One of the problems with the Asus Eee 4G is the small size of the keyboard. The keys are too tight for me to type as quickly as I normally do (80-120 words per minute). Perhaps HP found the solution for its mini-notebook: the keys have almost no gap between them, resulting in a larger keycap; on the 4G, the keys look traditional: somewhat wedge-shaped.
External Keyboard
One solution to the too-small keyboard is to use an external keyboard. I have a no-name keyboard with USB connector. I plugged it in, opened OpenOffice writer, and began typing. It worked.
This solves the problem at home, but not for fast typing -- such as live blogging -- on the road.
For the road, you might consider the flexible keyboard from Targus. It a full size keyboard made of rubber, and so can fold and roll up -- even fit inside a small backpack. The keyboard works well for me; the one drawbackis that the backspace key is curiously small, and so I tend to miss it, hitting another key instead.
Maximimizing the Screen
Similarly, the small screen is small. I don't mind the 7" size; it's the low resolution (800x480) that makes it a bit tough to see a lot at one time. One solution is to optimize the software by eliminating unnecessary UI items, like toolbars and status bars, or going to a smaller font.
(There is a limit to smaller fonts, however: the low resolution renders small fonts unreadable.)
Most programs have a View item in the menu bar: choose View | Toolbars to turn off toolbars. Some programs run in fullscreen mode, which maximizes the page:
- Firefox -- press F11 to toggle fullscreen mode.
- OpenOffice -- press Ctrl+Shift+J, or use the View | Full Screen menu.
External Screen
Another solution is to attach an external monitor. And it need not be an expensive one, for the maximum resolution supported by the 4G is 1024x768. Even a 14" or 17" used LCD monitor would do, for I don't know that you can even buy 1024x768 monitors anymore!
After attaching the external monitor, you need to run the Settings | Desktop Mode program to redirect the video output and set the resolution -- as I described earlier in "Asus Eee with Data Projectors & Wireless Mice."
Philosophical Question
By the time you've added the external hard drive, external keyboard, external mouse, external monitor, and whatnot, eventually you begin to wonder, "Have I destroyed the point?" That tiny notebook has become a cumbersome octopus.
For an extra $100, you can get a fullsize notebook that includes the fullsize keyboard (save $50 on buying an external one), full size and full resolution monitor (saves $150), high-capacity hard drive (save $100), dual-layer LightScribe DVD burner (save $100), 3-4GB RAM, and so on.
But that full-size notebook destroys the purpose of the Eee 4G: the portability of a PalmPilot merged with the capabilities of a notebook computer. The question is one of compromise.
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