Eee PC 1000H

I get asked quite frequently what machine would I suggest someone get for themselves or often a loved one. I am always torn because if they had the cash i would always recommend a mac. they are easy to learn to use and do almost anything a Windows box can do. Everything if you’re willing to run windows on your mac inside vmware or parralells.

But what do I tell them if they don’t have $1000 burning a hole in their pocket?  in the past i just kind of hem hawed and said I don’t know if you don’t want a Mac.  But what about using their existing PC if it is less than 5 years old with a copy of Ubuntu Linux. Or if they want a small light weight laptop they could get what I just got for around $325, an ASUS Eee PC 1000H.

So I got it on Saturday of last week, and it did take me a bit of effort to get Ubuntu on it just the way I wanted and some of you may say, “Your a computer guy I could never do that” and perhaps your right.  the unit does come with XP home edition if you just can’t stand the idea of a little research, or asking a friend.  But in my case I found that if you have access to a windows pc that can get to the web, a 1 GB USB thumb drive, and a little patience you can have a Netbook just like mine.  I’ll post helpfull links at the bottom shortly. Continue reading →