fnac

Italian retailer fnac has started taking pre-orders for three Asus Eee PC models with Windows 7. The interesting thing is that while some of the models run the stripped-down Windows 7 Starter Edition, all three models get spec bumps. This is likely due to the fact that Microsoft has changed its hardware restrictions for cheap Windows licenses. To qualify for a low cost Windows XP license, netbooks need to have no more than 1GB of RAM and 160GB of storage. To qualify for Windows 7 Starter Edition, a netbook can have a hard drive with up to 250GB of storage.

Keep in mind, Asus often makes different configurations available in different parts of the globe, but here are the three models up for pre-order in Italy:

• Eee PC 1005HA: Windows 7 Starter Edition, 1GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive, 1.66GHz Atom N280, 10.1″ 1024 x 600 pixel screen for 299 Euros or $442 US
• Eee PC 1008HA: Windows 7 Starter Edition, 1GB of RAM, 250Gb hard drive, 1.66GHz Atom N280, 10.1″ 1024 x 600 pixel screen for 399 Euros or $590 US
• Eee PC 1101HA: Windows 7 Home Premium, 2Gb of RAM, 250GB hard drive, 1.33GHz Atom Z520, 11.6″ 1366 x 768 pixel screen for 399 Euros or $590 US

The US prices are converted from Euros. It’s likely that these computer will be cheaper when they hit the states.

Another interesting thing is that all three models come with 500GB of web-based storage. That’s 50x more than the 10GB Asus provides for online storage and backup now.

via Eee PC.it