Disposable Computer

The days of the disposable PC are finally here. You can buy a machine that intentionally prevents you from storing data on it and costs little enough that the entire system becomes plug & chuck. I have just discovered a brand new laptop (technically a sub-notebook) from Asus will cost you between $250 and $500. Really, even a $500 machine and is fully functioning out of the box machine is almost unheard of today.

I was poking around in my book marks today and found a link that I hadn't looked at in a very long time. I was about to delete it because I remember why I marked it in the first place. I was impressed that some online company would custom paint your computer for you. Anyway, since I have no use for this, I was about to circular file it. Well instead, I checked out what was on the page. I happened to come across a sticker for a website that I wasn't familiar, Virtual-Hideout. So, I was intrigued. I hit up the website and found this mod that they referred to as " One Eee to Rule Them All".

After reading this post, I was curious what in the hell a Eee was and why did it have so much modding interest. I Googled Eee but I wasn't finding anything that would answer my question. I resorted to the next best research tool for technological acronyms, Wikipedia. A simple search for Eee delivered me promptly to ASUS Eee PC documentation page.

I was quite amazed that an Eee mod was a modification made to this specific model of machine. I won't bore you with the specs and details of this machine, you can read that for yourself on the Wiki site. But the most interesting aspect to this machine is its cost, intentional lack of storage space, and it runs Linux with KDE.

From what I can tell, this machine is a small form factor. There are people complaining out there that the keyboard is too small and it only has a 7" diagonal monitor that runs 600 X 480. The boot time is pretty impressive also. Anyway, if someone is looking for a dumb internet terminal, here it is. I don't think that you'll be doing too much gaming on this system and the small form factor might cause eye strain if used for long periods of time. However, if you are only using your full size desktop computer to browse the internet or are willing to store all of your personal information on thumb drives or carry a portable USB harddrive with your machine, this is an easy sell.

I was recently thinking about getting my hands on such a machine. My work has me scheduled to do some traveling in the near future and being machineless is less than desirable, yet manageable. For personal reasons, an internet machine for my drill weekends and trips to Pittsburgh, to have my own machine handy would prove useful. However, my search has ended, even before this came along, as my employer has decided to upgrade my work PC and I was subsequently able to talk them into a laptop. I won't be getting it any time in the near future, but the fact it is in the works is promising. I think I'll put a personal i-net machine on hold until I have the extra money to invest in it, right now debt management is key. Though, it is nice to know options such as this are available when I'm ready.