ASUS introduces improved version of EEE notebook
The wait is nearly over for an Eee PC with a larger screen. Engadget was able to fondle ASUS’s new Eee PC at CeBIT, but ASUS officials would not allow the publication to boot the machine up — likely for fear of spilling the beans on the Eee PC’s processor/chipset. However, we do know that the Eee PC 900 will feature 1GB of memory and will be available in storage capacities up to 12GB. As previously reported, the 8.9″ display will have a 1024×600 resolution which is a welcome jump from the confining 800×400 display on the first-generation Eee PC.
The increase in screen real estate made a minimal impact on the exterior dimensions of the device — the Eee PC 900 is slightly larger and thicker and features a larger touchpad. The keyboard looks to identical to the previous model. According to Engadget, the larger display will have a negligible impact on battery performance with battery lifetime quoted at 2.5 to 3 hours. ASUS says that the Eee PC 900 12G will launch in mid-2008 with a price tag of €399 ($600 USD).
Source: Engadget, Dailytech
nice concept …awesome product
not first
been waiting to hear this new for ages
yeah, i will SERIOUSLY consider buying this gadget, it looks so damn cool. too bad it will be really hard to get in next months…
700 USD…damn expensive…
all i wanted was a bigger screen… now the price jumped from $400 to $700? All of a sudden this lappie lost its appeal. I am typing this on a year-old $1000 14′ laptop and at this price point getting another is redundant at best. I should buy a first gen eee soon and cut my losses. This 2nd generation will not be as wanted as the first. Goddammit ASUS!
Asus(i use one) up there with the best
it’s hard to predict the final price. the first eee pc was scheduled to sell at $200 but after huge demand the price doubled to $400. weakening us dolar may be another reason for a price increasement.
I’m with Atlas@5 on this. £200 for the original eeepc put it in a niche all by its lonesome. But £350 opens up a lot more competition. Is a 1024px screen really that much more expensive?.
Overprice.
For $1000 you can get one of those common Cyberpower, Ibuypower, 2 gig, 120 gig HD, 15.4, Geforce go 8600 machines that would annihilate this.
If this product was sub $399 US, it would be a good deal. Otherwise, at $600, its an overpriced toy that is grossly underpowered.
They seem to have fixed all the previous annoyances - screen and touchpad. If I understand correctly it’s the 12GB one that costs $600 so regular 4GB should have more sane price.
Venomhed:
Yeah, 15.4″ and probably 3kg - real ultraportable lol.
these thigns are garbage. every one we sold, we had returned within the month
that suck a lot, now u can have a quite good computer 4 the same price lol
The price is too high.
Last month I bought laptop with 15,4”, 1GB RAM, 120GB HDD, CeleronM 1,86GHz and Vista Basic for $675. Works 2,5-3,5h just like ASUS. It’s heavier and larger but it’s also much more powerfull and the price is’t that bad.
asus eee is a excellent product use it as my torrent download machine on 24/7 since december add a 16gd sd card or usb hd and thats all you need .
keeps my other computers from being tyed up for other uses
ok… but what is Eee?
The current Eee is awesome for its size and weight, plus its very hackable.
My 4g boots into Windows XP in less than 15 seconds from pressing the power button, has a long battery life, plays Divx movies effortlessly and is generally a pleasure to use.
I’m looking forward to its successor, I do hope its price doesn’t go over 450-500 euros in Europe though :/
«now the price jumped from $400 to $700? All of a sudden this lappie lost its appeal»
Well, the price in Euros is still quite appealing. € 400.
I personally own the 4GB black EeePC, and think its an amazing laptop for its size and power. You simply cannot compare it to a full size laptop. I could say why buy a full size laptop for $600 when you could buy a full desktop pc for the same price but alot faster? Simply because they aren’t the same thing.
This new version with a bigger screen will open the market up alot for ASUS. The screen size isnt that bad at the moment, but for alot of things it simply isn’t big enough.
I also think the price tag will vary between the SSD sizes, so if theres an 8GB model it will probably be the best of both worlds on price and storage. Can you say SDHC? Plenty of expansion capabilities.
Very cheap price. Thanks for the weak USD. <3
Lepo a jeftino… Onaj beli cu sutra da pazarim. Mislim da mogu da ga zavrsim za dvesta jevreja kod narkomana.
Errmmm - 12gb of flash memory sells on ebay for about $30. So how does adding 12gb into the eeePC knock the price up $300?
major ripoff, 1 gb of ram and only 12 gb hdd space? for 600? I’ll stick to my dual core laptop thank you very much.
@22
flash memory is not the same as ssd!
e.g - life-cycles of flash drives and data transfer times!
maybe all of you should consider that the new eee pc got announced on the german cebit afaik… therefore it’s quite sensible to announce german prices… i suppose 600 bucks won’t be the last word for the american market
lame….
I’m happy with my 7″ (phun intended)
Bigger aint better when it comes to the Eee.
But hey, with 8,9″, 2gb ram, touchsceen and a neat 12gb ssd (+ a 16gb sdhc) it would probably be perfect to bring on vacations for those hung over mornings. The 7″ is a wee bit small for movies.
Sure, this would be great for a second on-the-road laptop-just add an external HDD if needed…
i am so glad i held out a bit longer. i am so getting this once its out. Woohoooo
I lol’d @ 22 what a complete moron!
Flash memory is cheap and crap, like the other dude said the life cycle of flash memory doesn’t compare to that of the NAND SSD which is used in the E3. Also, it has a bigger screen and a faster processor and more ram and probably other upgrades internally that you wouldnt ordinarily notice. The price won’t be much more than the current unit, but your trying to condem ASUS for charging more for a better unit? They would have no reason to rectify problems with the current E3 by making a new improved unit if they didn’t charge more.
I doubt anyone will be put off by the slightly higher price, and I think the specs will attract more users. XP will also attract the usual windows crowd, but the linux option should still be available as the default xandros OS is perfect for most users.
Viv’la ASUS!