Greetings from an Eee PC Netbook w/ Windows 7 Starter

[Weave]

Probably not a biggie, but I've wanted a netbook for ages. Actually bought one about a year and a half ago, but took it back after a weekend. We are just minutes away from first boot... had to Firefox up first, but this is the second place I came.

[Weave]

I like, so far. Asus Eee PC with a 250 gig HD, 1 gig ram, Windows 7 Starter, 11 hour battery... I hate the Office dealio - can't uninstall the trial thing easily and PC Decrapifyer wasn't much help.

Keyboard is Mac-like "chicklets" that have a good feel and are usable.

[Weave]

And you can't change the desktop background without upgrading. Touch pad gestures are definitely looking better... can zoom in and out, tap a link with three fingers and it's like a right click. Lots to like, and lots to grouse about, as well. Battery is AWESOME! I also downloaded Rhapsody - have been using that awhile - and am going to try to not use iTunes.

Might also try a netbook remix or two, one day.

[digiSal]

so cool! and yeah, id be all over the netbook remix haha. I want a net book also but that new Dell Android MID is looking sweeeet! You going to up the ram on that thing?

[Weave]

Definitely going to up the ram - 2 gigs is max, I think. I really like it thus far. I have not hooked a mouse to it, yet, and I am trying to get used to the touchpad, which is WAY more functional than on any previous laptop I have had. It is multi-touch - one, two, and three finger "gestures" add increased functionality, which I REALLY like.

I mainly just surf, a little hulu, mp3 and video files, and textfiles (you knew I was going to say that, didn't you?), so a netbook is AWESOME for what I do.

The battery is very cool... lasts a long time, although there are performance hits for using the battery, unless you specifically tell it to boost up.

This one has the Intel Atom N450 processor, which is supposed to be fast (1.6 ghz) and energy sipping. It does video fine, and hulu isn't any choppier than any other computer I currently have in the house. I can also rotate the screen with the pad gestures.

Keyboard is smaller than normal, but still usable. The keys are chicklet like - kinda like on an Apple. Comfortable, anyway.

Windows 7 Starter is - well - the barest of Windows OS's. I can't change the wallpaper without upgrading. It came with a 60 day trial of Office, which I am trying to uninstall, but they didn't install it as Office. In the remove programs applet there are MANY different listings for Office Language Packs and helper apps, but no "Uninstall Office" deal.

Still, things are plenty fast enough, and I am enjoying the laptop.

[digiSal]

Wow thats plenty cool. Are you having any trouble with the touchpad going crazy while you type? I used an app called TouchFreeze to disable it when typing but it didnt There is an AutoHotkey script that is working really good so far.

http://productivegeek.com/forums/topic/touchfreeze-alternative-in-ahk

[Weave]

http://www.amazon.com/Seashell-1005PE-MU17-BK-10-1-Inch-Black-Netbook/dp/B00322PYYK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1267386761&sr=8-2

This is the one I got.

So far the touchpad is doing well. I had a few laptops where I would accidentally tap the pad and it would mess up my typing, so I might need that link.

[Weave]

And Asus had a wallpaper changer in their crapware. Nice...

[Weave]

There are a series of hotkey services built in to the ASUS - I can kill wifi, touchpad, adjust brightness, mute or adjust volume, close a window, sleep... and I disabled it at first by using CCleaner to kill startup stuff to speed myself up.

It's back on, now.

[Weave]

Just ordered my memory - and they threw in a 4 GB SD card for free. COOL!

[Weave]

There is a utility call the Super Hybrid Engine that over and underclocks this netbook to balance battery life and performance. I can't get it to auto-start (tried dragging a shortcut to it to the Start Menu) as it seems to need permission to run (UAC - you gotta love it). I ran a utility called CPUZ and just running through the modes I get a 800 mhz low power mode, a 1 ghz High performance mode, and a 1.7 ghz Super performance mode, and an Auto that runs through them automatically depending on what you are up to.