Hands-on with the 9-inch Eee PC

If you hadn't guessed from the headline, and as rumored just an hour ago, there's 9-inches of LCD on this thing. Actually, 8.9, but who's counting? We found out that and a few other little tidbits about this Eee PC "New Generation" at the ASUS booth just now, but for the most part the 9-inch Eee PC is quite similar to its 7-inch forebearer. Anything past that ASUS is saving for tomorrow's press event when this laptop will become officially official, but whatever they end up calling it (Eee PC 900 is rumored), it's certainly for real. The battery impact of the new display is said to be "negligible," with 2.5 to 3 hours of battery quoted. ASUS wouldn't let us turn it on since it's all so very secret at the moment, but they did confirm some release details. The 9-inch Eee will hit in the "middle" of 2008, with that €399 pricetag for the 12GB version, but other capacities available (we saw an 8GB on display). No word yet on US pricing, but we're trying to pry it out of them.

From : Engadget.com

Asus Eee PC: Could Steal the Show at the CeBIT

Fans of the Eee PC from Asus have definitely been excitingly awaiting the German electronics conference, the CeBIT. It has long been expected that the manufacturer would use the occasion to introduce innovations to their successful mini-PC. Now we know from a press conference that representatives of Microsoft and T-Mobile will be present as well. Many fans and journalists have put two and two together and are now pretty sure what the huge innovations will entail.

The simple equation goes as follows: Microsoft equals Windows, T-Mobile equals UMTS. In bold letters: The Eees were previously delivered with a Linux system and could not get online over the mobile network by themselves. It makes sense, that the makers of the most successful operating system and support for fast, mobile internet would then find a place on the small computers. Eee fans have especially long awaited support for standard HSDPA, which enables broadband speeds while mobile. We will know more on March 4th when the CeBIT begins.

Everex CloudBook First Thoughts Review

The Everex CloudBook marks the latest entry to the expanding world of UMPC-type subnotebooks at affordable prices. With a 7-inch display, 1.2GHz processor, and 30GB hard drive, the CloudBook certainly doesn't make a very good desktop replacement computer, but it does look like one impressive little road warrior. What did we think of the CloudBook after one day in our office? The answers may surprise you.

[tabletpcreview.com]

Why Are PC Manufacturers so Afraid of the Asus Eee?

At the Sony Open House, Mike Abary (SVP of Information Technology Products Division) shared his view on the Asus Eee and used the expression “race to the bottom” (in terms of pricing) to describe what would happen if consumers would go for ultra-cheap PCs massively. It is an interesting subject, and here is what we think of it at Ubergizmo: given the success of the Eee, it’s not hard to imagine why PC manufacturers keep an eye on the issue.

“Good enough” is a danger for PC Makers

High-end laptops are not going away but $400 laptops like the Eee could put the other sub-$999 laptops in danger, and the volume is huge in this segment. It is interesting to understand why consumers like the Asus Eee (and the likes) to see why there is a potential for a “race to the bottom”. We call it the “good enough” effect.

“Good enough” is the single scariest thing for all technology companies. They maintain their average selling prices (ASP) by improving functionalities (speed, storage…). Now, what if users’ needs do not evolve as quickly as the hardware? Average selling prices (ASP) would spiral down.

Software innovation is the key

To create more “needs” for the masses, the industry has to create new compelling and mainstream applications (like a new, slow OS with exciting features?) Unfortunately, PC makers have no control over that – software developers do. Additionally, many consumers are now using web-based applications, and the speed of these programs is often limited by the web – not by the PC. That’s one less reason to go for a fancier computer.

The Asus Eee is uber-popular because it addresses a strong demand: it is a light, small, cute and its performance is deemed “good enough” by buyers.

It would naive to think that ultra-cheap PCs are not a real danger for the gross margins of established PC makers: the market pressure is extremely strong: manufacturers are flocking to build these cheap PCs. Even HP is working on a small, but slightly more expensive one. Is Sony in danger? Not in the short term. Should they be worried? Certainly.

Linpus rolls out Linux-based OS aimed at low-cost laptops / UMPCs

While its claim of being the "first" to offer an OS specifically designed for the latest crop of low-cost laptops and UMPCs may be a little dubious, the unfortunately-named Linpus is at least pretty quick to jump on the bandwagon. To that end, the company's just let loose its Linpus Linux Lite OS, which it says will run just fine on laptops like the Eee PC and Cloudbook, or any other system with as little as a 500MHz CPU, 128MB of RAM and 512MB of storage. Just as importantly, the OS is also apparently designed with low-res 7-inch screens in mind, although as CLUMPC points out, it doesn't go so far as to include support for little things like built-in WiFi out of the box. Still, if you want to give it a shot, you can grab it now in the form of a Live CD direct from Linpus.

