Home > Consumer Reviews > ASUS Eee PC 901 8.9-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 12 GB Solid State Drive, 20 GB Eee Storage, XP Home, 6 Cell Battery) Pearl White

This is a passable travel mate computer for basic functions but not worth 625+ dollars by any strech, you could by a full size fully functional laptop for that with a DVD drive. The track pad is complete garbage and the buttons are stiff as all hell and stick. The performance is very sluggish which for the price should be a hell of alot better. Long boot up times, laggy internet performance espessially watching video's, and alot of pages take a good while to load even with dual band wireless N extreme boost. Netbooks suck.

I purchased the Asus Eee Pc 901 in march of this year. I was so happy when I rec'd this pc. It's so small and cute. It is easy to use and navigate thru their lynux program, however windows is also available on it. There are a few things to get used to. For example, the keyboard is smaller so typing is a bit awkward at first, the shift key is where the enter key normally is so be careful there...the mouse keys are quite stiff and make an audible clicking noise which is different, and lastly the down arrow in the scroll bar is way too close to the minimize icon (I'm sure there's a handy remedy for this, but I'm unaware of it on the lynux system).

Now then, having listed all the differences in store for a consumer looking to convert to this netbook, I must confess the troubles I have had with it... I started noticing issues with this pc a few months after purchasing it. These issues varied from slower performance, inability to load pages, loss of icons, etc. I called their tech support each time I encountered a problem and for some of these issues they were able to help, others they explained away with some excuse, and others still they asked of me to return the laptop for diagnostic testing and repairs. So, in June I spent another $15 and shipped it off to be fixed. For 7 days I had no laptop and heard nothing back from the company about the problems or progress of my laptop. I got it back and assumed that 'no news was good news' about it. For several weeks it seemed to function properly. However, then more issues started cropping up again (some old ones and some new ones). Finally, yesterday, when I could no longer log on to the internet i decided to call tech support again. For about 2 hours they walked me through trouble shooting the issues but to no avail. I was then instructed to , once again, pack it up and ship it back for further repairs. I was pretty frustrated by this point and asked what all my options were in this matter. It was then that I was told a few unsettling things;

#1) IT IS THEIR POLICY NOT TO OFFER REPLACEMENTS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
#2) IT IS THEIR POLICY NOT TO OFFER REFUNDS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
#3) IT IS THEIR POLICY TO NOT GIVE OUT THE NAME OF THEIR SUPERVISOR.
#4) THEIR SUPERVISORS ARE ALWAYS IN A MEETING/WITH ANOTHER CUSTOMER.
#5) IT IS THEIR POLICY NOT TO GIVE OUT THE NAMES OF ANYONE IN THEIR COMPANY (I.E. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS THAT LETTER OF COMPLAINT---USE "CUSTOMER SERVICE REP" AND SEE HOW FAR THAT GETS YOU :)

So now then, having shared all of this useful info with you, there's one more important fact I'd like to disclose to make you a more educated consumer; there are over 100 complaints filed against Asus with the BBB. I truley believe I bought a 'lemon' and am now stuck with it. However, I hope this helps someone who is still undecided about purchasing an Asus product think twice as I have no recourse with this company for my problem pc.

I got my Asus eeepc 901 (linux) a couple of months ago through Amazon (for $279!), so I've had plenty of time to use it. And I find that I like it more everyday. I have had several regular laptops including a few pc's as well as a few macs. I can't imagine ever wanting one of those heavy monsters again. This little Asus weighs about 2.5 lbs and that makes it so easy to carry around. But it's more than that. The 901 is just a really well judged piece of equipment. It does everything the average person would want, and doesn't burden you with stuff that only a tech specialist would need. I use mine to surf and email, but also to write and store photo files. I wouldn't do a lot of photo editing on this machine (the screen is kind of small for that), but you can do some.

I chose the linux version because of the bigger ssd, and because I thought linux might be a little more secure than windows. Linux is certainly no harder to use than windows. In some ways it is much simpler! My wife has windows xp on her netbook, so I get to compare them everyday, and I much prefer linux, even though this is the first machine I have ever had with linux.

