ASUS EEE PC 701 Review

I don’t own this cool gadget, but I’ve experienced to play around with it, just like having one, because I’m always bringing it with me. It’s from my work actually, but I can bring it wherever I want.

Karlo of Pinoyblogero.com asked me to make a review of this very hot laptop that he was dying to have, that’s why I’m creating this post, just for him 😛 hehehe.. and syempre to those who are interested to have an ASUS Eee PC, this review is for you na rin.

It’s the best value-priced notebook on the planet for me, because of its super cute size and stylish design, its friendly user interface (that offers only six easy-to-understand options: Internet, Work, Learn, Play, Settings, and Favorites), it’s very lightweight, and it’s so cheap.
It can’t even occupy the entire space of my small black sling bag, and it’s very unnoticeable that you’re bringing a laptop with you. It’s semi-snatch proof (because snatchers will not notice that you’re bringing a cool and powerful gadget inside your bag, Hehehe… ) My boss bought it for only 18,000.00 Pesos, but I saw this in one of the stores inside the Mall of Asia, and it’s even cheaper, it’s only 17,499.00 in.. ahmm? I forgot the dealer who sells this stuff (just go there, and check all the PC dealers one by one, I’m sure you’ll find it in no time :P)

I don’t have an actual photo of this laptop, but there’s a lot in the web. Just google it, and you’ll find it in every corner of the search results 😛 But, I have a sample photo taken by this laptop from its webcam.
Clear naman diba? It’s a picture of (from left) Kuya Andrew, Me, and his cousin Tinky in Starbucks outside Glorietta 3. It only has 0.3 megapixels, too small no? Pero, it’s kinda okey naman…

For the specs, it has a 900-MHz Intel Celeron Processor, Asus Xandros-based Linux operating system (but you can install Windows XP if you want, it’s in the manual), 512 MB RAM (it’s upgradeable to 1GIG, or 2GIG yata, pero not sure about the 2GIG upgrade), 4GIG flash drive (eto ang ayaw ko dito, masyadong maliit ang storage. But not bad if you’ll just use it for blogging, browsing, twittering, chatting, and other stuff that you can think about and it will not consume any storage, and oh… about the 4GIG storage, you can only use 1GIG of it, because the system already occupied 75% of its entire memory, so there’s no room for large files like mp3s, mp4s, and you know the rest… You can use an external hard drive if you want a large file storage, I have tried it, and it works fast, this mini gadget can read and open all the files stored in a 250 gig hard drive [even more] as nimble as a PC with Quad-Core processor, hehe.. indeed, it’s really fast, I tell you…), 7 inches/800 x 480 resolution, 64MB video memory, 802.11b/g wireless networking, ( I have tried also to use its wireless internet, in free WiFi zones here in Manila, such as Robinsons Mall, TGI Fridays in Glorietta, and paid hotspots, such as Glorietta 1, 2, 3, and 4, Greenbelt 1 to 5, Starbucks Ayala, RCBC, and all Globequest WIZ hotspots. Its wireless network was incredibly fast, I can do live blogging, twittering, and other stuff that I’m addicted to, just like I’m using a PC with a T3 internet connection, whoaw! that is really fast no? bwahehehe… . I just hope that WiFi hotspots here in Manila are free like the WiFi in Davao.), three USB 2.0, ethernet, modem, headphone, and mic ports, SD/MMC card slots, its size was 8.9 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches, and weighing only 2 pounds. For the video pala, you don’t need to download such crappy DivX plugins to play DivX videos, lahat built it na! wala ka nang hahanapin pa 😛 and.. for the powerful IE browser (nahhh, just joking, it’s FF, katakot no pag IE? hehe.. ), you don’t need to install plugins such as Adobe Flash Player, Quick Time, Java Runtime Environment, Quicktime Player, and Real Time Player, because it’s all pre-installed. For the Messenger, Skype and Pidgin Messenger (it’s an all in one messenger for AIM, Google Talk, Groupwise, ICQ, IRC, MSN, QQ, SIMPLE, Sametime, XMPP, and Yahoo) are already installed. For the other features, just buy one, to experience its full power! Rawrr!!!

Overall performance was pretty snappy, even though its processor is only Celeron. All apps load fast, and you won’t regret in buying it because it’s ahmm.. basta yun na yun! nyahehe.. ^_^ Thanks for your time reading my quick and mini review 😛