The Asus 901 and 1000 (photo credit: Engadget)

At any rate, the 1000 is a completely different line in terms of form factor, since it sports a 10-inch screen, and is therefore a bit larger and heavier than the 90x and 70x EeePCs. The 1000’s direct competitor is the MSI Wind. Most probably, pricing will be approximately same as with the MSI Wind’s PhP 26,000. Note that the EeePC 1000 retails for US$550 elsewhere (price recently dropped from $650), which is about PhP 24,750.

It’s the year of the netbooks, people! There’s more to come, with Dell’s “E” series to be launched this August, and the HDD models of the Acer Aspire one, also to be introduced come August. Who’s next? Apple?

Get a chance to be one of eight (8) lucky families of four (4) vacationing in Hong Kong by simply purchasing an Eee PC 701 2g or 4g models between July 22 to August 15, 2008 and send the important details like name, address, signature, and contact information on a sheet of paper, along with a photocopy of the sales invoice, billing statement or delivery receipt and a cut out portion of the box where the serial number is indicated (Customers can only send in one entry per sales invoice, billing statement, or delivery receipt.100 models on one receipt, for example, is considered to be one entry). Place entries in an envelope and sending it to 14 United St., Bo. Kapitolyo, Pasig City, 1603 before the draw date of August 20, 2008.

More details on MyAsusEee.

1. The Dark Knight


2. Hancock


3. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian


4. Kung Fu Panda


5. The Incredible Hulk


6. Iron Man


7. Sex and the City


8. Enchanted


9. Transformers


10. Pirates of the Carribean: At World’s End

I’m pretty sure that’s it. At any rate, if you wish to check out entertainment-related news, head on to a new blog I’ve launched – Star Tripping.

I’m putting up my Asus Eee 701 on the marketplace. I’ve upgraded it to 1GB RAM (Apacer brand), and I’ve installed Windows XP, so prospective buyers can check out performance. This used to run eeeXubuntu Linux, but I’m thinking most people would rather use Windows anyway. I’ll throw in a 4GB SDHC (PQI brand) to boot.

You can always revert to the stock Xandros Linux using the DVD recovery disc. I have a USB optical drive I can lend, in case you intend to do this. But the installed Windows XP is actually an OEM version from Asus itself, so the drivers, tools and other apps would come as bundled with the EeePC 900. This means everything should work 100% OK.

Full specs here. This is the one with the webcam and the 5200 mAH battery. The battery should still give you 3 to 3.5 hours uptime in normal usage (i.e., web browsing, etc.).

Asking price is PhP 12,000.

Reason for selling: I’m considering an upgrade.

And so I’ve been checking out computer shops in the city for the Acer Aspire One. Guess what? They’re not as scarce as HP Mini Notes. So far, at TriNoMa Silicon Valley and Premium Logic carry blue and white Aspire One units. Perhaps there are more out there in other places.

These are priced at PhP 18,800 cash (probably more if you’re paying by card). That’s approximately $418 at current exchange rates.

Reportedly, the crawling WinXP running speed is caused by the lack of updated drivers needed for the new Atom chips. This might be resolved by installing an update from Intel.

I tried out one display unit (not a demo unit, though). LinPus seems to startup very fast—about 20 seconds from cold boot to the usable four-pane Linpus interface. The AspireOne is a bit larger than the Eee 900, though—it’s in between the Eee 900 and the HP Mini Note and the MSI Wind U100 in terms of size.

Acer is apparently anticipating huge demand for their upcoming Aspire One ultraportable (earlier announced). I’ve made a few calls and Acer said the Aspire One will hit the retail shops third week of July. It also seems there are already stocks in some shops here in Manila (like the Acer concept store in SM Megamall Cyberzone).

However, judging from what I’ve read on the TipidPC forums, it seems Acer is intent on moving slower-selling products along with the Aspire One, since they will only sell X number of Aspire One units with Y number of other models. This is from the point of view of retailers. So does this mean the Aspire One will come in limited stocks?

Also, reports say that the SSD version of the Aspire One is unbearably slow on Windows XP, which might be a deal breaker for most consumers, who are more Windows-savvy. For those of us who are into exploring, well, there are other options, like possibly Ubuntu (or some variant thereof).

