The Inaugural Launch of ASUS Eee PC in Malaysia
November 16th, 2007 | This article was viewed 2,673 times so far...
Wow, 2 events in 1 week. 
It’s normal for the media / publication houses but it certainly is something fresh for a blogger. 
Today I attended the The Inaugural Launch of ASUS Eee PC, it was held at Shook! Lounge at Starhill Gallery.
Nicely decorated stage eh? Nothing there yet….
While waiting for registration, I took the liberty of walking around the area and get a few shots of the Eee PC.
A little after 11am, the launch began.
We have speeches and talk from the key people from ASUS and even Intel. And also a little slide show.
After that, we have models showing the Eee PC - I believe the models and the kids got more attention than the Eee PC. One of the kid nearly dropped the Eee PC and the crowd went “ZOMG!!!” but *phew* it was close. Careful kid!
After that, the launch ended with some photo opportunities and waiters going around serving us nice titbits.
I haven’t got the chance to pit the fullness of my curiosity against the Eee PC yet and neither did I order the Eee PC. I did get to fiddle around with it for a while and I find that this tiny laptop is definitely a hot buy for Christmas / Year End gift! (Anyone buying one for me? Can I has Eee PC plis? 
)
The Eee PC runs Linux. Oh yeah well the word strikes fear in most of you readers perhaps, the fear of having not touched anything to do with that penguin before. Seriously, don’t fear. The interface and applications available are more easy to access and more user friendly than Windows XP and Windows Vista. The icons were HUGE!
The screen resolution was small as well, 800×480 on a 7″ LCD.
The only thing now is I don’t know what kind of Linux does it run, so I don’t know if I should be using RPM or DEB. I’ve also heard that you could install Mac OS X (Tiger of course!) on the Eee PC. Justin Koh got his Eee PC today so let’s see whether he’s got any updates for us later on.
Oh another thing about the Eee PC is the weird sounding name. It’s like “EEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee”, an expression of disgust or something. Forfunately no one drags the EEE when calling it. Just say it like “EPC”.
November 16th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
it supposely runs on a modified version of xandros linux
November 16th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
Ahh thank you for mentioning. Now I remembered one guy I met mentioned that,
Anyway here’s an interesting link I found for Eee PC users.
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewforum.php?id=10
November 17th, 2007 at 12:17 am
Seeing you twice in a week! It will be getting more often I suppose..hehe….and thanks for linking to my blog *checks blog traffic to see if it is increasing*
anyway, i had a minor problem with my eee pc (goldfries i’m sure u know, was ranting at LYN forums)…but it’s all fine now….
I installed windows XP pro on mine and it ran fine…remaining disk space after XP installation and driver installation, 1.6GB :(…so i decided to uninstall xp and restore it to linux…hehe…
I’ll post a mini review in my blog soon…..why a mini review? coz the main review will be for the magazine i am working for….haha…..
anyway, it was nice meeting you again…
the link to install Mac OS X leopard on Eee PC
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/11/15/os-x-on-an-asus-eee-pc/
really tempted….but not familiar to linux….maybe later…when i’m free….heheh….
November 17th, 2007 at 9:58 am
Yeah. well do give give us more details soon.
I’m still waiting for a review sample. 
November 17th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
I’ve own a mini laptop called “Classmate PC” just like this, which is developed to address gaps in education found by Intel’s extensive ethnographic research. Classmate PC runs WinXP SP2 tho.
November 18th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
What’s the specs? What brand is it?
November 19th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
Hey there,
Nice review about the launch!
Any ideas of where can I obtain it, especially the 2G version?
November 19th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Try the shop MTCS at Pavillion in KL.
November 19th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
The brand is “Classmate PC” itself. Specifications :
- Intel Mobile Processor ULV 900MHz, 400 MHz FSB
- Intel 915GMS + ICH 6-M
- DDR2 512MB SO-DIMM
- 7” 800×480, LVDS Interface, LED B/L
- 1.9 GB Storage
November 20th, 2007 at 10:30 am
goldfries: Man! I went to Pavillion 2 times already, and I missed that shop! Guess that I have to see it again one more time!
Kyoshiro: Where did you get the Classmate PC? How did you obtain it anyway?
November 20th, 2007 at 11:09 am
@Kyoshiro - interesting, that’s pretty similarly spec-ed with the Eee PC.
@The_YongGrand - I also have no idea where the shop is, been to Pavillion only once. I can however get you the contact for that shop if you want. You know where to find me.
November 20th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Well actually, the laptop is a “Hak Milik Kerajaan” where is they provide these laptop to some schools that needed. Luckily, got balance one and my dad works with them, so bought back home 1. Haha
November 20th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
That’s a lovely notebook, but EEEPc are sold at least Rm1,499 I think. Still, when’s the 2GB versions are out?
