Well my new toy arrived last Friday, February 29th 2008, right in the middle of a family illness. On Wednesday it was 911 time with my wife doubled over in pain for what was later determined to be a bowel obstruction. So between hospital visits and traveling back and forth to the hospital, I was fortunate enough to be home when UPS delivered the little laptop. It wasn’t until late Friday evening that I was able to play with the Asus Eee PC.

The first thing I noticed is what everyone else has complained about. The keyboard is small. But not to the point of being useless. I have used small laptop keyboards before and this for me was no different. It will just take some time and use to be able to type as well on the Asus Eee PC as a standard PC.

So this was a great time to test this puppy out in what I originally felt would be the sweet spot for a little laptop such as this. On Saturday I brought the Asus Eee PC to the hospital for my wife to use. It immediately connected to the Wi-Fi Guest account the hospital has set up for patient use. In a matter of minutes she was up and surfing the Net. She was instantly able to do e-mailings after I set up her account information. I left the system with her to play with and she did so until she came home on Monday morning.

What was her opinion? She liked it, plus enjoyed the super small footprint. The keyboard didn’t bother her much. Oh, yeah. She is A-OK now and the obstruction was cleared without surgery.

So now it’s my turn to try the little guy out. I’ll be reporting back in about two weeks or so.

Comments welcome.

Microsoft’s scheme using the Vista Capable label, which seems to have misinformed some customers into believing the PC they purchased would run Vista, brings up the issue why there is even a Vista Basic. Was the purpose of Vista Basic without Aero and Flip, an effort to deceive, or was it really needed for those who owned systems that would not support the advanced features?

On their web site Microsoft describes Vista Basic as:

Windows Vista Home Basic is the edition of Windows for basic home computing needs. If you only want to use your PC for tasks like browsing the Internet, using e-mail, or viewing photos, then Windows Vista Home Basic may be the right edition for you. While it won’t provide as many benefits as Windows Vista Home Premium, it will help you use your PC more easily and more safely than you could with Windows XP.

The first thing you’ll notice about Windows Vista Home Basic is how easy it is to find the programs and files you’re looking for. The instant desktop search feature looks across all of your documents, e-mails, photos, and other files, organizing the results in the way that you want to view them. When coupled with the built-in web search of Windows Internet Explorer 7 in Windows Vista, you’ll spend less time looking for the things that you need and more time on the activities that you care about.

With automatic defenses against malicious software and fraudulent websites, Windows Vista Home Basic enables you and your family to use your computer with greater confidence. Plus, parents can use built-in controls to help ensure their children’s computer use is protected and appropriate.

Windows Vista Home Basic makes it easier than ever to set up your new PC, with features that easily transfer all of your data and settings from your old PC to your new one. What’s more, you can have peace of mind for years to come with technology that keeps your system running quickly and reliably over time.

Though the advertising suggests that Vista Basic is more secure and offers many benefits compared to Windows XP, are these enough to support the idea that people should update from Windows XP to Vista Basic? Or was the real purpose of Vista Basic an effort by Microsoft to support their contention that a PC was in fact Capable to run Vista, even if it was a stripped down operating system?

What’s your take?

Comments welcome.

Microsoft Vista Basic site is here.