Amazon has started to accept preorders for the Asus Eee PC 901, 1000, and 1000H. Asus has said the computers will begin shipping in the US on July 8th.

Amazon is charging $699 for the Eee PC 1000 with an 40GB SSD, 10.2 inch display, and Linux. You can pick up an Eee PC 1000H for $649 with an 80GB hard drive, 10.2 inch display and Windows XP. Or for $599 you can grab an Eee PC 901 with an 8.9 inch display and Windows XP or Linux. The XP version sports a 12GB SSD, while you can get a 20GB Linux model for the same price.

The new computers come in black and white, and you can place an order or search Amazon using the box below. (Disclosure: If you place an order through the search box, I'll get a small finder's fee).



[via Eee PC.net]

Asus plans to launch a version of its popular Eee PC laptop with built-in support for 3G wireless connections later this year. PC World is reporting that European customers might be able to pick up a 3G unit as early as late September.

Asus likely won't be the first company to throw a 3G card into a low-cost laptop. ECS has already signed deals with European wireless providers to bundle and HSDPA card with the ECS G10IL laptop.

It's possible that these deals could drive the price of mini-notebooks down even further. When you buy a cellphone from your wireless carrier, odds are the price you're paying is far below the value of the hardware. But the carrier subsidizes the cost of fancy phones by getting you to sign up for long term contracts. We could see the same thing happen with laptops, which means you might be able to knock a hundred dollars or more off the price of an already cheap laptop by committing to stick with a mobile company for a year or two.

Asus has officially confirmed what everybody already knew: the company will be releasing a new Eee PC model that has the screen of an Eee PC 900 and the body of an Eee PC 1000. In other words, you get a nice roomy(ish) keyboard but a cheaper 8.9 inch 1024 x 600 pixel display instead of the 10.2 inch display that comes with the 1000 series.

The 904 will sell for £269 or about $533, and should be out in mid-July. The PC will not include the fancypants new Intel Atom CPU, but will instead feature the older 900MHz Celeron M chip currently used in the Eee PC 900 and 701 series.

Here's a rundown of the specs:

• Operating System: Windows XP
  
• Display: 8.9 inch 1024 x 600 pixel
• Storage: 80GB HDD
  
• RAM: 1GB
• Weight: 1.4kg / 3.1lb
  

Asus appears to have launched a slightly retooled version of the Eee PC 900 laptop. The Eee PC 900 is the precursor to the 901 series, and packs an Intel Celeron 900Mhz CPU instead of the newers Intel Atom chip. Originally the Eee PC 900 was available only in 12GB Windows XP and 20GB Linux varieties. Now it looks like you can pick up a 16GB version with Windows XP or Linux.

Excaliber PC is taking preorders on the new computers, with the Windows version going for $449 and the Linux model priced at $399. What's odd is that the original 12G and 20GB versions cost substantially more. But it's not clear what, if any other changes Asus has made other than adjusting the storage capacity.

I wonder if it's possible that these computers are mislabeled and might actually be the upcoming Eee PC 904 or 905 models we've been hearing about. The 904 will sport a larger case and keyboard but the same 8.9 inch display as the current Eee PC 900. And Hexus reports that the 904 may in fact use a Celeron CPU due to a shortage of Intel Atom chips. But Hexus also says the Eee PC 904 should include an 80GB HDD, not a 16GB SSD.

So taken at face value, it looks like Asus is continuing to expand its lineup and considers the modified version of the Eee PC 900 to be such a minor change that the company doesn't need to bother coming up with a new model number. The Asus product page for the Eee PC 900 does indicate that the PC comes in 12GB, 16GB, and 20GB varieties. No word on why the 16GB version would be so much cheaper.

