The Eee PC T91 tablet PC is the first major departure from the traditional and comprehensive range of Asus Eee PC netbooks. The first rumours of such a defice surfaced in October last year, three months before the company officially unveiled it during its CES keynote.It's still a couple of months away from release though with the expected UK availability date penned for late April. This is a little later than earlier reports, which suggested a March release date timeframe. We managed to grab some hands-on time with a pre-production Eee PC T91 sample last week and while there are a few things still subject to change, the device is mostly ready.
The first and most important feature on this Eee PC is its touch-sensitive display (with the typical 1,024 x 600 native resolution) which is attached to the rest of the machine via a 180-degree hinge. This hingealso rotates by 180 degrees and enables the T91 to transform itself from a traditional netbook into what Asus claims is the smallest and slimmest tablet PC to date when the display is folded back over the keyboard.With an 8.9-inch screen diagonal like the Eee PC 900 and 901, it's smaller than a lot of the netbooks on the market today. The rest of its measurements are 225 x 164 x 25.2-28.4mm (W x D x H), which means it’s smaller than the Eee PC 900/901 and like those models, it too weighs less than 1kg with the battery attached.
These measurements may be a concern for some – especially those with bigger hands – as typing can be quite cramped on the keyboard if you’re using it for long periods of time. The good news is that there's a larger 10-inch version – the T101 – on the way as well for those who feel that the T91's slender measurements are a little too lean.
Even before opening the lid, it's clear that the T91's design is quite different to anything we've seen before in the Eee PC line up. The white finish will be familiar, as it's been around since the Eee PC 701 took the market by storm 18 months ago now; however, unlike the original Eee PC 701, the T91 has a glossy finish.This unfortunately attracts finger prints pretty easily – the worst culprit for this is the black bezel around the display. The glossy touch-sensitive display will also attract finger prints as well, but that’s a given for any device with a touch screen – the way to minimize finger prints is to use the included stylus, although the touch screen does work reasonably well with just your finger.
While we’ve only seen the white version of the T91, Asus tells us that there are other colour options available. These are Black, Pink, Champagne and Navy – the black will likely attract finger prints in exactly the same way as the bezel, but since we’ve not had time to look at the others, we can’t pass judgement on how receptive they are to finger printing.
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Asus, more famously known as maker of Eee PC netbooks, has spruced up its Eee Box line up with the addition of a Celeron-based B203.The new Celeron-based B203 Nettop is expected not to have more changes as compared to its successor. The B203 features a budget-minded Celeron 220 CPU instead of the Intel Atom, has reworked hard drive options with increased storage capacity, offering a 120GB and 160GB version in addition to the 80GB offered in previous versions.
The B203 comes with four USB ports, a flash card reader, a DVIoutput, and Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity. The Nettop runs Windows XP Home, and Windows Vista.
No details on pricing are yet revealed on the website.
Still the market watchers expect that it could undergo processor change and that can lower the price of the Eee Box from $350 to $240. It will thus allow the small form-factor desktop to better compete with similarly low-cost desktops and laptops.
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Acer, the world's third largest PC vendor, is planning to launch a netbook next year with a 10.2-inch screen, the largest netbook screen from Acer so far, a company representative confirmed.
The Taiwanese company's Aspire One netbook has been a hit this year. Launched at mid-year, the device now has Asustek Computer's popular Eee PC in its sights. Acer has forecast shipments of 6 million Aspire One's this year, against estimates of 5 million from Asustek for its Eee PCs.
The Aspire One out now has an 8.9-inch screen, but most companies are putting out netbooks with 10.2-inch screens now. The slightly larger screen sizes are more popular with people who like to view Web pages without scrolling left and right to see the entire page.Asustek, which has offered a 7-inch screen on its Eee PCs, has said it does not plan to offer the small screen size in the future because people don't seem to like it as much.
Netbooks are mini-laptop PCs designed for mobility, typically sporting 7-inch to 10-inch screens and weighing less than 2 kilograms. Most netbook components, including the microprocessor, are less powerful than those of full-fledged laptops so batteries last longer. Netbooks are designed for dealing with e-mail, browsing the Internet and working on word processor or spreadsheet documents, not for heavy-duty gaming, video editing or other multimedia work.
