ASUS Eee Keyboard Review
Most recently, I wrote a small post about an unusual keyboard from ASUS - the Eee Keyboard .
Then he was actually "sucked from the finger" - a description of the device according to the information that was found on the Internet - as many other websites do, giving everything at face value. Today, I offer personally verified information - I managed to win the first Russian sample. Write +1 on the account of Habrahabr.
There is still no information about the date of deliveries to Russia, but, apparently, it is not far off. So my duty is to tell you about what and how it really is)
')
It all starts with a box - it is a little more than standard boxes, it has a convenient carrying handle.
And, in principle, some applications are already drawn on it:
Once again, I don’t see any point in writing about the placement of elements on the keyboard case - everything is in the pictures and nothing has changed since the last time . For familiarization, I strongly recommend to look at least from the image from the previous post.
And yet there is something to add, which you will not see in the pictures. To begin with, the device is rather heavy - it can be held either with two hands or one from the bottom - in the center of gravity. It is very uncomfortable to hold with one hand from one of the sides - you will not last long. It is understandable - inside a pile of iron, battery and everything.
From the front side the body forms a thick sheet of brushed aluminum. Cool aluminum is no imitation, as many have suggested.
The edges are quite sharp, but to hurt yourself or cut the bread - you have to try hard. The buttons themselves are plastic, but typing on them is a real pleasure - a full layout, large split keys, nothing bends, etc. A small and quiet ride, and the most pleasant is the white (switchable) backlight, which makes it possible to work in complete darkness. And the backlight is smart enough - it turns off by itself, if for some time nothing is pressed.
The sample engineering is that there is no Cyrillic layout, it is not surprising; and what color it will be in the end is still unknown. English letters and tsiferki dark gray - contrasting and convenient in practice. Uncomfortable, perhaps, spaced Del, Ins buttons and the Power button, about which a bit later.
The back side is black and glossy, but completely unmarked - this is not the plastic that frames are made around laptop screens) In the corners there are 4 round rubber legs that hold the device perfectly in place.
The five-inch screen is matte - a paradise for the eyes. It does not stick out of the case and is not pressed, along the perimeter - a small black frame. Do not mark, to drive on it with your fingers is also a pleasure.
Included with the device are two UWB-devices that are designed to transmit video over a wireless interface. One of them is small (approximately with a router; but less than a nettop) receiver, the second is a small antenna with three contacts inserted directly into the keyboard.
The plastic black receiver is powered from the network (via a second adapter, different from the keyboard one), you can (and should) connect an external screen to it via HDMI; if you want to connect headphones.
By the way, not only the UWB-antenna is located in a small, detachable “module” for the keyboard, it also has an antenna for Wi-Fi. Accordingly, the wireless Internet works only when the module is connected - even it is strange that at least there was no space for Wi-Fi in the case. This part can be easily lost or broken off - and what, sit in an Internet only through the wire? Strange.
Speaking of bundling, in addition to the keyboard and the receivers, it comes with a network adapter, a proprietary fiber and HDMI cable.
Let me remind you what's inside. As someone already guessed (knew), this is a completely autonomous solution, contrary to the statements of the leading ones from Radio-T's 184th issue (at that time they quite seriously stated that it was just a keyboard, and the nettop-type "system unit" did everything else which they took UWB-receiver)
Inside - modern for those times stuffing (recall that the device appeared almost 2 years ago) - Intel Atom N270 processor (1600 MHz clock speed) on the Intel 945GSE Express chipset, 1 GB RAM (sorry, but only 1 slot inside) and an integrated video adapter again from Intel.
We won't talk about performance in “parrots” either - everything is exactly the same as in netbooks of “that time”. The model of the installed flash drive is unknown, but the volume is quite modest - 16GB. The speed parameters in the HD Tune program are as follows:
The device can work both from the mains (via an adapter of netbook sizes) and from the built-in battery - the power supply switch is located on the back side. More precisely, it can hardware disconnect the battery, leaving the opportunity to work from the network - well, anything can happen (for example, for some service operations). The toggle switch is recessed in the case, and not very well - just switch it with a fingernail will not work, except with a clip. On the other hand, on the communicators, soft-rezet also just can not be done.
