Asus originally said April for the 7'' and 8'' versions of the eee PC but have now pushed that back to 'Q2'. They are having problems getting hold of the processor by all accounts.

My trip isn't until September so I'm going to hang off until nearer the time to see what comes along before I go.

Whilst reading the Register yesterday I canme across the new HTC umpc -

HTC Vista UMPC to hit the UK within weeks | Reg Hardware

http://regmedia.co.uk/2007/03/27/htc_shift_2.jpg

It'll be available from Expansys at around $1720ish from 19th Feb and there's a rumour that Orange may also sell it with a contract for much less.

Specs:

So what other features does the pricey device have? The Shift has a 7in touchsensitive display that tilts up to reveal a Qwerty keyboard. It runs Windows Vista Business edition, and hides 1GB of DDR 2 memory and a 30GB hard drive under its shell.


For data connectivity, the Shift has quad-band GSM/GPRS/Edge, 3G HSDPA for connections of up to 3.6Mb/s, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0. There's a fingerprint reader to stop unauthenticated users from easily gaining access.

So some significant improvements over the eee PC - but still a traditional HD rather than flash - and that's the killer for me. Not to mention the price.




m

woot i just bought one, its great

Ooooh, the HTC, I got my hands on one yesterday, I teach people from Orange how to speak English and they show me gadgets. It is lovely, BUT:

It's smaller than the EeePC, and that means a smaller keyboard, it really is back to one or two finger typing - OK so the touch screen obviates this a little bit, but then why not just go the whole hog and get an HTC Touch? The hard-drive as Matt said is a vulnerability although being smaller it should be easier to pack securely. It does run Windows though which means GPS compatibility should be easier.

The big killer for me is the price, why pay thousands for it when you can pay hundreds and have something which is probably better suited for travelling?

Eepc
 

H i Guys
As promised some weeks ago will now give you update on travels with my EEPC.
After 6 weeks,travelling from Malaga to Gambia,(via Morocco,Mauritania & Senegal ) I can say that It,s a lovely piece of kit.
As witnessed by Dean Dean,on earlier pages,I dropped it from waist height onto concrete,&,gave it a kick with me trusty Sidi Courriers.No problem!!!
Got rid of the horrid Linux in Gambia,(impossible to download Camera,mobile phone software,etc.
It survived all the dust,through a thousand miles of desert,( unlike my Panasonic Lumix ),& a few hundred miles of piste.
So far,so good.Am on my way back now.Will give an update next week.
Changed to Windows XP by the way,which takes up just under 2 Gig.
My model 4 Gig hard drive with 512 mb memory.

Cheers Paul

I think that the installed linux is great! Tried a few other things and went back to it. If you get windows then you also have to install office and it will take ages to boot compared to xandros which is tailored to the eee pc. Also some of the software with the eee is really handy, such as PIM which I've found to be heaps better than Outlook, it's almost like MS Outlook and MS Project rolled into one. I would consider installing windows onto a spare SD card for those times you need to install software only released on windows but for general use (i.e. log i and surf the web for a phone number or a google
earth location) Xandros the best bet in my opinion.

Also not sure about mobile phone software but when I plug my ipod into usb it loads amarok 10 times faster than iTunes loads on my dual core at work :o

Music/photo/video manager are also quite good I've found, easy to resize lots of photos quickly for upload and everything is so easy to click because its laid out really well. Apparently the touch screen addon is really good with Xandros too, it's like $60 on ebay.

Eepc
 

Hi pockethead
Windows loads almost as quick as Linux.Did,nt have to load Office,I have Outlook Express.Also you get the option when loading to delete all the crap you do,nt need.I have no need for Word Or Excel.
It,s not possible to load most software for cameras etc,at least not for me.I tried,all the software I needed (Panasonic Lumix,Motorola phone ) only works with Windows or Mac.
Perhaps someone else Knows better.

Cheers Paul

Hey Paul thanks for the feedback on the eee PC - I've held off and held off to see how this market develops and as I hear more and more reports it's becoming more and more certain which machine I'll be buying! :clap:

Interesting that you killed the linux install for windows though, obviously I'm not a windows fan at the best of times ;-) but everyone who's done it so far (that's I've talked to - so not that many people!) has done so because they wanted to run a windows only piece of software.

In some cases there are only Windows or Mac versions, but a little digging will generally find the Linux version too - but not necessarily from the manufacturer.

What I've found is that whilst most of the phones I buy only have windows or mac software they all support basic open standards like Bluetooth browsing - which means I don't need the specific drivers because I can 'see' the device from the computer over BT and get what I need that way.

It's getting easier and easier but there are still issues like MapSource - which thankfully is now available for the mac! but not yet for Linux.

m

I want to plug a USB mobile broadband modem into my Eee-PC but I don't think they'll run on Linux. Has anyone got any experience otherwise?

It should just work :-) Look here

EeeUser ASUS Eee PC EeePC Forum / EEEPC Xandros and mobile broadband card (for AU users)

for help.

m

A British company has just announced a new £99 laptop - complete with wi-fi and flash based hard drive - it'll be powered by linux once again and at £99 it'll be the cheapest of this band of devices on the market....

Elonex to launch £99 laptop, News at CNET.co.uk

they've not released any hardware specs at all, and full details will be announced at the Education show in Birmingham next week.

UK's Elonex releases £99 OLPC rival - ZDNet UK

There's a little more information over at The Register

Elonex punts £99 Linux laptop | Reg Hardware

including this pic

http://regmedia.co.uk/2008/02/19/elonex_one_1.jpg

A comment on El Reg has suggested that this new laptop is actually just a badged version of this

Simple PC Supplier / Manufacturer / Exporter - Fontastic Telecom Inc.

http://scm.asianproducts.com/images/...213084909b.jpg


m

Elonex mini pc
 

Hi All, Just a little info..the real Elonex went into liquidation about three years ago:(, the name was purchased by another:confused1: the parts dept was bought up by Ever Changing Worlds/Elonex parts, where and who is producing these mini pc's i don't know, but i'll keep me nose to the ground to find out:cool4: if i can..
TDMalcolm

What to buy!
 

Hi all
I was set on getting an eee pc after reading the good reviews of it here then Mattcbf600 mentions there are issues with Mapsource.Thats one thing that i would really want the eeepc to support but its seems its not able to.(correct me if i am wrong please).
I have come across this Notebooks > EasyNote XS > Easynote XS20-006 from Packard Bell at 350 pounds which has windows xp home.It cost over 100 pounds more than the eee pc but has abit more memory etc although the same 400 MHz as the Asus so it would not be any faster:confused1:No SSD means possible vibration damage but that appears to be the only negative in comparison with the cheaper....hard to find eee pc.Does anybody have any experience of these?:helpsmilie:

Thanks
Dean

Hi Dean - sorry I should be more clear. The eee PC does not support MapSource out of the box, but you can quite easily install Windows XP onto the machine which quite happily supports it.

m

WOW! That was quick.Thanks m.My problem is "i know nothing".I will go with the eee pc and get it upgraded.

I have tried all week to locate an eepc but to no avail.Only able to get one on Ebay which i won't be using as PayPal are a big problem for me.:nono:
Looks like i will be going for this one by Packard Bell .Notebooks > EasyNote XS > Easynote XS20-006 I'll post a review here on it soon.It should suit my needs for bike touring.