Reports also indicate that Acer plans to launch a rival to Asustek's Eee Top, which is a low-cost competitor to Apple's iMac, a display with computing functions built-in.
The Taiwanese company's Aspire One netbook has been a hit this year. Launched at mid-year, the device now has Asustek Computer's popular Eee PC in its sights. Acer has forecast shipments of 6 million Aspire One's this year, against estimates of 5 million from Asustek for its Eee PCs.
The Aspire One out now has an 8.9-inch screen, but most companies are putting out netbooks with 10.2-inch screens now. The slightly larger screen sizes are more popular with people who like to view Web pages without scrolling left and right to see the entire page.Asustek, which has offered a 7-inch screen on its Eee PCs, has said it does not plan to offer the small screen size in the future because people don't seem to like it as much.
Netbooks are mini-laptop PCs designed for mobility, typically sporting 7-inch to 10-inch screens and weighing less than 2 kilograms. Most netbook components, including the microprocessor, are less powerful than those of full-fledged laptops so batteries last longer. Netbooks are designed for dealing with e-mail, browsing the Internet and working on word processor or spreadsheet documents, not for heavy-duty gaming, video editing or other multimedia work.
Reports also indicate that Acer plans to launch a rival to Asustek's Eee Top, which is a low-cost competitor to Apple's iMac, a display with computing functions built-in.
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A small group of Maximum PC readers (and editors) tend to glaze over at the mere mention of the Eee PC. For those of you that fall into this category, I’ll do my best to keep it interesting and you’ll be glad to know, this isn’t an ordinary netbook announcement. The now household name that spawned a generation of inexpensive PC’s have unveiled a new form factor that brings the Eee product line closer to being a desktop solution than ever before. First impressions of the product are obvious, it is clearly intended to appeal to the budget conscious crowd who can’t afford an iMac, or simply don’t care to pay the Apple tax. Asus isn’t the first to take on the iMac, but the Eee brand name, and touch screen interface gives it an interesting advantage over its competitors.The Eee Top will come in two variations, the ET1602 and the ET1603. Both models feature a 15.6” touch screen display, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of Ram, and a 160GB Hard Drive. Other less critical features include 802.11n networking as well as a built in card reader and web cam. The two models are almost completely identical with the one exception being the ET1603’s inclusion of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD3450 for graphics. The ET1602 by comparison will only sport Intel integrated. No pricing has yet been announced for either model, and both systems will feature Windows XP Home with a custom touch screen GUI.So, is this the form factor of Eee PC you were waiting for?
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It seems that buying an Eee Box system, ASUS' desktop version of the highly successful Eee PC netbook, is like playing the Russian roulette. This is because there's a high probability that your own Eee Box system could ship with a virus or a malware, as a bonus from the Taiwanese manufacturer. The news comes from the company itself which, in a recent letter, has warned customers that its recently released Eee Box nettop could come with a virus.According to the details made available, the virus is located on the hard drive's partition D and, once the user turns on the system, it starts copying itself to the main C drive, or to any other removable drives or USB drives. The company hasn't specifically detailed under what circumstances the virus, which is called recycled.exe, has found its way onto the company's new nettop computer system. However, according to the official statement, the virus should only be featured on the models from Japan, where the nettop was introduced last week.With all that, UK-based Register, which has picked up on the story, reports that their review unit, under testing this week, also came with the W32/Taterf worm, aka W32.Gammima.AG or kavo.exe, which is basically a malware that sniffs out online gaming usernames and passwords. It appears, however, that the infection was easily removed by Microsoft's most recent malware removal tool update.
The Eee Box is seen as the desktop sibling of the successful Eee PC netbook, which brings a significant contribution to the company's overall revenue. It features the same Atom N270 processor, running at 1.6GHz, and comes with 1GB of RAM memory, just enough to enable a decent experience of a Windows XP operating system. The nettop is available in both black and white color options, and is set to deliver 80GB of storage space on a 2.5-inch hard drive.
