Eee PCs?

Eee PC - This is a pic of the Eee PC 1000
United States
July 26, 2008 7:11pm CST
So I'm assuming that at least a few of you have heard about how paranoid customs can be when it comes to anything electronic, including laptops. I am going abroad this September for six months, and would like to take my laptop along. However, my parents both think that this is a bad idea, and that I should bring along a super cheap little laptop with a small amount of space- just enough to do the very bare minimum of things like checking email or saving a few word documents. I did a little research, and now I'm considering just replacing my laptop in general with one of these guys- an Eee PC 1000H, to be precise. Right now, I have an old Dell Inspiron 700m (around three years old or so) with 50 gigs of space and.... other such specs. The Eee PC 1000H has around 80gigs, with 1gig of RAM already installed, and other such interesting specs as well, including bluetooth and a webcam. Needless to say, I'm super interested in this little computer. I also checked out another one that's apparently similar (but cheaper), but can't find it anywhere for sale- i.e. the MSI wind. Now, I have to ask you guys for help on this. -Would you buy an Eee PC, of any model? (You can check 'em out at http://usa.asus.com/index.aspx ) -Do you own one? Do you like it? -Where would you go to buy one of these things? Even though it's supposedly out on the market, all I can find are the 16GB ones at BJ's and Best Buy, and I want this 80gig version. -What sort of laptop do you have? -How do you deal with taking your computers/personal information through customs? Thanks!
2 responses
• Philippines
2 Aug 08
Here in the Philippines, EEE PCs are anywhere to be found. But unlike your demanded pc, EEEs here ranges from 7" to 8.9" screen sizes. And for teachers like me, I can't use a computer with such a screen, and to consider its 2 GB to 12 GB storage disk, it's quite low.
@movicont (495)
• United States
27 Jul 08
I've heard some good things about Eee PCs--especially about the versatility of their size. As for customs, it's possible to place an encrypted drive on your laptop with all of your sensitive data. You could, as an alternative, encrypt all your data, but this might lead to some suspicions. There's more information about dealing with customs here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9892897-38.html?tag=nefd.lede Also, to deter suspicion from that encrypted volume, you might as well let the customs agent know that your laptop is your company laptop. You, on the other hand, have no access to the encrypted section of it--the IT guy placed it on there, and you have no idea what he did! :-D (*cough*)