The keyboard turns on absolutely silently, a little later a barely audible hum from the cooler is noticed - little things that do not cause inconvenience. When working there is a small "complex" heating, but also not critical.
It is unusual to see the BIOS on a screen of this size - all the more so in a “portrait” orientation.
The device was preinstalled with Windows XP - it loads quite brightly itself, despite the huge number of all sorts of unnecessary features prescribed for autorun. In order to place at least a couple of windows on the taskbar, I had to remove everything from the quick launch and hide it “to the maximum” in the tray.
Windows not optimized for fingers is really inconvenient - you need to either set a small resolution or use a mouse (I used the Razer Orochi, which connected to the keyboard without any problems). One touch on the screen over Windows appears alternative shell - for some reason I was sure that this is what Moblin will look like)
No, this is exactly a Windows add-on, which, in principle, has already been discussed. Enough smooth work, a bit of animation and interactivity, a set of basic tools and ... and everything. A handful of online services (compared to which their “big brothers” look much more functional in the browser window), a bit of services and applications. The only advantage is finger optimization. In general, see the screenshots - nothing more to add.
The native screen resolution is 800x480, so the “iPhone built into the keyboard” smokes aside) But the HTC HD2 is very “built-in”, although it has a “only” diagonal of 4.3 inches (compared to 5 ”in the keyboard).
However, the resolution can be changed - 480x640, 768x1024, 666x1184 and so on - but all this will only lead to the emergence of a “virtual scroll”. In general, it is quite possible to use the screen, but not so convenient ... or, at least, unusual.
As you can see, there are no buttons on the digital block on the device (except for digits separated by the main layout) - this disadvantage is conditionally solved. With a flick of the wrist ... the pad is displayed on the screen:
Also, the screen can be a large touchpad, and with two virtual buttons (PKM and LKM), and even with a scroll.
However, the display in this case is not made for permanent work on it, but rather as a “spare tire” - so that, if absolutely necessary, you can use it. You won’t work for it for a long time, it’s much more convenient to connect to the big screen.
In this case, there are no problems - for HDMI, the keyboard easily connected to the monitor (24 ''), where it easily produced 1920x1200 @ 32bit. In this case, the screen can be simply as a second monitor, under Winamp ICQ, for example, or for a touchpad. If you connect via a wireless interface (UWB), then everything also works fine - without delay, but I could not stretch the image to 1920x1200 - it was smaller. Although I am almost sure that this can be solved - I just got the keyboard for only a couple of hours, which is why there was simply no way to thoroughly understand it (
It did not work out and make the device a “normal” keyboard for a stationary computer, which is a pity. But typing is really great - you hardly pay attention to the fact that the screen is on the right.
As you know, “10 bucks is not superfluous” - but this time I did NOT lose LITTLE) Habrayuser guessss_who - last time we argued with him about this amount, what is the role of the Power button, located next to the Backspace button. He was indignant that with ordinary typing you could accidentally get a finger in there, which would at least have unpleasant consequences; I was also of the opinion that the manufacturer is not so stupid as to make the device “off” from just pressing it - at least this should happen when the button is held down. In fact, simply pressing a button really sends the clave to hibernate, which few people will like during active work. It remains to hope that this disgrace can somehow be fixed through the BIOS, programmatically or something else there. If you press the buttons clearly, then accidental trouble can be avoided - especially since the Power and Home buttons are slightly recessed in the case, unlike all other keys.
In any case, I am ready to pass on a ten to an attentive reader. Well, that was sane and blessed memory. It is a pity that they did not argue for an apartment or car;)
Since we started talking about money, then this keyboard will cost approximately 15-18 thousand rubles. Compared with the Chinese geniuses, for 150 rubles, of course, expensive, but Lebedev also has enough conscience to sell his “masterpiece” by as much as 65 thousand) One of the first stores where you can buy a new e-e-eshechku (weeks or two) will become amac .
