surprised just how slow it was. I ordered 2GB of ram and upgraded as soon as it arrived, scratching the case in the process. The ram does not matter when the other specs are so bad.

I booted Xandros (I think it's called) once and decided to put Ubuntu Netbook Remix on instead. Ubuntu UNR runs ok at best, but has compatibility issues. I had to track down drivers for the Wi-Fi and the machine like to go to a black screen for no reason.

If you are looking at this computer, you are cheap. There are other computer that have similar price points with better specs, get one of those. I wish that I would have purchased a $300 laptop instead of this, at lease then it would be mobile. This is like a $300 laptop that is missing the 9in screen.

I use the EEE Box 202 for light web browsing and a few games. It can't really play video or music very well and is useless when it comes to connecting it to the TV.

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