Asus Eee PC 701

The Asus Eee PC 701 is a netbook designed by ASUS. The name Eee derives from “the three Es,” an abbreviation of its advertising slogan for the device: “Easy to learn, Easy to work, Easy to play”. The Asus Eee PC 701 is manufactured by Pegatron Technology and developed by ASUSTek Computer Inc. The Asus Eee PC 701 uses the built-in WiFi 802.11 b/g that automatically detects and connects to the Internet at any hotspot. The Asus Eee PC 701 is 22.5cm x 16.5cm x 2.1~3.5cm (W x D x H) in dimension and weighs approximately 0.89kg. It is available in black or white. This netbook can be used to work on documents as well as surf the web.

Specifications
Display
There’s a 7-inch display screen that comes with a resolution of 800 x 480-pixels.

Design
On the right of the device is where the SD Card slot, two USB ports, and a VGA port are found. On the left side is where the other USB port, Ethernet and modem connections, a headphone jack and a microphone jack can be found. It measures 22.5cm x 16.5cm x 2.1~3.5cm (W x D x H) and weighs 0.89kg. It is available in black or white.

Media, Mic & Power
There’s a media player featured that can play audio and video files. It support files such as MP3s and WMAs. It can also play media files that are inserted via the card reader on the netbook. The microphone jack on the netbook can be used to plug in a mic device and use it to talk or chat through instant messaging programs such as MSN, Yahoo or Skype. Battery life on this netbook can last for about three hours or so depending on its usage.

System
The Asus Eee PC 701 is available with either Microsoft® Windows® or GNU Linux. The netbook uses an Intel Mobile CPU along with chipset as its CPU, while the GPU consist of an Intel UMA graphic card. The special solid-state disc design based on built-in flash-memory gives the Asus Eee PC 701 that is said to be a great shock-proof advantage because it allows extra flexibility and a worry free mobile computing experience. The Asus Eee PC 701 offers two modes of intuitive user interface design: the easy mode and the full desktop mode in order to accommodate both experienced and inexperienced PC users. The Asus Eee PC 701 supports from a range of 4GB, 8GB and 16GB as its storage device. On this netbook, there’s a simplified Asus menu but in case users can’t seem to get along with it then they can switch to the usual look which is the KDE desktop and it almost similar to that of Windows XP.

Network & Connections
The Asus Eee PC 701 uses the built-in WiFi 802.11 b/g that automatically detects and connects to the Internet at any hotspot. This allows the users to stay connected where ever they are. It also features a 10/100Mbps LAN connection. It features an SD Card slot, two USB ports, and a VGA port. There’s also one more USB port, Ethernet and modem connections, a headphone jack and a microphone jack.

Other Features
In this netbook, there are applications such as Mozilla Firefox browser, Wikipedia, Skype, and the instant messaging applications that are already installed so that users can use it as soon as they purchase it and don’t have to bother with installing these applications.There are also word games such as Hangman and math games with Tux of Math Command which stars the special Linux penguin. What it does is it gives flash-card-style math questions the space-shooter treatment. There are quick links to programs such as OpenOffice.org 2.0’s applications that can be found under the Work menu. Applications include Documents, Spreadsheets, and Presentations. Loading time of these programs are about 10 seconds for the first time but after that loading time was said to be around 8 seconds only. In this netbook, there are also a file-manager utility, a PDF reader, the Thunderbird e-mail client, and a Notes application.

Reviews

“In many ways, too, the Eee PC is a new-and-improved version of the Internet appliance concept, as its easy-to-tote, easy-to-use design makes it simple for anyone to get online.
When it comes to road warriors, the Eee PC runs circles around UMPCs powered by Vista and XP in terms of performance, price, and ease of use, but not application support. Despite a few issues, such as a webcam not yet optimized for online video chats, the Eee PC is also a worthy alternative to devices like the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet. The Nokia is more pocket-friendly, is Bluetooth-enabled for using a cell phone as a modem, and has a built-in GPS receiver, but the Asus sports a better keyboard, can be connected to a big-screen monitor, and is $80 cheaper.” (Laptop Mag, 2007)