Eee PC
”Japan Has Subnotebooks For $1 With Data Plans
I've thought for awhile that the key to selling the super cheap yet very underpowered sub-notebooks that are exploding all over the place would be carrier subsidization, and now a carrier in Japan is taking the the idea and running with it, selling the Eee PC 701 for less than $1 American with a data plan contract, much like how we get cell phones. These devices often feature 4G—in this case with an external wireless modem—networking, which means you get an always-on Internet connection for your tiny laptop for less than $65 a month. American carriers, are you paying attention? [JK On The Run, via Liliputing]MSI Wind Preorders Finally Shipping
Hooray! If you preordered an MSI Wind and suffered through a few delays, know that the mini-notebooks are shipping now. Remember they're only coming with a 3-cell battery, and apparently the $499 6-cell and $399 Linux versions aren't hitting until September. The $479 Wind should be available at popular retailers somewhere between now and soon. More »EeePC 900 Gets a Touchscreen Mod That's So Good We Want It Standard
If we didn't know that this was done by a user, we'd swear that this touchscreen Eee PC was made by Asus themselves. The video shows a super sensitive and responsive screen, flicking quickly up and down on a web page with either the finger or stylus. On a laptop of 10-inches or smaller—what we like to call "tardtops"—a touchscreen fits just perfectly. Why get a Kindle when you have a light, touchscreen laptop that can be carried with you and supports lots of colors? Nice work jkkmobile. [JKKMobile]Everex Going Bigger With Tiny Cloudbooks and Adding Next-Gen Wireless Joy
The mini-notebook market is heating up, with today bringing stats and shots of the Asus's latest Eee PC with its tiny screen and keys that might work with normal hands. Then later, we get news of a leak about Everex, Asus's competitor in this market, about its next Cloudbooks, including one with a 10.2-inch screen and 3G connectivity, and another with an 8.9-inch screen and WiMax. More »First Quality Pictures of the Asus Eee All-In-One Monitor
We got a blurry look at the upcoming all-in-one version of the Asus Eee PC Monitor back in early June, but these new images over at Laptop Mag provide our first real glimpse at what users can expect. Outside of what we already know, the images reveal that the Monitor will feature 4 USB ports, an Ethernet port, modem, audio ports for a mic and 2 audio outs. There will also be white and black versions. No further information has been released, so we still expect it to be released in 19 and 21-inch versions with a TV tuner for around $500. Check the full gallery at the source. [Laptop Mag]
Furryrobo: Sleeping Bags For the Macbook Air and Eee PC
If you thought the AirMail case was a little on the bizarre side, get a load of these sleeping bags designed to custom fit your Macbook Air or any 7" UMPC (Eee PC included). Each bag features a waterproof nylon surface combined with shock-absorbent quilted 5mm PE foam and leather trim. It's the perfect way to keep your scrawny Macbook Air warm on those cold nights in the wild. Available in white and black versions—$49 Singapore dollars ($35 US). UMPC version is around $20 US.
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Asus Eee PC 1000H Reviewed (Best Eee Yet, Except the Price)
Asus's Eee PC 1000H is the least Eee-like Eee yet—big, pricey ($649) and it has a regular ol' platter hard drive. Laptop Mag says the extra screen real estate makes it the most productive yet, too, even though the colors don't pop as much as the Wind. And the keyboard: "To say it’s an improvement over the cramped keyboard found on earlier Eee PCs is an understatement." Performance from Atom and its 1GB RAM is solid, and the move to a HDD from a SSD doesn't hurt too much, even on startup—battery isn't hit too hard either, 4 hours and 28 minutes with Wi-Fi. Overall, everything's gravier than past models, 'cept the price. [Laptop Mag]Asus Working on Handwriting-Pad Add-on for Eee PC
While modders are busily adapting the Eee PC for touchscreen capability, it seems that Asus has been working on an official handwriting recognition add-on. Demoed at last weeks Computex show, the Asus pad accepts English and Chinese (traditional and simplified) characters and simply plugs into the Eee's USB port. It measures 4.3 x 4.4 x 0.7 inches, with the touch pad being a little over 2-inches across. If you're an eager hand-writing fan, you'll have to wait though, as there's no launch date or price info. [Aving via Pocket Lint]Eee PC 901 Gets Unboxed, Touched and Probed
Personally, I don't get much of a thrill out of unboxings. Besides, we have already seen the Eee PC 901 topless, so the mystery is all but gone. Still, if you cant get enough of this strange gadget strip show, Laptop Magazine has the filthy images you so desperately crave. And if you are not interested in unboxings, they also came up with some initial impressions saying that they were generally pleased with what they saw so far—despite an initial problem with a bent keyboard. Hit the link for the full gallery of photos. [Laptopmag]
Modder Discovers Eee PC 901 is Most Hackable Yet
Just yesterday we brought you the cheap Eee 701 touchscreen hack, and now it looks like the same guy who did that mod has been ferreting around inside an Eee 901, with some unexpected results. In fact, it looks like the 901 is even more moddable than the earlier models, with some extra functions inside the case waiting to be adapted.
