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I think that the eeepc might actually be exactly what I have been looking for for quite some time, but I still have one question left.
The main task for which I use a laptop is word processing, and for that any standard low-end laptop would be complete technical overkill. The eeepc should be absolutely sufficient for what I want to do with it - I am just worried about screen size. Obviously I can just hook it up to an external screen while I am at home, but is the 7''-display actually useable for serious mobile text processing?
I looked at one at a store and it seemed to be fine, but for some reason they just wouldn't let me try it for 3 hours on end ;-) , so I don't know if I would still feel comfortable with the screen size after some serious writing.
Can someone tell me a bit of their experiences using the eeepc for word processing?
(Probably the answer is already somewhere, I just couldn't find it. But I searched! ;-) )
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I would worry more about the keyboard than the screen. I am getting better with the keyboard but still hate it ... I love the EEE but hate the keyboard ... go figure.
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I think the main question is: will you do formatting or input on your eee?
If latter, and especially on the move, you're probably onto a winner as you're likely to find it possible to enter text at places a bigger laptop wouldn't be suitable for (e.g. some seats on the trains I take wouldn't let me comfortably open and type on even a 12" laptop -- I know, I've tried).
Formatting, OTOH, is probably best left to a bigger screen, especially if you need to be able to see all or most of the page.
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I use my Eee primarily for writing. I find the screen perfectly acceptable-- you don't see quite as much of the page as you do on a full sized monitor, but you see enough that you don't feel you are looking though a slit. It's a much better than trying to write on a PDA, and nothing at all like working on the old dedicated word processors like the Brother, if you are old enough to remember those.
I also rather like the keyboard, but I am a woman with no more than medium sized hands, and I'm a three finger typist anyway. I think some people who are well trained touch typists with proper technique are having a harder time. And men with very large hands, of course.
I agree with mrmot about formatting. I've written entire finished products on the Eee (an essay and a script so far) and I did download them onto a flash drive and load them onto my desktop PC for final formatting and review in MS Word before submitting them.
I have done smaller bits like blog posts directly on the Eee and that worked fine.
I would say that an Eee is a great tool for a writer who wants to get away from the desktop, provided the ergonomics work for you.
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In one of the repositories there is also an OpenOffice-common-helper package that makes OpenOffice fit nicely (well, nicer) on the EEE's screen.
R.
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I've been using mine for an hour plus every day for word processing with font 10 and do quite well. If my eyes start feeling strained I can go a couple sizes larger in font but for the most part do not. I'm 67 and wear trifocals and one eye has some damage and I get along well with the screen. Keyboard is another thing but being 6-3 my hands are big - not a real problem though. Right shift key being square has bothered me, hit the enter or up arrow corner but the rest of the board is okay. It will take a little getting used to. I used a mobiepro 880 handheld wince unit for years and loved it. Its keyboard was bigger but was smaller than normal so my fingers had some good training :-)
You could get a small mouse for formatting if you really want to do it. Touch pad and formatting don't go well together with me. Geeks.com have a 8.99 wireless that is tiny and fits small bags - works pretty well for me.
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Oh, yeah--I have a mouse too and it really helps.
Stan, your eyes amaze me. I am only 46 (massive astigmatism and bifocals) and I work on the Eee with the font set at 15!
Another easy tip for writing in OO is to choose the Web view rather than the Print view (in the View menu). The working area is larger and much less distracting.
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Is it any good for word processing? How long is a piece of string!
I find it great. Keyboard is fine, screen is fine. I'd agree if you want to do a lot of formatting and layout changes then a full screen is better. The screen height is a limitation, but there is always page preview and preview zoom to test the layout.
If you write professional articles full time then you will need something better but for the vast majority of document work it will satisfy people's needs.
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I do the most typing on the Eee in lectures where I have to keep up with what the lecturer is yakking about and the eee keyboard has been (suprisingly) brilliant. I have used a UMPC before and found the keyboard a nightmare (big hands) so using the eee was a welcome relief!
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Vernon wrote:
Is it any good for word processing? How long is a piece of string!
I find it great. Keyboard is fine, screen is fine. I'd agree if you want to do a lot of formatting and layout changes then a full screen is better. The screen height is a limitation, but there is always page preview and preview zoom to test the layout.
If you write professional articles full time then you will need something better but for the vast majority of document work it will satisfy people's needs.
Windows users might not be aware, but for publication-ready layout, there is a program called "Scribus" that works beautifully. it's in the standard debian etch repositories. And for an Illustrator-like vector graphics editor, there is "Inkscape", however, that particular program isn't well suited for the EEE's screen. Scribus, hwever, fits fine.