[via jkkmobile and EeeUser forums]

Acer, Asus, and MSI may have been busy making headlines this week, but not everything is about hardware. Microsoft and Xandros both made moves this week that could have a major impact on the low cost ultraportable laptop market:

• Microsoft softens its stance on Windows XP for low cost computers: While Microsoft may have stopped selling Windows XP directly to consumers on June 30th, there are still a few ways to get the operating system. You can buy a pricey new computer with Windows Vista or Business and pay for downgrade rights. Or you can pick up a cheap laptop. Vista doesn't run that well on machines with tiny hard drives (or solid state disks) and little RAM. So Microsoft is keeping XP alive for a few more years for companies like Asus and MSI to install on tiny laptops. This week Microsoft eased its definition of low-cost computers a bit, so now computer makers can install XP on systems with 14 inch monitors or 160GB hard drives.
• Xandros buys Linspire: In other operating system news, Xandros, makers of the Linux-based operating system that Asus uses on the Eee PC (although Asus customizes the heck out of it), has purchased Linspire, the company formerly known as Lindows. While Linspire never really caught on as the Windows XP-replacement it aimed to be, the software is easy to use and includes the ability to run many Windows applications out of the box. Perhaps future Eee PC models will take advantage of some of the better features of Linspire.

I go offline for a day or two, and look what happens? Here's a brief roundup of news that broke while I was in the process of moving and getting my broadband connection up and running:Asus Eee PC News

• Elantech, the maker of the Eee PC 901 touchpad have issued a software update that enables additional multi-touch features like task switching, rotating, scrolling, and zooming. Jkkmobile has more, plus a video which you can find below.
• Jkkmobile also added an internal 3G card to his Eee PC 900. You can check out a ton of pictures and some video on his site.
• But wait, there's more. Jkkmobile also decided to slap a touchscreen display in his Eee PC 900. This isn't jkkmobile's first foray into touchscreen Eee PCs. He was also one of the first folks to add a touchscreen to an Eee PC 701. You can check out a video of the touchscreen Eee PC 900 below.
  PC Retail Magazine says it has received confirmation from Asus that the company will indeed be releasing a laptop bearing the Eee PC 904 moniker. The Eee PC 904 HD will be available in the UK within the next few weeks, and will be the same size as an Eee PC 1000, but while that means it will have a larger keyboard than the Eee PC 901, it will have the 901's smaller 8.9 inch display (and a big bezel around the screen). The price hasn't been set, but PC Retail Magazine reports it will be around £250, or about $500 US.
• 
  A whole slew of Eee Monitor photos leaked out this week. The Eee Monitor is basically an all-in-one PC that bears a vague resemblance to the Apple iMac. In other words, it basically packs all your usual PC components into a case that's not much bigger than an LCD monitor. Oh yeah, and it includes an LCD monitor, plus 6 USB ports, a webcam, ethernet, and audio ports. Word on the street is that this puppy will start at around $500 and will run Linux or Windows XP.

MSI Wind News

• While it should be a few more days before the Wind notebook lands in the US, it looks like the company has managed to push a handful of units out the door in Europe. Scan Computers in the UK had a few units in stock briefly. And reviews and hands-on videos are starting to pop up. [via Mobility Site]
• The Medion Akoya Mini, which is basically identical to the MSI Wind in all but name is also on sale in Europe. And you can find unboxing photos and reviews for that as well. Sascha Pallenberg promises to post an English language video later today.

Acer Aspire One NewsIt looks like the Acer Aspire One will come in several flavors. Acer has announced a new 150 series to compliment the 110 series. The 150 will have a higher price tag and a larger hard drive. Oh yeah, and Acer appears to have bumped the price up a notch. According to the product pages at Netbooksbillinger.de, here's a rundown of the prices and specs:

• Acer Aspire One A110L - 329 EUR (or $522 US), 512MB RAM, 8GB SSD, Linux OS
• Acer Aspire One A150L - 359 EUR (or $570 US), 1GB RAM, 120GB HDD, Linux OS
• Acer Aspire One A150X - 399 EUR (or $633 US), 1GB RAM, 120GB HDD, Windows XP Home OS

It's not clear yet whether those prices will be reflective of the US price. Acer had originally promised to release a $379 laptop, and generally computers do cost less in the US. But $140 less? We'll just have to wait and see.[via Eee PC News.de]

Eee PC multi-touch:

Eee PC 900 with a touch screen display:

It looks like our suspicions have been confirmed: The MSI Wind will not begin shipping in the US tomorrow. Several members of the MsiWind.net forums reports that MSI is sending out letters to customers who have placed preorders letting them know that the ongoing battery shortage is making it difficult for the company to meet its ship date. MSI is now claiming it will get the computers in stock on July 7th.

http://forums.msiwind.net/post9623.html#p9623This is the second time MSI has pushed back the release date. The MSI Wind notebook was first scheduled for a June 16th US launch. On the 16th, the company said the notebook would be available on June 27th. And now we're looking at a July 7th date -- which just happens to be 1 day before Asus is expected to begin shipping its next generation Eee PC models.

