I’ve had my Eee PC now for almost 18 months and during this time I’ve tried many Linux distros on it but have yet to settle on one that I really like. the OS of choice for my Server and Desktop is Ubuntu, and this has mostly been what I’ve been using on my Eee (or ubuntu derivatives) I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t like the Ubuntu Netbook Edition’s user interface, but the screen is way too small to use the standard desktop edition without major mods to the appearance. So at the time of writing I’m just installing the latest from Linux Mint (I know this is another Ubuntu derivative!) Oh just in case you hadn’t guessed, I like Debian based distro’s but there is a lot of work to get the wifi working in Debian 🙁 (it is doable I’m just too LAZY!)
The main issue with the Eee 701 is that the screen is only 800x480px so most property windows are larger than the screen height so one has to constantly use the [ALT] + LEFT click to move the screen around to get to the parts that can’t be seen. Although some would say that’s not a major issue, it is when the screen re-size application in the UNE doesn’t work with all applications and leaves some being unusable or stuck behind the current window! Sadly, most NetBook friendly distros are targeted towards the Eee 901 or greater as the norm is now a 10″ screen that allows a larger resolution so the window size isn’t as critical. but as these units (701’s) are the original NetBook they have been replaced with much better models … here is a clip showing the Eee PC 701SD
So although the Eee PC 701 was a good price, I still struggle to find an OS that I’m truly happy to stick with! But hey ANYTHING is better than Xandros! 😀