Leopard on Eee PC

[merouby]

I don't get what the huge buzz is about...The Eee PC is a piece of junk. The only good thing is its tiny size but then again I'd much rather prefer a sub-notebook laptop over the Eee any day.

 

I would wholeheartly disagree. If you're comparing it to a full-fledged laptop or a desktop PC in terms of power then yes.

 

However, it is not trying to be any of those devices.

 

Instead, it's a full-fledged subnotebook that works with a variety of OS' in the smallest usable physical space possible. (Yes, there are smaller but not as usable).

 

Mine is running Tiger off a 16GB SDHC card w/ Power Mgmt, Internet access, sound and is quite usable at doing what I need to do on the Mac. It has satisified my craving for a Macbook, which is suprising, given the price of the EEE PC.

 

To compare the EEE PC to a laptop or PC, is like comparing the Smart car to a standard saloon or sportscar. It's a moot exersize. Rather, compare the Smart Car to a 4-wheeled scooter and compare the EEE PC to a PDA (a la Psion 5 or Windows CE keyboarded machines of yore). Then you'll be loving it.

 

I run WinXP off the SSD main drive and when I'm bored, run a Nintendo 64 emulator and play games using a Xbox 360 wired controller (which all fits nicely in my laptop case thanks to the small dimensions). Plus I get to use WinXP @ 800x600 using a screen hack, and when I need the extra performance, I overclock the thing to 900Mhz (eg handling of watching DVD movies off solid state).

 

It's also my "portable" MP3 and video player. With my Hauweii modem, I can connect to the internet anywhere without clutter.

 

The great thing, like an iPod nano is that it has no movable parts (short of the CPU fan), which makes it light, better on batt life, and quick to boot into the OS. I like to think of it as a GPX2 with a bigger screen & a keyboard.

 

What's there not to like??

[Lostgame]

^

 

All valid points, but compared to any modern hardware, it's still a piece of {censored}

[glassJAw]

I would wholeheartly disagree. If you're comparing it to a full-fledged laptop or a desktop PC in terms of power then yes.

 

However, it is not trying to be any of those devices.

 

Instead, it's a full-fledged subnotebook that works with a variety of OS' in the smallest usable physical space possible. (Yes, there are smaller but not as usable).

 

Mine is running Tiger off a 16GB SDHC card w/ Power Mgmt, Internet access, sound and is quite usable at doing what I need to do on the Mac. It has satisified my craving for a Macbook, which is suprising, given the price of the EEE PC.

 

To compare the EEE PC to a laptop or PC, is like comparing the Smart car to a standard saloon or sportscar. It's a moot exersize. Rather, compare the Smart Car to a 4-wheeled scooter and compare the EEE PC to a PDA (a la Psion 5 or Windows CE keyboarded machines of yore). Then you'll be loving it.

 

I run WinXP off the SSD main drive and when I'm bored, run a Nintendo 64 emulator and play games using a Xbox 360 wired controller (which all fits nicely in my laptop case thanks to the small dimensions). Plus I get to use WinXP @ 800x600 using a screen hack, and when I need the extra performance, I overclock the thing to 900Mhz (eg handling of watching DVD movies off solid state).

 

It's also my "portable" MP3 and video player. With my Hauweii modem, I can connect to the internet anywhere without clutter.

 

The great thing, like an iPod nano is that it has no movable parts (short of the CPU fan), which makes it light, better on batt life, and quick to boot into the OS. I like to think of it as a GPX2 with a bigger screen & a keyboard.

 

What's there not to like??

 

Are you running OS X natively? How hard was it to install it? What did you need to get it to work?

[~pcwiz]

I would wholeheartly disagree. If you're comparing it to a full-fledged laptop or a desktop PC in terms of power then yes.

 

However, it is not trying to be any of those devices.

 

Instead, it's a full-fledged subnotebook that works with a variety of OS' in the smallest usable physical space possible. (Yes, there are smaller but not as usable).

 

Mine is running Tiger off a 16GB SDHC card w/ Power Mgmt, Internet access, sound and is quite usable at doing what I need to do on the Mac. It has satisified my craving for a Macbook, which is suprising, given the price of the EEE PC.

 

To compare the EEE PC to a laptop or PC, is like comparing the Smart car to a standard saloon or sportscar. It's a moot exersize. Rather, compare the Smart Car to a 4-wheeled scooter and compare the EEE PC to a PDA (a la Psion 5 or Windows CE keyboarded machines of yore). Then you'll be loving it.

 

I run WinXP off the SSD main drive and when I'm bored, run a Nintendo 64 emulator and play games using a Xbox 360 wired controller (which all fits nicely in my laptop case thanks to the small dimensions). Plus I get to use WinXP @ 800x600 using a screen hack, and when I need the extra performance, I overclock the thing to 900Mhz (eg handling of watching DVD movies off solid state).

 

It's also my "portable" MP3 and video player. With my Hauweii modem, I can connect to the internet anywhere without clutter.

 

The great thing, like an iPod nano is that it has no movable parts (short of the CPU fan), which makes it light, better on batt life, and quick to boot into the OS. I like to think of it as a GPX2 with a bigger screen & a keyboard.

