Asus eee: which is better, 2G or 4G?

[LS650]

I'm very interested in buying an Asus 'eee' laptop and I notice that a few Puppy-ers have them. I've read a few reviews on the web, but I'd really like to see an in-depth, candid report, not just some glossy mag blurbs.

In particular, I'm thinking of getting a 2G Surf as a second laptop. (I currently have a Compaq Presario X1000 that weighs about 7 pounds plus cables, etc, and really should be called a luggable rather than a laptop.)

With the 2G, after the standard OS and apps are loaded, how much usable memory is left? And is the 2G delivered with OpenOffice? (I really need the ability to work on MS docs brought home from my office.)

I could spring the extra $50 for the 4G, but since I already have the Compaq, it's a bit hard to justify even the $300 for the 2G, except as a playtoy...

[LS650]

Ouch - I just answered my own question:
http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=3191&p=3

It looks like the 2G has only 369 MB of drive space free after loading Xandros into memory. Guess I'll be getting a 4G instead....

[dvw86]

I'm using a 4G with a 4G SD card. This works out well for my needs.

[LS650]

So let me ask you this then: if I bought a cheap memory card, such as SD, when I start up the 2G with that plugged in, does the eee recognize it as a separate mounted volume?

Do you have to boot up and get to the desktop to deliberately mount the volume?

Can large data files, such as MP4s, be opened easily from the separate volume?

[dvw86]

So let me ask you this then: if I bought a cheap memory card, such as SD, when I start up the 2G with that plugged in, does the eee recognize it as a separate mounted volume?

Yes, both Puppy and the default Linux see the SD card as a seperate volume.

Do you have to boot up and get to the desktop to deliberately mount the volume?

Basically, yes. The default OS will ask you after it is done booting up what to do with the SD card. By default in Puppy, you have to manually mount it. However, you can edit Puppy's start-up script to mount it automatically at boot.

Can large data files, such as MP4s, be opened easily from the separate volume?

Yep, I keep all my pictures and videos on the SD card.

[LS650]

Thanks for the answers! It's really very informative...

So let me ask you a couple more questions, if you don't mind. When you boot up Puppy, do you plug in a USB pen drive and tell the BIOS to start up with that instead of the internal 'drive'?

When you boot up with Puppy, how much of the 4G's 'drive' space is available to you?

I ask because from what I've read, if you boot with the included Xandros Linux, it hogs about 1600 MB (!) leaving the user with a measly 400 MB of internal drive space to work with. I find Puppy 3.01 works great and does everything I want, so I'm wondering if a 2G booting Puppy instead of Xandros will be good for me...

[dvw86]

When you boot up Puppy, do you plug in a USB pen drive and tell the BIOS to start up with that instead of the internal 'drive'?

I have done so. At first that is how I was running both Puppy and Xandros, but now I have both Puppy and Xandros on the internal drive. See my previous post.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=25243

When you boot up with Puppy, how much of the 4G's 'drive' space is available to you?

The internal drive is partioned into 4 volumes, but you have about 900MB on the main partion.

I find Puppy 3.01 works great and does everything I want, so I'm wondering if a 2G booting Puppy instead of Xandros will be good for me...

2G would be okay if you took off Xandros and used an SD card for extra storage. I would get the 4G model though if you wanted to keep the Xandos and run Puppy as well.

[LS650]

Thanks for the advice! After reading comments here and on eeeusers.com forums, I decided to buy a 2G Surf - in lush green! The other models either looked too boring - or too "Fisher-Price"! The green looks kind of funky but in a good way.

http://www.thesourcecc.com/estore/produ ... ct=2515945



I ordered it over the Internet, but shipping is free because I can pick it up in-store from an outlet just a 10 minute walk from my house. Delivery is supposed to be by next week....

Oh boy!

[raffy]

That will be cool to have, a laptop with color.

Puppy can use the eee even if it comes with no internal SSD, as eee's USB access is fast. The SD card functions as another "HD" and can be set as the first boot drive by pressing F2 at boot time. As long as the SD card is kept in the eee, it remains as the first boot drive.

[mikeinrichmond]

I have the 2G in black and when I was using the default OS I was disappointed with the amount of SSD space. Now using Pupeee (Puppy 3.01 for the EEE) I have LOTS more space free. I just hope Asus will keep offering the basic 2G model because its a great machine and cheaper than an ipod!

Here's what I did in Pupeee b4 with the help of EZpup:

[Lobster]

The green Asus looks great. I have the black - but I feel the white would be better when using in low light conditions.
The sound is good and for Xandros, Dingo and Pupeee
I have created a bit of online Buddhist relaxation . . .
http://tmxxine.com/wik/wikka.php?wakka= ... editations

I can use the ethernet with Pupeee (not with Dingo) but have only managed wifi with Xandros thus far. The keyhboard is small
and I may add a USB keyboard.

I found Dingo a lot faster (seemed about x3 - but that is subjective)
than Xandros - Xandros is intuitive - it's great IMHO