At one time, ASUS has taken a bold step by releasing the first device in the Eee series. The demand was so great that almost all manufacturers from the near-football industry switched their “pumps” to pumping out money from this area, often sucking each other in them. It is through such activity that the class of netbooks has grown very rapidly and quickly, and the proposed range can satisfy even the most capricious needs.
Has this keyboard become another attempt to create such a "movement"? I doubt very much - it’s more like the company's desire to once again stand out against the gray crowd, embellishing the line of Eee devices not just with a new model, but with a new type of device — something that no one else had on the modern market. A sort of shrapnel shot in total darkness - some targets will definitely be hit, but some - it will become clear when it is light) And, believe me, many manufacturers are watching this shooting with great interest - they didn’t have enough gunpowder in their box. something like "ahead of the rest." And even if ASUS does not succeed in creating a new need for the population (so that there is something to satisfy), they have made a completely independent device, which can now be found many uses. And this is at least commendable and great.
As for the keyboard itself, I have a very mixed opinion. On the one hand - the sea of ​​positive emotions from testing something really new, not yet bored. On the other hand, in terms of the performance of systems on the Intel Atom, I have something to compare with, and in this case, nothing supernatural happened (however, I was obviously ready for this). Like a keyboard, the device is really good, although there are some amazing moments in the same layout; but to be just a keyboard with a “touchpad”, as I understand it, it cannot. How to replace a netbook is also very doubtful. You can take a device on the subway and put it on your knees to get something off the flash drive or change the last name on the title page of a standard calculation - without any problems at all, but you can work _comfortably_ with an external display. And the problem of placing the screen on the right side is not worth it at all - you could easily put up with it. The main charm, by the way, and not in the screen - namely, that under the buttons. But everything is not so smooth here either - there are not so many multimedia capabilities under the modern content of the keyboard - UWB and HDMI are there, but you still don’t watch a high-quality film. In short, I repeat - everything is very, very ambiguous, but it is no less interesting.
As things go on - time will tell; I think that replacing the “atoms” and inserting something “ionic” on the current base will have no difficulty - after all, in fact, the device was designed a couple of years ago, and the integration levels of the elements in the components have increased quite well since. In general, I will observe with great interest - and, if lucky, from time to time I write articles :)
Do not forget to join the ranks of fans of the company on Habré.
Successes!
Then he was actually "sucked from the finger" - a description of the device according to the information that was found on the Internet - as many other websites do, giving everything at face value. Today, I offer personally verified information - I managed to win the first Russian sample. Write +1 on the account of Habrahabr.
There is still no information about the date of deliveries to Russia, but, apparently, it is not far off. So my duty is to tell you about what and how it really is)
')
It all starts with a box - it is a little more than standard boxes, it has a convenient carrying handle.
And, in principle, some applications are already drawn on it:
Appearance
Once again, I don’t see any point in writing about the placement of elements on the keyboard case - everything is in the pictures and nothing has changed since the last time . For familiarization, I strongly recommend to look at least from the image from the previous post.
And yet there is something to add, which you will not see in the pictures. To begin with, the device is rather heavy - it can be held either with two hands or one from the bottom - in the center of gravity. It is very uncomfortable to hold with one hand from one of the sides - you will not last long. It is understandable - inside a pile of iron, battery and everything.
From the front side the body forms a thick sheet of brushed aluminum. Cool aluminum is no imitation, as many have suggested.
The edges are quite sharp, but to hurt yourself or cut the bread - you have to try hard. The buttons themselves are plastic, but typing on them is a real pleasure - a full layout, large split keys, nothing bends, etc. A small and quiet ride, and the most pleasant is the white (switchable) backlight, which makes it possible to work in complete darkness. And the backlight is smart enough - it turns off by itself, if for some time nothing is pressed.
The sample engineering is that there is no Cyrillic layout, it is not surprising; and what color it will be in the end is still unknown. English letters and tsiferki dark gray - contrasting and convenient in practice. Uncomfortable, perhaps, spaced Del, Ins buttons and the Power button, about which a bit later.
The back side is black and glossy, but completely unmarked - this is not the plastic that frames are made around laptop screens) In the corners there are 4 round rubber legs that hold the device perfectly in place.