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Just one year ago, there was no such thing as a netbook. The word simply didn't exist. Today, however, everyone and their contract manufacturer seems to have at least one of a new breed of diminutive portables available for sale or looming just over the horizon. This explosion of interest in what was formerly the budget subnotebook space all started with Asus' Eee PC—an unlikely hero saddled with a low-resolution 7" screen, a cramped keyboard comfortable only for munchkin fingers, limited storage capacity, an underclocked Celeron processor, and average battery life.Today's netbook market is littered with much more capable devices powered by Intel's slick new Atom processor. Screens have gotten bigger, too, bringing with them not only higher display resolutions, but enough space for larger keyboards that can easily accommodate adult hands and high-speed typing. Storage capacity has also risen to the occasion, and battery life and connectivity options have expanded. The netbook has quickly grown up before our eyes.I quite liked the first Eee PC, but despite its infectious novelty and honest-to-goodness utility, what is now known as the 700 series is hampered by too many limitations to be a viable notebook replacement for most folks. Asus' new Eee PC 1000 40G, however, is another beast entirely. Perhaps the most mature of this latest crop of netbooks, the 40G sports a 1.6GHz Atom processor, a 10" screen with 1024x600 display resolution, a 91% keyboard, 40GB of solid-state storage, and a six-cell battery. Of course, the Eee PC's form factor has grown to host this new goodness, and so has its price. Read on to see whether the result strikes a good enough balance between value, functionality, and portability to make you reconsider your next netbook—or even notebook—purchase.
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Low cost ultraportables are starting to veer out of their budget pricing tier, a trend that will soon include Asus and its Eee PCs, the netbooks many consider to be responsible for popularizing the recent trend.
According to Asus president Jerry Shen, the company will launch more Eee PCs designed to address different market segments, including the high-end. Helping them to do it will be Intel, who Shen said is expected to keep shipping Atom N270 CPUs through the first half of 2009. So much for the Atom shortage.Adding to the existing lineup of 11 Eee PC models, Asus will introduce two new categories, Ultimate and Pro Fashion, for a 2008 release. Both new models will come equipped with dual-core Atom processors and either a 120GB hard drive or a 32GB SSD. Models equipped with a solid-state drive will also feature a 10.1 inch 16:9 LED backlit panel, 4-5 hours of battery life, and command between $700 and $900, making them the first Eee PCs targeted at the high-end market.
Can netbooks still hold their appeal when approaching the $1,000 mark?
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Ultra-Portable computing has never been more confusing! On one hand we've got the Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC), which is essentially a smaller version of a tablet PC. Though they may be lighter to carry around, they are not necessarily light on your pocket. On the other hand, we've got the Sub-notebooks (a.k.a. Netbooks), which are shrunk laptops in terms of size and features. But Netbooks generally float in the affordable price band of 18k to 30k. Now, we witness another similar genre of devices called Mobile Internet Device (MID). MIDs mostly don't feature a hardware keyboard built-in. In the labs, I have been working on one such device from Asus; called the R2E. Let's see if this new wave of multimedia/productivity devices makes sense for the Indian market.Read d rest...
Earlier this week, Intel released Moblin, an open source project focused on developing software for Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) and other new categories of devices such as net books and net tops. This as you may know is an emerging category which companies like Intel and Asus find lucrative.Earlier today, Asus launched their next generation of their low-cost EEE PC in India stirring up the market and opening up a new segment in the process. Needless to say, it is a closely watched segment and one that could end up being fiercely competitive.Coming back to Moblin, the project has drawn support from a wide range of tech companies, including Adobe and Real Networks. Now that Moblin 1.0 is ready for release, Linux distributors such as Xandros and Canonical have both integrated aspects of Moblin into their mobile-centric distributions. It consists of seven interconnected projects, from an image creator that developers can use to build device-specific OS installations to a platform-specific kernel and user interface framework to a web browser and multimedia support components.
With the expected launch of the Acer Aspire One notebook with the Intel Atom Processor, Moblin will be directly pitted against Windows XP, which will continue to be sold with ultra small devices.
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There seems to be a price cut for the Asus Eee PC 1000H which is the improved version of the original Eee PC. According to Engadget, Asus has dropped the price of its Eee PC 1000H by $100. Apparently, the price has been reduced from $649 to $549.Asus Eee PC 1000H sports an improved screen size of 10-inch and much bigger keyboard. The original keyboard was too tiny and not comfortable to work with for hours.The Eee PC 1000H features a Intel Atom chipset, 10-inch screen, 80GB hard drive space, 1GB DDR2 RAM, 1.3 megapixel webcam, Stereo speaker, Dolby Sound Room Certified, Digital Array Mic, WiFi 802.11n and weighs 1.45 kg.
