Gizmodo: 900

Logitech Harmony 900 Universal Remote Review

Jason Chen — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:00:00 EDT

The Logitech Harmony 900 is the updated Logitech Harmony One, which marries a traditional button remote with a capacitive touchscreen for expanded functionality. What makes this better are the charging dock and the RF to IR control adapters.

The Price: $400

The Verdict: This form factor, plus the included charging dock and the RF to IR blasters make this the best remote package Logitech has right now. We've been fans of their standard remotes for a while, but combining the keep-your-eyes-on-your-tv ability of those with the extendability of their full touchscreen units makes for a winner.

If you've played with the Harmony One you should know what this remote feels like. The number keys are on the bottom, the navigation keys are in the middle and the activity keys are near the top. The touchscreen is responsive enough, and can scroll through pages of various commands for different media console items—just like their previous remotes.

The charging dock is contoured exactly like the back of the remote, taking it in lovingly into its electric arms. Imagine getting into bathtub shaped exactly like your body—this is that, except without the water or the urge to pee.

Syncing with your computer works the same way as before, but Logitech STILL hasn't managed to enable consolidating profiles so that you can have more than one remote on an account, and hasn't come up with a way to export remote profiles to other accounts. That's a huge pain in the ass if you have multiple Logitechs, and is probably our biggest gripe with their setup.

There is one included central RF to IR blaster, with two other IR blasters that can hook up to it for a total of three IR blasters. They're meant to be used in cabinets where the door is closed, or somehow out of IR line of sight, so you can literally point your remote at nothing (it's using RF) and it'll still propagate the command through to the IR blaster. This is pretty easy to set up—there's a wizard right on the remote—and you should be up and running in a few minutes. And there's very little RF delay, so you won't have to worry about that.

The upside is that this is probably our favorite universal remote package that Logitech has made, figuring in the charging dock and the RF to IR blasters. The downside is that the whole setup costs $400. If you're shopping for your first universal remote, this will probably be your last. if you already own a cheaper Logitech in the sub $100 range, find a way to sell it and pick this up. [Logitech]

Best universal remote by Logitech yet

Allows extendability with touchscreen without sacrificing the usability of buttons

Price is a little high, but less than full touchscreen remotes

Logitech Harmony 900 Gallery

Jason Chen — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EDT

PXP-900 Is a PSP That Plays Tons of Emulation Games

Jason Chen — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:40:00 EDT

If you're a fan of the PSP look and form factor but eschew the 3D graphics for NES/SNES and Gameboy-level sprites, the PSP-900 is $90 worth spending.

The thing has a 4.3-inch screen, almost the same amount of face and shoulder buttons as the PSP, but it only supports "NES, Famicom, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Super Famicom, SEGA MegaDrive and some sort of 32-bit ROM." No actual PSP playing here—but that's not the point, is it?

Then again, if you already HAVE a PSP, you can always just hack it and play emulation games that way. [Chinagrabber via Technabob via Slashgear]

Asus Offering $100 Rebate on Eee 900

Mark Wilson — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:20:00 EDT

Asus just released their Eee 901 for sale in the US and all is well with the world...except for one thing. They built a bunch of Eee 900s that they have to get rid of. Remember the Eee 900? That was the original 8.9-inch Eee that used a Celeron processor instead of a shiny new Atom. Anyway, if you purchase a 900 between now and July 31st, Asus will give you $100 back. That brings the price to $450, or $150 less than a 901. So what's that Atom worth to you again? [ZaReason and Direct PDF Rebate Link via Lilliputing]

New Eee PCs from Asus Will Have Small Screens, Big Keyboards

Benny Goldman — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:04:44 EDT

Asus is working on a couple of new Eee PCs, the 904 and 905, say sources of DigiTimes. The models take the 8.9" screen from the 900 and 901 and mash it up with the bigger keyboard on the Eee 1000, which doesn't seem like a very good idea to us because the mini-notebook appeal is precisely its compact size. The new models may replace the current 900 series line entirely, but that, along with potentially increased battery life and storage capacity, is still up in the air. The price, however, are expected to remain the same. [DigiTimes]

First Shots of Black Eee PC 900 in the Wild

matt buchanan — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:57:17 EDT

The chowed down fish crowding the shot almost gives a new meaning to "in the wild" pics, but I digress. Until now we've only seen the bigger, badder Eee PC 900 in that single shade of paleness (unlike its little bro), but this shot seems to confirm that a veritable rainbow (or um, a pair) of color options is shortly on the way. So what'll it be folks, black or white? More shots at the link, if you need help making up your mind. And yes, the fish is in all of 'em. [Flicka via EeeUser]

Asus Fixing Their Battery Blunder

Mark Wilson — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:05:00 EDT

Yesterday we told you that Asus was not everyone's favorite company after shipping customers Eee PC 900s with smaller batteries than those supplied to reviewers. Now Asus is offering their Hong Kong customers a free battery upgrade. Here's the letter that Asus is sending to eligible customers:

Automatically translated text:
Eee PC 900 free upgrade to replace Tai capacity 5800 mAh battery

Dear Asustek users

Hello, Thank you for the support and love Asustek.

