White and Black Eee PC 901, June 3 launch, $650
May 21st, 2008 by antThis past week, pictures and information have come out about the white and black Eee PC 901– the Intel Atom based Eee PC.
Blogeee.net has numerous photos of the white 901:
The photos also show that the 901 is not branded as an ASUS, but rather as an “Eee.” This appears to confirm earlier talk of ASUS spinning off the Eee brand.
Blogeee.net also has photos of the 901 in black:
Digitimes also has more information on the 901. The specifications will be almost the same as the Eee PC 900, but it will feature bluetooth, metallic parts, a slightly different design, and of course the Intel Atom processor. While this sounds great, the price is going to come in at a whopping $650– far away from the intended price of the original Eee PC. With that said, it does have many more features than the original. It will be launched June 3 (though the article doesn’t say it, it’s probably going to be at Computex 2008 in Taiwan.)
May 21st, 2008 at 7:44 pm
$650!!
What are they smoking? I can get a way better spec laptop for the same price.
May 21st, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Donald, I don’t know but I want some. I just ordered the 900 because the 901 is not worth it. I’ve had the 701 for about a month now and really want the larger screen.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:42 pm
$650+tax is a very pricey even if it has more “features.” If the 901 had a touch screen I’d think it would be worth the $650 but it does not. The 901 isn’t worth it in my opinion.
You can get a full laptop, even a 13″ laptop for around $599+tax (and up) these days. I could get a Dell 1310 for under $650 dollars with bluetooth, fingerprint reader, around 4.5 lbs., battery lasting 4 1/2 hrs., AND Windows XP for under $600+tax.
But the eeePC does cater to a niche market so whoever wants to put out the cash for a small notebook I’d say go for it. I’m going to stick with my 7″ eeePC.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:58 pm
i am just curious, which part of the eee pc is equal or more expensive than the dell’s cheapest vastro?
i dont understand why this thing could cost 650$$$
May 21st, 2008 at 10:04 pm
jd: r&d? ssd? that’s my guesses
May 21st, 2008 at 10:09 pm
I’m tired of hearing people say it’s “too expensive for $650 friggin dollars!!!”. If you look at subnotebooks and UMPC’s which is in the same market at the ASUS it’s a HUGE bargain. THAT is what it’s competing with. Look at a 12 inch Thinkpad and it will set you back about $2,000, a 12-inch Sony will cost you $3,000. Plus the ASUS weighs much, much lighter compared to your $600 15-inch BRICK laptops.
May 21st, 2008 at 10:19 pm
In Paraguay(Ciuidad del Este) only 580 dollars, jejeje http://www.master10.com/home/mostra_produto.php?cod_produto=71024
I buy in that store my eee 701 in January for 400 dollars, actually cost 360 dollars
May 22nd, 2008 at 2:29 am
I can get a 17″ laptop that will outperform the 901 in every way, and it’s also cheaper at only $500!
May 22nd, 2008 at 2:35 am
But a 17″ $500 laptop isn’t quite as portable as an eee.
Hopefully there will be a pricing war as the other UMPC’s hit the shelves.
Keep your money and wait for a short time.
May 22nd, 2008 at 2:39 am
I used to agree with those who ridiculed the chalk/cheese comparisons, but increasingly I am having to concur that Asus are losing (but not necessarily quite lost, yet) the plot. The original Eee ticked all the right boxes apart from screen size. Now with the 90x series, Asus are becoming simply another competitor.
May 22nd, 2008 at 2:40 am
My god, $650! I think I’ll get myself rather a 900, than a 901. Or maybe a 13″? Hm, hm …
May 22nd, 2008 at 2:50 am
In the UK the prices converted to US Dollars at the moment are:
A 2GB Eee costs $395
A 4GB Eee costs $434
A 20GB Eee 900 costs $651
So i would hate to imagine what the price of the 901 in going to be in the UK.
May 22nd, 2008 at 4:21 am
for a CPU that probably costs less than 15$ to fabricate, Asus can take their ATOM EEE and shove it…
May 22nd, 2008 at 4:38 am
what is the difference in speeds between the atom processor and the old celeron m?
May 22nd, 2008 at 4:39 am
I agree with the 901 being too expensive and think hanging on until the competitors come on stream, roll on the MSI Wind.
I’m struggling to find the Dell 1310 for the prices mentioned here though.
Their web site is quoting $750 for the base spec of the base model that doesnt even have a web cam. How much does it cost to stick one of those in a screen bezel?
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/vostronb_1310?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&~tab=bundlestab
I assuming you get to add Dells massive delivery charges to those prices as well.
May 22nd, 2008 at 4:42 am
Ben:
The Atom will probably go from being a bit faster, but not much, to quite a bit faster depending on clock speed. The other point to consider is it should use less power than the old Celeron M.
May 22nd, 2008 at 6:13 am
Even if I could find a Dell XPS 1310 for $599 (which I would buy in a heartbeat if it existed), I would still keep my Eee. Those who continue to compare the Eee (and it’s competitors) to a full-size laptop just don’t get it and probably have no real need for an ultraportable computer.
