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The verbatim steps given to sign on to a wireless network are:"3. I thought that was the purpose behind this ASUS laptop, but someone forget about the importance for connectivity. This or course means a capability to access the widest variety of WIFI networks. When connecting, you may have to enter a password."5. So be prepared to run up a lot of minutes waiting for the help desk response. Select the wireless access point you want to connect to from the list and click 'Connect' to build the connection.
My problem is that there is a security block on the network at my house (which I do not know about) that the ASUS machine can not get around. I have a secured WIFI in my home, but this ASUS computer can not access it. [Three other computers do not have a problem with accessing it and neither do other people visiting with their own laptops or two wireless printers]. Reflective of the customer-be-damned orientation, it is not a toll free number.
Don't bother asking about whose nickle pays for the call. Forty-eight hours after I sent an e-mail, the vendor sent me the elusive telephone number -- which of course is limited to only Monday through Friday, 9:00 PM TO 9:00 PM [Your guess is as good as mine as to the time zone for the ASUS service center]. Since that one time, I have been unable to do so. And no one (the vendor, the manufacturer, the manufacturer's subcontractors or myself) knows how to diagnose or solve the problem.
And lest you think that I have an esoteric off-brand WIFI system, the router is a very generic Netgear from Staples.I want to return the item and go back to a local brick-and-mortar national chain and get a device that is designed to toss into a suitcase so one can merely check e-mail and access the internet while traveling. After a connection has been established, the connection is shown on the list."Please note that the documentation assumes that one will never have a problem establishing a connection since it does not offer any suggestions or diagnostics if (as in my case)the connection lands in a indefinite state of "CONNECTION PENDING." Call the help desk. And I don't think that the software engineer really knew what was the problem or what magical trick finally solved it. The ASUS documentation is limited.
To ASUS' credit (after a lengthy telephone call during which the help desk had to transfer me to a software enginner employed by the operating system provider), I got connected to the WIFI at my house. To obtain this closely held corporate trade secret, I had to contact the vendor. Ensure that the box before 'Enable wireless' is checked."4. No telephone number or on-line help address is provided anywhere.
This was rumored to be sold at Wal Mart, but never was, only online. Again please don't get one and complain that it doesn't perform like a desktop, we're sick of hearing that. The Eee PC or "Tiny Computer" as we like to call it, has been in use now for a couple months. What was its intended purpose. Much better.- The touchpad is pretty awful, the Cloubook's *seems* like a better idea for the form factor.- Only 4GB of HDD (does have the SD though)Overall, its a pretty neat little computer. We started looking for one of these about 4 months ago. Then we started hearing news of others, namely the Everex Cloudbook.
I will instead rate it according to its intended purpose.Pros:- Very small and portable- Usable keyboard- Webcam- Good sound- Upgradable RAM- Pretty standard PC hardware- HCSD Card compatible- Cool Factor / Geek Factor- Great for watching movies on the go.Cons:- The Xandors OS wasn't enough, so we put a full copy of Ubuntu on it. An no i am not going to bash it like the other morons who bought it to replace their 17 Desktop replacement laptop and can't figure out why it doesn't perform the same.
Before I go on, let me start with some background. Now on to the Pros and Cons.
Overall it has been a good computer for its intended purpose. So we finally picked up an Eee PC in an actual store.
If you want a small computer than goes almost anywhere, for email, internet and the occasional movie, buy one of these instead of those lame portable DVD players.*Side Note: Even though they seem to be marketing these to new computer users, they really are an enthusiast's gadget.(There seems to be a HUGE market for these tiny inexpensive laptops, why the hell has no one cornered the market on these and reaped the $$$$$). An inexpensive sub-notebook that you can take anywhere.
There was a lot of talk about different models, but at the time the only model available was the Eee PC.
Real virtue is its weight. Keyboard big enough once you get used to it. I still use the 7 inch most (I also have a 901) because it is lighter, which is the main point of this machine. Pretty, precise, really works. Linux not a handicap.
Everyone who see's it loves it and wants to get one as well.Perfect travel size, Easy to use, Nice internet connection. Boots up in seconds and I have never had any problems getting on-line with it. This is a very simple system to use. This does everything I wanted it to. Need I say more.Down falls are: Does not have a lot of ram so to watch a downloaded movie is not smooth and it is very small so you will not get that 15" in screen for viewing, but again I wanted small so works great for me.Highly Recommended. I use it everyday and everything works like a charm. I wanted something small I could carry with me and travel for internet purposes and this is perfect. I have only used windows before this Netbook but now that I see how this operating systems works I am not sure why all computer do not use it.
It is a good little travel companion, though. I would not reccomend this product be used as a "main" computer as it is really small, and your hand tends to cramp up after typing on it after so long, plus it cannot hold any additional programs except the ones it comes with (unless you want to take the time to install a much larger hard-drive). Other than that, my overall ordering experience was great and I would definitely do business with them again. Well, they had extremely fast shipping. The computer IS exactly what they said it would be in the description.
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