This is the exact same netbook as the ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU17-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook (Up to 14 Hours of Battery Life). The only difference is the cover, which is a matte black slightly rubbery material. There is a slight price premium, but I believe it is worth it as it attracts no finger prints and it appears it would scratch less. The inside, however is still the same glossy plastic as the other models.
Impressions So Far:
Very good tiny computer. Easy to use. Using the specs below, the following run fine: HULU 360p videos (slight stutter depending on computer load and connection speed), Open Office, 700~MB (avi) files, etc. High Def movie files 720p or greater stutter and can't be played. 480p Hulu videos will play, but it will be choppy. Computer stays cool. Contrast appears washed out if not viewed from a limited angle range. Keyboard and track pad are both very easy to use. 8.5 hours of battery under full load. It is an excellent netbook, but I gave it four stars because I feel the viewing angles could've been better and I wish the overclock setting on super performance mode was a little higher. You can overclock even more using third party software, and it will improve video playback, but it's a hassle. Don't expect the same processing power as a larger laptop or desktop and you will definitely not be disappointed.
Useful Information:
There are pages of reviews covering most of the technical aspects of this machine, so I will focus on what was the most difficult information for me to find on my own once I decided to purchase. I realize that many of you may not be technically savvy, so I will try to be detailed as possible.
What to Purchase
ASUS 1005PE-PU27 (Obviously)
Kingston ValueRAM 2 GB 800MHz DDR2 CL5 SODIMM Notebook Memory KVR800D2S5/2G (Optional)
Transcend 4 GB Class 6 SDHC Flash Memory Card TS4GSDHC6E [Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging] (Optional)
What to Do Once You Receive
1) Insert battery. Charge for 8 hours. Most people say Li-Ion batteries do not require conditioning. This is probably true, but the manual explicitly states to do this. Conditioning means that you will charge the battery to capacity and run it empty a few times. At best this will give the maximum amount of battery charge over the life of the battery. At worst, you won't be able to play with your new netbook for 8 hours.
Running the battery to 0% once in a while will also help maintain the accuracy of the battery meter. Remember this computer will auto shut off once at about 10%. Turn it back on and use until 0%.
2) Once fully charged, turn the computer on and follow the instructions. It is very straight forward. Select language, time, etc. This will take a few minutes as it finishes installing everything. Be patient.
3) Once you get to your desktop you can proceed to remove bloatware. What is bloatware? The extra programs delivered with the computer that at best take up space, and at worst, slows down your computer. Go to the "start menu" (little windows icon on lower left) and select "control panel". Under "programs" click the link that says "uninstall a program". This will bring up a list of all the programs you have installed on your computer.
This is all optional and may be harmful to your computer if done incorrectly. Please proceed with caution. Highlight the program you would like to remove and click on the "uninstall/remove" button on the top bar. Click yes to any menu. Each uninstall will take a few minutes. I removed the Trend Micro Antivirus, anything that says Microsoft Office (like 6 items), and the Chicken game and game client. These are all trialware and not very good. I will tell you what to use instead later.
*Next Steps require internet connection*
4) Go to your Asus docking menu. It's the menu on the top of the screen. Go to "Eee Tools" (last one) and click. Choose Live Update. Update whatever files it tells you to (it was just Vibe for me).
5) Update your Bios. You would think it would be part of Asus Live Update but it's not. Go to your "start menu". Click on "All Programs". Click on the "Asus" folder. Choose the "AsusUpdate for Eee PC" folder and click on the "ASUSUpdate" icon. A gold and silver menu will appear. Choose update through internet and follow the directions. Choose the latest Bios version and update. Simple.
6) If you are upgrading your RAM do so at this point. There are a lot of people complaining about RAM upgrading issues. Follow these instructions and you will be ok. Purchase the RAM mentioned above. It works and Amazon sells it. Why do the Crucial ones have so many problems? It could be they are CL6 and you need a CL5. It could be the older BIOS. It could be a lot of other things. Just buy the Kingston 2GB 800MHZ DDR2 CL5. Why risk the headache? It ships free from Amazon and it's about the same price.
Restart your computer. As soon as it turns on, click on F2 a couple times. You will get into the "BIOS SETUP UTILITY". Use your arrow keys to go right until you reach the "Boot" menu. Press down until you reach "Boot Booster". Press enter. Choose "Disabled" and enter. Click right to "Exit" menu. Choose "Exit & Save Changes".
