Asus EEE PC 1000 With Ubuntu & Chrome: An Inflection Point
Sep 5th, 2008 by Eats Wombats
Inflection Point
Most of us remember getting a first laptop, using the web for the first time, getting an immediate reply to an email from someone far away, first using a webcam, and various other positive experiences. They help offset the frustrations when things don’t work as expected, or when a better product is announced at a lower cost shortly after you’ve made a purchase — a more likely occurrence in the IT business than any other.
This has been a memorable week on the IT front. I bought my first little laptop, put Ubuntu on it, and I started using Google’s new browser, Chrome, which is much more than just a browser. This confluence feels like an approaching inflection point. It hasn’t quite happened but it’s very close now.
Thee Asus EEE PC 1000: I Stop Waiting
Yesterday Dell finally announced the immediate availability in selected countries of the much awaited mini Inspiron “netbook” PC, now dubbed the Inspiron 9. Early reviews (some listed here on Engadget) are positive but not enthusiastic.
Last Saturday I decided I’d waited long enough for Dell to announce availability and pricing (specs were more or less comprehensively leaked). I suspected Dell might cause me some buyer’s remorse, but I bought a black Asus PC 1000.
Easy Excellent Exciting
Discounting the then unknown price of the Dell, the only advantages I could see for the Dell were that it comes with Ubuntu preinstalled and it supports Bluetooth.
The Asus has high speed wireless ethernet (802.11n) and, in the case of the Linux version, a 40Gb solid state drive (v 16Gb, at best, in the Dell), and a bigger screen (10″ v 8.9″) — though the resolution is the same @1024×600.
I reckoned that Dell would release on Monday if I went ahead and in a month’s time if I didn’t. I wanted
- A “netbook” form factor — small, light, but with a keyboard large enough for touch typing
- An Atom processor for long battery life
- Linux operating system, preferably Ubuntu, in memory
- No hard disk
- Wi-Fi (ideally 802.11n), webcam, bluetooth and ethernet built-in
- A price below £400
I paid £350.
Dell announced availability of the Windows XP version only. The Linux version will not be available for a few weeks. The lower price is also not worth the lower specification. So, no regrets!
First Impressions
First impressions are all good. This is just a super little machine, a delight.
The built-in Linux distribution is idiot simple (too much so) and I had a fast wireless connection set up in seconds. Then (minor digression) I found Stellarium, a wonderful little planetarium application that could teach you the constellations and let you have fun learning your way around the night sky, netbook in hand. That is if you live somewhere you can see the stars.
I have and I like, but I rarely use, Redshift, a stunning Russian astronomy software package whose origins and name lay in the transition from the Soviet to the capitalist economy. It was something I was happy to support, but somehow I’ve never had a laptop I really wanted to take outdoors at night. Redshift seemed more for the nerd or the armchair astronomer than the casual observer of the night sky. Whereas I can easily imagine doing so with Stellarium and a little machine with a long battery life–if the stars are visible.
I was unaware of it being bundled with the machine but I signed up for 20Gb of free online storage with YOStore. included at no cost; how long for I am not sure. I also installed Ubuntu as I’d planned all along.
Until official Ubuntu releases explicitly support the hardware there’s scope for people to create distributions doing just that. Currently there are two “distros” that I know of
run from Norway and Canada respectively. This illustrates one of the most attractive things about the Asus PCs: the huge community of users actively contributing to the adaptation of sofware for the machine and helping other users. The EEE user forum is a good source of information and even has a forum for users of this particular model.
Correction: properly, Adam’s is a “modified kernel” which can be used to adapt the official Ubuntu distribution to the EEE PC. Jon’s distro uses it for an modified Ubuntu distro. Thus one has a choice of levels of modification. Hardware support or hardware support plus some user interface and package changes, e.g., the inclusion of Skype.
The process of replacing the built-in Linux with it’s kiddy user interface (a recovery CD is included) looks a little daunting at first but is actually not difficult. You just prepare a bootable USB memory stick according to instructions available on the web.
Any concern I might have had about the seeming finality of wiping the software the machine came with was minimised by the ease and speed of installing a new distribution. Just interrupt the boot up by pressing escape twice, select the USB drive and, after entering your username, password, time zone etc., sit back. You probably don’t have time for coffee, whereas with a Microsoft installation you have time for dinner or a trip to the cinema.
The machine is set up with two drives, an 8Gb drive for the operating system and a 32Gb drive for data. The idea of being able to load and save the operating system partition to a USB stick or memory card (there’s a slot) in what feels like seconds is wonderful. Being able to do it all with free software just compounds the feeling of freedom. Knowing that a bare metal restore (will we now say “bare silicon restore”?) is easy and quick is positively karmic — certainly for anyone who has spent countless hours waiting for installations and repairs and recoveries to finish grinding away.
