Since the release of the famed Eee PC there has been ample time for enthusiasts to dig deeper inside the machine and as a result, there are a number of useful hacks emerging.

We picked out three of the best hacks that can transform your Eee PC into a top-of-the range-Laptop.

Install Ubuntu

If you’re a Linux user at heart, there is probably going to be time when you want to try out Ubuntu’s familiar desktop.

To do this you will need to download Ubuntu Eee, a community driven derivative of Ubuntu which is specifically designed for Eee Laptops; you must also configure the Eee PC to boot from flash media.

This is probably the hardest part of the process; first you will need a small application which burns ISO images to flash drives. A popular program for doing this is called UNetbootin which is available along with the latest version of Ubuntu Eee installation from the Ubuntu website.

Then you must format the Eee Pc’s SD card using a machine running Ubuntu. This is where it gets a little tricky; you can use the dd command to fix the SD card’s MBR.

• dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin of=[type the correct device path within these brackets]

Next you must erase the existing partitions on the SD card and create a new one that is formatted with FAT32 and set with the bootable flag. A tool called gparted can you help you complete this.

Now all that is left to do is burn the ISO image to the SD card; if you have to manually select the location do so with extreme care because the target drive can be overwritten.

Then boot from SD; hold ‘Escape’ during the startup screen and select ‘USB 2.0 Card Reader SD0’ from the menu.

Once you’re up and running follow the installation process, this may take a while but there are no special setting you must configure. Once the install is complete, your machine should be running Ubuntu with no problems.

Note: 800HighTech can not be held responsible for your actions. This process can cause serious system problems and loss of data, so please proceed with caution.

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After being overwhelmed with good feedback from their customers, Asus are now planning to embed a lightweight version of Linux dubbed ‘Splashtop’ into all of their motherboards.

DeviceVM, the company behind the distribution, announced on Wednesday that the hardware manufacturer would be putting Splashtop (which Asus calls “Express Gate”) into more than a million motherboards a month. Joe Hsieh, General Manager of Asus said,

“In response to great user feedback, our plan is to proliferate Express Gate across our entire motherboard-product portfolio, starting with over one million motherboards per month…….

“Consumers want to turn their PCs on and off like any other appliance, and Express Gate has made that possible.”

Splashtop/Express gate is an instant-on “secure web-surfing environment” which can be booted in seconds as an alternative to a full operating system. Applications incorporated into Splashtop include a Firefox-derived browser and the popular Skype internet telephone application.

Splashtop first appeared on high-end Asus motherboards in October last year and was later added to the more mainstream M3 motherboards series. Splashtop will now be extended through the entire range of Asus motherboards.

Four new motherboards carrying Splashtop/Express Gate will appear this quarter: the P5Q Deluxe, P5Q-WS, P5Q3 Deluxe and P5Q-E.

DeviceVM hopes to have “numerous Splashtop-enabled motherboards, desktops and laptops available internationally in 2008″, the company said.

Asus are all set to release the big brother of the popular 7 inch Eee PC. The new larger model referred to as the Eee PC 900 (not confirmed) will boast a slightly higher spec as well as some great new features.

The Eee PC was a big hit for Asus, being voted the “The Most Wanted Christmas Gift” by American Amazon.com and CNet, as well as winning a prestigious award at the International CES Innovations Design and Engineering Awards for 2008, it was inevitable that Asus would develop a bigger more powerful machine.Recently unveiled at CeBIT 2008 the new Eee PC 900 seems to have kept the same basic concept as its smaller counterpart, adding a slight specification upgrade and just enough new features to keep you happy.

ASUS promises the screen will display a 1024 x 600 pixel resolution and specs will be upgraded to 1G of memory, a larger storage of up to 12GB and wider 8.9-inch screen. There is also the addition of a “multi-finger gesture input” trackpad, which will provide the ability to zoom in and out as well as allowing for two-finger scrolling similar to the pad found on Macs.

The Eee PC will be compatible with both Linux and Windows although the Windows version is set to retail at nearly twice the price. Here we really notice the cost benefits of open source software.The Eee Pc is set to release in the summer, will retail for around 399 (Linux OS), making it reasonably priced depending on the choice of hard drive space.

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