Whoa .... I got an eee-PC :D

[wcs]

Good to know that you're happy with it, other than the wireless problem.
It's always good to have first-hand accounts.

These days, I mostly work at home, but for those that are on the move more often, it seems that the 901 is very adequate.
Especially for things such as web and mail, skyping and the like... I would only miss a cd drive.

With several distros releasing eee versions, it is a shame for vector to be left behind. I'm not sure how many people actually got one of those, but it seems that it has been a successful product, and a domain where Linux is flourishing.
I also don't know how much work a Veeector Linux version would entail (okay, sorry for the silliness). I thought that if it ran Xandros, then VL would be a sure thing just by putting the resolution in xorg.conf, but it seems to be more complicated than that. Definitely one would need to get the wireless working... and perhaps a new kernel.

At the same time, it seems a bit silly for all these distros to be jumping in the wagon, given that it is a single product, and there are many more companies developing similar computers.

[dawnsboy]

One can afford to take some time in evaluating a purchase of this nature.  I have noted that the Eeepc continues to sell like hotcakes while the Cloudbook and the HP mininote (has a Suse model as well as windows) do not seem to be doing quite as well as anticipated.  Even at 550.00 to 600.00 dollars US the Eeepc 901 series is competetive with similar products from other major manufacturers that have their units priced in the 800.00 dollar and above range.

I have been following the user forum threads regarding the installation of Slackware 12 on the Eeepc.  Much of the install required compiling drivers from source code, manual editing of configuration files and ultimately a re-compiled kernel that enables the fast booting implemented in the original Xandros version.  I do not see why the same cannot be done with VL 5.9.  It would entail some work.  The Slackware 12 project is loose knit with several users making contributions and forwarding ideas in the forum thread set aside for that purpose.  Most of them describe what they did leaving the reader to compile and configure their own systems.  Some of them provide software packages for download.

I have compiled software from source for my own use and have built packages (again for my own use) but have never done packaging in a "clean" environment.  So I will need to upgrade my skill sets in order to ensure that I can share anything I might produce.  Still it might be fun.  Especially if there are other Eeepc users haunting these boards that would be interested in helping with/guiding such a project.  I do not think that it would be necessary to develop a distro version from the ground up.  It would require a new kernel, and drivers compiled from source and perhaps modification of some startup scripts to accomodate loading the drivers properly. 

I have been hoping to learn something useful from the PuPeee project that can be used with VL.  I have not had time to break it down but I will do so in the near future just to see if I can short cut the work done on the Slackware project. 

UPDATE:

The Slackeee project has a web site complete with source code, packages and configuration files.  Here is the url:

http://slackeee.strangled.net/

[wcs]

The Slackeee project has a web site complete with source code, packages and configuration files.  Here is the url:

http://slackeee.strangled.net/

Definitely more complicated than I had thought....
I honestly don't understand how a product that ships with Linux has trouble with other non-customised versions.
I can see that that's the beauty of Linux, that you can just change it to your needs, but why didn't Asus go for hardware that did not cause problems to other distributions? Is it the cost? The power consumption? Is it because they want people to stick to Xandros?
I mean, it seems my old Toshiba laptop works better with Linux than the eee, and my impression of Toshiba is that they don't care to make life easy for Linux users...

[caitlyn]

Actually that's only true of Toshiba in North America.  Toshiba in Japan has a Linux lab, excellent Linux support, and a Toshiba Linux mailing list in English which I subscribe to.  My guess is that Toshiba in the U.S. hasn't figured out there is a market for Linux on their boxes yet.

[BlueMage]

Veeector Linux (okay, sorry for the silliness)

Silliness nothing.  One of the best OSs I've used on my Eee was Puppeee.  And what's this about beta 4 not supporting the wireless?  It most certainly does - I'd've never been able to grab those completely legit backups of games (which I own the cartridges of) had it not!

Also, to go a tad off-topic ... it's my personal opinion that the new Eees have been priced out of their target market.  This thing is meant to be a very small and very cheap.  But now, for only 150-200AUD more, you can get a machine with better specs.  Given the already-ridiculous markup most hardware suffers in .au, one can conclude that the base prices of these machines are similar to those of the new Eee.

