At 9.5 x 9 x 1.3 inches and 3.2 pounds, the XO is larger and heavier than the Eee PC. Its two antennas keep the screen locked closed, and also protect its USB ports. The XO's 7.5-inch LCD screen is a bit of genius engineering, as it operates in color and in black and white. In color mode, the 1200 x 900-pixel resolution gives it a nice bright look. In black and white mode, the screen becomes more like an eBook reader which not only makes it easier to see in bright sunlight, but uses far less power--1 watt, to be exact. Also, the screen can rotate so the device can be used as a tablet. Its keyboard is rather novel, too: all the keys are covered by a rubber membrane which gives the XO a rather toy-like feel. That being said, it wasn't any more difficult to type on, and it's a lot more welcoming to children. The XO was designed to withstand much harsher conditions, too; its membrane keyboard is spill-resistant, can withstand temperatures of up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and it's rubber bumpers make it able to withstand drops from 4 feet.

 

The Eee PC wasn't designed to be as durable, but for the market it intends to serve, it does so admirably. At 8.9 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches and 2 pounds, it's one of the lightest ultraportable notebooks on the market. Its bright 7-inch screen, with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, is large compared to other UMPCs such as the OQO model 02, but not as tall as the XO's. What this micro machine lacks in height, though, it makes up for in brightness. For a smaller keyboard, the Eee PC's is comfortable to type on; the keys have a decent amount of travel and just the right amount of resistance, and their slightly rough texture keeps your fingers from sliding off.

 

Winner: XO
The XO's durability more than makes up for its extra weight. Its swivel screen, antennas, and keyboard also make it one of the more visually appealing notebook designs since Apple's PowerBook line.

The XO tries to continue the kid-friendliness of its keyboard and colors with its Sugar interface. Right from the startup, icons for all the applications, buddy list, and network are visible on a frame bordering the screen, and are grouped by function. However, it's not as intuitive, or welcoming, as it could be. The icons are all in black and white, which is surprising considering the high resolution of the XO's color screen. Considering their small size and monochromatic nature, it's not immediately obvious what these icons represent. Plus, once you're using one of the apps, it's a little tricky figuring out how to get back to the main screen--sometimes there'll be a small X in the upper right-hand corner to close out of a program, but not always.
 
The Eee PC's UI feels like a cross between Windows and the old Launcher used in Mac OS 9. It's designed for a minimum of fuss; six tabs (Internet, Work, Learn, Play, Settings, and Favorites) divide the various applications by their function. It's not overly flashy, but there's an elegance in its simplicity. Its icons are much larger, colorful, and more representative of the applications. Unlike the XO, it's also easy to see what's running; a bar along the bottom of the screen displays the open programs.

 

The winner: Eee PC 701
While not earth-shattering, the Eee PC's simple and well-organized UI beats out the higher-concept, but less practical, XO interface.

One universal criticism of the XO has been in trying to figure out how to open the thing. As Salimata Fandjalan, our correspondent who tested the XO with kids in Guinea wrote, "All children who get an [XO] WILL NEED TRAINING!!!!!" Even kids--and adults--who have used laptops before will have to poke their way around the XO to figure it out. We'd like to think that it was made just challenging enough so that children will have to rely on their teachers at first, but seeing how much trouble the teachers might have learning it themselves isn't encouraging. 

 

As for the Eee PC, well, this isn't your father's Linux: Having all of the applications on the Eee PC labeled with large, obvious, and colorful icons was, at the very least, inviting. Sorting them into different categories also lets Asus pack in a lot more apps. Even novices would have no trouble figuring out their way around the desktop.

 

Winner: Eee PC 701
Maybe it was because of our familiarity with traditional PCs that we found the Eee PC easier to use, but even in the hands of children, the XO was still tricky.

The XO's applications include a document viewer, RSS reader, and chat client. Additionally, it has games designed to help teach children, such as a painting program and multimedia tools. A number of the apps, such as a chat client, are designed to take advantage of the XO's mesh networking abilities, so kids can, for example, share music and play games with each other. It also has a Web browser built on Xulrunner, the runtime environment used by Firefox. However, the browser is pretty slow, although the target market probably has considerably more patience than we do.