HP so confident in the UMPC 2133 it's building 2m units?

HP apparently wasn't kidding when it said it expected people to buy that hot new UMPC 2133 sub-notebook "without a thought": DigiTimes is now reporting that the company has contracted Wistron to crank out two million units this year. That's an astonishingly high number -- almost 10 percent of HP's worldwide laptop sales last year -- and even wilder compared to the EeePC, which completely blew away expectations by selling 350,000 units worldwide last quarter, or Samsung's Q1, which has only moved a couple hundred thousand in two years on the market. Sure, the 2133 looks sexy as hell, but at a rumored $630, HP's going to have to put some serious sales muscle behind this guy to move that many -- it's just slightly too expensive to be an accessory, and probably way too underpowered to be your primary machine. On the other hand, while this is just a rumor and could be totally wrong, we'd actually like to think HP has a product so good it's going to roll the dice a little. Guess we'll find out soon enough, eh?

[Via jkOnTheRun]

Eee PC hacked to accommodate 1.2GHz Pentium M processor

In case you haven't noticed, the Eee PC has quickly become a favorite among folks that like to, shall we say, customize things, and it now looks like you can chalk up another big modification to the list of operations the laptop has gone under. This latest come to us from one "guryhwa," who managed to cram a 1.2GHz Pentium M processor into the laptop, giving it a bit of boost of the stock Celeron. Needless to this, this particular hack involves some soldering and a good deal of guts, but you apparently at least don't have to make any modifications to the BIOS. Without any changes, however, the processor only runs at 840MHz, although guryhwa's apparently working to improve that.

[Via Eee Site]

Low cost PCs to hit 13 million units in 2008

Acer, HP and Asus' new devices expected to drive sales Taiwanese OEMs are expecting orders for low-cost notebooks, such Asus' Eee PC, to reach the 13 million unit mark as more vendors prepare to launch their own models.

Both Wistron and Quanta are expected to expect to benefit this year after Acer and HP placed orders between one and two million with the OEMs for low cost PCs, sources told Digitimes.

The Eee PC 2G Surf, not nearly as nice as the 4G

In a little twist from the usual Eee PC coverage, where for the most part we have seen praise towards anything related to the Eee, this time we have found a little frustration which comes courtesy of the Eee PC 2G Surf edition. The frustration has lead to the return of the notebook and given us a list of ”10 reasons not to buy the Asus Eee PC 2G Surf.”

• Performance: The 2G Surf has an 800MHz CPU underclocked to run at 571MHz, as opposed to the 900MHz Intel Celeron M processors underclocked to 633MHz found in the other Eee PC’s.
• Available Storage: Has a 2GB flash drive with only about 360MB available.
• Fewer Applications: The 2G is missing the eBook, World Clock, Mail, Notes, Science, Sound Recorder, Webcam, Sudoku, Crack Attack, LTris and Voice Command applications.
• Soldered RAM: The RAM in the 2G model is soldered in and cannot be changed or upgraded. The 4G has easy access to the RAM with the ability to easily upgrade it to 1GB.
• Battery Life: The 2G offers up to 2.8 hours as compared to the 3.5 hours on the 4G. Of course in real world use we can assume both of these to be lower.

The next few reasons are fairly similar between the 4G and 2G models, as I have had my own issues with the 4G. They deal with the space bar, hard to use touchpad and hard to use mouse buttons which are due in part to their small size. Moving on from that we have the boot time, which could be a little better, but most important is the overall price.

Basically, the value of the Eee PC models comes down to the $50 difference between the 2G and 4G models. The 4G Eee PC retails for $349, while the 2G Eee PC retails for $299 and it seems that little price difference makes up for a good number of lost features. In short is seems that you should save the extra $50 and just purchase the 4G model.

Read [Pocketables] Via [UMPC Portal]

Eee PC Has A Kindle Mode?