Things are getting a bit more exciting for laptop / ultraportable aficionados (like someone I know). Let’s wait for the Dell E series to come this August!

Using simple math, what is the estimated cost of the weekly gas price increases for you?

For me, I use this computation:

• I load up about 35 liters of gas per Friday (since gas companies increase prices Saturday a.m.), which translates to my weekly consumption.
• Multiply this with the average increase of PhP 1.50 per liter each week. That’s PhP 52.50 in a week.
• Given four weeks in a month, the cost of gas price increases to my household is PhP 210 monthly.

We consider ourselves fortunate, because the kids’ school (and conveniently, where the wife teaches, too!) is just about 2.5 km from our home.

Our daily travel routine is usually this: I bring them all to school in the morning, and return home to do some work (home work or work work). Then I fetch them before noon, attend mass at the nearby University parish, and then we head home. We only go out weekends to dine out and/or buy groceries.

So in a week, we travel an average of 250 to 300 km. (My car’s mileage is pretty low, at about 7.5 to 8 km/liter.)

Others may not be as lucky, particularly those who have long commutes. At least the traffic situation in Metro Manila has improved because many are opting instead to take public transportation or carpool to save on gas. A reported rollback of prices by PhP 1 per liter might be good news, but we do need a longer-term solution to cope with rising costs of living.

Just when you thought the ultraportable market is already saturated with the entry of the HP Mini Note and the MSI Wind, here comes Acer with its Aspire One. This had been announced earlier this year, but it has come as a pleasant (or not) surprise to me that Acer has launched it locally at a starting price of PhP 18,800.

Correction: I had earlier written “Asus” instead of “Acer. Sorry for the confusion.

Inquirer has a feature.

The new Acer notebook is positioned to attract users wanting a portable and light notebook that is also Internet ready. It runs on the Linpus Linux Lite operating system.

The new Aspire One notebook, which was launched with a host of the company’s latest products in Manila, will cost P18,800.

Jayvee posts some pictures on abuggedlife.com.

Believing in numerology, Acer folks reportedly wanted to launch the Aspire One at July 8th, 2008 at 8 p.m. (8, 8, 8).

That’s an attractive price for an Intel Atom powered machine! To me, the Asus Eee (900) had set the standard for what an ultraportable should be. I’m wondering with the low price if the Acer Aspire One would come out the winner!

Comes with leather case and Proporta crystal case,, and of course the box, charger, manuals and recovery DVD. Asking price is PhP 14,000. Please email me for inquiries, and I’ll forward your messages.

It was only a few months ago that I realized gas prices in the Philippines are increasing every week. It was somewhat stable at ~ PhP 46 per liter for the unleaded variety (price is higher for leaded, and diesel is cheaper by about PhP 8 per liter). But then the oil companies have implemented a weekly increase scheme, where they increase pump prices anywhere from PhP 0.50 to PhP 1.50 per liter either midnight or 6 a.m. of each Saturday.

And so as of this week, unleaded fuel costs about PhP 61 per liter, while diesel is about PhP 55 per liter.

I use Petron Blaze, which is the highest octane gas here. It’s among the most expensive varieties, too, at about PhP 1.50 to PhP 2 higher per liter (usually close to the price of Shell’s V-Power). So these days I usually gas up every Friday evening. I didn’t use to fill ‘er up with a full tank, but today’s situation calls for it. Filling up your tank can be more efficient since opening the cap too much causes fuel to evaporate.

But I’ve heard from a reliable source that gas prices will be PhP 80 per liter soon. The oil companies are trying to recoup losses from the increasing barrel prices worldwide. And get this—the price increase is due to the law of supply and demand. Oil producers are not producing enough (either they’re not able to or they won’t), and we are increasingly in need of oil. However, I hear that the US is actually hoarding oil imported from the Middle East, even though they are capable of producing enough to sustain their needs.

So where does that leave us common folk? That PhP 80 mark is probably just around the corner. As it is, the traffic situation in the Metro has lightened considerably. People are reportedly just opting to either carpool or ride public transportation. This is good, actually, since they are thinking green. But of course the personal mobility that a private vehicle offers is something else.

Also, oil prices usually have a direct relationship with other commodity prices. So with the trends we observe, we can surmise that the cost of living will be increasingly higher in the foreseeable future.