 

The Eee PC is designed with more of a business mentality with OpenOffice.org 2.0's Microsoft Office-compatible apps, such as Documents, Spreadsheets, and Presentations. It's also bundled with a PDF reader, e-mail client, and uses Firefox as a browser. Asus also bundles some kid-friendly games, Skype for making VoIP calls, and an instant messaging program.

 

Winner: Eee PC 701
The XO has some great games and learning tools for kids, while the Eee PC's apps are more compatible with the ubiquitous Microsoft Office suite. Ultimately, the Eee PC's browser is faster than the pokey one on the XO, which is why Asus gets the nod in this round.

The XO was designed to be used in places where finding a Wi-Fi signal isn't so easy--Starbucks hasn't reached market saturation in Uruguay yet. So the computer features mesh networking, where computers can be daisy-chained to a wireless Internet connection. Connection points and other XO users are represented graphically by distance. But it's not used just to extend a Wi-Fi signal; several of the apps on the XO are designed so that children can share their work and collaborate with others, which is facilitated by the mesh network.

 

The Eee PC is pretty much like any other laptop in the connectivity department, which is to say nothing special. All the standard equipment is here: Ethernet and modem jacks and built-in Wi-Fi, and a fairly easy program to connect to hotspots, which it remembers on subsequent startups. We'd like to see Bluetooth and mobile broadband added to future versions.

 

Winner: XO 
The XO's mesh networking capability is one of the coolest things around. It's one of the best social-networking and productivity tools we've ever seen implemented.

Both laptops have similar setups: Solid-state hard drives, Linux-based operating systems, built-in webcams, and processors that aren't spectacular, but get the job done. The XO's operating system, components of Red Hat Fedora Core 6, runs on a 433-MHz AMD Geode LX-700. The computer has a 1GB solid-state drive with 256MB of RAM.

 

The Eee PC's Xandros Linux-based operating system is powered by a 900-MHz Intel Celeron Processor with 512MB RAM and a 4GB solid-state drive. The Eee PC also has three USB ports, and a VGA port to connect the system to a larger display.

 

While the XO has the bigger screen, the Eee PC is a bit faster and has more memory and storage. In our tests, the Eee PC's battery lasted 3 hours and 50 minutes, a half an hour longer than the XO (although the latter can be recharged by hand).

 

The XO takes a bit longer to launch applications and start up; also during the boot sequence, the XO displays all the code, which is a little off-putting for non-coders.

 

Winner: Eee PC 701
Although both machines have modest specs, the Eee PC offers performance more on a par with a traditional laptop.

We thought we were reading an Onion headline this summer when we saw "$100 Laptop to Cost $188." In fact, the XO costs more, but with good reason. U.S. customers are able to buy two XO computers for $399, with one of them going to a child in the developing world. T-Mobile even pitched in, offering customers one free year of T-Mobile HotSpot access for their altruism during that promotion. However, after December 31 you'll need to visit eBay to buy an XO for yourself, unless OLPC decides to further extend the Give 1, Get 1 program.

 

The Eee PC isn't designed with an altruistic mission in mind, so you'll get only one laptop for your $399. But you get a pretty innovative and highly portable laptop for that.

 

Winner: XO
It's not just the social-entrepreneur factor of the XO's Give 1, Get 1 program; it's also one of the more intriguing approaches to using technology to educate children in developing nations that makes it the winner in this category. Plus, for the next year, you can surf the net in Starbucks to your heart's content. 

 

While the XO and the Eee PC 701 were designed for different purposes, when comparing the elements that are common to both, the Eee PC 701 provides a better computing experience for the money.

 

There's no denying that the XO's design and mission makes it one of the most innovative laptops we've tested, but its designers may have outthought themselves; in their quest to create a laptop that adults could teach children to use the world over, they forgot that it's children who usually teach the grownups how to use new gadgets. Barring its unique form factor and mesh networking features, we wonder if the XO couldn't have been better served by an operating system and programs more akin to the Eee PC 701.

 

This contest was fairly close, but we feel that even though its goals are much more limited in scope, the Eee PC 701 accomplishes them more fully than the XO, as its interface and applications are much more intuitive. Of course, the Eee PC 701 also costs about $200 more, but it's well worth the premium.