 

What's there not to like??

 

Hmm...maybe I mis-judged its capabilities a bit. That thing actually has enough power to run an N64 emulator? My 500MHz G3 ran an N64 Emulator and although it worked, it was kinda glitchy, but very usable. I actually am craving an Eee PC right now. Oh the portability...bliss. EDIT: You could buy a Mac Mini with much better performance for little more than an Eee...the best thing about the Eee is its portability and I guess it has decent power in comparison with its size.

[merouby]

Hmm...maybe I mis-judged its capabilities a bit. That thing actually has enough power to run an N64 emulator? My 500MHz G3 ran an N64 Emulator and although it worked, it was kinda glitchy, but very usable. I actually am craving an Eee PC right now. Oh the portability...bliss. EDIT: You could buy a Mac Mini with much better performance for little more than an Eee...the best thing about the Eee is its portability and I guess it has decent power in comparison with its size.

 

I guess you did. Here's a video of the eeePC running Halo & Unreal Tournement

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCUm9z0jKGU

 

Here's are vids running FarCry, Hellgate:London, OpenArena and Lineage 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0yX7LMrsKU

 

So a N64 emulator shouldn't phase it.

 

It runs Xbench (1.3) at CPU benchmark rating of 55.93 (100 index is equiv. to a dual G5 running a 2Ghz) under 10.4.8 Tiger, so it's quite usable!!!

PS Can't use a Mac Mini on your commute!

 

Are you running OS X natively? How hard was it to install it? What did you need to get it to work?

 

It's a little tricky getting OSX to install on it (it's easy but to get extended functionality to work is the tricky part)

* First, get Jas 10.4.8 AMD INtel & MacNub 10.4.10 distros onto DVD

 

* If you are installing this on Removable SDHC, be sure NOT to use the built-in card reader and use an external one - also using Disk Utility (one of the Utilities off the Distro DVD's main menu once that loads) make sure you create it as a MS-DOS compatible file system and set it to boot a MacOS Extended partition (otherwise you can't boot off the SDHC)

 

* Then install using an external DVD using Jas 10.4.8 DVD. Be sure to select Intel, GMA900 & GMA950, Azalia audio options using 'Customize'

 

* Make sure you have a external monitor installed &/or a VGA port-dongle (aka paperclip mod) otherwise, the MacOS does not boot properly on the eeePC (details for the paperclip mod on Diabolik's site - do a Google search)

 

Then you'll be left with an install that will not have sound, laptop power management or Quartz Extreme/CI. To get those working is more involved (and I have done them) but in the interest of keeping this post short, I won't go into those details.

 

BTW, To boot off SDHC, press ESC at the Asus bootup sequence, then choose the USB SDHC card reader. It's that simple - no BIOS options to change or set.

 

Using the MacNub dist allows the Azalia audio to work (you have to reload the drivers off that). Hopefully that gives you an idea of what is involved.

[U.C.]

Man I so want an eeePC but I am waiting as I dont really have the need for one now. I think I will get one somewhere near July this year. I hope they get rid of the Black Screen Border and fit in a 8 or 9 inch screen. Now that would be super sweet.

 

 

Does Wifi work on the eeePC in OSX?? (without any extra cards)

 

How is movie playback in OSX?? (Quicktime/VLC)

 

Battery Life in OSX??

 

Does the Screen hack for 800x600 work under OSX too??

[merouby]

Man I so want an eeePC but I am waiting as I dont really have the need for one now. I think I will get one somewhere near July this year. I hope they get rid of the Black Screen Border and fit in a 8 or 9 inch screen. Now that would be super sweet.

 

 

Does Wifi work on the eeePC in OSX?? (without any extra cards)

 

How is movie playback in OSX?? (Quicktime/VLC)

 

Battery Life in OSX??

 

Does the Screen hack for 800x600 work under OSX too??

 

* No, not yet. The chipset is supported but for some reason doesn't work. However an external Mac-supported Wifi dongle, of course, works.

 

* Before I got Quartz Extreme running it was choppy (lost frame rates), but after I had GMA900 working with QE/CI, it was good and you're able to watch DVDs and even DiVX movies without any issue.

 

* Battery life, is a tough one. I do have power management working (set to Best Energy Saving if battery-run), but even so, it drains more juice than using XP as screen brightness is always on. Expect appx. 2 1/2 or so w/ Power Management. However, Asus is coming out with a 5.5 hr battery very soon for the eeePC which should really help.

 

* Screen hack is XP only, so that's a shame. But I set the Dock to auto-disappear, which helps get the most out of the standard 800x480. Best part though, if you have an external monitor, it will pan the display across automatically and will take advantage of the external monitor's higher resolution modes.

[kevinosx]

I read somewhere that they have the wireless working now...

Dan

 

So after much tinkering I seem to have the WiFi connection working reliably and sound too. Will post a step by step later, hoping to make everything a little easier.

taken from http://uneasysilence.com/archive/2007/11/12654/

 

My biggest concern is that the internal card reader works within OS X, does it?

 

Otherwise good to hear and supposedly in April we will be seeing the Merium (SP?) processors which means Leapord!

