New Asus EeePc 701 Features

The Asus Eee PC, then, is something of an anomaly: a truly tiny computer, with a tiny £220 price tag to match.

The Eee PC is one of the smallest laptops on the market. At 225 by 35 by 165mm, it's about the size of a hardback book, and weighs 920g. Its petite dimensions give it a toy-like appearance, but this is countervailed by the pearl-white finish, which gives it a touch of sophistication. Ultimately, the Eee PC looks equally at home on the catwalk or in a child's playpen -- it is what you make of it.

Even better, the keyboard for a machine of this size is a work of pure brilliance. For sure, it's small and does take some getting used to, but given a short amount of time it's perfectly possible to maintain a brisk and consistent typing speed. Keys have just the right amount of travel and provide a crisp and even response, while the layout is surprisingly decent given the size. If any further proof were needed, this entire review was written on the Eee PC and it didn't take any more time than it would normally.

This is also helped by the software provided, with the generally excellent Open Office on hand for all your office productivity needs. Along with a word processor there's Presentation and Spreadsheet applications, while under the Work tab you can also access Adobe Reader, as well as Thunderbird for email and a Dictionary.

There are plenty of ports scattered around the machine. There are two USB ports on the right, a third on the left, plus a D-Sub video output port for those who want to use an external display. You also get a memory card reader on the right side that supports SDHC memory cards (currently as large as 32GB). The modem jack on our review sample was blanked out, as there's no internal modem, but there's an adjacent Ethernet port so you can connect to a wired network.

Narcissists or video conferencing addicts will be pleased to note the webcam sitting above the screen. It's great for taking still self-portraits or making short movies of yourself for Facebook, YouTube, etc. Speakers sit either side of the display, but the microphone is strangely mounted on the underside of the laptop, which affects audio quality slightly. You can, however, connect an external mic or external speakers to the audio jacks at the left side of the laptop.

Heat wise, the Eee PC 701 felt a bit warm to the touch, likely due to its non-stop use throughout the day on the show floor at Computex. It was however very quiet and the lack of spinning hard and optical drives made for a near silent experience.

In the end, the Eee PC is the single most impressive notebook we've seen priced below $400. The technical specs might look sub par, but the usability and overall performance of the Eee PC rivals notebooks costing several thousand dollars more. Granted, you can't install Photoshop on this little notebook and you can forget about playing Bioshock on this thing, but the Eee PC can do just about everything you “need” to do with a notebook while on the go.

The only features missing from the Eee PC that really stand out are the lack of Bluetooth 2.0 and the lack of a Verizon or Sprint wireless card option. If Asus can find a way to add these features to the Eee PC we will go as far as to say, “No home should be without an Eee PC.” As it stands now, the Eee PC is a truly impressive ultraportable with a value much higher than the sale price suggests. The Eee PC can't replace a full-featured desktop or notebook, but it makes the perfect choice if you are in the market for an ultraportable notebook for school, work, or vacation.

The Eee PC might have a weird name, but it's one of the few products that lives up to the marketing hype. This notebook truly is “easy to learn, easy to work, and easy to play.”