Got a desire for the sold out Amazon Kindle? If you do your probably out of luck on actually getting one anytime soon. The next best thing might actually be an Eee PC in "Kindle" mode. By using FBReader in fullscreen and portrait mode, an Eeeph forum member turned his Eee into a Kindle imitator. Since FBReader is a free e-book reader for Unix and Windows computers this little Kindle tweak shouldn't be too hard to get you a multi-function e-reader out the popular Eee PC. [Eeeph via EeeUser]

Factory-fresh ASUS Eee PC vulnerable to hackers

Everybody's ritual when they get a new computer is different: some people start installing their favorite programs, some people set their desktop picture to Pushing Daisies (not us, other people... who aren't us), and others check for vulnerable processes that might allow hackers to gain root access. RISE Security falls into that latter category, and spotted a vulnerable version of Samba on a virgin Xandros Eee PC. They ran a pre-built exploit they had for just an occasion, and found that they can indeed root the system through ill-gotten means. No word if there's an update available to patch this hole, but in the interim keep an eye out for scruffy-looking men wearing skull and crossbone paraphernalia snooping around your network.

Asus Eee PC on a Plane to Japan With 16GB and Possibly Windows

Asus Japan has announced that their beloved little lappie, the Eee PC, is heading to Japan. Normally we don't care too much about one of our toys touching down over there, but they're also getting a new 16G(B) model, whereas our rainbow of options ends at 8G. Also, it's rumored they're getting Windows XP as a pre-install option.

You can pretty much add whatever OS you want, but so far only the Fresno school system has gotten Eee PCs pre-loaded with Windows XP and Microsoft apps, per a specific arrangement. The hardware and (probable) price are a good fit for the general Japanese computer market, but not having Windows might prove to be an entry barrier, so it'd make sense for Asus to have it at bat for people looking for a work notebook. We wouldn't mind having the extra choice (or the 16G model) over here, either.

Vista Running on Eee PC

Asus Eee PC is, as expected, getting hacked every which way, and Brit Paul O'Brien has managed to squeeze the bloated Windows Vista onto the little Linux laptop. Using vLite, a tool to customize a Vista install before actually installing it, Paul shrunk Vista Home Premium and put the custom disk image onto a USB stick.

He then booted the Eee from the thumb drive, installed and – here's the clever bit – shifted the gigabyte-gobbling Side by Side (SxS) directory off the main drive and onto an 8GB SD card.

The big surprise is how fast it seems to run. In the video, Vista seems nice and snappy, despite the Eee PC's 900MHz Celeron processor. We now issue the ultimate challenge: An Eee running a virtualized Vista inside Mac OS X. Can it be done?

eeeXubuntu: Ubuntu distilled for your Eee

For all you Eee users out there who've been trying to squeeze Ubuntu into the little white box, some help is on the way. A kind and enterprising Linux enthusiast has used their precious time and energy to put together an Eee-customized build of the much-loved OS, which includes fully-integrated hardware support, native wireless drivers, functioning Ethernet support, tweaks for low-resolution desktop environments, and a bunch of other little enhancements that will make using Canonical's powerhouse a lot more pleasant on your tiny laptop. Word on the street is that development and refinement continues on the build, so expect improvements as time wears on. Now, if only someone could perfect that Amiga OS build for the Eee...
http://wiki.eeeuser.com/ubuntu:eeexubuntu:home

Asus Eee PC's sales success drawing a crowd

Sales of Asustek Computer's Eee PC have soared in its first few months on the market, but success may be its undoing. Rivals are already developing products to compete with the low-cost laptop PC, market researcher Gartner says.

Asus sold out of the 5,000 Eee PCs made available for a consumer trade show in Taipei last week quickly, the company said, typical of the welcome the device has received. A spokesman for the company reiterated its target to sell 3.8 million units next year, and at least 400,000 by the end of this year.

The attraction to the laptop is its size, simplicity and cost. The Eee PC weighs less than a kilogram, has a 7-inch LCD screen, a solid state hard disk and can connect to the internet wirelessly. The Eee PC currently sells for $599 in New Zealand but Asus plans to push down the price soon.

But anything that attracts attention also invites competition from rivals, and market researcher Gartner says the Eee PC is in for trouble.

The Eee PC has attracted so much attention worldwide that other vendors, including China's Hasee Computer, want to grab a share of the market, Gartner says in its Semiconductor DQ Monday Report this week. The difference is that these companies plan to make low-cost laptops at standard sizes and with better functionality, so they're easier to use.

Hasee plans to launch a low-cost laptop soon, but with a bigger display than the Eee PC, a more powerful processor and much more storage, Gartner says. The Q540X laptop will carry an Intel Celeron 540 processor, an 80GB hard drive, a 13.3-inch display, weigh 2.19 kilograms and cost just 2,999 Chinese renminbi ($525), Gartner says.

Hasee couldn't be reached for comment.

The Eee PC itself was built as an alternative to the first low-cost laptop of a similar vein, the XO laptop developed by the One Laptop Per Child Project (OLPC). OLPC hopes to someday whittle down the price of its laptop design to US$100 from around double that currently. Intel has created a similar device in the Classmate PC, which costs around $285, but Intel hopes to lower the price tag to $200.