[Maxintosh]

I am going to pick up an EEE PC when the screen resolution goes up (hopefully when the release the new models with bigger screens). I might just put Tiger on it, but I think Leopard might be a bit much for it.

I agree. From what I remember a lot of things in 10.5 didn't work. I'd much rather have Tiger, it's not like it's supposed to the be a main computer anyway

[CLiDE FTW!!1]

I agree that it's cool, but I think Apple's new tablet will blow the eeePC out of the water; especially if you can touch Leopard. :-)

 

gt

New tablet, eh

[Reverend Hagwood]

Yeah, that new tablet from Apple... Man, that's the best vaporware out there! I can't wait to buy that non-existent product. (I only hope the handwriting recognition is better than my old Newton MP 100.)

 

Cheers!

[Numberzz]

Stop posting stupid responses or I'm closing the thread.

[macgirl]

rly?

[carfalkar]

 

my post got deleted.

 

THAT WAS ENTIRELY RELEVANT, YOU WERE ALL TALKING ABOUT A HACKER.

[Maxintosh]

Asus has announced a new version of its "Eee" mini-laptop with a larger screen and Windows XP pre-installed, a 900MHz Celeron-M CPU, 9-inch WSVGA screen (1024 x 600) resolution, 1GB of RAM, stereo speakers, 802.11b/g wireless networking, a webcam, up to 12GB of solid-state storage, and a 10/100 Ethernet port. It fits into the same 8.8 x 6.5 footprint as before, but appears to be slightly thicker, with a slightly larger trackpad. The new model will cost around only 599.00.

 

This looks interesting...

[Ongeloof]

There phrase "Dead Thread" comes to mind.

 

 

Let it die already!

 

Think Mark

[Panik]

Even though it's "dead" I have some things to add:

 

I'm currently running 10.4.8 on my 4G EEE since Leo is sluggish. The AirPort can work out of the box if you replace the mini-pci with a DW1390. There are also some amazing hacks out there on the eeeusers.com forums on how to add touch screens and other amazing mods. The only drawback is indeed the screen resolution. Furthermore, you need a bridge pin with Diabolik's GMA kext. The animations are also very sluggish. However, for what I need it for (email, surfing) Tiger works amazingly well at such a small resolution. Once you complete the necessary tweaks, you will notice how amazing the performance really is. My recommendation: wait until the next model and then mod it with a Pentium M!

[Slip]

Can we Morph it then.

 

I agree a 9inch screen is a big improvement. But I'm really hoping there's a flood of devices comming by summer ,after all it is 2008. The latest and greatest from intel should allow for smaller form factor, lower watt's, improved specs. Apple , Sony, Asus etc, could all be putting out tablet devices .

 

If Apple releases a 7 and 9inch widescreen Itouch device , I'm in.

 

 

 

Another brain-shattering announcement that you've all been waiting for is here. Intel has officially dubbed the Silverthorn and Diamondville chips "Atom," and the Menlow platform has become the "Centrino Atom." We know, it's hard to believe the day has come, but it's finally happened. Obviously, the 45nm Atom chips, and Centrino Atom technology will be targeted for MIDs, UMPCs, and all manner of small, internet-centric devices. Undoubtedly an unending vista of total awesomeness awaits us now that they've got some fancy new names

[Ongeloof]

Why would Apple release a 7 or 9" touch device?

 

Their curretn 3.5" beauties already do fine

 

 

Think Mark

[U.C.]

Now I am even more confused.

 

Buy the 9inch eee pc with an Atom Processor in June/July or wait for the Apple UMPC.

 

Though I highly doubt Apple will make one.

[Slip]

Well I would Hope Apple would make one. If they don't Asus , Nokia , or some most likely will. Apple makes a nice finished product. The lastest Ubuntu mobile rumors wil be ready when, 2010 beta3

 

Re: itouch . I think ipod itouch is a really nice device. But as with my Dell Axim x50v a 3.7inch screen it's TOO damm small 4 me. Nice size for a phone or PDA but make me a minimum 5inch or 9inch tablet for computing. The demand in the East is big for "gadgets" so the markets there. In the meantime I picked up a Fujitsu stylus 3400 off ebay it's a 10.4 inch and cheap enough to play around with.

[Maxintosh]

Buy the 9inch eee pc with an Atom Processor in June/July or wait for the Apple UMPC.

If you wait, it's going to be a long wait We'll be getting the 9 inch eee with the Atom Processor, of course wiping windows off and adding OS X. Ultimately when this hits the market we'll be getting one of them and using OS X on it.

[U.C.]

I dont think that ^^ is ever going to be the Apple UMPC.

 

 

IMHO, 2 Yrs down the line iPhone 3.0 with an Intel Proc, Boot Camp and Leopard.

[Mebster]

If you wait, it's going to be a long wait We'll be getting the 9 inch eee with the Atom Processor, of course wiping windows off and adding OS X. Ultimately when this hits the market we'll be getting one of them and using OS X on it.

That thing took so long to boot up that the guy thought the battery had run out. LMAO

[Maxintosh]

That thing took so long to boot up that the guy thought the battery had run out. LMAO

Yeah that was pretty funny