Apples and oranges my friends.
May 22nd, 2008 at 6:15 am
Vostro 1310 NOT XPS.
May 22nd, 2008 at 7:09 am
I will be waiting for the comparison reviews of the Atom-based EEE 901 and the much cheaper Atom-based MSI Wind. With the Linux version of the 10″ screen MSI Wind at $399 (with 80GB HD) I am more likely to chose the MSI subnotebook.
May 22nd, 2008 at 7:42 am
yup, I guess for the Atom fans (remember, we still do not have any accurate data on its performance and power comsumption in a release product) the choice is rather obvious and it’s called Wind… I personally incline myself towards Celery based 900 for a time being, but I’m certainly waiting for MSI to deliver their baby on the market and then I’ll see.
May 22nd, 2008 at 7:44 am
and the 901 is definitely not winning the beauty contest, I’d say. No chrome, please…
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:34 am
All the people who make the full size notebook comparison to the Eee are the same people who literally get blown away and want to buy one when pull my Eee out at starbucks. Stop trying to explain it to them because words will never work. This isa show and tell game baby.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:53 am
I just purchased the Eee 900 in Canada. At $550 it is at the upper limit of what I would pay for something small and portable. While bluetooth and more battery life are nice to haves, I would not pay extra for them (I can add a very tiny button sized bluetooth dongle inexpensively)
I got this for my kids to take to university. My kids already have regular PCs for serious typing and more demanding applications (and games). I already have a regular laptop at home with a full sized keyboard which can be used anywhere in the house.
The main reason I went for the Eee is the small size, light weight and the solid state drives (which hopefully translates to a more durable and portable mini-notebook) all within an affordable for me package. This is something I think the kids will prefer while they are on the run to classes. But it was, and still is, being carefully weighed against the benefits of a regular laptop at the same price point.
I have to weigh Eee portability/durability/faster power up vs full sized laptop performance (keyboard, screen size, disk space, RAM, processing power). At $100 more the scale tips towards the regular laptop for me.
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:00 am
I just hope they ditch the eee writing on the back, it looks so cheesy
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:14 am
While it doesn’t seem to me that the extra $100 gets you enough to justify the 901 over the 900, I don’t understand all the fuss. Isn’t the main selling point of the eee it’s size and portability? We’ve all seen the hacks and mods and know that it’s a solid machine. Go and try to find something of comparable size and weight…if you’re within $1000 I’ll crap!
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:24 am
Nice to see the ATOM based eeepc coming out. I will wait on price though. $650 isn’t bad, but it could be less than that. I hope factors like the prices on SSD tech., stronger demand and competition from say the MSI Wind will make it go below $500. I do like the prices on the MSI Wind, but the 80 gig HD is vulnerable to damage. That’s why I like Asus EEE pc concept better using SSD and more resistant to drops.
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:05 am
Richard K,
Where in Canada did you get the 900?
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:25 am
LOL! $650.00
I can get most of these laptops with a free printer for that price or less….
http://www.salescircular.com/ca/computer/laptpp.shtml
ASUS is getting out of touch with what makes the EEE-PC appealing… the low price.
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:29 am
$500 for a laptop?!?!?! For that money, I could get a desktop (WITH MONITOR) that will run rings around it!!!
(Do I need a smiley? Was that too subtle? How about…
PEOPLE OF EARTH! The eee pc is not a toy, repeat, not a toy. It is an ULTRA MOBILE pc! We know some of you are confused because it is priced much cheaper than any other umpc, but it is a umpc, not a toy, repeat, not a toy.)
[Note to marketing... Release the more expensive model first, then the scaled down version. If the 901 could have come first followed by the 701, Asus would own the world.]
That said, the 900 is the sweet spot for me.
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:34 am
I’m also a little disappointed in the $650 price tag, since what I wanted was a faster CPU, better GPU, more RAM, bigger SSD, and a larger, higher-res screen all for the same $400 my first Eee cost.
Yeah… I think I was living in a dream world.
For those of you just as disappointed as me, please bear a few things in mind.
1) The cheaper models aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
2) Asus is merely “filling out” their product line with these newer models.
3) All of the Eee models are still selling like hotcakes.
4) Nobody is stopping you from buying a larger, inexpensive laptop.
5) Asus has already stated that the price of the 900 series “can drop down” once supply catches up with demand.
With laptops, you have three important things: price, portability, and power. You can usually get one or two of those things, but never all three. Pick your two. You want a good compromise between price and portability, go with an Eee. You want any other combo, and you’re looking in the wrong place.
I already have a desktop, laptop, HTPC and home server, so I’m not looking for power. My Eee lives in my purse, so I can check e-mail and browse the web on the go. With many smartphones and PDA’s costing upwards of $400 these days, I don’t consider $650 for the 901 completely unrealistic.
All that said, and I think I’ll be holding onto my good old 701 for a little while longer. We’ll see how much the 901 costs in a few months. Those of you who had been “holding out” for this new model have a harder decision to make!
