Hot-rodding an old Eee PC?

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Discussion

MC Bodge

Original Poster:

21,627 posts

175 months

Monday 29th September 2014
quotequote all
Is there any limit to the size of SD card that can be fitted to an Asus S101 Eee PC?

Is there much real difference in speed/performance between a Sandisk and a cheaper one?

If the SD card is much bigger, is it worth replacing the 16GB SSD with a bigger one?

It's primarily to be used for web browsing. I'm thinking of installing Lubuntu or similar (with all unused software removed) -any recommendations for Eee Pc Linux?

Ps. I'm single-handedly resisting the march of tablets!
The Ipad just feels like a big Iphone(good for a phone) and I didn't like the Samsung ones I've tried.

Edited by MC Bodge on Monday 29th September 21:02

JimbobVFR

2,682 posts

144 months

Monday 29th September 2014
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How about Chrome OS as used on Chromebooks?

It may be perfect for your needs.

TheRealFingers99

1,996 posts

128 months

Monday 29th September 2014
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Lots of hacks on the eeePC forum.

AFAIK, there's no limit to the size of SD you can use.

AJB88

12,400 posts

171 months

Tuesday 30th September 2014
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JimbobVFR said:
How about Chrome OS as used on Chromebooks?

It may be perfect for your needs.
Exactly what I was thinking either install ChromiumOS (the downloadable version of ChromeOS)or get a Chromebook.

I bought a Chromebook last year as a toy basically, its now replaced my Linux laptop as my day to day machine.

TheRealFingers99

1,996 posts

128 months

Tuesday 30th September 2014
quotequote all
MC Bodge said:
If the SD card is much bigger, is it worth replacing the 16GB SSD with a bigger one?
Well, it'll be a little faster, maybe. But for your use I'd just fit more RAM (if anything).

MC Bodge said:
It's primarily to be used for web browsing. I'm thinking of installing Lubuntu or similar (with all unused software removed) -any recommendations for Eee Pc Linux?
I use Knoppix on mine -- the full DVD, installed via SD. On the 701 I removed stuff -- on the 1000 I've not bothered.

MC Bodge said:
Ps. I'm single-handedly resisting the march of tablets!
Well, not quite single-handedly! My view is that if Steve Jobs hated netbooks, they have to be a good thing!


Edited by MC Bodge on Monday 29th September 21:02

MC Bodge

Original Poster:

21,627 posts

175 months

Tuesday 30th September 2014
quotequote all
AJB88 said:
Exactly what I was thinking either install ChromiumOS (the downloadable version of ChromeOS)or get a Chromebook.

I bought a Chromebook last year as a toy basically, its now replaced my Linux laptop as my day to day machine.
Does the Chromium OS support any software other than Chrome? Word processor and spreadsheet other than online Google ones?

plasticpig

12,932 posts

225 months

Tuesday 30th September 2014
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I installed Android on my old Eee netbook. Ran very well until it died.

AJB88

12,400 posts

171 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
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MC Bodge said:
Does the Chromium OS support any software other than Chrome? Word processor and spreadsheet other than online Google ones?
Software itself not really, only Chrome web based apps and now android apps

You can use other cloud services though, I think MS has one now do they not?

Foliage

3,861 posts

122 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
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So the Hard Drive is a SD card on them?

anyway, if its using an SD card look for a class 10, the class denotes the cards read write speed, size doesnt really matter with regards speed as long as it has enough spacefor the OS, smaller will be cheaper though but SD cards are cheap, id go with a decent brand for reliability, when SD cards are used as a hard drive for read write they only last a couple of years at best (my raspberry pi has already eaten 2 of them), my advice would be to use a USB pen drive (have a look at the tiny ones that fit flushish in the USB port perhaps) for storage so that if the OS dies you still have your documents, id probably go with a 64gb USB3 pendrive for storage.

Ram and Processor are the other 2 factors for speed, so have a look if you can add more ram or overclock the processor.

ive no experience with OS's for these devices just a bit of cross over knowledge from the Rpi.

TheRealFingers99

1,996 posts

128 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
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Foliage said:
So the Hard Drive is a SD card on them?
Without knowing the exact model (some actually had a conventional hard drive) it's impossible to know, but those that didn't used an SSD as the main storage rather than an SD.

Having said that, I've briefly run mine from an SD card (quality, but nothing I'd specially picked out) without any real speed issues.


MC Bodge

Original Poster:

21,627 posts

175 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
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Thanks. The original "HD" is an SSD.

It's just a bit of a project really, but good to try to make use of.

puppy Linux seems quite impressive for the size, but I prefer Lubuntu so far. Some tweaking of Puppy Linux and adding Chrome might make the GUI more pleasant

MC Bodge

Original Poster:

21,627 posts

175 months

Wednesday 8th October 2014
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Lubuntu and 2GB ram are working very well