While the MSI Wind notebook will cost as much as $200 less than the equivalent Eee PC models, the series of delays could hurt the company. And MSI has already announced that the initial MSI Wind notebook shipments will pack a 3 cell battery instead of the 6 cell battery the company had planned to include.

Sure, you can already pick up an Eee PC 901, 1000 or 1000H in Taiwan. And the company's been projecting a July 1st launch date for the UK for a while now. But up until this evening I hadn't heard any word on a US release.

But a reader contacted me today and let me know that he had called the Asus pre-sales department on a whim today and asked when the Eee PC 901 would be hitting the US. And without hesitating, the rep told him July 8th. I repeated the experiement and made sure to ask about the Eee PC 1000 and I was told that both models would be available in the US on July 8th.

Now, Asus has been known to miss ship dates before, but it's seriously looking like the company might be able to beat MSI in getting a 10-inch laptop with a 1024 x 600 resolution screen to market in the US.

On the other hand, Asus will be charging $599 or more for these computers, while the MSI Wind laptop will carry a $479 price tag. The Wind also has a larger keyboard and according to Laptop Magazine gets bettery battery life, which means it might be worth the wait. And who knows? Maybe we'll be surprised and MSI will actually launch the notebook tomorrow.

thanks Cass!

Update: It looks like the MSI Wind release date has been pushed back to July 7th.

While Asus has yet to ship a spare battery charger for the Eee PC, it looks like eXpansys will begin offering one on July 31st. The eXpansys battery charger will cost $41, and will let you recharge a battery while you're using your computer. Right now the only way to charge an Eee PC battery is to plug your Eee PC into the wall.

[via jkkmobile]

You may not be able to pick up an Eee PC 901 yet (unless you happen to be in Taiwan), but if you plan to pick up the Linux model eventually and add Windows XP manually, Asus has you covered. The company has posted Windows XP drivers on its support web site. The files include:

• Audio driver
• Bluetooth driver
• Chipset Driver
• LAN driver
• Advanced Configuration and Power Interface driver
• Touchpad driver
• Graphics driver
• WLAN driver

[via Eee PC News.de]

Asus is sending out emails to UK Eee PC 900 owners letting them know that they will not be able to trade in their 4400mAh batteries for higher capacity 5800mAh batteries.

When Asus sent out review units of the Eee PC before launching the computer, Asus included the higher capacity batteries. But when it came time to ship the Eee PC 900 in the UK, Asus went with the lower capacity version. The decision makes some sense, since there's a global battery shortage at the moment. But it kind of stinks to read about a machine getting decent battery life in all of the product reviews, only to find that the real world version gets significantly worse mileage.

A few weeks ago Asus announced a promotion to let British Eee PC 900 owners upgrade their batteries. You still had to pay £10, and because you have to send in your battery before getting your replacement, you have to be willing to go battery-less for a few days. But it's better than having a crappy battery, right? Right?

Anyway, now it looks like Asus is postponing the battery trade-in indefinitely. EeeUser reports that customers are getting friendly letters alerting them that the program will be "postponed until further notice." No reason has been given. I'm guessing it probably has something to do with the battery shortage.

PC World India is reporting that the Eee PC 901 will hit the streets in "late June" and that Asus will be dropping the price of Eee PC 701 and Eee PC 900. I'm taking this information with a grain of salt, since I haven't seen an official launch date yet and because computer makers have a tendency to miss their initial ship dates.

Also, PC World India says the Eee PC 901 will retail for $649, which is the same price we've been hearing, but the magazine claims the new prices for the Eee PC 701 and 900 will be $479 and $549. Last time I checked, the Eee PC 900 is already selling for $549, and the Eee PC 701 sells for between $299 and $499 depending on the configuration. So while it would make sense for Asus to discount the older models, I wouldn't put too much stock in these prices.