These devices were made for kids in developing countries, where cost is the main concern and computers are hard to find.

Asus: Breaking Eee warranty seal doesn't void warranty

When the Asus Eee PC first hit the market, enthusiasts expressed frustration with a small yellow sticker on the bottom of the device which informed owners that their warranties would be void if they opened the bottom panel, which provides access to the laptop's memory slot. It appeared as though Asus was attempting to prevent Eee owners from upgrading the memory in the product.

After receiving many complaints from consumers, some of whom pointed out that a warranty policy of that nature is unlawful in certain countries, Asus has issued a formal statement affirming that Eee owners can break the seal and that it won't void their warranties. Asus has also decided to change several policies and rewrite portions of the warranty itself so that it is clear to Eee owners that unauthorized servicing isn't prohibited. Asus will also start using a different sticker, which will simply inform Eee owners that Asus is not responsible for damage caused by hardware modifications.

"ASUS wishes to assure its customers that merely breaking or removing this kind of seal will not void the ASUS Limited Warranty," Asus said in a statement. "Although ASUS recommends that customers use ASUS-approved service facilities and components, ASUS is committed to honoring the terms of its Limited Warranty and making sure that its customers are free to make appropriate hardware and software modifications and upgrades, regardless of whether the service is performed by an approved facility, a non-approved service provider, or by the customers themselves."

Asus has been extremely quick to respond to concerns expressed by Eee consumers and the open source software community. When Asus was criticized for failing to comply with the GPL and obscuring changes made to specific kernel modules, the company quickly resolved the issue by releasing the relevant source code.

Australia's cheapest laptop sells out

Taiwan computer maker Asus might have underestimated the local demand for its diminutive Eee PC, as the $499 laptop is now virtually sold out in Australia.

Neither Asus nor the exclusive retailer, Myer, will say how many units were sold, but an Asus spokeswoman said more stock would be shipped to Myer at the end of this week.

The Eee PC, Australia's cheapest laptop, went on sale in Myer stores nationwide on Sunday and by close of business on Monday all the capital city stores were sold out. The Asus spokeswoman said other metro stores might have a small amount of stock left.

"The number of units has not yet been determined for the next shipment to Australia as there is a high demand for the product worldwide," she said.

"Asus in Australia is trying to get as much allocation as possible from its headquarters."

Neil Merola, Myer's national business manager for electrical products, said the retail chain had sold "thousands" of Eee PCs, but he would not be more specific than that.

"We've had customers coming in buying two or three units for the family - the mix of customer has been probably novices more than the tech types," he said.

"We've had a lot of schools coming in making multiple purchases."

In the US, Asus said it sold out of 10,000 units within two weeks and planned to sell 350,000 by the end of the year.

Originally pitched as a basic, low-cost machine for children, the Eee PC appears to have generated mainstream appeal.

Typically, ultra-portable laptops offering similar dimensions to the Eee PC - 225 x 165 x 35mm and a weight of 920 grams - have sold for far more, but tend to also be significantly more powerful.

Pre-installed on the laptop is the geek operating system darling, Linux, but it is compatible with Windows as well.

With 4GB of storage space, wireless and wired home networking support, a built-in webcam and integrated microphone, the Eee PC has found a new niche as a viable secondary computer.

Merola said the Eee PC's combination of a low price and basic system specifications could spark an entirely new computer category.

"What we've also found in the first five days is it hasn't impacted at all on our Apple or Toshiba or Hewlett-Packard sales, [which are] at far higher price points."

Herald technology reviewer David Flynn found the Eee PC was powerful enough to perform most day-to-day tasks such as web browsing, email, playing music and videos, online chat and word processing, but its small size and seven-inch screen took some getting used to.

Even technology enthusiasts, who would typically shy away from such a low-powered computer, have jumped on the Eee PC bandwagon. A community site, eeeuser.com, has been created and users are already trading tips on how to tweak the laptop for optimal performance.

"Certainly with the Labor Government and the means-tested rebate for PCs, we're seeing that the whole category is going to further ignite as that rolls out," Merola said.

Compact UMPC: 8GB Asus Eee PC in US for $500

You got to love UMPC’s, they are small and compact and great for when you are on the move, although you do need small hands to type comfortably.

The good news for the U.S. is that the 8GB Asus Eee PC is coming States side of the Atlantic for just $500 later this month.

This should be enough time for many UMPC lovers to get one under the tree in time for Christmas, well as long as there are enough to go around.