I started with Jon Ramvi’s distribution just because I liked the look of it. The dreary Ubuntu brown has been replaced with a blue theme and it looks terrific. My first two surprises were in the speed of copying files to and from the “hard disk” (the solid state drive or SSD) – it was fast! — and in discovering that although marketed as a machine without bluetooth, which is present in the Windows XP version of the machine, the hardware is there and can be used with Ubuntu! This should mean that I can use my phone as a broadband modem if I need to, without buying additional hardware or data services.
Future Improvements
I forewarned the guv’nor, just in case, that computers get obsolete very quickly now and that this could be a Dodo by Christmas. It’s not that I want to replace it for the sake of replacing it. It’s just that we are entering a new era. After inflection points things change fast and I’d like to be on that wave, when it happens.
It’s not a perfect machine. The on/off button is too small and needs application of a fingernail to work, a victory of design over function. The touch pad is annoyingly sensitive (until adjusted) and the buttons are far too stiff (an external USB mouse works of course). Personally, I’d have preferred a matt finish to a shiny fingerprint magnet. However, these are very minor quibbles. If it was an inch bigger I think I could use it for a long time. While I can type on it, it does require some concentration.
As good as it is, it will be improved on and the price will still go down. This continuing trend, and free software, will make personal computing available to millions in the developing world. Many who couldn’t possibly keep Windows up and running with all its fragilities will be empowered. What a wonderful prospect!
Small PCs are already being given away free in the UK with subscriptions to Internet services, a sure sign that there will be continuing cycle of new models given away free and at discounts, like cell phones, and that there will be a surplus to give away — much as we’re now encouraged to round up spectacles and mobile phones for despatch to the 3rd world.
I’d like to see
Some or all of the following:
- A higher screen resolution: 1024×768 initially; later a touch sensitive one
- Gigabit ethernet
- A better on/off switch
- USB 3.0 in due course (2009?)
- User expandable memory (this may be possible already, I need to check); more is always good!
- A higher resolution webcam
- Better trackpad and buttons
- HDMI video out
- A bundled online backup service (not just storage)
- A fingerprint reader, maybe
- Built-in GPS hardware, and high speed cellular data modem
- A dual or multi-core processor?
While nice to have, none of these is vastly compelling, which is a measure of how good this machine already is (note the absence of the words smaller, lighter, faster or cheaper!), and it will get better too just by being upgraded to the next version of Ubuntu (due in October), so really, official support for that should be at the top of the list.
Linux & Windows?
It would be nice to enter owner information in ROM in a form that can’t be easily erased. An emergency disk sync or erase for a reported stolen or lost machine seen online would be good too. All of the above persuades me that we really are on the threshold of computing as a service, like electricity or running water.
It’s strange but satisfying that the accepted term for this is “cloud computing,” clouds already being symbolically associated with water and electricity (in the form of lightning at least), and … dreams!
Adam’s distro isn’t a distro. He has customized the linux kernel. The kernel which is in Ubuntu Eee. That’s why Ubuntu Eee supports all the Eee versions out of the box. All because of adam :)
But you just called it a distro! :-) Actually, I didn’t know what else to call it. A modified version is a new distribution isn’t it, whether it’s a kernel mod or a different set of packages? You use his kernel but these are separate … whats? if not distributions?
Update: I’ve added a correction. Looking forward to the Gold release.
You really don’t want to see a larger keyboard?
[...] You probably don’t have time for coffee, whereas with a Microsoft installation you have time for d… Oh no! I think I may have machine-envy. the Wombat has an Asus EEE PC 1000. But, how good is the keyboard? [...]
My Microsoft Office keyboard (which will have to prised etc.) is 27cm from the left side of the Capslock key to the right side of the return key. The EEE PC keyboard is 25cm. I think one more cm would make all the difference. And they could bump up the screen a little too, but it is very clear.
There’s a new Asus: the N10. Knocks off a lot of my suggested improvements… already! However, it’s putting fast graphics hardware in there and probably cutting battery life and generating heat. I like this unit as it’s COOL and QUIET, Ubuntu 8.04.1 lasts all day. The new machine and those that follow will run Vista easily. The hard disk version of the 1000 can do it, if you can stand it.
I purchased as Asus Eee 1000 with Linux about a month ago. I upgraded from my old trusty, but brick heavy Panasonic Toughbook running Windows XP.
