[Novalug] My EeePC 1000 Review

Jay Hart jhart@kevla.org
Mon Jan 5 18:22:39 EST 2009


Why people buy from Tigerdirect is beyond me!!!

Varol, I hope your new laptop gives you years of reliable service.

Jay

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> I just bought the hp2133 for $400,- after rebate from Tigerdirect.
>
> The specs:
> 1.6GHz C7 CPU, 2GB Ram, 7200 rpm 120GB HD, 1280x768 8.9"screen, Vista
> Business ( and got the Recovery DVDs free after calling HP ), wifi +
> bluetooth.
>
> The thing I like best is the metal case and the keyboard. The CPU is the
> only weak point but I do not intend to use it as my main development box.
>
> I installed OpenSuSE 11.1 on it but might switch to Ubuntu 8.10 because
> it supports HW acceleration etc.
>
> I would also like to get the Voodoo Splashtop working
> http://www.hp2133guide.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=914&sid=5058d49b517d0a2ecc311409b7263051
>
> Anyhow, Tigerdirect run out off this version but you might find it at
> another location. Only the no-bluetooth 1.2GHz version at Tigerdirect
>
> Varol :)
>
>
> James wrote:
>> Digging up an old thread that I just reviewed. Are there any recent
>> thoughts on the Eee PC 1000 since August? Has the unit aged
>> gracefully?
>>
>> I'm looking to get a netbook for blogging, writing, note taking,
>> coding, studying, video watching, web surfing -- anything between my
>> home and office, and I'm leaning toward the 1000 (nearly $400 now on
>> newegg).
>>
>> On Wed, Aug 13, 2008 at 1:36 PM, David A. Cafaro <dac@cafaro.net> wrote:
>>> Small update on the review.
>>>
>>> I figured out that the webserver running on port 20032 is used for the
>>> virus scanner interface.  It appears to only allow access from
>>> localhost to the program though the webserver does respond from any IP.
>>>
>>>
>>> David A. Cafaro <dac@cafaro.net>
>>> Cafaro's Ramblings:  www.cafaro.net
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Aug 13, 2008, at 12:08 AM, David A. Cafaro wrote:
>>>
>>>> Ok, I finally received my EeePC 1000 this week and have had some time
>>>> to play around with it. Have to say I love the hardware, very well
>>>> made. This thing is loaded. Though the default Xandros OS is nice and
>>>> well integrated with the hardware, it's not going to meet my needs in
>>>> the long run; I'll be upgrading to Fedora or Ubuntu in the near
>>>> future.
>>>>
>>>> I know there was some discussion on if the EeePC 1000 was too
>>>> expensive or had lost the meaning of what being an EeePC is, but I
>>>> have to say it's just what I was looking for. To give some background,
>>>> I commute to work, and like to have a small light laptop with me in
>>>> case of emergency work while I'm between home, job, or out traveling.
>>>> Something simple that can provide net access, a browser, and a command
>>>> line. For the past 4 years that has been my Sharp MM20 laptop. It had
>>>> reasonable support for Linux and has worked very well for me. But it's
>>>> 4 years old, and that odd ball for a processor, the Transmeta
>>>> Efficeon, is being left behind by Linux. The non-upgradeable 512MB of
>>>> memory wasn't helping either. So I've been searching for a
>>>> replacement, and for almost 1/3 the cost of my original MM20, I've got
>>>> a more functional, just a little larger and little heavier, laptop.
>>>> That's what I was looking for.
>>>>
>>>> Hardware:
>>>>
>>>> So, with that said, here is what you get with the EeePC 1000:
>>>>
>>>>     * Intel 1.6Ghz Atom CPU - Seems to be quick enough, much better
>>>> than the old Transmetta Efficeon
>>>>     * 1GB DDR2 400Mhz Main Memory
>>>>     * 10.2" 1024x600 LCD - Excellent brightness, looks great
>>>>     * Intel GMA 950 based graphics controller - So far, seems snappy
>>>>     * RaLink RT2790 Wireless 802.11n - Excellent Linux support,
>>>> opensource driver, and connects at N speeds with WPA2 no problem
>>>>     * Atheros Corp, L1e Gigabit Ethernet Adapter - Ok, it says
>>>> Gigabit in lspci but it's not, still it works
>>>>     * One 8GB SSD ( mounted as / ), one 32GB SSD (mounted as /home)
>>>>     * Bluetooth 2.0
>>>>     * MultiTouch Touchpad
>>>>     * 1.3MPixel Webcam, dual microphones, stereo speakers.
>>>>     * 3 x USB 2.0 ports, VGA port, Audio IN/OUT port, SDHC Card reader
>>>>     * 6 Cell Li-Ion Battery
>>>>
>>>> I can't complain about the hardware, that's really what I bought this
>>>> for. It meets every need that I had, hardware wise. Might have been
>>>> nice if it was a little thinner and lighter, but that would have
>>>> raised the cost. So far, the battery run time is incredible. I've left
>>>> the latop sitting on my desk all day with all wireless on, Ethernet
>>>> connected, using it every once in a while lightly, and it's still got
>>>> 50% charge left. That's insane! Perfect travel laptop.
>>>>
>>>> Software:
>>>>
>>>> I decided to try living with the default Xandros Linux that comes with
>>>> the EeePC for a few days. I also figured it would give me time to
>>>> collect all the information I would need to do a fully working install
>>>> of Fedora or Ubuntu. Ignoring the security issues, which I will talk
