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.

Engadget snagged a photo of an Asus Eee PC 701 sitting next to a 901 900, sitting next to a 1000. And as expected, the Eee PC 1000 is larger than its siblings, but not exactly enormous. If you look closely you can see that the Eee PC 901 900 is also a tiny bit larger than the Eee PC 701, but it also has a significantly roomier screen.

Taiwanese web store Mobile01 is selling a touchscreen kit for the Eee PC 701. If I'm translating the page correctly (and I'm not at all certain that I am), you can pick up the kit for 2,350 Taiwanese dollars, which is about the equivalent of $77 US.

The kit is somewhat cleverly called "Easy to Touch," which is obviously a play on the whole Eee = "Easy to learn, easy to work, easy to play" thing. So I suppose once you install the touchscreen you can say you have an Eeee PC. But then people are just going to look at you funny.

As you can see from the photos, it looks like installation is pretty straightforward. And the screen is designed to snap into place, so you don't need a soldering iron.

[via jkkmobile]

Buy an Eee PC and Asus will throw in a little slip cover. But if you're looking for something that offers a bit more protection or style, there are at least a dozen other options out there. Not bad for a PC that's only been on the market for about half a year.

Pocketables has a nice roundup of 12 different cases for the Eee PC. As far as I can tell all of these are designed for the Eee PC 701, since the Eee PC 900 is slightly larger. But I suspect we'll be seeing custom cases for the 900 series soon.

The cases range from about $10 to $60. Some are pretty much indistinguishable from the slip cover that Asus puts in the Eee PC box, while others include pockets for memory cards and other goodies and are made of leather or hard plastic.

The folks at Popular Science have posted an article on Eee PC hacking. They upgraded the RAM, added an internal Bluetooth module, and slapped some extra flash memory into their unit. And to be perfectly honest, absolutely none of this is new. People have been making these mods since day one. But the picture that goes along with the article was just so awesome I had to share it. So that's what I'm doing. Click the picture to see the full article with more information on Eee hacking.

Eee hacker extraordinaire jkkmobile, the guy who brought us the first touchscreen Eee PC mod, has answered the age-old question: will an Eee PC 900 screen work on an Eee PC 701. The answer? Kind of.

For the most part, the Eee PC 900 and 701 hardware is identical. Sure, the Eee PC 900 has a larger, multi-touch touchpad and a larger screen, but that's about it for the changes. So jkkmobile decided to see what happened when he connected the 8.9 inch display from his new toy computer to his Eee PC 701. And it turns out that the screen works, but you need to hack the BIOS if you want to use the full screen. And of course, the screen doesn't really fit in the 701 casing, which wasn't designed for it. So you'll need some serious casemodding skills -- or some duct tape.

Of course, the whole exercise is pretty much academic. Because if you've already got an Eee PC 900, why exactly would you want to rip out its pretty little screen and put it in another computer? On the other hand, there's nothing that special about the Eee PC 900 screen, so if this works, maybe we'll start to see third party kits showing up on eBay that allow users to upgrade their Eee PC 701 displays.

One of the coolest things about the tiny Eee PC is that it's extraordinarily hackable. You wouldn't think you could fit so much junk inside of its lilliputian case, but hundreds of people have added touchscrens, Bluetooth, additional memory, and other components to their Eee PC units. If you're not an expert with a soldering iron, or if you've got better things to do with your time than mod your own Eee PC to perfection, one hacker has a proposition: Buy his modded Eee PC on eBay -- for $3000, give or take $2000.

The starting bid is set at $2800, and the auction has a Buy it Now price of $3200. So what do you get for your money?

• 40GB solid state memory (8GB solid state drive that shipped with the unit and 32GB of additional storage)
• 2GB of RAM (the unit originally shipped with 1GB)
  
• 802.11 a/b/g/draft n (originally had b/g)
• GPS
  
• 7 inch touchscreen
• Air Play for transmitting audio to an FM radio
• Custom heatsink to deal with additional heat from overclocking
• Bluetooth adapter
• 2 internal USB hubs for connecting all the internal goodies
• Windows XP SP3 plus a hacked video driver to display 1024 x 768 screen resolution (although I wouldn't recommend using this on a day to day basis, as it makes the fonts look horrible)

Apparently the laptop now weighs "less than 3.5 pounds," which is nearly double the unit's original weight. You can find more pictures at the seller's blog.

So far this little auction has gotten a lot of attention, but hasn't attracted a single bit yet. Because to be perfectly honest, if you're willing to spend that kind of money on a light weight ultraportable, you might as well pick up a Macbook Air which has a far more powerful processor. The Eee PC is still stuck with a 900MHz Celeron processor. And no matter how much you overclock it, it's not going to perform like a dual core CPU.

[via Gizmodo]

The main selling point for the Eee PC 900 is that it has a larger, higher resolution display than the Eee PC 701, but fits in the same small case. It turns out that's not entirely true. The Eee PC 900 is actually a tiny bit bigger than the 701, and it weighs a few grams more.

While I've read this before, CNet's Crave UK has some photos that make it more clear than ever. The screen is a little bit higher on the Eee PC 900, and the back of the unit sticks out a little bit further when you look at the computers side by side. For a few more comparison shots, check out the Crave article.

I doubt the size difference will be enough to discourage any prospective Eee PC 900 buyers. But I just didn't want you to go around thinking the new unit was identical in size to the old one. There, I've done my good deed for the day.