Filed under: Laptops

It’s only just barely made it out into the wild, but DigiTimes is now reporting that ASUS has already stopped taking orders from resellers for its 8.9-inch Eee PC 900 in anticipation of the now imminent launch of the Atom-based Eee PC 901. That word apparently comes from some unspecified “industry sources,” who also claim that the Eee PC 900 was only ever a “transitional product” to begin with, which ASUS pushed out the door with a plain old Celeron M processor in order to get an 8.9-inch model out ahead of its competitors. Certainly a reasonable conclusion to draw, but a quick glance of online retailers shows that there’s still plenty of Eee PC 900s out there for the taking if you’re not sold on this whole Atom thing.

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Filed under: Laptops

So according to El Reg, it turns out ASUS is selling its Eee 900 laptops in the UK with 4400mAh batteries — quite a bit smaller than the 5800mAh batteries that come in the US version. It’s insult to injury when you consider that the larger screen necessarily sucks down more juice than on the 700 series, but ASUS explains that overseas users get a tradeoff in exchange: UK warranties last two years, supposedly longer than their US counterparts (although to be fair, we’ve heard of retailers listing the US Eee’s warranty at two years as well). Caveat emptor, and all that.

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Filed under: Laptops

So it turns out the product page for the Eee PC 900 includes this unusual line: “8.9-inch screen does not affect the overall weight of the Eee PC 900, which remains below 1kg — allowing children and women to carry it with ease.” Hey now, even putting aside the fact that calling women weak went out of vogue decades ago, let’s also not harsh on the really muscular kids. For example, Richard Sandrak (above), the world’s strongest boy. That little dude could probably lift his weight in Eee PCs, so don’t mess, ASUS.

[Thanks, Lost Melodies]

Continue reading ASUS wants you to know that women and children are strong enough for an Eee PC

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Filed under: Laptops

Okay, this is pretty much for the crazy keyboard aficionados out there, but the crew over at Laptop says there’s a distinct difference between the keyboards on the black and white Eee PC laptops. They compared the ‘boards on a white 701, black 4G Surf, and white 900, and while the two white Eees had identical keys, the black unit featured different switches with deeper keypresses and more tactile feedback, smaller spaces between the keys, and rougher plastic. (Of course, if you actually use any keyboard for long enough, the plastic eventually wears smooth, so that’s probably not an issue.) We doubt the difference is going to really sway anyone’s purchasing decision — the tiny Eee keyboard isn’t exactly ideal for hardcore typists, after all — but if you’re looking for a tiebreaker between the black and white 700s, well, now you have one that will bore the pants off people at parties.

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Filed under: Laptops

We knew it was due today, and what do you know: ASUS is busting out its new 8.9-inch Eee PC 900 right on schedule. So far ZipZoomfly is selling the XP version for $600, while Buy.com is offering up the Linux edition for $566. We’re not sure what happened to those other resellers, or where that $550 pricepoint went, but we’re sure we’ll be seeing both before long — which means it might be wise to hold off for just a tad bit longer, unless you really can’t wait for sweet, sweet subnotebook embrace.

[Via Laptoping]

Read - Buy.com
Read - ZipZoomfly

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Filed under: Laptops

We already knew a few delivery dates for the Eee 900 worldwide, but ASUS came real with the Stateside deets today, so if you’re in the market, get ready for some unboxing fun on May 12th. A plethora of online retailers should be taking your $549 pre-orders soon, including Amazon, Buy.com, Newegg, PC Mall, and Costco, and several brick-and-mortar retailers will also get stock on the 12th as well. Other than that, it’s the same Eee 900 we’ve been seeing for a while now — we’re just waiting for that black one to hit.

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Filed under: Displays, Laptops

We’ve already seen one engineering bloke stuff a touch panel into a Cloudbook, so we figured it was only a matter of time before that luscious 8.9-inch unit from the Eee PC 900 found its way into the pioneering 701. According to jkkmobile, all that was necessary in order to make the mod happen was a good bit of reworking around the bezel and a BIOS hack to enable full-screen support on a larger display. Unfortunately, a step-by-step guide has yet to be posted (though it’s likely forthcoming), but you can gaze upon a smattering of photos right now by giving the read link a visit.

[Via Liliputing]

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Filed under: Laptops

Although the Eee PC 700 comes in a whole rainbow of colors, the big brother 900 has only made appearances in white so far — but it looks like ASUS has been quietly prepping a black version as well. These pics just popped up on Flickr with virtually no explanation, but that’s definitely a black Eee PC 900 next to someone’s terrifying dinner. Seriously, that thing is looking at us. Hit the read link for several more shots.

[Via jkkmobile]

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Filed under: Laptops

Attaboy, ASUS. Not even 24-hours after reports starting flooding in over end users receiving less capacious Eee PC batteries in Hong Kong than expected, the firm is stepping up and doing the right thing. According to an admittedly rough translation of a statement on its website, ASUS is openly thanking its supporters for their business, and while it seems as though it’s still chalking the whole mishap up as a simple mistake, every single Hong Kong-based customer will be receiving a free (5800mAh) replacement. ‘Tis a shame we’ll likely still be griping over the battery life.