The price drop seems to be strange as it comes just 6 days after the initial launch of the 1000H.
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After plenty of buildup, the new Eee PCs based on the Intel Atom processor are finally getting official in North America today, with Asus announcing immediate availability of the Eee PC 901 and the impending release of the larger 1000 series, as well.All of the new Eee PCs share some common traits, including the low-cost, low-power Intel Atom processor, amped up connectivity via integrated 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and a 1.3 megapixel webcam and microphone. They're also all-new designs, with various improvements over the original Eee PC 700 series. Have a look at the images in the gallery below to see a comparison of the Eee PC 4G Surf (701) and the 901.Yes, the Eee PC 901 has in fact already made its way into the dank confines of Damage Labs, causing a temporary stoppage of productive work. The 901's several key refinements over the 700 series really help with usability, especially the 8.9" display with 1024x600 resolution, which is wide enough to show most web pages properly without the need for side-to-side scrolling. The touchpad is much larger and now supports multi-touch functions, including two-finger-swipe scrolling a la the Macbook. And the Atom N270 processor, which runs at 1.6GHz and supports two hardware threads via Hyper-Threading, seems to produce snappier performance than the Celeron in older Eee PCs. Thanks to a six-cell battery and the Atom's power efficiency, Asus rates the 901's battery life at 7.8 hours. Based on our limited experience, that claim seems entirely credible, so long as you allow Asus' auto-adjusting power management software to do its thing. With the new battery, the 901 weighs in at 2.4 lbs.
The 901 comes with 1GB of DDR2 memory and either 12 or 20GB of storage in the form of a solid-state drive, depending on your OS choice. Asus kicks in a 20GB SSD with Linux-based 901s, while they drop the SSD size to 12GB to defer the cost of Windows XP. Newegg currently lists Pearl White and Galaxy Black variants of the Eee PC 901 XP, which both come with Windows XP Home Edition pre-installed and carry a $599.99 price tag.
With the advent of the Eee PC 901, some variants of the very similar Celeron-based Eee PC 900 have come down in price, as well. The Pearl White Eee PC 900 16G laptop with Linux pre-installed now costs only $399.99, even though it launched at $549.99. A Windows XP-based version of the same system costs $449.99, though, and Newegg still charges $549.99 for the XP-based Eee PC 900 12G.
Asus says the Eee PC 1000 series will ship later this month. These are the bigger Eee PCs that move further into "real laptop" territory with 10.2" 1024x600 displays, larger and more comfortable keyboards, and "up to 2GB" of DDR2 memory. The 1000 will come with Linux and a 40GB SSD; it will weigh 2.9 lbs and be able to survive for up to 7.5 hours on a single battery charge. The 1000H will offer either Linux or Windows XP along with an 80GB hard disk drive, which will raise its weight to 3.1 lbs and reduce its maximum battery life to 7 hours. Like the 901, the 1000 series will come in both pearlescent white and black color schemes. The 1000H will list at $649, while the 1000 will go for $699.
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How do Asus Eee PC 901, MSI Wind U100, and Acer Aspire One low-cost subnotebooks look when they're all sitting on the same table? The people at UK site Mobile Computer were curious, and they've shot some photos and a video of the three notebooks side-by-side (and on top of each other).The photos show that the Wind U100 and the Aspire One are about the same size, while the Eee PC 901 is shorter horizontally. MSI's laptop is the only one with a larger display, and the 901 gets stuck with the smallest keyboard of the three. Paradoxically, the Eee is quite noticeably the thickest of the bunch, although the Wind's sleek and rounded white casing makes it look a tad thinner than it actually is.
Mobile Computer didn't just stick to comparing form factors. The site has whipped together a full review of the Wind U100, as well, examining the system's design and performance without forgetting to throw in plenty of pictures and videos. The Wind was good enough to deserve the site's Editor's Choice award, but Mobile Computer says Acer's Aspire One is still the "best realisation of the small, cheap and simple netbook idea." The Wind should be available in the United States next week.
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