Also, since the Eee PC 901 will be the most expensive computer of the bunch, it's possible that Asus won't feel the need to offer any discounts to move the older models. After all, they're already a bargain compared to the newest PC. On the other hand, when you can pick up an Acer Aspire One or an MSI Wind with an Intel Atom CPU and 1024 x 600 display for under $500, Asus might have to do something to stay competitive.

The folks at CNet's Crave blog found themselves with an Eee PC 901, an Acer Aspire One, and a decent camera on their hands. So they did what anyone in their position would do, they started snapping photos of the two computers side by side, and even one image of the Aspire One inside of an Eee PC.

This particular image is a bit misleading, because if you look at some of the others you'll see that the Acer Aspire One is noticeably longer than the Eee PC 901. But it's also significantly less expensive (like over $150 less expensive, so I'm not surprised to see the Asus computer take advantage of any opportunity to literally crush the competition. Or munch on it anyway.

You can find a nice little gallery of additional images at Crave.

PC Magazine has an in-depth look at the Acer Aspire One this week. The magazine gives the little computer high marks for its bright screen, but low marks for its keyboard. The keyboard is a bit larger than the one on an Eee PC 900, but the reviewer says it feels just as cramped.

The Aspire One is at the head of the class when it comes to expandability thanks to its 2 separate memory card readers (one is a dedicated SD card slot that you can use for additional system storage, while the other is a 5-in-1 card reader for transferring files from one computer to another), but comes with less storage than the Eee PC 900/901/1000, the MSI Wind, or the HP Mini-Note. The computer also has a tiny 24Wh hour battery. That's nearly half the capacity of the 42Wh battery that ships with the Eee PC.

Probably the best part of th ereview is a nifty chart comparing the Aspire One with several other computes. It wins hands down when it comes to price and processor. But Acer is going to have a hard time making the case for the Aspire One once the similarly priced MSI Wind Linux notebook is available.

Elswhere in the mini-laptop world, Laptop Magazine published a complete review of the Eee PC 1000H today. One thing that surprised me was the revelation that the Eee PC 1000H is a bit larger than the MSI Wind Notebook. Both computers hae a 10 inch screen, but the Eee PC is both larger and half a pound heavier at 3.2 pounds. Sure, I probably could have figured those things out by reading the specs, but sometimes you need a real person with real eyes to look at the thing and report how it looks in real life.

Laptop's Joanna Stern says the display is pretty decent, and she was able watch videos even at an angle. The 1.3 megapixel camera reportedly works well and shoorts smooth video, which is more than I can say for the webcam on my HP Mini-Note.

Stern points out that there's a user-defineable shortcut key in the quick-launch area, which is always nice to have. There are also buttons for changing screen resolution and switching your processor speed to save power or boost performance.

The computer also boots up quickly (in about 45 seconds), and gets about 4 and a half hours battery life from a 6 cell battery. You can find many more details and a whole bunch of pretty pictures by reading the complete Laptop Magazine review.

[via jkOnTheRun]

While the folks at bit-tech certainly aren't the first to dissect an Eee PC 901, if you can't get enough of those topless photos of tiny computers, you might want to check out the site's latest pictorial. It comes complete with instructions on dismantling an Eee PC and a fair number of high resolution images showing everything from the RAM and SSD to the Bluetooth adapter.

As I've previously reported, there appear to be several expansion opportunities, including a solder point labeled 3GCard, and a space labeled IDE3 with room for a hard drive.

In related news, the FCC has posted a series of documents related to the Eee PC 1000H. There's nothing particularly exciting yet, unless you get excited by SAR Reports. But there are a few snapshots of the inside of an Eee PC 1000H display.

[via Engadget]

The folks behind Mandriva Linux already added support for the Eee PC 700/701 series to their 2008.1 release which was released in April. That means you can install Mandriva on an Eee PC from a CD or from a flash drive and it will work out of the box, no modifications necessary. That means the Fn keys, the WiFi, and the graphics should all just work.