The five-inch screen is matte - a paradise for the eyes. It does not stick out of the case and is not pressed, along the perimeter - a small black frame. Do not mark, to drive on it with your fingers is also a pleasure.
Included with the device are two UWB-devices that are designed to transmit video over a wireless interface. One of them is small (approximately with a router; but less than a nettop) receiver, the second is a small antenna with three contacts inserted directly into the keyboard.
The plastic black receiver is powered from the network (via a second adapter, different from the keyboard one), you can (and should) connect an external screen to it via HDMI; if you want to connect headphones.
By the way, not only the UWB-antenna is located in a small, detachable “module” for the keyboard, it also has an antenna for Wi-Fi. Accordingly, the wireless Internet works only when the module is connected - even it is strange that at least there was no space for Wi-Fi in the case. This part can be easily lost or broken off - and what, sit in an Internet only through the wire? Strange.
Speaking of bundling, in addition to the keyboard and the receivers, it comes with a network adapter, a proprietary fiber and HDMI cable.
Turn on and work
Let me remind you what's inside. As someone already guessed (knew), this is a completely autonomous solution, contrary to the statements of the leading ones from Radio-T's 184th issue (at that time they quite seriously stated that it was just a keyboard, and the nettop-type "system unit" did everything else which they took UWB-receiver)
Inside - modern for those times stuffing (recall that the device appeared almost 2 years ago) - Intel Atom N270 processor (1600 MHz clock speed) on the Intel 945GSE Express chipset, 1 GB RAM (sorry, but only 1 slot inside) and an integrated video adapter again from Intel.
We won't talk about performance in “parrots” either - everything is exactly the same as in netbooks of “that time”. The model of the installed flash drive is unknown, but the volume is quite modest - 16GB. The speed parameters in the HD Tune program are as follows:
The device can work both from the mains (via an adapter of netbook sizes) and from the built-in battery - the power supply switch is located on the back side. More precisely, it can hardware disconnect the battery, leaving the opportunity to work from the network - well, anything can happen (for example, for some service operations). The toggle switch is recessed in the case, and not very well - just switch it with a fingernail will not work, except with a clip. On the other hand, on the communicators, soft-rezet also just can not be done.
The keyboard turns on absolutely silently, a little later a barely audible hum from the cooler is noticed - little things that do not cause inconvenience. When working there is a small "complex" heating, but also not critical.
It is unusual to see the BIOS on a screen of this size - all the more so in a “portrait” orientation.
The device was preinstalled with Windows XP - it loads quite brightly itself, despite the huge number of all sorts of unnecessary features prescribed for autorun. In order to place at least a couple of windows on the taskbar, I had to remove everything from the quick launch and hide it “to the maximum” in the tray.
Windows not optimized for fingers is really inconvenient - you need to either set a small resolution or use a mouse (I used the Razer Orochi, which connected to the keyboard without any problems). One touch on the screen over Windows appears alternative shell - for some reason I was sure that this is what Moblin will look like)
No, this is exactly a Windows add-on, which, in principle, has already been discussed. Enough smooth work, a bit of animation and interactivity, a set of basic tools and ... and everything. A handful of online services (compared to which their “big brothers” look much more functional in the browser window), a bit of services and applications. The only advantage is finger optimization. In general, see the screenshots - nothing more to add.
The native screen resolution is 800x480, so the “iPhone built into the keyboard” smokes aside) But the HTC HD2 is very “built-in”, although it has a “only” diagonal of 4.3 inches (compared to 5 ”in the keyboard).
However, the resolution can be changed - 480x640, 768x1024, 666x1184 and so on - but all this will only lead to the emergence of a “virtual scroll”. In general, it is quite possible to use the screen, but not so convenient ... or, at least, unusual.
As you can see, there are no buttons on the digital block on the device (except for digits separated by the main layout) - this disadvantage is conditionally solved. With a flick of the wrist ... the pad is displayed on the screen:
Also, the screen can be a large touchpad, and with two virtual buttons (PKM and LKM), and even with a scroll.
However, the display in this case is not made for permanent work on it, but rather as a “spare tire” - so that, if absolutely necessary, you can use it. You won’t work for it for a long time, it’s much more convenient to connect to the big screen.
