Sydney, Australia, October 1, 2008 – ASUS, manufacturer and pioneer of world-leading netbooks, has received acclaim from history-making Australian explorers Chris Bray and Clark Carter.
After spending 70 days alone on Victoria Island in the Canadian Arctic, the world’s ninth largest island, Chris Bray and Clark Carter achieved a most extraordinary feat to become the first ever to walk across this remarkable island. Each hauling 250kg of gear and supplies behind them, including the Eee PC 900s provided by ASUS which weighed less than one percent of their total load, Chris and Clark have made the epic journey crossing the island at its widest point from east to west.
Chris and Clark’s expedition was a huge success, but it was not without its setbacks. Just days into their journey, the wheel covers of their PACs started to split and tear and the men became concerned their trip would be over before it had even started. In contrast, electronic equipment (which may be perceived as more delicate than the sturdy PACs the men hauled) endured the trip with ease. In particular, the Eee PCs proved their durability and withstood the harsh conditions – freezing temperatures of up to minus 15 degrees, plus the rough and tumble of expedition life.
“Of all the equipment we brought with us on this expedition, it was our ASUS Eee PCs that blew me away the most, in terms of just how well suited they were to our needs and their impressive ability to survive the rigours of harsh expedition life. We’d be in the tent at night, wiping condensation off the screen with our sleeve, rubbing the touch-pad mouse clean from all the mud and chocolate and other grime, shaking the keyboard free of bits of tundra and other rubbish, and accidently bumping, dropping or leaning on them…and they never even flinched! Both Eee PCs soldiered on like true heroes right to the end,” said Chris.
Chris and Clark used their Eee PC 900s for vital communications during the trip with the help of solar batteries and an iridium satellite phone. The men were able to keep in contact with the ‘outside’ world via email, as well as publishing updates to their website, downloading photos from various cameras with the built-in SD memory card reader, even culling, editing and cropping images to upload. Chris and Clark also used their Eee PCs to create mini to-do lists and make modifications to their website structure and ftp new html code directly from the Arctic. Most importantly the Eee PCs were an essential part of the trek for mapping out the best routes using Google Earth’s satellite imagery.
“We used the Eee PC to look at Google Earth images and suss out a possible route for the next day by analysing what terrain was lying ahead of us. That actually proved to be the best way to decide where to go the next day as the topographic maps we brought with us did not show what type of terrain we were dealing with and didn’t show hills all that great. I would definitely say that the Eee PCs made our life a LOT easier out there,” said Clark.
The duo are in the process of writing a book and producing a documentary on their Victoria Island trip, before soon heading off on their next expeditions in 2009. Chris will be teaming up with another Australian adventurer Don McIntyre for an epic open boat voyage in the Pacific and Clark will be teaming up with his housemate Ryan Storey to compete in the toughest rowing race in the world – the ‘Woodvale Challenge Indian Ocean Rowing Race 2009’.
About ASUS
ASUS is a leading company in the new digital era. With a global staff of more than 8,000 and a world-class R&D design team, the company’s turnover for 2007 was 6.9 billion US dollars. ASUS ranks among the top 10 IT companies in BusinessWeek’s “InfoTech 100” and has been on the listing for 11 consecutive years. ASUS was also selected by the Wall Street Journal Asia as No.1 in quality and service in Taiwan. For more information, visit www.asus.com.au.
About Chris Bray and Clark Carter
Chris Bray and Clark Carter are Australian explorers. The duo are no strangers to adventure: Chris was the Australian Geographic Young Adventurer of the year in 2004 for a lengthy untracked Tasmanian hike and together they have sailed across the infamous Southern Ocean from Tasmania to Southern Chile in 2007. Clark has done some mountaineering in New Zealand and Chris grew up sailing around the world for five years with his family. Chris is a keen photographer, recently finishing his degree in Electrical Engineering with first class honours and Clark is in the midst of studying Film and Media at university while also getting involved in filming and editing his own documentaries.