Very simply, this work is very well done, whether you are new to the EEEPC or have used it exhaustively over many months. That is a rare accomplishment.

The focus is on using Xandros linux rather than on the eee PC's hardware. However, it's well written and contains information that would be difficult to source from the internet.

After buying an Asus Eee PC1000 (Linux OS), I realized how little I understood about Linux, especially its file structure and Synaptic - the graphical software maintainance program that is built into Linux Systems. After a good amount of time searching for a reference, I chose this book as a reasonable starting point. Note that "Using the Asus Eee PC" is not really for the PC1000 model, but it enabled me to read my way to being able to search and use the various Asus forums found on-line.

As a new user of the Eee PC 1000, running its standard Xandros Linux, I very much looked forward to the arrival of this book, and have not been disappointed. Yes, as noted by other reviewers, it's not written with the 1000 models in mind. However, even as a new Eee PC owner with no prior experience with Linux, I've been able to successfully apply everything I've tried in the book. It's just a matter of proceeding very carefully when doing tasks that may have changed since the 700 and 900 models explicitly covered by this book.

Here are the pages I've noted as needing updates for the 901 and 1000 models:
page 26 worked after I'd already done sudo synaptic and temporarily added repository download.tuxfamily.org/eepcrepos long enough to activate the Advanced Desktop and then removed that repository again. (Don't do this until you fully understand the preceeding sentence!) Comment: I'm not impressed by the Advanced Desktop, and prefer just enabling the IceWM start menu as described on page 79.
page 36-37: Again, I got it to work, but didn't care enough for the result to keep it.
page 70 on the 901, 1000 & recent 700s, simpleui.rc is in /var/lib/AsusLauncher
page 214: caution: won't install if Firefox cache size is set to 0.
page 318: caution: EEEControl has not been updated for the 1000 yet. Again, I don't really need it, so don't care.

Having written several computer books myself, back in the Commodore era, I consider this a pretty good accuracy rating for a model the author hadn't even seen yet when the book was printed.

My only beef is that I wish there were a way to get the author's errata and corrections for the new models and search the book electronically without having to join an online subscription that's only free for 45 days. I'd happily buy an updated PDF copy to keep right on the Eee PC, if that were available. Meanwhile, all the updated help I can use is handy at eeeuser.com, a source also recommended by the author.

After reading this book, you should pretty much be able to do anything with your Eee PC except have it brew your coffee for you every morning. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the author finds a way to use the Eee to perform even that very task between now and the next edition.

I've been looking for a low-cost machine that will allow me to easily learn and experiment with Linux, yet double as a highly portable computer (and GPS device) for travel and vacations. The Eee is that machine, and this book has those bases covered and more.

There is a good deal of information about Xandros (the Linux version offered by Asus) as well as several other common flavors of Linux; I intend to try them all. My particular Eee model (the 1000H) came with Windows installed by default, and the book has loads of useful information for Windows users, too.

I also appreciated the discussion on cloud computing, and of course the Eee lends itself perfectly to that. The book even offers hardware upgrade advice, which I used to upgraded the memory in my unit to 2GB. I also installed a spare 160GB 7200-RPM hard disk, and the machine is faster than ever. (It was plenty zippy when I bought it, but I'm a geek and couldn't help myself with regard to the hardware tweaks.)

By the way, a prior reviewer mentioned that he wanted to customize Xandros and therefore needed to use the advanced (KDE) desktop, but the instructions were not 900-series-specific. While Asus apparently made some changes between the 700 and 900 seried, all he needs to do is point to the 700-series (instead of the 900-series) repositories to get the advanced desktop.

*Using the Asus Eee PC* is a great resource for Eee owners. I can't wait try the scads of free yet high-quality software available for the Eee, and I look forward to the other projects presented as well. If you want to get maximum value out of your Eee PC, or if you've been thinking about buying an Eee and what to see what it can do, this is the book for you.