Here’s a comparison of the ASUS Eee and the Everex Cloudbook.
I’m not really in the market for either of them–I can live with my full-service laptop for now. I don’t tend to be an early adopter, and will wait until they get more function and lighter still. But it looks to me like the Eee would definitely have the edge for me if I was going to get one.
I have 4 EEE PCs – they are great little machines, and the price to value ratio is incredible! I use three at work, each as a special purpose device, and one at home for general web surfing and working. For me, the biggest advantage is the Linux operating system – I am always needing access to Linux servers, and the EEE PC is perfect for that. Also, OpenOffice on the EEE PC is really a lot better than MS Office – which really surprised me, because I had tried it twice before and had always gone back to MS Office. I think having the OS and applications professionally installed and configure is what made the difference (which I guess is not exactly flattering my technical skills…).
I think the real advantage that these Linux machines give the average home user is security. These days, it is far more likely that you home computer is hacked rather than not – and we do banking transactions on them! Firefox, the default browser, is more secure than IE of course; but more importantly Linux (as configured on the EEE PC) is far more secure than an MS Windows PC – about the same level of security as a Mac, but at a much lower price point. At this price, I bought 3 more for family use so that my family can surf the web in safety.
Really, I love these machines! (Oh, and they are also great on planes as well – they actually fit in the space in front of you, and let you play Tux Racer!)
I thought this was going to be about the Democratic nomination race.
I have the 4G Surf (no webcam), with XP installed. I recently saw a commenter at an ASUS blog saying, “This thing is a TOY!!” He then asked whether it’s really true that people are just too “lazy” to slip a full-sized laptop into their book-bags and head out the door like he does. I told him that he should get back to me when he graduates from five minutes on a bus to the local community college, to a run from JFK to Jakarta. That’s when every ounce starts to count.
I’m running AutoCAD in a sub-2 lb. box at way less than five hundred dollars, full-up. This is a great little satellite machine. I’m completely sold.
LOL–stop using a European carry-all, and weight won’t matter so much. I used to lug around a 17″ Dell XPS laptop with a spare battery in a backpack along with clothes, books, etc., on cross-country flights. If it’s on your back it’s not really a problem.
Having said that, lighter *is* nicer, if you’re willing to make the power tradeoff.
There is no such thing as a 17″ laptop that’s easy to handle when you’re flying in your work. I don’t care how you carry it. I’ll stack my frequent-flier miles against anyone’s in the argument.
And I’m not making a power tradeoff. Did you see what I wrote above? I’ll tell you what I told Glenn Reynolds: on my last trip to Tokyo, all my videos waited until I got home for editing. No more: Sony’s Vegas editor now goes with me.
Again: I do what I want to do with it. It weighs less than two pounds. Less than five hundred dollars, ready to go at the power-on switch.
You can have the XPS.