In this case, there are no problems - for HDMI, the keyboard easily connected to the monitor (24 ''), where it easily produced 1920x1200 @ 32bit. In this case, the screen can be simply as a second monitor, under Winamp ICQ, for example, or for a touchpad. If you connect via a wireless interface (UWB), then everything also works fine - without delay, but I could not stretch the image to 1920x1200 - it was smaller. Although I am almost sure that this can be solved - I just got the keyboard for only a couple of hours, which is why there was simply no way to thoroughly understand it (
It did not work out and make the device a “normal” keyboard for a stationary computer, which is a pity. But typing is really great - you hardly pay attention to the fact that the screen is on the right.
$ 10
As you know, “10 bucks is not superfluous” - but this time I did NOT lose LITTLE) Habrayuser guessss_who - last time we argued with him about this amount, what is the role of the Power button, located next to the Backspace button. He was indignant that with ordinary typing you could accidentally get a finger in there, which would at least have unpleasant consequences; I was also of the opinion that the manufacturer is not so stupid as to make the device “off” from just pressing it - at least this should happen when the button is held down. In fact, simply pressing a button really sends the clave to hibernate, which few people will like during active work. It remains to hope that this disgrace can somehow be fixed through the BIOS, programmatically or something else there. If you press the buttons clearly, then accidental trouble can be avoided - especially since the Power and Home buttons are slightly recessed in the case, unlike all other keys.
Since we started talking about money, then this keyboard will cost approximately 15-18 thousand rubles. Compared with the Chinese geniuses, for 150 rubles, of course, expensive, but Lebedev also has enough conscience to sell his “masterpiece” by as much as 65 thousand) One of the first stores where you can buy a new e-e-eshechku (weeks or two) will become amac .
Conclusion
At one time, ASUS has taken a bold step by releasing the first device in the Eee series. The demand was so great that almost all manufacturers from the near-football industry switched their “pumps” to pumping out money from this area, often sucking each other in them. It is through such activity that the class of netbooks has grown very rapidly and quickly, and the proposed range can satisfy even the most capricious needs.
Has this keyboard become another attempt to create such a "movement"? I doubt very much - it’s more like the company's desire to once again stand out against the gray crowd, embellishing the line of Eee devices not just with a new model, but with a new type of device — something that no one else had on the modern market. A sort of shrapnel shot in total darkness - some targets will definitely be hit, but some - it will become clear when it is light) And, believe me, many manufacturers are watching this shooting with great interest - they didn’t have enough gunpowder in their box. something like "ahead of the rest." And even if ASUS does not succeed in creating a new need for the population (so that there is something to satisfy), they have made a completely independent device, which can now be found many uses. And this is at least commendable and great.
As for the keyboard itself, I have a very mixed opinion. On the one hand - the sea of ​​positive emotions from testing something really new, not yet bored. On the other hand, in terms of the performance of systems on the Intel Atom, I have something to compare with, and in this case, nothing supernatural happened (however, I was obviously ready for this). Like a keyboard, the device is really good, although there are some amazing moments in the same layout; but to be just a keyboard with a “touchpad”, as I understand it, it cannot. How to replace a netbook is also very doubtful. You can take a device on the subway and put it on your knees to get something off the flash drive or change the last name on the title page of a standard calculation - without any problems at all, but you can work _comfortably_ with an external display. And the problem of placing the screen on the right side is not worth it at all - you could easily put up with it. The main charm, by the way, and not in the screen - namely, that under the buttons. But everything is not so smooth here either - there are not so many multimedia capabilities under the modern content of the keyboard - UWB and HDMI are there, but you still don’t watch a high-quality film. In short, I repeat - everything is very, very ambiguous, but it is no less interesting.
As things go on - time will tell; I think that replacing the “atoms” and inserting something “ionic” on the current base will have no difficulty - after all, in fact, the device was designed a couple of years ago, and the integration levels of the elements in the components have increased quite well since. In general, I will observe with great interest - and, if lucky, from time to time I write articles :)
Do not forget to join the ranks of fans of the company on Habré.
Successes!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/92857/
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