This netbook can be referred to as the netbook that started it all. The success of the 4G came from riding the wave that the Asus 701 (the normal 4G) created. The 4G Surf is a 4G without some of the extra ‘meat’, such as the Webcam so that it comes in at a wallet friendly price mark of less than $349. Keep in mind the idea behind the 4G Surf, it is meant for a light weight netbook that is easy to get around.
Our Asus EEE 4G Specifications:
- 800 MHz Intel Mobile CPU
- 512 MB DDR2
- Xandros Linux
- 7” Screen, 800 x 480 resolution
- 4G Solid Disk Drive
- 54g Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), 10/100 Fast Ethernet
- 4-cell 5200 mAh
- 2 pounds
Size was the most important factor in the creation of the 4G, it was meant to be small. Thankfully it’s small, but no too small coming in at a friendly 8.9 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches and weighing only 2 pounds. The Asus 4G Surf comes in a variety of colors as well, allowing anyone to make any color statement that they would like. Including Pure White, Blush Pink, Sky Blue, Lush Green, and Galaxy Black, not leaving many other colors to be desired for. The 7-inch screen comes in at a very small resolution of 800 x 480 pixel display, this is about as small of a screen that I could recommend though.
This netbook will allow you to surf the basics, email, news, blogs and what not. Video play did alright, but HD Youtube is out of the question. The real other problem though is the resolution and screen size, it’s very very small. I personally suggest no smaller than 9 inches.
As a result of cutting size, the keyboard size had to be cut as well. Someone that wants to really get some work done on this will get irritated. You will find your typist getting cramped within no time really. The netbook should be fine for short stints, but anything longer and you can see yourself getting frustrated.
Asus did well disguising the Xandros Linux by using their own User Interface with six easy to understand tabs (internet, work, learn, play, settings, and favorites) which offer access to the rich applications, such as openoffice, Pidgin, Skype, Thunderbird, and Wikipedia, and quick links to the most popular Web-based e-mail services.
The Asus includes a 4G solid state hard drive, hence the 4G model type. This leaves alot of room wanted, but not enough to use. Keep that in mind! You will need to find another solution most likely for storage space. Remember this is a very portable netbook.
Crazy Wifi? We had some problems with the Wifi when trying to connect to secure networks. Out of the three networks we tried to connect to we only connected to one of them. Not good if you ask us. Battery life is nice though and we got a solid 4 hours out of use. Keep in mind that this is good for the older netbooks, the newer netbooks are faster and last longer.
In conclusion, the 4G Surf is nice but in all honesty it just doesn’t cut it overall. It was great when it first came out, but with all the newer netbooks I just couldn’t suggest it. Stick with something that is newer, an Intel Atom based processor and a larger screen.