Comments on: ASUS Eee Box PC Black

By: Martin

Martin — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 11:20:29 +0000

I actually own two of these - a black model and a white one.

1) I have set up the white eee Box as a Windows Home Server (bought a WHS OEM version here on Amazon). This works very well, as the machine is quiet, energy efficient and unobtrusive, i.e., it blends well into our home. I exchanged the internal HD with a bigger disk (which was very easy to do) and added an external 1 terabyte USB HD to have enough space for backups and media files. This works very well for streaming audio files in combination with the Logitech Squeezebox/Slimserver. However, it's a bit underpowered for video streaming.

2) I set up the second (black) machine as a hackintosh for my kids as they use Macs at school. This was quite easy and works well enough for this purpose.

Of course the installed Xandros Linux system may also be suitable for your needs, but I had no use for it. The main reason for buying the Linux version was to avoid buying an additional XP Home license that I did not need.

By: HuggamuggaMAX

HuggamuggaMAX — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 10:34:02 +0000

The size is great – It mounts on the rear of my 17″ touchscreen monitor takes up no desktop space. The preloaded Linux software is sufficient if you’re not a hard-core programmer. Stable, easy to set up, very quickly. Virtually no noise whatsoever. 4 usb ports for external peripherals are convenient placed on the front and back of the PC. The wireless picked up my network immediately. Only limitation: using [...] instead of MS Word, Excel, and powerpoint. Alternatively, Google has a great spreadsheet program thats fills in the Microsoft Office Void.

Stability, no crashes so far. Happy to work with Linux UI instead of Windows. $[...] Was a great investment for this machine.

By: Misha Novini

Misha Novini — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:43:03 +0000

I bought this computer to use on my new 52" LCD HDTV. I liked the low profile (it's physically tiny, about the size of 2 DVD cases) and the simplicity of it, especially since I was putting it in my living room. I could essentially just hide in the DVDs. Hardware-wise, this is a great machine. It's small, quiet, and simple. It even came with its own keyboard and mouse, which I didn't expect.

Unfortunately, the software was significantly lacking. I'm quite a computer geek (I'm an engineer) but I had barely jumped into the realm of Linux. I decided I'd give it a try with this machine. I was looking forward to avoiding Windows (and I wanted to save the $50). The Linux OS is built by Asus specifically for this machine. Unfortunately, this "EZ OS" is too basic for my taste. You can easily and simply access all the standard stuff like internet, email, word processing, etc. But you don't have many options as far as configuring the OS. The capability of customization and configuration of the OS was almost nill. And the help files were no help at all. The help was very very basic, just basic intro to the OS and that's it. It didn't have anything you couldn't figure out by just looking around a little. Google Chrome isn't compatible yet with Linux, and neither is Google Picasa 3. In addition, I couldn't figure out how to even install any software on the computer. It seems that Linux doesn't use executables to run installers.

I liked the quick-launch feature on this computer but I have to note that it doesn't launch the main OS with the quick launch. It's basically a super-light Linux OS that launches within a couple second of the computer booting. This quick-launch OS allows just a couple things: internet browsing, email, Skype, pictures, and something else. If you wanted to launch the main OS, this quick-launch OS has a button to do so.

The Atom processor on this computer is a lot slower than I was expecting (which is still the case on the Windows version). Programs took a considerable amount of time to load, and sometimes even just to navigate the desktop.

All these frustrations convinced me to return the computer and get the Windows based one. It was worth the extra money. The Windows version still has the quick-launch OS if you want to use it, but otherwise, Windows still takes the same standard amount of time to launch. This isn't a big deal considering the computer uses so little power. I just leave it on all the time. The slowness of the chip is still noticeable but it doesn't seem as bad as on the Linux machine (surprisingly).

In conclusion, if you're just looking for a very basic computer, especially if you're not doing much more than simple internet browsing, you'll probably be perfectly happy with this computer. Setup is real simple and really quick. The OS is reasonably straight forward and gives you all your basic functionality. The computer itself is a great low-profile computer. But if you want the familiarity, customizability, and functionality of Windows, then get the Windows version. But also realize that this is a low power computer and can't handle more than a couple applications at a time.

By: Technology Buyer

Technology Buyer — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:55:20 +0000

When I got this machine, I put Ubuntu on it and use it a web server. So far, I have not had any problems from it.

By: L. Wisdom

L. Wisdom — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 04:30:02 +0000

The EEE Box 202 is a small machine with very limited computing power. I knew this when I ordered it, but was surprised just how slow it was. I ordered 2GB of ram and upgraded as soon as it arrived, scratching the case in the process. The ram does not matter when the other specs are so bad.

I booted Xandros (I think it's called) once and decided to put Ubuntu Netbook Remix on instead. Ubuntu UNR runs ok at best, but has compatibility issues. I had to track down drivers for the Wi-Fi and the machine like to go to a black screen for no reason.

If you are looking at this computer, you are cheap. There are other computer that have similar price points with better specs, get one of those. I wish that I would have purchased a $300 laptop instead of this, at lease then it would be mobile. This is like a $300 laptop that is missing the 9in screen.

I use the EEE Box 202 for light web browsing and a few games. It can't really play video or music very well and is useless when it comes to connecting it to the TV.

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