Bottom line — I am in love with the Asus Eee, but I hate the Xandrox Os it came with — I’m upgrading to Ubuntu Eee as soon as I have a little extra time on my hands to dedicate to the upgrade. I run two web servers using Ubuntu Server 7.10 and Ubuntu Server 8.04, and had my Panasonic set up as a dual boot machine.
I do NOT miss Windows at all.
My only complaint about the keyboard is the location of the right shift key — it’s just a little too far to the right for my liking — I keep hitting the pageup key instead when I touchtype. The size of the keyboard is adequate for me, but I have small hands. I purposely waited on the 1000 for the additional keyboard size, and I’m glad that I did.
Boot time from a complete shutdown takes about 30 seconds, with an additional 25-30 seconds for the wireless card to pick up the connection — much better than the 2-3 minutes I would wait for Windows to come up.
Plus, when I’m traveling, the battery life is awesome — I’ve gotten 6 hours of intensive use (I program web applications in PHP) in the car before exhausting the battery, and I’ve yet to take a flight where the battery ran down before the plane landed.
The Asus Eee 1000 rocks.
The Ubuntu EEE 8.04.1 release is currently at RC2 and seems very close to a final release.
I don’t like the new netbook remix interface. There are instructions on switching it off on the wiki (check recent changes).
There are some minor tweaks still to do but I see from Distrowatch today that Ubuntu is A LOT closer to working perfectly (webcam, microphone, sound, sleep, hibernate etc.) with this machine than Debian, and probably anything else.
I agree on the shift key. It’s annoying. Just one more cm in width would make all difference.
Just need to install WINE on this and then a couple of my indispensible apps which are still Windows only and I’ll be happy.
I got my EEE 1000 in the middle of August. Touchpad was temperamental, stuck pixel, buckled hinge. Sent it back and got a replacement with MUCH better build quality, feels much more solid.
The only real gripe with it at the moment is with the update application and the performance of some of the applications. Quake 3 runs flawlessly…2D SuperTux does not? May just be a coding issue but I also can’t see the OpenGL option in the menu. Add/Remove Software is…er…crap. For example, although the repositories are configured to include English translations, the anti-virus update is in “common” meaning it list updates for all languages. The EEE does thankfully include Synaptic (if you go through the terminal) which is much better at the moment.
I’ve got a 16GB SDHC card in the post to give other distros a try, iff only to act as eye candy to show off!
But… you can boot off a 2Gb memory stick. Or are you planning to partition the 16Gb card?
It seems it will only be a matter of weeks before we have the latest Ubuntu 8.10 fully supported, along with Chrome. That will be nice. Then we’ll just need just a better theme. I do think Debian looks nicer just now.
I got my 1000H (and promptly Ubuntued it up) at the start of July, and I’m loving it… keyboard is the absolute perfect size for me, I can touchtype with ease, and I’ve trained myself out of the use of the right shift key entirely.
I think this is the perfect size for a portable – just large enough to fit a properly usable keyboard in. Cram a 1280×800 11″ panel in this chassis and put one of them dual core Atoms I hear so much about inside, and you’d have one mighty awesome machine… also, I hear Microsoft has expanded the allowed specs for bundled XP to a 14″ screen, which means that it would be feasible for Asus to make an 11″ model and sell it with Windows, as they seem so keen to do.
The CPU can be a bit sluggish in this at times, but it’s always snappy for word processing and web browsing, which is its primary use. Really, at a quarter the cost of an 11″ ultraportable from Sony, Fujitsu, Lenovo or Asus, it’s a great deal… it weighs only 200gm more than the high-end competitors, has a slightly smaller footprint, and does almost everything they can do with the Core 2 ULV.
Bring on the cheap 11″ convertible tablet sometime next year, that would be perfect.
Good writeup :)
Just a heads-up, there are still some known issues in the hardware support for the 1000 Using Ubuntu 8.04 EeePC kernel:
* The atom processor isn’t running as efficiently as I’d like. I believe this will be fixed in Intrepid.
* The On-board microphone doesn’t work. Alsa says “Front Mic” is enabled, but its actually the external mic interface. This may be fixed in a future version of Alsa, or I can work on it. However I don’t actually have a 1000 to test with… everything was developed on a 900.
* The hotkey buttons (Fn-F5 to Fn-F9) are iffy. These should be fixed in the final reelase of Ubuntu-Eee…
BTW, I’d classify my EeePC kernel packages is a “customized port” of the generic kernel. They can technically be installed on any Ubuntu distribution based on Hardy Heron (v8.04). Ubuntu-Eee just happens to ship with them pre-installed. :)
Yes, I’ve encountered a few minor problems (I’m avoiding the wireless on/off key and hibernation doesn’t work) but knowing that even these will go away in a matter of weeks is nice. Thanks a lot for your work on this.
