There is a problem with OpenOffice 2.0 bundled with Asus EEE PC. This version is not capable to open some extensions, which are important. You might want to upgrade OpenOffice.org to work on those extensions.

First you need to remove the current version. Type the following command

sudo apt-get remove openoffice*

This command will remove the current version. Download the latest version and unpack the archive. Move to DEBS folder and type the following command

sudo -dpkg -i openoffice.org* 

If you wish to integrate the icons in KDE menu, you will have to move to desktop-integration directory inside DEBS and run the following command

sudo -dpkg -i openoffice*
Now if you are willing to run the program directly from /usr/bin without going inside the installation directory, you will have to create symbolic links.  Here are the commands to create symbolic links to /usr/bin

 sudo ln -s /opt/openoffice.org2.3/program/swriter /usr/bin/

sudo ln -s /opt/openoffice.org2.3/program/scalc /usr/bin/

sudo ln -s /opt/openoffice.org2.3/program/simpress /usr/bin/

sudo ln -s /opt/openoffice.org2.3/program/sbase /usr/bin/

sudo ln -s /opt/openoffice.org2.3/program/soffice /usr/bin/

sudo ln -s /opt/openoffice.org2.3/program/smath /usr/bin/

sudo ln -s /opt/openoffice.org2.3/program/sdraw /usr/bin/

Finally, you will have to edit the Easy mode also. In the easy mode editor, replace the command tabs with the following entries

For Documents, /usr/bin/swriter

For Spreadsheets, /usr/bin/scalc

For Presentations, /usr/bin/simpress

That’s all. Now you have the latest version installed on your EEE PC.

The Skype version integrated with the Asus EEE PC is not capable to integrate the built-in webcam. If the webcam is not working with Skype, you need to tune up the software by updating it. Here is the procedure:

In the easy mode, switch to settings and move to Add/Remove software. From here, update the version of Skype and reboot the system.

Now you will have to test the Webcam support. In skype, open the Options->Video devices button to see that the webcam is working or not. If it is not, it simply means that it is not enabled.  Enable it with the following command:

 sudo echo 1 > /proc/acpi/asus/camera

Similarly, if you want to disable the webcam, type following command

  sudo echo 1 > /proc/acpi/asus/camera

Asus EEE PC’s one more competitor is GeCube Genie. GeCube has launched this laptop with the same configuration as that of Asus EEE PC i.e. a 7-inch screen,  2GB flash memory and weight 950 grams.

And one more feature with this. GeCube Genie can be detached from the keyboard and still it retains the functionality of a laptop.

The cost of GeCube Genie is $450.  People will be delighted with this functionality, but it can be better if GeCube introduces a touchscreen version with stylus control.

Now Eee Pc is also available in Korea only with Windows XP, just like Asus realeased it in Japan. EEE PC 4G costs 499,000 Won($526) to the Koreans, expensive than the price quoted for U.S. citizens.

Asus EEE PCs with windows XP are not yet launched in U.S. and England, but it looks like the users are satisfied with the Xandros.

Another laptop which will fit your budget- Elonex One. The British company behind the idea will launch the laptop in this month’s end. This laptop is going to be launched in an Educational Show.

The specifications of this laptop will reveal with its launch, but we got a general idea of the configuration. The configuration is similar to the EEE PC. It will contain a flash based hard drive, Wi-F, a Wi-Fi based music server and battery backup of 3 hours.

The laptop will target educational sector in UK. Elonex also announced to donate one laptop to the poorest families on selling 100 laptops. This laptop is available at Eur. 99(US $146.77 approx.).

