First Impressions of the ASUS Eee 901

Don't Panic! · 07-10-08, 09:29 AM

I got my Asus Eee 901 yesterday afternoon and after all the ladies in the office stopped cooing over it and asking where they could get one I actually got a chance to use it.

The first think I noticed was this is a really atractive device in glossy white. The keyboard is smaller than I thought it would be after reading how they made it bigger than the 900 model. The lack of a tilde key kind of throws off my modified 4 finger peck typing system.

I'm simply not felling this touchpad mouse at all. The touchpad is very sensitive and the left and right click buttons are displaying some type of lag when I click on something. I'm hoping I'll be able to modify these settings to my liking but the manual doesn't show how to do it.

The screen is very bright for a device this size and the desktop icons are surpisingly big considering this is running at 1024x600. When I got home yesterday I watched an epiode of the Simpsons and a Highlander Episode on Hulu.com The Simpsons episode looked fine but the Highlander episode was very dark even with the screen at max brightness.

Activesync 4.5 installed easily and I did a sync with no issues. Miscrosoft Office Enterpice Edition could not fit on the C drive so I had to insatll it on the D drive. This two main drive system is going to take some getting used to.

All and all I give the ASUS Eee 901 an 8 out of 10 based on first impressions.

Don't Panic! · 07-10-08, 10:57 AM

Outside Bright Sunlight Test - Nope, no good
Outside Bright Sunlight Test but in shady area - Not bad

Trying to get this thing registered online is a pain so far. Every time I try I get the message "Server busy, Please try again in fews times later. Thank you!" This has been going on since last night. I think I'll just snail mail in the registration form.

Don't Panic! · 07-14-08, 12:47 PM

I started using a Bluetooth Mouse today to get around the trackpad problems I have but it's only been partly successful. I still have a habilt of hitting the trackpad with my palm causing the cursor to move to where I'm not typing at the moment. I got a tip on a third-party fix that will let me turn off the trackpad but I haven't tried it yet. I wonder why they didn't add a control panel applet for the trackpad?

*stevenator65* · 07-14-08, 01:00 PM

What did you do with your Advantage?

Don't Panic! · 07-14-08, 01:36 PM

I've still got it. Carry it around with me and hardly use it. I'm going to try to set it up as a modem tonight with the Eee 901-XP.

Don't Panic! · 07-15-08, 01:03 PM

The setup for internet connection sharing went extremely well. The HTC Advantage being a Windows Mobile 6 device has a built-in program called Internet Connection Sharing under Programs. Once I had the Eee901 and the HTC Adavantage paired all I had to do was click on Internt Connection sharing on the Advantage, hit connect, then click on the icon for the Advantage in My Bluetooth Places on the Eee 901 and I was surfing away.

I still have to check out the CD that came with the Eee 901. According to another forum I'm with that's where the trackpad drivers are.

Don't Panic! · 07-20-08, 05:41 PM

The touchpad drivers and utility were on the included CD. Being able to turn off the tap function and adjust the scrolling sensitivity has greatly improved my relationship with this touchpad.

Here's another strange thing. This is my first laptop with a webcam built in. I couldnt get it to work at first but after browsing some forums I discovered that you have to enable the webcam through the BIOS. Is that standard practice for built-in wecams on laptops?

Here's a pic taken with the webcam on Cameroid and modified with infranview;

Don't Panic! · 07-29-08, 11:52 AM

So after two+ weeks with the Eee 901 I still give it an 8 out of 10. This one's a keeper. Here are a couple of pics with the PDair case I picked out for it.

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