EeePC 900 series with the four cells of the battery (4400mAh) and (5800 mAh) two. Because of Hong Kong products in the conference at the scene a short time display time, the company only display four cells (5800mAh) for samples, but the media reports, so that customers have the misconception that and the actual shipping 4 cells (4400mAh) specifications are inconsistent, Shuo are deeply sorry.

All customers of the Hong Kong-based Asustek's long-term support and love, Asustek decided ASUS HK Royal Club Hong Kong EeePC 900 users a free upgrade and replace all 4 cells (5800mAh) batteries.

Once again, thank you for your support and love Asustek products

Telephone: ASUS HK Royal Club
Kowloon: 29581620
Hong Kong: 35824770

Asustek Jingshang

It's a good move on Asus' part. Because that would have been a scary precedent to set. [jkkmobile via ubergizmo]

Asus Eee PC 900 Hits U.S. May 12 for $549

matt buchanan — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

We'd heard that Asus's bigger, badder Eee PC would be getting an early launch next month in Asia but it looks like the US won't have to wait very long either. Crave's Asus sources are telling them it'll launch stateside on May 12 for $549. That's definitely a bit more than the long-rumored $500 pricepoint. Is it worth it?

You're getting a pretty significant spec and comfort upgrade for the money—but breaking the $500 mark pushes it past super cheap, and very possibly out of the category that the original Eee helped to create. So, $550. You guys still interested, or too much? [Crave]

Asus Eee PC 900 Getting Early Launch

matt buchanan — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT

In order to beat the increasingly heavy cheap subnotebook competition from Acer, HP and everyone's mother to the market, Asus is pushing its Eee PC 900 out the door a month earlier than originally scheduled, according to our favorite Asian rumor mill, DigiTimes. They were set to launch in June, but Asus is speeding it up to May,
even initially foregoing Intel's hot new Atom chipset so it can yell "first!" [DigiTimes]

Video Hands on With the 8.9-inch Asus Eee PC 900

Sean Fallon — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:30:57 EST

Just days after becoming official, JKK Mobile has unveiled a short video hands on with the Asus Eee PC 900. It is not definitive by any means, although they were generally impressed. Specifically, they were happy with the larger size and increased resolution (1024 x 600) on the 8.9-inch screen. And the 1GB ram, 1.3 megapixel camera and 8GB SSD (up to 12GB) is definitely an improvement over the original. Available in mid April for 399 Euros ($607) with Linux [jkkmobile]

Asus 8.9-inch Eee PC 900 Confirmed

Jason Chen — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:21:01 EST

Asus has confirmed the Eee PC 900, which features a larger 8.9-inch screen with 1024x600 resolution, 1GB RAM and up to 12GB storage. Other than this, and a larger touchpad, it looks almost the same as the original. [DailyTech]

New Asus Eee PC 900 Revealed?

Mark Wilson — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:59:35 EST

According to the French site BlogEEE.net, Asus has a reworked Eee PC on the way. While the casing will have the same dimensions as the original Eee, the 900 will feature a larger 8.9" screen (up from 7"), an unspecified faster processor, 1GB memory standard (up from 512MB) and SSD storage options as high as 12GB (up from 8GB). But the sticker price (in Europe) has seen an increase from 299€ to 399€. We've contacted Asus to confirm the information and will keep you updated. [blogeee via eeesite]

Sennheiser BW900 Bluetooth Headset Finally Available

Jason Chen — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 19:10:33 EDT

We thought the BW900 Bluetooth headset from headphone company Sennheiser was available last year, but apparently it took another year for it to actually make it to maker. Reader Jonathan got one and unboxed it.

Jon says the unit has a 100 meter range (it's Class 1, Class 2 is only 10 meter) that can connect to multiple devices simultaneously. This means your desktop phone, your cellphone, and your PC can be toggled between. Lots of ports, and has "24 hour operation".

Sure, it's almost $300, but if you need a heavy duty Bluetooth headset this seems like the way to go. – Jason Chen

Sennheiser Communications BW900 Unboxing [Schalliol]

Thanks Jonathan!