[...] disks on all computers on a network, including silicon disks, such as that in my new Asus EEE PC 1000, will be able to participate in a storage cloud which makes traditional backup completely [...]
FYI
The package linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-21-eeepc package was just upgraded today to contain support for the 1000’s built-in microphone. :)
General announcements about the kernel and its packages can always be found through the RSS feed:
http://www.array.org/ubuntu/news-rss.xml
Thanks Adam. Got it already as soon as I woke up. I was drinking coffee and checking my RSS feeds and thought I’d hit update before getting out of bed.
“Look,” I said the lady who told me long ago that I’d be single again if I ever brought a computer to bed, “a kernel update.”
She rolled her eyes mentally (I can tell) and went back to her book. Later I read out snippets of news and showed her an Obama campaign commercial about McCain’s computer skills.
I hope these updates can go upstream to the mainstream release of Ubuntu.
I have the eee 1000 H and I love it. I put Adam’s modified eee Ubuntu on it and it smokes. Everything works great in Ubuntu. The battery life is amazing. I use it all day without having to recharge. Other users have complained about the placement of the right shift key. It is a minor niggling issue once you get used to it. The buttons for the trackpad are pretty crappy — way too stiff. I bought a wireless USB mouse and it made the netbook complete. It really is an amazing machine. Sexy looking even. Several people in my office commented when they noticed it was running Ubuntu. If you are considering a Dell get the eee 1000 instead.
Agreed. I am very happy with it apart from the same minor annoyances. Even better, I’m spending more time with Ubuntu. I’ve moved my home directory to the 32gb drive and got rsync backups running via ssh to my ReadyNAS storage–the wireless-N support is terrific. I haven’t got a wireless mouse working yet. I know it works if the mouse is there when you install Ubuntu. I’ll get to it later.
Adam’s working on better touchpad support now and the Fn key support is going to appear upstream in Intrepid.
[...] my Asus 1000 PC needs a specially adapted kernel because Linux doesn’t know about it yet. But the beauty of [...]
Good write up, just ordered my pc1000 yesterday, you re-assured me, cant wait!
Question: I am going to be using XP Pro for a lot of things, but (before all you Ubuntu people start hating), I would really like to experiment with various linux distros by booting them from a memory card / usb stick whenever I have the time… Is that a feasible way of learning or is it too slow?
Thanks in advance,
Leon
There shouldn’t be any problem, you can select the boot device in the bios. I think the 1000H would probably be better for multi-booting (on space grounds) but I was happy to have the longer battery life and greater robustness of the SSD.
It’s probably possible to leave XP on the original 8Gb drive (sda1) and install Ubuntu on the 32Gb drive (sdb1) and you may find a how-to if you dig around.
I’ve posted on launchpad some step by step instructions on moving the /home directory to sdb1, which makes for easier and faster backup and it should permit changing linux distros without affecting one’s data or software (try that with Windows!).
I am not aware of any distros that support the hardware other than Xandros and Ubuntu-eee (which still doesn’t have a new name yet), so for practical purposes I think those are your choices. However, keep an eye on http://www.array.org/ubuntu. Looks like Ubuntu 8.10 will include most of the kernel fixes needed to support the 1000 and if not Adam will release a modified version, at which point Ubuntu-eee may be moot. Right now the only things officially not working are the wireless on/off FN key toggle and the multitouch on the trackpad (which I rarely use). Suspend works but it complains. Hibernation didn’t work when I first tried. The external monitor did but doesn’t now, or didn’t the last time I tried it. All in all, it’s almost there.
If you decide in favour of another distro I’d be interested to know which and why. Ubuntu wins hands down for me, for the community as much as the distro itself.
[...] showed him Ubuntu on my Asus EEE PC 1000 and said that this was the new future, but I carefully avoided waxing too lyrical. Free software. [...]
[...] TLA (3 letter acronym) is a great tool but I tend to use it in bouts. I’ve moved it to my Ubuntu powered Asus 1000 notebook where it’s running using WINE. The principle is that I’ll have a little [...]
[...] post a few weeks ago about the Asus EEE PC 1000 is still drawing quite a lot of traffic (dozens of hits) every day. Time for a brief update, pending [...]
[...] I was tempted, for a moment, by a LAST ONE! offer on a Q45 with built-in wireless broadband networking, but I stuck to my self-imposed £400 budget. Otherwise, I would certainly have exceeded what I might have spent for one higher spec conventional machine when I bought the Asus EEE 1000. [...]
[...] am back in the market for a laptop and willing to get rid of my too small to type on Asus EEE PC 1000 and my overweight Samsung R60+ (3kg plus adaptor), acquired because I had to [...]