ASUS 1000HE Netbook as Kindle Clone

Thanks to Paul Biba at Tele-read for the tip that you can press ctrl-alt-arrow to rotate the screen on a 1000he and use the netbook as a Kindle-like device. The navigation is hitting the pagedown and pageup buttons. Here I am checking out Susan Jacoby's new book, The Age of American Unreason over at Google Books. Google Books is great, but you don't get all the pages. E-books have this book for 15.95. My friend, Michael Twittered to me that there is always Project Gutenberg, but that is great if you want to read an old classic like The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce. Clearly, if I want to read something a bit more recent it is cheaper to just buy a used book over at Thrift Books, Biblio, or Amazon and pay $4-$5 bucks.

Don't get me wrong. My preference for books are used paperbooks. Recently, I bought used paperbooks and there is nothing more nostalgic for me. One of my fondest memories when I moved to Menlo Park back in the late 1970s is finding this great used book store that would by back your books and gave you store credit to get more. Nothing motivates a young person to read more than being able to pay for books with one's meager allowance and be able to earn more books by bring fully read books back. Of course, they went out of business.

There is something tactile and social about physical books. You can feel and smell the pages and underline passages and make notes. You can share your book with friends and they make great gifts. If somehow an electronic pulse knocks out all of electronica in the world ala Dark Angel, you still have physical books to keep you company and entertained.

That being said, I think it is cool that my netbook can be repurposed to become an ebook reader. The awesome thing about ebooks is that like used books, you are not killing new trees for entertainment. Making paper and inks does have an effect on the environment. One issue is storage of books. Books take up a lot of room and ebooks could help unclutter our homes.

Talk Me Down, ASUS

Thanks Dangerously Drawn for summing up the wait process for my Blue Object of Desire.

I would like to call this drawing, "Preeee-release Madness"

As you know from my last post, I pre-ordered a blue ASUS 1000HE 10" netbook from Amazon. I ordered from Amazon not only because we had a $50 gift certificate from Christmas, or the reliable return policy, but because Amazon is the huge 900 lbs gorilla who should be getting a huge bulk of timely shipments. You would think that since Amazon has the most positive user reviews on the net of their eee 1000h series (in fact those reviews convinced us to settle on the Asus brand more than all the professional tech reviews), they would get a little love. I called Amazon and they told me they knew nothing about when they will get or ship them out. Yet, I go to their site and find posts like these:

- tukewl4u720 says:

Amazon rep said they're shipping the first batch now.
- Sami Abu-hantash says:

I asked someone at Amazon and they told me Mid March. I am starting to lose hope.
- TJ Power says:

I also asked Amazon, and they replied with April 14th. I'm starting to lose hope as well...

- They will be shipping the 16th. According to the Asus rep on the facebook group - Their US distribution company will be receiving them on the 13th, and they should be in retailers hands by the next week - so the 16th through the 20th would be reasonable... Amazon usually gets stuff early so I'm crossing my fingers for next Monday/Tuesday.

Then we had Techtweeter via Zicklepop giving us a 2-20-09 release date (from retail sources) after Zickel-P got an Amazon iphone App estimate of mid-April.

To me, as a consumer, it looks to me that neither Amazon, nor Asus is talking to each other to nail down release dates. It was that last post that got me to pre-order as it wasn't much of a wait. Even the 2-23-09 approximate date wasn't too bad. It wouldn't matter about the release time if everyone had to wait, but J&R, ZipZoomFly, and some Ebay e-tailers had them and were selling them. J&R is now sold out, but ZipZoomFly continues to sell them at a slightly higher price.

Then there comes a rumor that only the black model is going to released now, and the blue one will be released at a later date unknown. Wait a second! There was no indication that there were going to be a seperate release of the blue unit from the black unit. If I had known that I would have ordered the black one. Now, if I change my order it would put me farther back in the queue. When it comes down to it I really want the blue one. I have Asus people saying they will look into this one.