>>>> about later, I have to say the basic setup is pretty nice. Everything
>>>> works, things are pretty clearly labeled, and it's easy to navigate
>>>> around. I really do like how well they integrated in the hardware
>>>> functionality, I've never had a Linux laptop work this well.  It's
>>>> clearly designed for someone with much less Linux experience, but
>>>> that's there target audience.  A list of software pre-installed can be
>>>> easily found on the web. My minor gripes about the default Linux
>>>> install are the following:
>>>>
>>>>     * The default install of xorg was set to 16 bit and not 24 bit. I
>>>> like my millions of colors (vs ~65K)
>>>>     * FileManager disappeared on me, though I found a way to replace
>>>> it online and there are alternate means of accessing it
>>>>     * Could use more software to install through the Add/Remove
>>>> Software system
>>>>     * Needs more mouse control, less speed more acceleration. Hard to
>>>> hit small targets.
>>>>     * Since it's multi-touch, why can't double finger tap act as a
>>>> right click like on Mac OS X?
>>>>
>>>> Security:
>>>>
>>>> Security being an interest of mine, I was curious to see what was
>>>> setup by default on the Xandros OS for EeePC. This is where I
>>>> confirmed that I'll be loading my own Linux on this. I found a couple
>>>> of issues and some good points. First the good points:
>>>>
>>>>     * Most services are turned off by default
>>>>     * It comes with a virus scanner to scan your documents and such.
>>>>
>>>> Now the bad points:
>>>>
>>>>     * Default user name of "user" with sudo (root) no-password
>>>> required access
>>>>     * Default to instant login, though this can be changed via the
>>>> Personalization icon under settings
>>>>     * No ipchains/iptables compiled into the kernel, NO FIREWALL!
>>>>     * Yes, it does have a virus scanner, but we're on Linux, I would
>>>> rather have a firewall!
>>>>     * Broken updates, see below
>>>>     * Several open ports by default, bad
>>>>
>>>> Here are the results of the nmap test:
>>>>
>>>> Starting Nmap 4.20 ( http://insecure.org ) at 2008-08-12 13:51 EDT
>>>> Interesting ports on xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:
>>>> Not shown: 65531 closed ports
>>>> PORT STATE SERVICE
>>>> 111/tcp open rpcbind
>>>> 139/tcp open netbios-ssn
>>>> 445/tcp open microsoft-ds
>>>> 20032/tcp open unknown
>>>>
>>>> So we have rpcbind, netbios-ssn, and microsft-ds open. Netbios-ssn and
>>>> microsoft-ds are a big no no, even though it's samba that's providing
>>>> the service (yes nmbd and smbd Samba daemons are started by default)
>>>> so less likely to fall to the standard script kiddies, it's a big sign
>>>> that says "Hello!!! Try to HACK ME!!!" when connected to the internet
>>>> directly. I know they do this for convenience to improve the ability
>>>> to file share with the EeePC, but why can't these be off unless a user
>>>> actively chooses to share? Oh, and by default the laptop is part of
>>>> "Workgroup" just like any other out of the box Windows system. As for
>>>> rpcbind, it's up and running but no services are listed at the open
>>>> ports.
>>>>
>>>> Now port 20032 is interesting, according to netstat this is the
>>>> nginx.conf program. This is some form of web-server namely "nginx/
>>>> 0.5.33". Why on earth is there a web-server running on the EeePC? I
>>>> haven't dug through the file system to find out what it is serving,
>>>> but this is another one that makes me nervous. Since there is no
>>>> firewall, I'm going to have to see what I can do with host.allow/deny
>>>> or just stopping the process from starting.
>>>>
>>>> As for the broken updates, most seem to work fine, but one "Asus
>>>> Update System Update" download fails. Based on what I've found,
>>>> apparently there are files missing on ASUS servers. Funny thing is
>>>> they don't seem to believe people who try to tell them they are
>>>> missing. Hopefully that will get resolved soon.
>>>>
>>>> Personally, I'm not impressed with the security of the default Xandros
>>>> Linux. There are open ports that just shouldn't be open and the lack
>>>> of a firewall is very frustrating.
>>>>
>>>> Conclusion:
>>>>
>>>> I think this laptop is going to be a great companion for the near
>>>> future. Once I get my own Linux distro installed and gain back a
>>>> little more control, things should be good. Though the pre-installed
>>>> version of Linux is functionally very nice, I just found too many
>>>> drawbacks to use it, not the least of which were the security issues.
>>>> The hardware more than makes up for it, so all is good!
>>>>
>>>> Some comparison pictures can be found on the my blog post of this
>>>> review:
>>>> http://www.cafaro.net/linux-related-information/eeepc-1000-linux-review/
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> David
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> David A. Cafaro <dac@cafaro.net>
>>>> Cafaro's Ramblings:  www.cafaro.net
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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