Computers don't get cheaper than this

Taken from the Computer Buyer review

The Eee PC defies all expectations, particularly for a device that's nominally aimed at children. Normally, the smaller the laptop, the more expensive it is. But the Eee, at £170, costs less than any other laptop or even desktop on the market and it isn't a toy!

For tapping out emails, working on documents and surfing the Internet, the Eee PC is all but perfect. It measures just 225mm wide and 170mm deep. Including its power adapter it weighs only 1.12kg. Without the power adapter it weighs a mere 928g.

The operating system of the Eee is built on the back of a Xandros installation of Linux. It sports a tabbed main interface; along the top of the screen you can select from Internet, Work, Play, Settings and Favourites tabs, each with its own selection of applications and links to online resources.

OpenOffice 2.0.4 (office suite) and Firefox 2 (web browser) come pre-installed. In keeping with the Eee's aim of being as easy to use as possible. These are simply described as "Documents" and "Web" in the Eee's OS interface. Both are full-blown installations, not cut down versions. There is nothing the Windows version of Firefox could do that can't be done on the Eee, including handling rich websites such as YouTube. Mozilla's Thunderbird (email program) is also pre-installed but is placed under the "Work" rather than "Internet" tab.

The only usability problem is presented by the low-resolution screen. 800 x 480 feels rather cramped and the 7in diagonal isn't perfect either. It's enough for only 18 lines of 12pt text in OpenOffice. You should forget the Eee if you're looking for something to work on large spreadsheets. On the plus side, the screen is bright, clear and reproduces colours well.

The cramped conditions do affect the tiny keyboard: each key has about the same surface area as a fingernail. Getting up to full speed takes a concentrated half hour of practice. The trackpad is similarly restricted but works perfectly well.

The only real problem is the operating system's disk footprint. The Eee has a 4GB flash disk instead of a conventional hard disk, and at 2.5GB the operating system consumes over half that capacity. That means you'll never be able to install any recreational media like videos for example. But there is more than enough space for hundreds of office documents.

You can, of course, add a USB flash drive to expand the capacity. Between that and the ability to connect to both wired and 802.11b/g wireless networks, there's little to stop you expanding the storage externally. As the icing on the cake there's even a 640x480-resolution webcam set into the bezel.

The Eee feels unflinchingly solid, the keyboard has a reassuringly firm base, and there's virtually no give in the screen's mounting. The lack of moving parts - with a solid-state disk and the lack of an optical drive - make the Eee at least as shock-proof as its ultraportable competitors. In tests the battery ran, under light use, for a respectable 3hours 31 minutes.

So if you are looking for a simple, cheap but effective laptop for your children (or for yourself ), the Ee Pc from Assus is well worth considering.