This would surely give rise to questioning the value of these new Eees.  Had they been released for only slightly more than their 701 counterparts (say, 50AUD) I would buy one.  I would've bought one yesterday.  There would've been no hesitation.  But 150AUD?  When Myers is only offering the 701s at 399AUD because they're trying to clear old stock, and Harvey Norman insists that 499AUD is the standard price?  The juice is no longer worth the squeeze.  Larger screen?  Trivial.  Better resolution?  That'll just make emulated games look even worse!  Relocated speakers?  Not so well-relocated if you don't sit this thing on a flat, acoustically-reflective surface.  Faster processor?  XP Home still seemed to chug.

In short, though I do not question the build quality nor the fact that the new Eees do have superior specs, I do question whether those enhancements are worth an extra 150AUD, especially when I paid 450AUD for my 701 at the start of the year (yes, I know, sunk cost, not relevant to new purchase)

[dawnsboy]

And what's this about beta 4 not supporting the wireless?  It most certainly does

I said it does not support wireless out of the box at least it has never done so on my eeepc.  I was able to get it working quite well but not until I visited the eeeuser forum and found a thread started by folks who had the same problem.  It did not detect the wireless card on boot and failed to detect the interface manually reporting that there is no wireless interface.  This has happened to a number of users.  However that can be corrected with a short script which I execute manually.  If PuPeee 4 is installed (or saved on exit) then it can be configured to execute the script on next boot without manual intervention.

One of the best OSs I've used on my Eee was Puppeee

I agree.  I found PuPeee to work extremely well on the 701.  It is very fast when booting from the live cd.  Everything seems to work quite well out of the box except the wireless but once that is configured it works quite well.  It makes the most of our home broadband connection.

XP Home still seemed to chug.

Actually in playing around with this thing I put a full install of XP Home SP2, XP Home SP3 and and nLite copy of XP Home SP2 on this box and found it to boot quickly and run quite smoothly.  Chug would not be an apt word to describe my experience with XP. 

Having said that the default Xandros install is quicker especially once modified to optimal performance.  And PuPeee is also much crisper than XP on this box.

In short, though I do not question the build quality nor the fact that the new Eees do have superior specs, I do question whether those enhancements are worth an extra 150AUD, especially when I paid 450AUD for my 701 at the start of the year (yes, I know, sunk cost, not relevant to new purchase)

That is a point well made.  The 701 4G Galaxy is $399.00 at Newegg.  The version with pre-installed XP Home with a 400MHz FSB clocking in at the rated 900MHz is also at $399.00.  The 900 is $549.00 US and sports the same processor as the 701.

I paid $349.00 US for my 4G 701 ordered from newegg making the RAM upgrade to 1GB and the sdhc card affordable.  All in all I am quite pleased with the 701.  I still would like to be able to run VL on this little box.

But as a comparison:

HP 2133(KX869AT) VIA C7-M ULV 1.20GHz 8.9" Wide XGA 1GB Memory 120GB HDD VIA Chrome 9 Mini-Note PC - Retail
Part#: KX869AT
Operating System: SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10
CPU Type: VIA C7-M ULV 1.2GHz
Screen: 8.9" WXGA
Memory Size: 1GB DDR2
Hard Disk: 120GB
Graphics Card: VIA Chrome 9
Video Memory: shared memory
Model #: 2133
Item #: N82E16834147675
Return Policy: Desktop PC, Notebook, and Tablet PC Return Policy
  Original Price: $599.99
You Save: $50.00
3 Business Day Shipping $12.25
Your Price:$549.99
   

The prices go up from there with the featured Windows model at $799.00.  A $250.00 US jump to go from a 1.2 to 1.6 GHZ processor and a extra Gig of RAM.  Although this one has a keyboard 92% of full size.

Here are specs and pricing proposed for the new MSI Wind:

Linux Version ($399)
CPU:1.6GHz Intel Atom
Operating System: Linux Novell SUSE
Chipset: 945GMS+ ICH7-M
Display: 10-inch/ 1024×600
Hard Disk Drive: 80GB / 2.5” SATA
VGA: UMA
Memory: 512MB DDR2/ 667MHz
Card Reader: 4-in-1 (SD,MMC,MS, MS Pro)
USB Ports: 3
Mic-in/Headphone
Webcam: 1.3 MP
WLAN: 802.11b/g
Bluetooth: No
Battery: Three Cells / 2.5 hrs
Dimension: 10.23 x 7.08 x 0.748 inches
Weight 2.3 lbs

By the way upgrading voids the Winds warranty.