Living with an Eee

On the heels of my last video podcast, I decided to think about how the Asus EeePC changed my computing habits. After watching my behavior for a few days, I have learned...

• My main workstation is in better shape. Since the Eee can take care of all my browsing and messaging, I have been less reluctant to put routine maintenance that my primary machine requires. As a heavy computer user, I'm more likely to click "remind me later" than "Okay - take over the whole computer for a couple hours" on maintenance reminders. With the Eee, I can stay connected while my "big computer" is busy.
  
• Troubleshooting my home network is easier. My beloved Linksys WRT-350N found itself in a reboot loop. While the Linksys has a three year warranty, I cannot go a day without a functional router at home. I ran out and purchased a D-Link DGL-4500 and used my Eee to configure it. This way, I didn't have to change and re-IP any other machines on the network during the configuration. After 48 hours with the D-Link, I was able to determine that the one-in-ten DNS lookup failures were the router's fault, exchanged the router for a Belkin N1 Vision router, and configured that with the Eee too. Much easier.
• Multiboot is now sane. I have always hated dual-boot or multi-boot environments. Invariably, one of the operating systems would touch (thus destroy) the boot loader and prevent access to the other systems. Sometimes I need Linux. Sometimes I need XP. I just swap out the SD card with whichever environment I need. I am looking forward to more devices with Splashtop embedded for even more (and faster) boot options. My new friend at Splashtop, Sol, posted rapid access to Hulu TV using Splashtop too.
  
• I spend more time away from my desk. With all my contacts, Email, and other Web access in easy reach, I can spend more time cooking, playing on the Wii, or even watch some video while folding my laundry. I did this to a lesser degree with my UMPC, but having a full keyboard and a laptop form factor makes it more convenient.

The Eee, at $400, was a good purchase for me. It's cheaper, more durable, and more mobile than a laptop but also gives me many of the functions for which I would use a laptop around the house. For leaving the house, I want either something much more portable (say, the Nokia N810 or a MID) or something with more horsepower and storage (still trying to decide on this one) for real mobile computer work, but the Eee is a great machine around the house.