But if you have an Eee PC 900, you'll need to tweak things a bit by upgrading your kernel and hal-info packages. But it turns out there's another option: You can purchase the Mandriva Flash 2008 Spring edition for 59 Euros or about $91. This version comes on an 8GB USB flash disk and includes all the updates you need to get Mandriva 2008.1 up and running on an Eee PC 900.

The folks at TweakTown didn't waste much time replacing the Chinese version of Windows XP on their shiny new Eee PC 1000H. Shortly after unboxing the computer, TweakTown installed Windows Vista Ultimate, and the process seems surprisingly easy.

Overall, it takes about 30 minutes to install Windows Vista, and after a fresh install, you get a Windows Vista performance score of 1.0. But that's almost entirely due to the integrated graphics. The hard drive, memory, and CPU scores are significantly higher. You can use most of the Windows XP drivers included on the Asus support disc to update your system drivers, and grab some Intel 945GME + ICH7-MU chipset drivers from intel and your performance score should go up. TweakTown reports that after applying these updates, the system performance score jumped up to 2.7 and everything worked properly, including the 802.11n networking.

While I would expect Windows Vista to run pretty slowly (it's not exactly a speed demon on my larger laptop with a Pentium Dual Core CPU), TweakTown says the system performs reasonably well. Hopefully they'll post some additional videos soon showing boot times, program startup times, and perhaps a few benchmarks.

[via I4U News]

As I reported earlier this week, the Asus Eee PC 1000 and Eee PC 1000H are now on sale in Taiwan. So the folks over at TweakTown wandered over to a store and picked themselves up an Eee PC 1000H and shot a little unboxing video.

As you can see in the video, the Taiwanese version comes with a localized version of Windows XP. In other words, many of the menus and text areas are in Chinese, which isn't surprising. But like earlier versions of the Eee PC, Asus includes a Windows XP driver disc in the box, even if you buy a version running Windows XP. That means you can easily install an English version of Windows yourself if you're so inclined. It may also be possible to change the language manually, but I've never tried doing that myself. If you've got any tips for converting a Chinese version of Windows to an English version, let us know in the comments.

Aside from the PC and the driver disc, here's what's in the box:

• Slip case
• Manual (in Chinese)
• Battery
• Power cord and adapter
• LCD cleaning cloth
  

TweakTown also confirms that the Eee PC 1000H is running Windows XP SP3.

[via Eee PC.net]

Asus is releasing some more details about the upcoming Eee PC 901, Eee PC 1000, and Eee PC 1000H. When the company unveiled the machines at Computex last week, we got a look at the Taiwanese prices, which ranged from the equivalent of $559 to $658 USD. But it looks like it will cost a few bucks more to pick up an Eee PC in the US or UK.

Laptop Magazine got an official US price for the Eee PC 901, and estimated prices for the Eee PC 1000 Series:

• Eee PC 901: $599
• Eee PC 1000H (Windows XP with an 80GB HDD): $699
• Eee PC 1000 (Windows XP or Linux with a 40GB SSD): $649

There's still no word on when these computers will drop in the US, but we'll probably see at least the Eee PC 901 start showing up by the end of June or beginning of July.

It looks like Asus has already announced a firm release date for the UK: July 1st. PC Advisor reports that the Eee PC will cost £319 in the UK, while pricing hasn't been announced for the Eee PC 1000 series yet.

[via Eee PC News.de]

Sure, Asus may have shipped just 350,000 Eee PC units last year, but Asus president Jerry Shen says he's confident the company will ship 5 million Eee PCs this year. Of course, it doesn't hurt that Asus is slapping the Eee PC name on every product it releases, from desktop computers to television sets. But I'm under the impression that he's still talking about laptops.

Shen says he expects the market for low cost ultraportable computers to hit 10 million this year, which means he thinks Asus will be able to sell 50% of all the netbooks shipped in 2008. While that might sound a bit unrealistic, consider the fact that Asus has had the market practically all to itself for much of 2008. While HP's Mini-Note has been available for a few months, Acer and MSI are just getting ready to release their Eee PC-competitors, and Dell hasn't officially announced its entry into the marketplace yet.

My guess is that Asus might actually be able to claim 50% or more of the market... this year. 2009 might be another story altogether.