Want to overclock your Eee PC, seriously boost the screen brightness, or gain some more control over your tiny computer's obnoxiously loud fan? EeeCtl can do all of that and more.

This tiny Windows-only application hangs out in your Windows system tray. Give it a little right-click and you can adjust your processor speed, fan, or backlight settings. You can adjust the processor to run at 630MHz, 765MHz, or 900MHz. Out of the box, the Eee PC runs at 630MHz, even though Asus advertises the computer as having a 900MHz processor. I mean, it does, but Asus underclocks it to improve battery performance. So obviously if you go and use EeeCtl or another method to boost your CPU cycles, you can probably expect your battery life to take a hit.

The latest version of EeeCtl also includes the ability to make your screen super bright. Previously the only easy way to achieve this was to install the unofficial 501 BIOS which isn't really supported by Asus. Of course, EeeCtl isn't supported by Asus either, but you don't need to reflash your BIOS to install it.

The most valuable feature for me has been the fan control settings. Last time I updated my Eee PC BIOS, the result was a fan that runs at 100% pretty much all the time. And while that's tolerable if you're hanging out in a noisy coffee shop, it can be pretty annoying in a quiet room. EeeCtl lets you adjust your fan speed manually or by selecting an "automatic" setting.

While some people have reported that they've disconnected their fans altogether to get rid of the whirring sounds without any negative effect, keep in mind that the fan is in there for a reason. So if you don't want your computer to overheat and die on you, I'd recommend continuing to run the fan at a moderate speed, especially if you're going to overclock your Eee PC. But EeeCtl lets you decide how and when to let the fan go full speed and when a slower speed might do.

It probably goes without saying, but this is unofficial software, and there's always a chance that you could bork your system by installing it. But so far, I'm pretty impressed with EeeCtl.

I'd been toying with the idea of picking up a 1GB RAM stick sometime soon. But then CNet goes and posts a tip letting me know I could get 2GB for just $27 after rebate and shipping from Newegg. So I went ahead and hit the order button, and less than 24 hours later a friendly UPS driver dropped rang my doorbell.

Installations was incredibly easy. All you have to do is break that scary but meaningless (if you live in the US) yellow label on the bottom of your unit, undo some screws, pop out the old RAM and pop in the new one. Here, have a look for yourself:



So now my Eee PC has twice the RAM of my full sized laptop.

It's also running at 900MHz, which is a bit faster than a stock unit. Asus ships the Eee PC with a 900MHz celeron processor but underclocks it to 630MHz. It's not clear if this is for stability purposes or to prolong battery life. The company issued a BIOS update a while back that lets users run at 900MHz, but the 8804 BIOS includes a couple of bugs that do things like draw wavy lines on your display.

The other day some members of the EeeUser forum found an unofficial BIOS update that may or may not be a beta release. The 0511 BIOS (sometimes called the EeePC Super.ROM) provides you with the option of running at either 630MHz or 900MHz and also seems to make your screen an awful lot brighter. The only problem is you have to jump through some hoops if you get scared of running an unofficial BIOS and want to downgrade to a previous version. Fortunately, Asus has since released a newer BIOS and there's no restriction against upgrading to a newer BIOS, even if the latest release from Asus actually has fewer features than 0511.

Anyway, so long story short my Eee PC now runs at 900MHz and has 2GB of RAM and runs like a dream. The fan kicks in a bit more often than it used to and runs louder than I'd like. But in terms of performance, my Eee PC is now officially a tiny bit more awesome than it was yesterday.

I don't want to provide a link to an unofficial ROM udpate here, but if you check out the EeeUser forum you can probably find it, or you can just Google the name of the ROM.

Thanks to its solid state memory (instead of a standard hard drive), the Eee PC already boots feaster than most other PCs on the market. You can get to a workable desktop in about 20-25 seconds if you're using the default Xandros operating system that ships with the Eee PC. And it doesn't take much longer than that to bootup Windows XP.

But as someone who's spent most of the last 7 years with a PDA in his pocket, I can't help but wish for a computer that will be usable a split second after you hit the power button.

Well, it looks like the Eee PC could become that device. Engadget spied an Eee PC running what appears to be SplashTop. What's SplashTop? Basically it's a simplified version of Linux that can be linked to a computer's BIOS. It boots up almost instantly and lets you access certain software applications without booting a full operating system like Windows XP or Ubuntu. In other words, if all you want to do is watch a movie, surf the web, or chat with friends, why should you have to load up a complete OS?

There's no word on if or when Asus will actually offer this feature for the Eee PC or if it will be available to current customers or only available on new units.