Introduced in 2007, the Asus PC701 low cost PC received extremely good reviews in the technical press across the world. I used one as my MAIN PC for over a year and was very impressed with its performance.  It did not support many ham applications, so in the end was replaced by a Windows PC, but I did like this little baby.

It was the biggest selling laptop in the USA in Christmas 2007 and Asus, a Taiwanese company better known for its motherboards, has been making them at one every 6 seconds to keep up with enormous demand across the world. At the time of writing demand is considerably outstripping supply. Aimed at users that don't have great techical skills e.g. children, schools, it comes pre-loaded with a reliable and user-friendly version of Linux OS.

This is the PC I had been forecasting would appear: something simple, reliable, ideal for web browsing, basic word processing and spreadsheets, Skyping and e-mailing - an easy to use PC without the bells and whistles!

Some of the features of the 4G model (later version have bigger screens and more memory as well as XP support):

• Simple and intuitive user interface
• 802.11 WiFi connectivity
  
• Open Office and Firefox pre-loaded
  
• Built-in webcam, mic and twin LS for video conferencing
  
• No hard drive or moving parts for higher reliability
  
• SD card slot for additional memory
• Tabbed access to Skype, Gmail, Firefox etc.
• Boots in 15 seconds
• 2 USB expansion slots
• Linux OS
  
• 800 x 480 7 inch TFT screen
• Built-in mics and LS for videoconferencing.
• 3.5hr battery life
• Compact size