R.
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"Stan, your eyes amaze me. I am only 46 (massive astigmatism and bifocals) and I work on the Eee with the font set at 15!"
Well maybe I'm sitting so close my eyeballs are doing it by braille and I just haven't realized it yet. :-) I run my home rig pretty small as well so just used to it probably.
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Count me as one not particularly liking the keyboard. As someone mentioned, it is harder for someone who types fast, I think. Also, keep your fingernails trimmed. <g>
That said, I have found that JDarkRoom is perfect for my writing, though I did manage to tweak OO Writer by going to 135% mag, and centering the page until only the text showed (no margins) (using the traditional manuscript 12pt type). I also got rid of as many of the toolbars as I could. You still lose some screen real estate, but it's not too bad. (I also wish there was a "normal" view for OO Writer.)
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Coastal is right. Why doesn't OO have a "normal" view? I think "web" is miles better than "print", but I'm used to working in normal in Word, and I do admit I miss it.
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After the first couple of days, I have had no problem whatsoever with touch-typing on the eeePc. My accuracy is just as good as it ever has been with a larger keyboard - one minor exception being when I occasionally hit enter instead of the apostrophe key - and my speed is pretty good too. I get usually 95-105 wpm on a full size keyboard, and I'm guessing that I'm somewhere about 80 or so with the eee, and that's only because I occasionally have to stop and think about where the right shift key is.
In the week and a half that I've had this thing, I've generated well over three hundred pages of stuff for work. I've got some keys - notably the space bar - already starting to show shiny spots! The only time I use my desktop anymore is for playing Red Orchestra: Ostfront.
(Incidentally, does anyone know if ASUS will warrantee a keyboard replacement for simply wearing through the plastic of the keys? 
)
(edit to add: I'm a guy with relatively large hands, too.)
Last edited by Peter.Steele (2008-01-24 9:27:08 pm)
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I find Abiword in fullscreen mode presents a wonderful writing environment -- no distractions, just clean page.
As for the keyboard, I think I'm at about 80-85% of max, which isn' bad for such a small device.
I concur with what others said, however: As much as possible (here and elsewhere), save formatting for later -- focus on WRITING.
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Sounds useable to me. 
Thanks guys!
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I haven't typed that much on my eee pc yet, only one 5 page paper, however I love the keyboard. Almost to the extent of hating my full size keyboard now. However I do wish the screen was another inch or two larger, but once I put OO in full screen, with 130% magnification, word processing is fine.
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I like the keyboard, and I find the screen size acceptable for short notes/browsing. But when I need to write something over 3 pages in length, or spend more then 2 hours on a computer I use a proper laptop because I get tired faster on the Eee because its so small. It's a nearly perfect lightweight school computer for me, for those days when I don't need a heavy powerful laptop.
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I bought an EEE specifically to be a portable word processor, which sounds similar to you. I was prepared to live with a small screen size, but as it turns out, that's not an issue at all for me. The resolution is 800 horizontal, which was pretty standard for full-size desktop computers fifteen years ago, so it's at least decent. The 480 vertical just means less lines of text on the screen at once. It's actually easier to read on an EEE than I had expected, even with screen brightness turned down to save battery life.
The keyboard is the biggest drawback in my opinion, but as long as you keep your expectations low, it's decent. I have small hands, and I can only type about half as fast on the EEE as on a full-size keyboard, and I make more typos, most commonly leaving out a letter because the keys on the EEE are slightly more stiff than I'm used to. Your fingernails will get in the way unless they're trimmed nice and short. (Keep a pair of fingernail clippers with your EEE; treat it as an accessory like a mouse or SD card. Yes, I'm serious.) But like others have mentioned before, if you sit down and practice typing for an hour or so, you get used to it.
Then there's the third part of the interface: the track pad. While it's not as important as the keyboard to a writer, it has its uses. I find it much more comfortable and easy to use than the track pad on my laptop, though still not as good as a mouse.
One last note about the keyboard: The right-shift key is in an awkward position, but there's a wiki that tells how to change that. Funnily enough, a few years ago I picked up the bad habit of almost exclusively using the left-shift key even when capitalizing letters under the left hand, so it doesn't bother me at all.
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If screen size is an issue, you can try LazerTag's modified Intel drivers along with kkjj's EEEPC_RES utility to emulate an 800x600 or even 1024x768 resolution screen. Things look a little squished, but you'd get more text on the screen
LazerTag's drivers:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=11242
kkjj's EEEPC_RES utility:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=9681
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