Some people have complained about the keyboard for typing, and especially the placement of the right shift key. It is true that it takes a little getting used to where that key is, and the keyboard is noticeably smaller and can feel a little cramped for a touch typist. But you get used to that pretty quickly, especially if you are a "typer" like me. More importantly, the feel of the keys is really good, not too stiff, not too soft--other netbooks have not always gotten the feel right.

Other people have complained about the touchpad and recommend adding a mouse. This is certainly easy to do. But I wouldn't bother. The feel of the touchpad (how sensitive it is to your movements) is completely adjustable. And the touchpad allows you to do things the mouse can't, like double-tapping (instead of clicking), and scrolling by sliding two fingers across the pad, etc.

The 901 is a very nice machine just as it comes out of the box. But another huge plus is just how easy it is to make minor, or major, modifications to the hardware. The back panel is quite large and comes off with two screws allowing you to access most of the gutrs of the machine easily. A ram expansion (2gb is the max) is really easy, though not absolutely necessary. I put in a 2gb chip just to make sure that I did not feel cramped, but it is not clear that it mattered. But those chips are so cheap now that there is hardly any reason not to.

I also changed the 16gb hard drive for a faster one at 32gb. This wasn't really necessary, but it has improved the speed a bit, and it was absurdly easy--no more difficult than changing the ram chip. You don't really need the extra storage--the sdhc slots work just fine and allow for all the extra storage you will ever need.

Now I am NOT a tech savvy person, but I was able to do all this without any terrifying interludes--it is that easy. It's sort of a side benefit of the 901 that it gives you the courage to figure stuff like this out. Since I've owned this machine, I have actually learned quite a bit not only about the hardware, but also about the operating system, which is also easier than I expected.

There is one glitch with the eeepc's. The flash video seems a little slow--that's what you use to watch videos through your browser. Watching videos on hulu or youtube is okay as long as you don't make them fullscreen. But at fullscreen they seem to be a bit jerky. From what I have been able to determine, this is because of a bug in the intel driver for the the graphics card. There are various software patches being worked on by linux developers for this bug as I write, and it will probably be history in a few weeks or months.

One last thing: the 901 linux comes with a decent package from Asus, the Xandros distribution of linux, that works nicely on the 901. But I have already tried out several other linux distributions designed for netbooks. It's really easy to change the operating system, as long as you remember to backup your data. Right now, the one I like the best is eeebuntu. It is specifically designed for Asus eeepc's, and works really well with 901.

All in all, the 901 is an incredible buy at $279 (I'd pass at $625). It has made me a much more savvy computer user. I gather that Asus may be phasing them out, so I'm a little worried about where I'll get my next one. Maybe this one will just last forever!

I've had my Eee 901 for about a month now, and still love it. It meets and exceeds my needs and expectations. I had read comments about the keyboard being too small, and I have found that to be true. But I think thats just the nature of the beast. I do sometimes hit a wrong key, and loose the cursor on the screen. I think sometimes as I type my thumb barely touches the thumb pad, and the cursor jumps to somewhere else, so I have to watch for that. Battery life is excellent. It packs small when I take it on my motorcycle. It always finds a wi-fi and connects fast and easy. I'm very computer illiterate, and the Eee is user friendly, and patient with me.

I have owned this guy for almost two months now, and continue to be quite impressed by it. It should be noted that I upgraded mine with a 2GB memory stick, and a Super Talent SSD drive. Together these were about $75 and took about 10 minutes to install.

When I purchased this, my main concern was the screen. I should not have worried. The small screen is very bright and clear, and I find that I have enough room for web browsing and email (the primary tasks of a computer like this).

What I didn't anticipate was the keyboard. It is too small, and some of the keys are frustratingly placed. I switch between three or four computers during the course of a day (main work computer, main home computer, laptop at home, and this guy for when I'm commuting) so I can't 'get used' to the keyboard layout. I am constantly hitting the up-arrow key instead of shift, which is very frustrating. As well, I find that I have to pay attention a lot more to which keys I'm hitting because they are so small and close together. I actually find it almost easier to type emails on my blackberry than to write more than a sentence or two on this guy.

Having said that, a friend of mine tried it out (she claims to have small hands) and said that it was a perfect size - so your mileage may vary.

Overall, I am very pleased with this computer. It is so much smaller and lighter than my previous laptop that I often have to double-check my bag to make sure that I have it in there as I leave for work in the morning.