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Asus to World: Your Biceps Don't Look Enough Like Boobs
Wow, did this guy really go all out for this new Asus Eee ad and get inked? Because that would be amazing!
More »Simple Hack Gives Eee PC a Touchscreen for Just $70
People love to mod the Eee PC it seems, cramming everything you can imagine, including a touchscreen, into the diminutive cheapo notebook. But perhaps none have been so cheap and easy as this straightforward $70 touchscreen hack. It takes just 9 steps (including unscrewing the Eee 701 and putting it back together) to slot a USB touch controller board and touch-sensitive matrix inside the case. Even fumblefingers me could manage that, I think. [JKKmobile via Hackaday]
Asus Eee PC 901 and 1000 Get Super Duper Official
It's hard to believe that Asus's Eee PC 901 and 1000 didn't officially exist until this moment. But now they do! Officially. 'Course, there are few surprises left (except for battery life, they're claiming up to 7.8 hours), which takes the fun out of it: Atom processors, 12 or 20GB (up to 40GB SSD for 1000, or 80GB HDD for 1000H!) storage, depending on whether you roll XP or Linux. The 1000 is much like the 901, but with a 10-inch screen and a less cramped keyboard that's 92 percent of the standard notebook size. Annoyingly, still no official pricing info, but if they really wanna move these, it'd be wayyyy under that crazy $650 figure we heard. Update: And below there's a complete spec list for number lovers. More »Atom-Based Asus Eee PC 901 Specs; WiMax Version in the Works
Long unofficially official, Asus is finally showing off its Atom-based Eee PC 901, which is remarkably speedier than the 900 with a 1.6GHz Diamondville processor. Expected to launch tomorrow, besides the predicted addition of Bluetooth, the specs are otherwise the same: 1GB RAM, memory card slot, 12GB of storage for the Windows XP flavor, 20 for Linux. Asus is promising four to six hours of battery life. There is a WiMax version in the works (it's being shown at the WiMax Expo), but it's a little further out. No pricing yet, but we'd heard $650 earlier. [PC World]Subnotebook vs. UMPC vs. Netbook: WTF Is the Difference?
When Blam broke the news on Dell's mini Inspiron, there was one he was stuck on: How to categorize it. Is it a subnotebook? A UMPC? A netbook? (Knowing the specs might have helped, but probably not much.) Part of the problem is that the category names themselves are very new and pretty vague. Here's a mini-compendium of the most popular terms for dwarfish laptops being tossed around, where they come from and what they're trying to say. Help us decide which ones to keep, and which to ditch.
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Asus Eee PC 1000 to Debut First Week of June
According to an invitation from Chairman Jonney Shih, Asus will present their EeePC 1000 at Computex 2008, the classic IT fair to kick off in Taipei next week, starting on June 3. The 10-inch EeePC 1000 will appear alongside the newly-redesigned 9-inch EeePC 901. More »Is Via's OpenBook the Next (Little) Big Thing in UMPCs?
Last week, we sat down with Via to take a look at the reference design they're hoping will be the standard for UMPCs over the next year: the OpenBook. While the raw horsepower inside (their C7 and VX800 chips) isn't next gen (though it'll run XP, Vista Basic or Linux), Via is pushing it as the "most connected" low-cost, low-power UMPC to date, with the mobile broadband of your choice (WiMax, HSDPA or EV-DO), three USB ports, and a 4-in-1 card reader (also, it has not one, but two webcams).And it'll run between $500 and $800.
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