A great little netbook IF you're honest about what you need it for (Asus Eee PC 8G)

Member Name: AnnieeR

Product:	Asus Eee PC 8G
Date:	29/08/09 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fast, easy to use, nice looking, very small and lightweight

Disadvantages: Takes a bit of time to get used to the size of the keyboard and screen, battery life is awful

I've had the Eee PC for about a month now and I absolutely love it. I think you need to be very clear about what you're buying a netbook for and honest with yourself about how you'll use it. It was clear in my mind that I wanted it for two purposes: to be able to get online at home when my husband is on the main computer, and to be able to travel with it and use it outside without lugging around some great heavy thing. It has satisfied both requirements completely.

First of all, superficially, it is amazingly compact - it fits in my handbag and doesn't weigh much at all. It feels nice and is finished well - it doesn't look cheap.

It does take quite a lot of getting used to because of its size. The keyboard is very small and it's taken me a while to adapt my typing (I touch type but find that with certain keys I need to look at the keyboard and be slightly more aware of my fingers). The screen is also very small (which is to be expected!) and it takes a bit of time to get used to not seeing the entire screen. But having used it quite a bit I now feel quite quick and I don't find it hampering. I will say this though: my husband hates it. Maybe it's because he has bigger hands or maybe he just hasn't had the patience to play with it and get used to the screen, but it doesn't work for him.

I probably won't use it for much more than getting online and maybe doing a bit of writing (mine came installed with Microsoft Works which isn't great, but it's not a computer that you would ever want to do a lot of word processing, power point, etc. with so it serves it's purpose). I find the wireless connection to be good and had no problem getting it signed on to our home network.

The one real negative is the battery life - it's TERRIBLE. I've never timed it, but I would imagine that it doesn't last more than a couple of hours at a stretch before needing a charge, which is a bit of a pain if you're using it outside or somewhere away from home without any plug sockets.

Summary: Perfect if you truly only need it for internet use and maybe a bit of writing

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