Asus low-end laptops to run Xandros

Just a press release about Xandros running on the Asus Eee -

Jul. 19, 2007 - In early June, Asustek Computer and Intel announced they would soon be releasing a low-end $199 subnotebook, the Asus Eee PC 701. It appears to be on schedule, and when it arrives in customers' hands in late August or early September it will be running a variation of Xandros Desktop Linux.

Like other new generation subnotebooks, the real news with the Eee is its size. At 8.6 by 6.5 by 1.3 inches and barely 2 pounds, a user can tuck it into a backpack or purse and hardly notice that it's there.

The Eee PC 701 comes with two interfaces. The first is meant for users who may have never used a computer before. In fact the name Eee, besides being a play on Nintendo's popular Wii game system, represented a threefold repetition of the word "easy," as in "easy to learn, easy to play, easy to work."

The other interface is KDE-based. Both Windows XP and KDE users will find it familiar-looking. Linux users will also find such familiar open-source applications as OpenOffice, Firefox and Skype.

Of course, Eee users will have to get used to seeing the interface and their applications on a 7-inch display. This 800 by 480 pixel display won't be overly snappy either, as its GPU uses UMA. This means that the graphics borrow memory from the computer's 512MB RAM.

While this may not sound like enough RAM to run Xandros, this Linux version is well-known for its ability to run with a bare minimum of RAM. In a DesktopLinux.com review in 2006, we were able to run Xandros Desktop 4.0, on a far less powerful system: a 500MHz Pentium III processor, 128MB of RAM and a 10GB hard drive.

The heart of this ultraportable is a 900MHz Pentium M running on the Intel 910 Mobile chip set. For main storage, the Eee uses 4 to 16GB of solid state flash memory.

While even the maximum storage isn't even a quarter of Dell's Ubuntu-powered Inspiron 1420s with 80GB hard drive, it's much faster. Booting up Xandros on an Eee takes less than 15 seconds. If more storage is needed, the user can connect USB drives to any of the laptop's three USB 2.0 ports.

The Eee also includes 10/100 Ethernet, a 56K modem, and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, built-in stereo speakers, a microphone and a 300K-pixel video camera. A four-cell, 2s2p (two-in-series, two-in-parallel) 5200mAh battery provides a claimed 3 hours of battery life.

The full press release can be read at Desktop Linux .