[sclug] Asus minibook. was Re: Fujitsu

[Alex Butcher]

On Mon, 24 Dec 2007, David Given wrote:

> Bob Redknap wrote:
> [...]
>> I forgot to say it's an Asus minibook.
>
> Actually, it's an Asus eee with RM branding. I bought mine off ebuyer for 
> about 200 pounds. It's really good, although it's not entirely perfect: the 
> screen *is* rather small, although beautifully clear and crisp; the battery 
> life is low, about 3 to 3.5 hours;

Tch! My PIII-933 laptop from 2002 with a new battery only manages 2-2.5
hours. :-P

I know that the Core 2 Duo and PPC laptops have raised the bar for battery
life, but 3-3.5 hours is still a useful amount of time.

> the SD card reader in the side is faulty and doesn't support SDHC cards
> properly;

In what way? Some people have reported IO problems and poor performance,
others mention no issues. Perhaps it's a compatibility problem with the
not-quite-SDHC-compliant reader and/or /some/
differently-not-quite-SDHC-compliant cards?

> and the bastards have stuck a 'warranty void if removed' sticker over the
> RAM upgrade hatch.

<http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/12/10/asus_warranty_statement/>

> (Inside the hatch is a SODIMM memory slot with a 512MB card in it, and a 
> mini-PCIe expansion slot. Apparently only the early models, including mine, 
> actually have the PCIe connector soldered on. [*] Black eees and the later 
> white ones don't. YMMV. Check forum.eeeuser.com for the details.)

I wouldn't worry too much about the PCIe slot; I've read that putting
anything in it disables the onboard 4GB SSD, and the 8GB models use it for
their 8GB SSD, which means that's probably its only intended use, and
explains why the sockets have started to disappear from the 4GB models.

> I wouldn't touch the RM ones, TBH. If you want one, buy a real one. RM seem 
> to have tinkered with theirs.

In what ways? RM are a tier 2/3 vendor, and I'd be surprised if they have
much control over what Asus ship them.

Best Regards,
Alex.
-- 
Alex Butcher, Bristol UK.                           PGP/GnuPG ID:0x5010dbff

"[T]he whole point about the reason why I think it is important we go for
identity cards and an identity database today is that identity fraud and
abuse is a major, major problem. Now the civil liberties aspect of it, look
it is a view, I don't personally think it matters very much."
  - Tony Blair, 6 June 2006 <http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page9566.asp>