18 Comments Asus Express Gate – fast OS or useless toy?
Took me a while to get to it (says something about how appealing idea is) but today I tried Express Gate function on my newish Asus motherboard.
Express Gate (aka Splashtop) is light Linux distribution integrated with hardware to provide fast boot into light shell with basic networking functions.
What it does
Express Gate is Linux based OS with limited functionality:
- web browser (Firefox based);
- some games (online, probably Flash based);
- image viewer;
- instant messaging (Pidgin);
- VOIP (Skype).
Unlike usual OS distributions it requires some degree of hardware support so mostly comes bundled with such.
As I remember early versions were running from flash chip integrated on motherboard, but that was later changed (probably to cut costs) to hard drive installation. By the way installation is Windows-only but at least manual mentions option of installing on flash drive.
Experience
Express gate does boot quite fast comparing to average Windows installation. Still do not expect anything instantly – it takes quite a few seconds to boot shell itself and (subjectively) even longer for browser.
Network support is good, connection to my D-Link wireless router was properly detected and worked automatically.
Biggest downside turned out to be poor screen resolution support. There was no 1440×900 to choose and even switching to 1280×800 of same proportion asked for reboot but came up at default low resolution anyway.
Overall
Express Gate does more or less what it promises – fast boot with basic browsing and communication. While this might be nice option on netbooks and notebooks, for desktops it is solution in search of a problem.
Short of setting up dedicated PC in kiosk mode I see no advantage of using it over simply booting into Windows.
Link www.splashtop.com/
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I suppose it would be a good thing to have if somehow you mess up the windows installation. I.e virus scans etc. I mean right now I use windows ‘live’ (ie boot of a dvd) but this could be useful for troubleshooting.
@Donace
Yep, if it actually had virus scan, etc. Which it sadly doesn’t as well as no option to add any software to it.
I am reading this in the splashtop browser on a laptop, and I agree, can’t imagine any use for it on a desktop, it seems to me a handy thing for when I pick up my laptop just to look something up on IMDB or something, which happens often enough that I like the idea of it. EXCEPT – in my experience the touchpad is by far the worst functionality I’ve ever seen. It’s not the touchpad itself, it works great in windows, but something about splashtop can’t do it right, the mouse pointer jumps around randomly clicking things every time you touch it. As long as you KEEP your finger on the pad you can move it smoothly, but every time you lift up (like when you reach the edge of the pad, which happens constantly with touchpads) it jumps and clicks everything between where it is and where it teleported to. For me, that makes it very nearly broken. If I have to get out an external mouse every time I want to use the quick-boot functionality, it kinda defeats the purpose.
@p1ague
Yeah, it seems to have crappy hardware support. And updates doesn’t seem to be frequent either so these issues stick. :(
“solution in search
of a problem”
To the extent a problem exists, the solution is called
“Sleep Mode”.
Why completely shut down your PC ? Even with a laptop,
how often do we ~really~ carry it around ?
Most of the time, laptops are actually utilized as
PORTABLE COMPUTERS. Very few folks transport the thing
more than one place on a typical day.
[ Notable exceptions: Salesmen, etc. ]
Even battery endurance represents a non-issue most of
the time. Typical usage patterns are transporting the
laptop to one locale, plugging it in, and working all
day from there.
For 90%+ of us, sleep mode is the quick-start option !
The DataRat
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@DataRat
Another thing I never got used to is sleep mode. :) On other had I am primarily desktop user and its easier (and better for reliability) to let it be on.
Sleep mode is good for when you want to turn it quickly BACK on, but if I want quick access to a single piece of information from the internet when I am not and haven’t been using it lately, the solution, short of having an iPhone or any of the numerous better devices handy, requires a quick cold start. I do use hibernation far more frequently on the notebook, so that speeds up access a bit anyway, but with hybrid sleep, putting it into sleep mode would have the same effect (plus eat up some of the battery–I don’t leave the cord trailing to where I store my computer, I instead keep the cord near where I sit to use it). It’s admittedly not much of a solution, because I think the last time I used it, I posted that last message :P
Its not for everyday use, but I have found a unique use for it, internet banking! Yes that’s right, since its a read only linux dist, it has to be secure. Since you can’t install any apps on it, its unlikely you’ll ever get your internet account details hacked while using it.
Theoretically it might come in handy if I accidentally wipe out windows, or the HDD crashes, then perhaps I could use it as a temp very basic communication tool.
IMO what would have been better is a little bit of SSD on the mobo, the really quick type, able to load an OS from, or if not that then at least a place to store apps like firefox, which take ages to start up.
@Michael L
since its a read only linux dist, it has to be secure. Since you can’t install any apps on it, its unlikely you’ll ever get your internet account details hacked while using it.
I wouldn’t be so sure. First it runs from regular hard drive and I suspect it can write to it just fine.
Second some types of attacks won’t care about write access at all – they only need to steal cookie or something.
And since browser is bundled – it is very unlikely to get fast and easy security updates in line with main releases.
It might look like good idea for security, but personally I will take regular OS with up-to-date browser and antivirus+firewall over it.
if I accidentally wipe out windows, or the HDD crashes, then perhaps I could use it as a temp very basic communication tool.
Don’t know about Windows but it clearly won’t survive HDD crash since it runs from it. :)
IMO what would have been better is a little bit of SSD on the mobo
Intel had pushed for years to implement such feature, but it seems they gave up. It’s too much hassle for motherboard manufacturers to implement non-essential components (on already freakishly complex thing).
What can I say, large bit of SSD works wonders to Firefox performance. It becomes almost usable. :)
Personally I’ve had my laptop about 6 months and just started using the splashtop. Since most of what I do is internet based anyway, without the system hog of windows my battery life is hugely increased. The only issue I have is an occasional website that is more updated and it refuses to let me on without firefox being updated.(which cant be done if no new updates for spalshtop exist)
@Jeremy
More like web rather than Internet. I use quite a few programs that use Internet but aren’t browsers. :)
As above – it is indeed better fit for a notebook rather than desktop.
Express Gate is running without my hard drive and without any Windows. I’m using it right now on a P5Q Deluxe from boot up since I’m waiting for a new hard drive to arrive and it’s a handy feature.
@Tony
Some motherboards do run it from onboard flash chip, I believe I had mentioned that in post. :) But I think hard drive installation is cheaper to implement and so more used.
Express Gate is the single most annoying feature in the history of computers. It’s one of those stupid gadgety type things that some middle-age executive thought would appeal to the “young tech savvy” user base. It’s totally daft. I rate it just ahead of Windows’ “Sticky Keys” feature in terms of annoyance. Sure, it can be disabled, but it shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
@Glen
I won’t really call annoying something that can be ignored as easily. :) But I do agree that there seems much more marketing behind this than sane and useful tech.
I bought an Asus motherboard with Express Gate thinking it sounded useful (I sometimes like to check the weather forecast online before I leave the house) but turns out it has no drivers for wireless cards. Something Asus says nothing about. Couldn’t quite believe it so checked with Asus. The main thing I’ve learned is that Asus customer support is there to insult the intelligence of the customer.
@MrHenderson
Yep, that seems to be pretty much common story with it. Told to sound useful, made to be useless.
.
“The main thing I’ve learned
is that Asus customer support
is there to insult the
intelligence of the customer”
.
Yeah, ~that~ would characterize my experience with Asus customer support
too.
.
The DataRat
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