A lot of the problem is this flurry of rumors. These rumors grab hold because of the absence of clear communication by ASUS. They put out the announcement, they generate a lot of press mention, have a facebook site and pre-release sale. They shouldn't have created buzz that they couldn't respond to. They should have had a time-table of when these units will be ready, shipped, sent out to retailers, and tell that to their customers. If Amazon or any other retailer lags, it would reflect on those retailers, not ASUS. Unfortunately, ASUS hasn't done that.

All I want is the blue shiny 1000HE that I can coo and write how much I love it to the world.

It looks like I may need a miracle.

Stay tuned.

Asus Anticipation: Preee-Order Support Group

Thanks to ZicklePop@twitter, I got the idea to set up a Preee-Order Support group for the Asus eee PC 1000HE. Please feel free to post especially if you have pre-ordered and feel lost, anxious, excited, and obsessed.

Thanks to my friend, Quyen I was able to use a $50.00 gift certificate toward a pre-order of this baby in blue (plus a 2gb RAM upgrade). All Asus said about the release was late February, but it is February 16 and at this point you would think an ETA would be set if the release date is going to be in February. Googling 1000HE Ship date, I found ZicklePop's twitter that the Amazon iphone app said the release was mid-April. I dispaired. It turns out ZicklePop's twitter source said that the ship date is actually 2-20-09. I also read a rumor that they may have shipped last Friday and that they should be arriving this week. I asked for confirmation at the Official ASUS eee PC Facebook site, but no word yet only anxious folk.

From Amazon:

The Eee PC 1000HE by Asus comes in a Blue style that has a much longer battery life than previous models, up to 9 hours with the help of the new Intel N280 processor and Asus Super Hybrid Engine battery technology. The Eee PC has a sturdy LED backlit display with a high-resolution screen. At 1024 x 600 pixels, images are clear and sharp, making it more comfortable on the eyes reading and editing documents. Typing has also gotten easier with the new chicklet keyboard, which gives you wide keys that are spread out to help prevent mistyping. On the top of this screen is the 1.3 Megapixel Webcamera that works synchronously with the 802.11N wireless to provide web conferencing anywhere, anytime for easier web communications and increased work efficiency. To complete the wireless package you also get Bluetooth that allows you to easily connect wireless with Bluetooth headsets or mouse for added comfort and use. Store all your favorite music, video and personal files on the 160GB hard drive and when you need additional space or some way to backup, you can do it with the additional 10GB Eee Online storage. Preinstalled on the Eee PC to provide you a familiar interface is Microsoft's Windows XP Home, Windows Live Messenger and Works for numerous office applications, that allows anyone to learn, work and play. With all of these features the Asus Eee PC makes for a fantastic purchase as a well-equipped second notebook or a Web access tool, so beat the crowds, and get yours today before they sell out! 10 LCD WSVGA (1024 x 600) LED Backlight Display Intel UMA Graphics Card 1.3 Megapixel Webcamera and Digital Array Microphone WiFi 802.11b/g/n Wireless Bluetooth 10/100Mbps LAN Stereo Speakers Memory Card Slot - MultiMedia Card (MMC), Secure Digital (SD) Card, SDHC Connections - 3 x USB, VGA, Headphone, Microphone, RJ-45 (LAN) Approximate Unit Dimensions - 10.47 (W) x 7.53 (D) x 1.12 ~ 1.50 (H)

When my 17" Dell Inspiron 1705's screen and video died, I could spend 300-500 (or more with no guarantees it would be fixable) to fix it, or use that money to get a new machine. This budget put me in the market for newfangled netbooks. I was open to it because I had found that the 17" was way too bulky to carry around the house much less to a cafe, work, or travel. The battery life on the 1705 was abysmal. The power cord would go unplugged and it would be out of power in less than an hour, so I had to have it plugged whereever I went which defeated the whole concept of portable.

I give up screensize, processing power, and resolution for portability and price. I will let you know if it is worth it. Meanwhile, I anxiously wait.