Two rumors we are hearing are: if you add more RAM you could void your warranty and this new version may not feature the larger screen that the earlier models had.

Have you been eagerly awaiting the 8GB upgraded to the Asus Eee PC?

ASUS Eee PC most wanted gift this holiday season

According to C-Net and the sales from Amazon, the ASUS Eee is the must have gadget of the year. Not the iPod Touch, not the iPhone, the Asus Eee.

In fact, its pretty much sold out everywhere you go. Even school corporations are buying them for use in the classroom, which they are perfect for, they don’t have hardware that’s powerful enough to allow the teachers or the students to FUBAR things, but they have just enough hardware for it to act a lot like a portable thin client if you wanted.

They are small, compact, cheap, and easy to replace, so they really are the perfect solution for any environment where you’ll be letting others use the machines. As long as the person has a cursory knowledge of computers they shouldn’t have an issue with the uber simplistic OS either. So, good luck finding one if that is what you seek this holiday season.

ASUS Eee PC billed as America’s most wanted Christmas gift! [via fareastgizmos]

Is this the greatest laptop ever made?

IT'S not often I get so excited about a gadget delivery that I keep my eyes peeled for the postman.

But when I heard an ASUS EEE PC was on the way, I was desperate to get my hands on it and start tapping away.

This mini laptop went on sale last week and stores stocking it in London's technology heartland of Tottenham Court Road sold out within a couple of days.

So what's so special about it, I hear you ask. Well, where do I start?

Could it be the fact it weighs less than 1KG making it ultra-portable or that by sporting a seven inch screen it is so tiny you can slip it into a little bag.

Perhaps it's the built-in webcam or the fact that the white version looks so stylish and could be mistaken for an Apple iBook.

Nope, it's none of those, the greatest thing about this machine is the price, just £219. Yes, that's right, £219.

It's no wonder that schools are jumping on the bandwagon both here and in America to give them to their pupils. It's one of the best machines I've ever seen for kids to get to grips with their schoolwork and still have a bit of fun at the same time.

The crucial thing about the Eee is rather than running on Windows, it uses a Linux operating system. Now I'm a Microsoft man through and through, I've never been able to face switching from XP or Vista to the likes of OS X on an Apple. There's safety in what you know.

I'd certainly never consider running Linux on my home PC but by slimming down the software on this gadget, it allows it to have a much longer battery life - crucial for a product designed to be used on the move. It will also run faster and has instant on and off.

Asus have been clever because the programs are grouped together with easy-to-follow icons. They are split into sections for work, leisure and Internet and the WiFi on board takes care of connecting to the web. Mine found a signal in seconds. And a new version incorporating a 3G module is also in the works using a SIM-card style method of connecting.

Now Linux isn't for everyone, it doesn't have the bells and whistles of Windows and of course, you won't be able to run your whole multimedia set-up on here. For a start, there is no CD or DVD drive, but three USB ports (more than on many laptops) mean you can connect up a portable one.

It's also only got a 4GB flash drive rather than massive hard drive but again, that just speeds things up and there is a memory card slot plus you can increase storage with a USB dongle.

You won't find Microsoft Office on here but there is Open Office which works just as well as is compatible with MS documents and spreadsheets, and there's Firefox for browsing rather than Internet Explorer. But again, there's a few million people who would find that a massive pro rather than a con.

It also has great shortcuts to Wikipedia and Skype, again aiming it at a younger audience to use for research and chatting to their mates via VoIP.

But while it's perfect for students, it is also a must for anyone who just wants a small, easy-to-carry device they can surf and do business from. It's far more powerful than a PDA but not that much more cumbersome when you consider all the extra uses and the fact it will boot up immediately and runs for about 3.5 hours.

I'm also very impressed by the charging system. Laptops normally have massive power cables but this one uses a plug like you'd have to juice-up your mobile, again meaning it won't weigh you down.

I've struggled to find any negatives with this - even the 512MB of RAM seems more than enough to keep things chugging along without any lag - although a 1GB machine has been mentioned for the future incorporating Windows Vista. Now that would blow the mainstream laptop market wide open even if it was £100 or so more costly.

My main gripes would be having to hunt around for Linux-based programmes when I am a complete novice because there will be a lot of complex kit that won't work with it - like my USB modem - and also the seven inch screen does need a lot of scrolling. Bluetooth would also have been handy.

And any new version would be far better to have the speakers at the front to make more room for a bigger display in the same svelte body.

At this price, it's one of the bargains of the decade and certainly one of the best pieces of techno-kit in any genre. Whoever said the best things come in small packages, must have been talking about the Asus Eee PC.