At the end of this month, a new competitor to Asus EEE will appear in the form of Kohjinsha E8 mini notebook. This notebook provides more qualities than Asus EEE PC, but you will have to pay nearly 2 times than the Asus EEE PC. You can consider this mini-notebook as EEE Pc with touchscreen revolving screen. The specifications are :

• Windows XP
• AMD Geode LX800 processor
• 40GB HDD
• 512MB RAM
• Memory card reader
• Battery life : 3.5 hours
• Resoulution: 1024×600
• Price = US$600

If you want to change the operating system of your EEE PC to a Red-Hat based enviorment, then it is the right time to do it. Eeedora is a live distribution of Fedora which is compatible with EEE PCs. The image file is 350MB. Eeedora works with any hardware at EEE PC(if we leave the webcam support and resume issues) . The main advantage of EEEdora is that you can install larger packages according to your convenience like GIMP, Thunderbird and OpenOffice.

Installing Eeedora

Step 1: Download the packages here http://eeedora.rmbsanalytics.com/

There are two types of installation images available at the website. You will use the first one if you want to use your flash drive as the live media. If you want to use CD, then choose the 2nd option.

Step 2: If you choose the CD-R procedure, then it would be simple. Burn the image and it is ready to use with EEE.

If you are using the flash-drive method, it would be little complex. You will have to use a desktop PC for the preparation of the Zip-disk. You may have a Windows system, Fedora Linux based system or a non-fedora linux based system. The preparation steps are different for the three cases. So let’s take them one by one.

For Windows system

Extract the zip files to any drive(say D:\eeedora).

Check the Drive letter of your thumb drive. We assume that it is G:.

Open the command prompt and type the following commands:

c:\>d:

d:\>cd eeedora

d:\eeedora\> syslinux -ma G:

d:\eeedora\> xcopy /s *.* f:\

It will take 5 to 10 minutes to copy the files. You will have to format the USB drive before using it, so be sure that you have formatted the drive or it will not work.

For Non-Fedora system:

You should format the drive with vfat first.

Type the following commands on console:-

# mkdir /media/disk1

# mount /dev/sdb1 /media/disk1

# gunzip XXX.zip -d /media/disk1

Where XXX is the name of zip file.

Fedora based systems

Format the disk.

download the iso image(remember this case is different)

Run the following command

# livecd-iso-to-disk XXX.iso /dev/sdb1

if you are getting problem with the command, you have to install the livecd-tools package.

Gain the root access by su and run

# yum install -y livecd-tools

Congratulations! Now you can run Eeedora with your EEE PC.

According to Acer’s president J.T. Wang, Acer is going to expand its market and is looking forward to push some ultraportables in the market. The market is expecting one more clone of Asus EEE PC as the Acer’s version. The systems will be available with 8-inch and 9-inch screen at the resolution 800×480. However, the launch date and other specifications are not provided till now.

Acer will have to compete with Asus EEE and Everex Cloudbook. Along with these brands, Acer will face a competition from Gigabyte and MSI.  

Pioneer computer’s Dreambook is another 7-inch competitor for Asus EEE PC. Along with the 7 inch version, three more models are going to be launched. The touchscreen model is more interesting than other models. Here are the specifications

Dreambook Light IL1:-

• 7-inch display
• 1GB RAM(Maximum)
• 1GHz Via C7-M
• 2GB, 4GB, 8GB Flash Memory or 40GB HDD

Dreambook Light CE26 :-

• 7-inch touchscreen display
• 1.2GHz VIA C7-M processor
• Maximum 1GB RAM
• 2GB,4GB, 8GB Flash memory or 40GB HDD
• Base configuration price-$699

Two other models are in the race, but they are not the real competitors of EEE. With a 12” XVGA display and 4GB(maximum) RAM, these models fall in the category of traditional laptops and not ultraportables.

Asus EEE PC is getting more and more popular these days due to the compact size and secure interface. The bundled operating system is linux.

The vulnerability of the system is the root hack. This is due to an old version of Samba daemon which is used for windows file and printer sharing. It allows access to the root account of the computer system, which can possibly destroy everything in the secondary memory.

According to RISE experts, the fault was patched and corrected one year ago.  The existence of the fault seems to be an older version of the component installed by default. Asus will possibly launch an update or patch to remove the vulnerability.