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Happy to work with Linux UI instead of Windows. Virtually no noise whatsoever. instead of MS Word, Excel, and powerpoint. The wireless picked up my network immediately.
The size is great - It mounts on the rear of my 17" touchscreen monitor takes up no desktop space. $[.]. Alternatively, Google has a great spreadsheet program thats fills in the Microsoft Office Void.Stability, no crashes so far. The preloaded Linux software is sufficient if you're not a hard-core programmer.
Only limitation: using [.]. Was a great investment for this machine. Stable, easy to set up, very quickly. 4 usb ports for external peripherals are convenient placed on the front and back of the PC.
But also realize that this is a low power computer and can't handle more than a couple applications at a time. You can easily and simply access all the standard stuff like internet, email, word processing, etc. Hardware-wise, this is a great machine. 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 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. The Linux OS is built by Asus specifically for this machine.
But you don't have many options as far as configuring the OS. 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. 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. Unfortunately, this "EZ OS" is too basic for my taste. It's basically a super-light Linux OS that launches within a couple second of the computer booting. It seems that Linux doesn't use executables to run installers. The OS is reasonably straight forward and gives you all your basic functionality.
All these frustrations convinced me to return the computer and get the Windows based one. The capability of customization and configuration of the OS was almost nill. If you wanted to launch the main OS, this quick-launch OS has a button to do so. But if you want the familiarity, customizability, and functionality of Windows, then get the Windows version.
I bought this computer to use on my new 52" LCD HDTV. 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. I just leave it on all the time. Unfortunately, the software was significantly lacking. This quick-launch OS allows just a couple things: internet browsing, email, Skype, pictures, and something else.
It didn't have anything you couldn't figure out by just looking around a little. I could essentially just hide in the DVDs. Setup is real simple and really quick. In addition, I couldn't figure out how to even install any software on the computer. It was worth the extra money. The Atom processor on this computer is a lot slower than I was expecting (which is still the case on the Windows version). This isn't a big deal considering the computer uses so little power. The computer itself is a great low-profile computer.
It even came with its own keyboard and mouse, which I didn't expect. The help was very very basic, just basic intro to the OS and that's it. The slowness of the chip is still noticeable but it doesn't seem as bad as on the Linux machine (surprisingly). It's small, quiet, and simple. Programs took a considerable amount of time to load, and sometimes even just to navigate the desktop. Google Chrome isn't compatible yet with Linux, and neither is Google Picasa 3. I was looking forward to avoiding Windows (and I wanted to save the $50). And the help files were no help at all.
This works very well for streaming audio files in combination with the Logitech Squeezebox/Slimserver. 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. 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). 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. The main reason for buying the Linux version was to avoid buying an additional XP Home license that I did not need. 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.
So far, I have not had any problems from it. When I got this machine, I put Ubuntu on it and use it a web server.
I'm fine with it not having Windows installed. I've enjoyed it and have my own work space now. It still fulfills all my tech needs. 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.
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