[Via jkkmobile]

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Filed under: Laptops

Oh, poor Eee PC 900. You haven’t even made it into most people’s hands, and already you’re getting dissected and inappropriately inspected. Honestly, we didn’t mean for that to rhyme. Regardless, the folks over at bit-tech have gone to all the hassle of cracking the little dude open, though what they find inside is apparently more of the same. No new modules, no fancy layout changes, no tiny army of artificially intelligent lifeforms. Still, it’s nice to look at. Take peak and see for yourself!

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Filed under: Laptops

We’re serious this time, people. No more kidding around with those international ship dates, we’ve got ourselves a real live release date from Asus: May 12th. The hotly-anticipated Eee PC 900 with that relatively bountiful 8.9-inch screen is going to sell for a starting price of $549, with Linux and XP versions available at launch.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Everyone loves the Eee PC, especially now that Asus has increased the display from 7- to 8.9-inches, bumped the webcam to 1.3 megapixels, and widened the track-pad while adding in some nifty multi-touch capabilities. Unfortunately, we’re still looking at a rated 1.5-hours of battery life since the new 900 uses the same power hungry CPU found in the original Eee PC. So where’s Atom and its promise of “significant power savings?” Well, according to Techradar, they’ve been in touch with Taiwan-based ASUS’ UK reps who believe that the Atom-based Eee PC will debut at Computex in early June and then launch globally shortly thereafter. Makes sense as June is the confirmed time frame for the Atom CPU launch. If true — and we believe it is as it syncs up precisely with DigiTimes‘ sources — then the only remaining mystery is whether the June model will also feature an 8.9-inch touchscreen (and possibly GPS) as promised by Asus. Let’s hope so.

[Thanks, Robert James P.]

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Filed under: Laptops

We’ve already gotten the disappointing word that the Eee PC 900’s processor is the same 900MHz Celeron M found in the 701, but perhaps our hearts can be warmed by all the new details that came flooding out today. First, we’ve got word that the 900 will actually carry two different flash storage units, with 4GB soldered onto the motherboard and an 8GB SSD in the PCIe slot for XP versions and a 16GB unit for Linux models. The dual-storage system means you should be able to upgrade easily, but we’re still wondering why the lighterweight OS gets more storage — we’ve got a feeling that since both models will be priced at the same $500 - $650 price point depending on territory, Windows license fees have something to do with it. Speaking of territories, we’ve also learned some international ship dates: Hong Kong and UK customers should be seeing this pop up as of today, while France should join the fun on the 17th, Taiwan and Singapore later this month, and Australia, Germany and Italy will all have to wait until May. Sadly, we’re still in the dark on Stateside release dates, but you’ll know as soon as we do.

[Thanks, Bob]

Read - International launch dates
Read - Dual flash storage
Read - Eee PC 900 specs

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Filed under: Laptops

Oh man, the rumors were true. Asus’ EeePC 900 — the 8.9-inch model — is still plodding along on that same 900MHz Celeron M processor as the original Eee PC 701. Good news: it does run at the full 900MHz without the 630MHz cap of its predecessor (pre-overclocking, that is). Bad News: it’s not the Intel Atom proc promised at CeBIT. A potentional bottleneck when loaded with the relatively CPU heavy XP instead of the Linux-based OS. Still, we’re hoping this is a limitation in the early-launch, Hong Kong / Taiwan models only, and things will get corrected when Atom launches in June. The video after the break clearly demonstrates the multi-touch trackpad (3:50 in) which Engadget was first to discover in the FCC filing.

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Filed under: Laptops

Yeah, you already knew what this 9-incher looked like from our time spent with it over in Germany, but there’s just nothing like seeing a spotless machine escape from its factory packaging and delight its new owner for the first time. Hit the read link below for more shots, and do your best to withhold that growing pang of jealously, will ya?

[Via jkkmobile, thanks Brad]

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Filed under: Laptops

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/ASUS_EeePC_900_hits_FCC_with_multitouch_trackpad’; Eee fans, your second-wildest dream has just come to pass. ASUS’ next version of the mini-laptop has hit the FCC, and we’ve got the pictures to prove it. Yes, as we speak (possibly, but maybe not) inspectors from the agency are poring over details of the 9-inch, second generation system — referred to here as the Eee 900 — desperately hoping that none of its radio waves do anything funky to anyone else’s radio waves. There’s no secret-sauce WiMAX or drastic changes we can see, though the manual does make mention of “multi-finger gesture input,” which will apparently provide the ability to zoom in, zoom out, and do familiar two-finger scrolling on the newly resized trackpad. Check the pictures in the gallery for loads of looks at the new entry, including a view of its insides that’ll make your eyes water.

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Filed under: Features, Laptops

We showed you quite a bit of the 9-inch Eee PC from ASUS yesterday, but they wouldn’t let us turn it on. Now that CeBIT has officially begun, however, ASUS is lighting up those pixels loud and proud. ASUS tells us the screen is 1024 x 600, and it looks to be almost the exact same pixel density as the 7-inch version. The computer was being shown in both Linux and Windows XP versions, so it looks like you’ll be able to have your choice of OS when the 9-incher is released later this year.

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