Originally Posted by
LitePacking
What would be the best buy for a long touring computer PC with full keyboard in 2008? Most important to me is writing, internet, weight, access to free internet sones, storage for pictures and shock resistant.
The HP is more powerful as far i can see but its also needs more space and the weight is heavier than Asus. It might has to be a very individual choice. Just wants opinions.. If extreme weight weenies would choose they choose Asus, if tech people choose they choose HP i guess. But will both could work it out on very very long tours?
http://eeepc.asus.com/global/
or
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9912854-7.html
AFAIK the Asus series have a more powerfull processor than the HP VIA CPU. The HP has some nice features, but Asus eee pc (both the 700 and 900 series) are mature products with a large community that can give you excellent support
http://www.eeeuser.com/. I don't think there is anything regarding the HP that compares to that level of community support the eee pc has. It probably reflects the low numbers of HP 2131 sold.
The Asus eee pc 700 4G would be an excellent choice since it is both cheap, light and small. It doesn't have that much free storage since it uses a SSD instead of a hard disc drive. SSD's are solid storage which is extremely shock proof but rather expensive. It has a card reader, so it will be easy to unload pictures to either SDHC cards or a USB storage device.
The keyboard isn't full size but quite usable. Don't expect long battery running times on any of the cheap mini notebooks. There do exist large capacity aftermarket batteries for the eee pc, but they will add extra weight and take longer to recharge. The biggest drawback to the cheap eee pc 700 for your needs are the small screen. If you tweak Openoffice writer and Firefox this can be mitigated somewhat. The eee pc 900 series has a larger screen, but also costs more. No matter what, there will always be some compromises and only you can decide what is right for you.
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Regards