Turn off your computer.
Turn it over. Use a phillips head screw driver to unscrew the small rectangular cover on the bottom. Remove the cover. You will see the RAM module with two metal clips on each side. Make sure you have no static charge on your hands. Use your thumbs to gently push the clips outwards to the side. Use your other finger to gently lift the top of the module up towards you. It should pop up so the module is now at a 45 degree angle. Pull the module out carefully. Take the new 2GB module and insert it in the same angle making sure its fully in. Don't push too hard. Just make sure its in. Then gently push the module down flat. The clips will fall into place automatically. Replace cover and screw.
Turn on the computer and get into the "BIOS SETUP UTILITY" again pressing the F2 key. "Enable" Boot Booster using the same steps as above. Start the computer as usual. You are done. RAM recognized. No shutdown errors corded or battery. Yay.
7) ReadyBoost (Optional) - ReadyBoost is a nifty little feature on Windows Vista and 7 that let's you use a solid state device like flash drives or sd cards to cache data instead of using your hard drive. Basically it may make your computer faster. 4GB is the most you can allocate, so anymore than this and you will use the rest of the space as extra storage. The ASUS comes with a little slot for SDHC cards so that is what I used.
Insert the SDHC card. Click on the "Computer" icon on your desktop. Right click on the storage drive. Should be "Removable Disk E:". Choose "format". "FAT 32" "Quick Format" "Start".
Right click again on the "Removable Disk E:" and choose "Properties" (last one). You should see a series of tabs on the top. Choose "ReadyBoost" "Dedicate the device to ReadyBoost". "OK" Done.
If you ever want to not use the SD card for ReadyBoost, then go to the "ReadyBoost" tab and click on the "Do not use this device" option.
8. How to change your wallpaper. Windows 7 Starter doesn't let you. But it doesn't mean you can't. Go to your ASUS Docking Menu again. The one on top. Choose "Eee Tools" and then select "System Setting". It will bring you to a wallpaper options page. You can select one image or a slide show.
You don't have a "System Setting" option? Don't panic. Apparently some computers do not come with this function installed. Do not install third party wallpaper managers. I don't think I can post links, but here [...]. Run this and it will put the System Setting option in your dock. If the link didn't post, you can find it on the ASUS website. It's called SystemSetting_Setup-1_1_0_8.zip under Utilities. Enjoy!
9. What programs should you replace the Microsoft Office and Trend Micro Anti Virus with? I chose Open Office. It's free and it does everything MS Office does. Google it. For antivirus, Microsoft offers a free one that is actually very good. It's called Microsoft Security Essentials. You can search for it too.
Another free program I like to use is Picassa. It's a photo viewing and editing tool made by Google.
If you like to watch movies and such the following is really important. Search for and install K-Lite Codec Pack. It basically puts in all the various video codecs so you can play most video and audio files.
Finally, I installed Fire Fox as my default browser. I feel IE is very slow.
10. You can now run windows update and update everything you need to. If you still see MS Office updates, that means you didn't delete all the Office programs.
11. Finally, ASUS comes with the hard drive in two partitions. This means instead of having one 250GB hard drive you have one C: boot drive (100GB) and one partitioned D: drive (120~GB). If you're fine with this then ok. Leave it alone. If you want to make it into one drive read on.
The following may be dangerous. Don't do it if you don't want to risk reinstalling everything from disk.
DON'T USE any third party programs like Partition Wizard. Windows 7 has its own tool.
Go to "Control Panel" > "System and Security" > "Administrative Tools" > "Create and format hard disk partitions"
Click on your "(D:)" drive and select the "X" (delete) on top. You now have one C: 100GB drive. Don't panic. *Make sure you don't have any data on D: first*
Click on your "(C:)" drive. Right click and choose "Extend Volume". It will bring you to another menu telling you the amount you can expand. Just press OK. You should now have one drive C: with 222.87GB.
12. OK that's it for now. I hope this helps any of you. If you find any mistakes or suggestions, I will edit. Thanks.
One last thing. Probably most of you know this, but just in case. The F keys have different functions such brightening or dimming your screen, controlling volume, etc. To use these you must press a Fn key in addition to the above. The Fn keys are located on either side of the keyboard.
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