With apologies to mods, I'll post in the specific 'first use' thread after my first use, but I wanted to make this very specific point about the experience simply of unboxing and getting to grips with the machine. What an absolute treat it is. It's not just that it's a laptop and hence straightforward to get to grips with, but Asus have really put some effort into the whole packaging and first looks, its the little touches like that which make a manufacturer stand out.

The machine sits (bagged of course) in a neat little perfectly formed cardboard tray which doesn't collapse once you've removed the machine and into which you could comfortably put the unit back for return, not that you'd let anyone near it again! Above the tray is a quick start guide that is lightyears from the Far East low budget tat you normally get, printed in full colour on gloss card with clear concise and well produced ENGLISH (not ENGRISH) instructions.

The tray is removable (still without collapsing or being one of those one-way cardboard filler that you can never put back together again) and beneath it are a neatly wrapped set of accessories including a very professional looking pocket user-manual, the bag, the battery (with its own neatly sealed usage instructions) and the mains lead, which to cap off the stylish high-value feel, is wrapped not with a little throwaway plastic twizzler, but a little velcro strap - another re-usable feature.

It's touches like this I expect when paying one and a half grand to Apple or to some (supposed) top of the range manufacturer who has taken time to think of literally EVERYTHING. This experience just shouldn't be possible for a 200 quid unit that already feels underpriced on components alone, I feel like I'm robbing ASUS that the whole product and packaging is so well thought out with no expense spared - Dell use forgettable brown cardboard and polystyrene on four-figure laptops.

But I've saved the best for last. The Black EEE, after being unbagged. Unbelievable. I'm really not saying this just out of excitement, but I've been following everything on here and via Google for a couple of weeks and not a single picture of the Black EEE does it justice. REALLY. It's got a finish or texture to the unit which looks very high quality and not like the washed out or solid black in pictures. It's also smaller than I expected, in a good way, its size differential really stands out.

I have a dreadfully cheap digital camera so I've no hope of improving on the photos to date, but I will try later once its charged. I would really commend the black unit to anyone, it's very rare that you buy a product that is right in so many ways and you feel like you have had (at the very least) value for money. I would have paid another 100 GBP and still have been satisfied on first look at what ASUS have put together, the attention to detail at this pricepoint is unbelievable.

No other word for it. Unbelievable.

EDIT: First of many photos I hope... trying to capture the quality of the black:



Adding more photos below...

Last edited by RobF (2007-11-26 10:30:46 am)