Some Eee Boxes have been shipped with a virus, according to PC World.
Asustek Computer’s Japanese arm has alerted owners of its new Eee Box low-cost desktop PC that the machine shipped with a virus.
The D drive of the Eee Box B202, which launched in Japan last week, contains a virus file named “recycled.exe,” Asustek said in a statement. When the drive is opened, the virus begins copying itself to the main C drive on the machine and to any other removable drives or USB memory connected to the computer.
Despite repeated attempts to get more information from Asustek, the company has not confirmed that the problem is limited to only Japanese Eee Box PCs. The company also didn’t explain how the virus got into the computers.
Well, that was embarrassing.
Asus Reports Virus Loaded Into Eee Box PCs
Just as when I was about to write off the 701 as low in storage and about to become obsolete, Super Talent launches SSD upgrades for the Eee.
According to Liliputing,
All three have maximum read speeds of 40MB/sec and maximum write speeds of 15MB/sec, which is respectable, but not spectacular. But the price is right. You’ll be able to pick up a 16GB module for $53, 32GB for $79, or 64GB for $149, making it easy to upgrade the storage on your Eee PC without breaking the bank.
Oh man, when this comes out I’ll definitely upgrade my SSD.
How many times have we heard it? ASUS is (yet again) planning the touchscreen Eee. We’ve had this rumor a couple of times already, then we get the 901. Anyway, I hope this one pushes through. According to EeeUser, the future of the Eee:
- Eee PC’s with preinstalled touchscreens may be launched in early 2009.
- Dual core Atom Eee PC’s will be launched as soon as Asustek can get a hold of the processors
- A model priced less than $307 will be released in 2009
Whew. I’m excited.
Written by Ade Magnaye on October 14th, 2008. 1 Comment »
Filed under News.
Reader Rico gave us a tip the other day regarding Ubuntu Eee. According to the Wiki,
Ubuntu Eee is not only Ubuntu optimized for the Asus Eee PC. It’s an operating system, using the Netbook Remix interface, which favors the best software available instead of open source alternatives (ie. Skype instead of Ekiga).
Sounds good. I tried eeeXubuntu back when I was experimenting with Linux, and I was a bit satisfied; however it was lacking quite a few features (even after lots of modding and hacking). I eventually switched to XP, but if I ever get tired of XP I will definitely use Ubuntu Eee. It is nice to see the Linux community create netbook-specific OS’s and if Microsoft doesn’t step up, they will definitely lose to Linux in this category.
So ASUS released the newest in their long line of Eees: the S101. According to Engadget:
The “fashion-friendly” S101 ($699 to $799), which will ship in brown (seriously?), champagne and graphite hues, and feature a 10.2-inch WSVGA LED-backlit display, an SSD up to 64GB in size, 4-in-1 flash card reader, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, a VGA output, three USB 2.0 ports, 0.3-megapixel webcam and a multi-touch trackpad.
I don’t know about you, but it looks like ASUS decided to take the Macbook air head-on. What do you think?
A 128GB SSD for $299? From ubergizmo:
Super Talent is now offering a 128GB SSD drive for a mere $299, which connects via a SATA II interface while supporting read and write speeds of 100MB/s and 40MB/s, respectively. At a $2.33/GB price point, this is the cheapest for SSDs so far.
I’d love to see netbooks such as the Eee go use this. A 128GB storage will be comparable to current HDs, and add to it the speed advantage of SSDs, and we have a winner.
Engadget posted a rather amusing article on ASUS’ new marketing strategy for the Eee.
When every company out there is cranking out the same 10-inch 1.6GHz Atom netbook, there aren’t many ways to make your product stand out: the obvious trick is to go low on price, but ASUS isn’t messing with its profit margins. Instead, it’s apparently going negative in the most adorable way possible — check this hit piece on the Acer Aspire One. If all these frowny faces are to be believed, using the Aspire One will basically be awkward and unergonomic for a short while, at which point you’ll burst into flames. Not only that, but ASUS can’t even bring itself to spell out “Aspire,” instead starring it out like someone might catch them saying it out loud.
Now, this seriously made me laugh. Now I can’t wait for them to go bitchy (albeit adorably) on the MSI Wind or the Lenovo IdeaPad. What will our favorite netbook manufacturer think of next?
Very tough, apparently.
It seems that two team of explorers will be taking the ASUS Eee to extreme lengths just to prove it’s durability. One team took an Eee 900 on a 70-day excursion to the Canadian Arctic while another will be taking an Eee 701 4G to the Himalayas.
According to Stanley Wu of ASUS India, “This is one of the best opportunities for us to demonstrate our technology in the Indian market. ASUS P750 and Eee PC 4G will be put to test by one of the country’s best motor racing team in the world’s most demanding motor racing feat. We wish Team Millennium the very best at the Raid de Himalaya motor rally.”
And Australian explorer Chris Bray said, “Of all the equipment we brought with us on this expedition, it was our ASUS Eee PCs that blew me away the most, in terms of just how well suited they were to our needs and their impressive ability to survive the rigors of harsh expedition life. We’d be in the tent at night, wiping condensation off the screen with our sleeve, rubbing the touch-pad mouse clean from all the mud and chocolate and other grime, shaking the keyboard free of bits of tundra and other rubbish, and accidently bumping, dropping or leaning on them…and they never even flinched! Both Eee PCs soldiered on like true heroes right to the end.”
That’s just how awesome the ASUS Eee is.
ASUS Eee PC’s durability & reliability tested during 70 day excursion and ASUS all set to ‘Raid de Himalaya’ via EeePH
Over at the EeePH forum, member Joel posted a way to speeding up Linux application start-up time with a little app called Preload.
Besically, on Ubuntu you just have to open up a terminal and type in “sudo apt-get install preload“, and your applications will boot up faster.
Since I switched back to XP on my Eee a few months ago, I’d like to know if this actually works. So, Linux users, why don’t you give it a try?
A while ago, I posted this hack to improve the Eee’s keyboard responsiveness. It basically entailed removing the keyboard and putting in a few layers of masking tape on it. However it came with a caveat: it can raise your Eee’s temperature significantly.
Good thing reader Anon was able to give me a heads-up on another way to go about this hack. Instead of using masking tape, he suggests using aluminum foil. He says that it will even lower the Eee’s temperature.
Thanks for the heads-up Anon! Here’s the link to the forum post in Eeeuser.com. Hack away!
