My Asus EEE. I love it. Its cute. Lilliputian. Compact. And most importantly it fits perfectly into my handbag. The Asus EEE has taken the market by storm (PC Pro, Gizmodo). I've already put my order in for the next upgrade which will arrive tomorrow (eee 901 with increased storage and CPU upgrade). Even Dell have recognized that the micro-laptop is the next big - their Dell E series looks like a flattering imitation of the original EEE. Dell seems to have gone all out for copying asus, even down to bundling a Linux operating system instead of Microsoft Windows which has been a compulsory feature of just about every Dell sold in the last ten years. There's even a new name for this kind of dinky laptop: "mobile internet device" or (MID).
But not everybody loves these new gadgets: One female friend of mine claimed that she loved it, however she told me "at the end of the day, still not a mac." I explained that it was a 10th of the price of a Mac and not ten times inferior from a performance and usability perspective. But what ever I said, I could not convince Sarah. To quote Carrie Bradshaw,
"this was not about logic, it was about LOVE."
(cheesy quote I know but reflective of the whole film)
"My Baby is old now. Arthritis has worked her spine for a while, but she is still going strong. Her memory is remarkably good considering all the strange things I have introduced her to. I love my Baby.. I can’t be mad at her. When her metallic voice speaks out “It Is _Not_ My Fault…” all I can say is: “I know, Baby… I know. I gave you a bad command, and I’m sorry. Let’s try again.”
Whilst I agree with neurologists, people are approx 20% rational and 80% emotional, I am left feeling that the love for Apple seems misplaced when there are so many better or equitable products on the market. But perhaps that's part of the joy of owning the EEE - the technology you buy makes a statement.
With the near ubiquity of Apple's products in the creative industries, these high-end laptops are no longer about "Thinking Different" and are more a sign of conformity to cultural norms, wheras carrying around an unusual laptop, especially one which runs entirely different software marks you as an outsider. Those rival icons of computing, the Thinkpad and the Powerbook (or Mac Book) represent your tech-tribal affiliation.
I feel emotional about my Asus. I feel emotional about my Tangent Quattro Internet radio. I feel emotional about my Blackberry. But show me a better, cooler, smaller, cheaper, more useful product and I will be promiscuous. With technology changing so fast, can we afford to be loyal to one particular brand. And quite frankly is any brand (even Apple) brand deserving of such unconditional love?
I've been looking at these and I really want one. Heard great things.
The eee is amazing. When my boyfriend bought one, I thought it was just another one of those pointless bits of gadgetry that men are so fond of accumulating. Then I realised it fitted in my handbag and seemed pretty much indestructable and that it was a work of genius
If you've got a laptop as your main machine, you're always worried about taking it out and breaking it so this is a great little addition to your computing world. We got the one with a bit more memory and so can even stick a few episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm on there for long train journeys. I love it.
The EEEs are beautiful, but have a build quality that you might politely call 'rickety', still for that price, who's complaining? And actually they're just over half as much as an iBook (although there are Mac laptops for nearly 10x as much).
Good deal on the Asus through Orange...
www.orange.co.uk/pressoffice
The point is that it is cheap enough not to worry about all that much. As a result you discover that, never mind the weight and size, a £200 laptop is simply more portable than a £1,000 laptop. For instance you can carry it around in a carrier bag, not in a padded case.
Reminds me of P J O'Rourke on cars:
"......Even more important than being drunk, however, is having the right car. You have to get a car that handles really well. This is extremely important, and there's a lot of debate on this subject – about what kind of car handles best. Some say a front-engined car; some say a rear-engined car. I say a rented car. Nothing handles better than a rented car. You can go faster, turn corners sharper, and put the transmission into reverse while going forward at a higher rate of speed in a rented car than in any other kind. You can also park without looking, and can use the trunk as an ice chest. Another thing about a rented car is that it's an all-terrain vehicle. Mud, snow, water, woods – you can take a rented car anywhere. True, you can't always get it back – but that's not your problem, is it? "
Quite agree. My husband wants me to treat 'our' IT equipment the same way I treat my 6 month old baby- with care and fragility. For me, I just want to dump the thing in my handbag and go. The emotional attachment is with what I can do with it. I've ordered my new Asus but they are out of stock so I am still waiting. I will let you know if it lives up to the hype. Do you have one?
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Belinda Parmar
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Member since: 17 Aug 2008
Last login: 18 Nov 2009
Total Posts: 54