And mr.fries, any contact for that shop? I’m a little bit curious now. Uh… and where are you anyway, since you said “you know where to find me”… :haha:
November 20th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
MCTS is next to harvey norman…cant remember what floor though…
Eee PC selling for RM1299….
i dont know if there are any units left or not……heheh.
November 22nd, 2007 at 8:30 pm
bro i saw there is a 8GB model for the Eee PC..how much for that model?
November 23rd, 2007 at 11:42 pm
Might be worth noting that the Eee notebook *will* run Windows XP also…
http://www.wxpnews.com/archives/wxpnews-304-20071120.htm
November 24th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
@justin : nice info!
@shinjun : i have no idea on the pricing yet.
@Rob O. - i definitely runs Windows XP, i used it today with Windows XP on it.
A friend of mine had Windows XP installed on his Eee PC and it was responsive. of course he upgraded his RAM to 1GB.
November 25th, 2007 at 7:10 am
Ah… love the 2GB version if it’s priced around RM799…
but too bad the RAM is fixed inside and nothing much to upgrade besides the Solid-state storage (just use thumbdrive!)
Hmn… will see about winxp, but is it stripped down winxp?
November 25th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
not a stripped down one…
i have mine running on windows xp for a few days…then i changed it back to linux…coz too bored with xp.haha………wanna try linux a bit more
June 15th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Ok - I’ve seen the EEEPc 701 in one of the shopping stores, and I tried it already. Not bad I should say! It’s probably the lightest and the easiest thing to handle.
But the keyboard is small - I typed the sentence quickly “The quick fox jumped over the brown lazy fox” a few times and fumbled on it in the 1st few sentences. After the remaining one, I managed to adjust my fingers properly on the keyboard.
The keys are probably too small for people who have larger hands, but fortunately, I have quite slender fingers so it will be easier for me. Screen? 7″ is wee bit too small - but I can still see stuff on it pretty well. No complaints for this notebook - and in fact, I enjoyed using it!
The Linux operating system inside is quite easy to use and quite flexible. However, I’ll be deploying XP inside there.
Will purchase that thing maybe next week. I hope it doesn’t get extinct too soon!
June 17th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
It’s user friendly. I personally think it’s good for kids and also for mobile computing if you’re not too tied to Windows or Mac OS.
for me, I have to think of 101 other (concrete) reasons just to get EEE PC since my mobile computing devices are already settled.
the nice part is that it uses SSD while on the other hand, being SSD - the space is really limited.
June 18th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Hey Mr. Fries!
Yes - it’s really user friendly, as even the Linux is doing the job well for those who have been growing up with Windows environment all the time. However, I’ll be deploying Windows XP there, since I’m already used to it!
I have finally purchased the EEEPc from LYP and I haven’t get to check it out because I have many college stuff to do. Will be playing around with this nifty little thing on this Friday!
Well, this EEEPc will be worth every cent if you really want an ultra-mobile laptop without blowing a hole in your pocket! If you can, get the 701 before it is being displaced by the newer 901 models which are even more expensive!
To tell you the truth, I already have an old VAIO (PCG-FR700) given by my cousin, but it’s too damn heavy to be dragged to the college every day. That EEEPc will be simplifying many of my note-taking tasks and quick net surf!
And again, I have to remind those people who want to purchase the EEEPc: This notebook is NOT a permenant replacement for another notebook you have. Don’t just ditch your new C2D laptop because the EEEPc is smaller! That EEEPc will help you in some other way, but it doesn’t help you to do something that your other full-sized laptop can do!
P.S: I don’t think even the kids (or even youngsters) want that laptop so much - they rather go for something where they can pop a DVD in, or the name Centrino, or can play uber graphics games on it… well, that’s what I hear from my pa when his relatives from America told that those kids there want always a faster notebook! And, one of my friends got annoyed by the fact that it couldn’t run Vista that well! LOL!
Wth, I don’t care about Vista or Centrino or whatever. That’s the simplest notebook for me. Just think of Nokia 1112 or any cheap simplistic handphone in the market that can do the job for you!
June 21st, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Yup, I held it and it was really like as you said. Look at my pictures, even those kids have no problem holding it, in fact it looked like a toy!
I think it’s a great mobile entertainment unit.
June 21st, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Ah, yeah, it could be a good mobile entertainment unit as well. I’m typing this comment from the EEEPc and I have successfully deployed XP inside it. Not bad, but it certainly need some tweaks.
Also, the keyboard can get very warm at long usage. You might need a cooler pad for more comfortable typing.