Interesting Netbook Mods

[Chris Gohlke]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/10/netbook-hackery.html' target='_blank'>http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/...ok-hackery.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Thanks to their utilitarian design and low prices, netbooks are inspiring a booming subculture of hackers souping up their liliputers with touchscreens, GPS and unauthorized operating systems like Apple's Mac OS X. As netbook sales continue to soar, more and more tech-savvy grease monkeys are dismantling netbooks to add fancy features including back-lit keyboards, GPS and longer-lasting batteries."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1224197470.usr10.jpg" border="1" /></p><p>Other than upgrading the OS to Ubuntu, I have not modified my Eee at all.&nbsp; That said, I'm tempted to add Bluetooth and GPS after reading this article.&nbsp; Any of you with netbooks done any interesting mods?</p>

[David Tucker]

Which Eee do you have? I just got my Mini 9 and I love it. I have no intention of modding mine though. I'm amazed at how popular these have become. :)

[Jason Dunn]

The biggest "mod" I've done to my MSI Wind is to upgrade the RAM from 1 GB to 2 GB. I was surprised that it required taking off the entire back, including a "warranty void if removed" screw. And I even managed to break one of the battery latches when taking off the back - I had to fix it with some Krazy Glue. :o

[David Tucker]

I plan to put another GB of RAM in my Dell Mini 9. I know its a lot easier than that though. Interesting that the three of us all prefer a different netbook despite their specs being nearly identical. :p

[alese]

I will be upgrading my EEE to 2GB RAM and replace the Linux with XP - I'm pretty disappointed by Linux on the EEE - it's pretty slow, you have to jump through all sorts of hoops to get Firefox3 on it and the WiFi is running poorly...

I'm also thinking about touch screen mod.

[Chris Gohlke]

I've got the original 7 inch eee. I've actually become pretty accustomed to the small screen, but probably will upgrade to the Dell or Acer at some point.

alese - If you are using the built in version of Linux that came with the Eee, I strongly suggest getting the Ubuntu build that is customized for the Eee. It is way better than the standard version that comes with the eee.

[tuxplorer]

Modding for GPS and 802.11n sounds goood! I'll wait till its warranty expires though.

[alese]

I've got the original 7 inch eee. I've actually become pretty accustomed to the small screen, but probably will upgrade to the Dell or Acer at some point.

alese - If you are using the built in version of Linux that came with the Eee, I strongly suggest getting the Ubuntu build that is customized for the Eee. It is way better than the standard version that comes with the eee.

Thanks for the tip, I too have 7 inch 4G and on Friday I have upgraded the RAM to 2GB. Now I have to decide to go with WinXP or maybe be a bit adventures and install Ubuntu...

[David Tucker]

If you only have 4 GB of memory you really should go with Ubuntu

[Chris Gohlke]

or maybe be a bit adventures and install Ubuntu...

No need to be adventurous, you can boot it from USB and give it a try before installing.

http://www.ubuntu-eee.com/wiki/index.php5?title=Get_Ubuntu_Eee