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
From what I read, the 901 will be priced “under $650.” I hope that means $575 or abouts there. Thanks, Economic Stimulus Package!
May 22nd, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Suddenly, the idea of modding a 9″ screen into a 701 doesn’t sound so absurd anymore…
May 22nd, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I totally agreed with the points made about the price being on a basis of what you wanted out of a laptop i.e. small portability versus beefy hardware. But I still had hopes of getting my 1st UMPC under 500. I thought this would come true once the Atom based EEE came out seeing as its supposed to be cheaper to make and allow longer battery life as a bonus. I guess with the way things are looking I’m gonna have to get my self a regular laptop and wait a few more years till something like when the EEE 1st started $299 comes along.I was really looking foward to the 8.9″ screen too ho hum T_T. Well I’m gonna cross my fingers and hope they release a stripped down version without the shiny stuff and BT for around a nice price range. Well atleast we’re heading in the right direction; the OQO, Sony UX , along with a few others are the 1st UMPCs and those fuggers are worth 3Gs.
May 22nd, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Terry: ncix in vancouver had quite a few of both the linux and windows versions (probably over 10 of each) which sold out within a day or two. Now I think it goes on backorder.
BriAnn: I agree. The 900 has the functionality I need at a price I was willing to pay as well.
homestyle: I agree. The eee is all about size and portability. The 901 offers no improvement in size or portability over the 900 but an increase in cost. One might argue that we could get away with lighter batteries (like the 4400 mah ones the Europeans are all getting), but I don’t think that weight difference is all that significant.
May 22nd, 2008 at 4:01 pm
The only real problem I can see with my 701 is the small screen resolution. I though I’d be tempted to upgrade when the newer models came out, but so far I can’t help but feel like I made the right decision and plan to stick with it. I can’t understand what Asus is thinking?
May 22nd, 2008 at 5:54 pm
I bought my 4G (701) in March because my Macbook was being repaired. I was concerned that I would regret my purchase when the 900 came out. Now that I see the prices going up and up I think I got a real bargain. Well-tuned and with an 8G SD chip, I have lots of room.
May 22nd, 2008 at 6:57 pm
sheesh, fellas! why is there all this poop and nonsense about “it’s too expensive!”?
i think that this laptop is for certain types of people who want something that performs decently yet is easy to travel around with. i think that it is good for the price. i’ve seen other ultr-mobiles going for thousands, and you guys whine about a measly 650?
May 22nd, 2008 at 7:06 pm
I am going to buy the 901 anyways because looking around at other computer manufacturers, I cannot find any other laptops in the same price range that have the same weight and as fast boot-up times.
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:59 pm
It is terrible the bloody Chinese are marking up the price of these laptops again. At $550 it is ok, but at $650, it is out of my league as a starving university student.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Um… Asus is Taiwanese? Just more money I need to save I guess. Or take a hard look at the MSI and a ssd replacement drive.
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:01 pm
RIP OFF!
RIP OFF!
RIP OFF!
RIP OFF!
RIP OFF!
RIP OFF!
RIP OFF!
RIP OFF!
RIP OFF!
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:02 pm
I JUST CHECKED OUT MY LOCAL CRAIGSLIST
AND FOUND A USED WHITE MACBOOK 13″ (A YEAR OLD) FOR $650.
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:29 pm
if it’s just an addition to the line and not a sole replacement, then it’s no big deal. I do think that $650 is well in the range of defeating the original purpose. but as long as the others are still offered, hey, whatever.
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:18 am
In the above discussion no-one has mentioned one important factor which should be considered in the purchase of a UMPC - the quality of construction. If the Eee 901 were better made, had thicker plastic, a more rigid chassis, a better screen, etc., then it really would justify a higher price.
Basically the selling price is only one of the factors to be considered in a purchase decision, not the only one !
May 23rd, 2008 at 7:45 am
Lucky me I got myself an eee 900 Linux 20 Gb for $513, at first I thought maybe waiting for atom would be a better option but the price justified my decision
May 23rd, 2008 at 7:51 am
I’m taking a pass no the NONE MOBILE eee pc and waiting for the better looking HSDPA ECS G10IL http://www.clove.co.uk/viewProduct.aspx?Manufacturer=ECS&Item=ECSG10IL(PRE-ORDER)&Product=ACF88A2E-FE24-40BA-953A-D06FB4B37407&Category=03222E2A-4C22-4A14-B631-30922A91A1E0
Asus need to wake and smell the coffee. The eee pc is NOT mobile (unless you have no life outside of an internet cafe and your own home wifi). HSDPA (and EDGE) is just about everywhere, even in the woods lol).
eee pc = not mobile…. all looks (which are being killed by the ugly 901) and no flash…..
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:21 am
Why should the price matter? Because it’s supposed to be a low-cost, ultra-lite, *secondary* PC, one marketed to students, &c.
I just purchased my 701, and it won out over the Mini-note for two reasons, but the biggest one was the $349 price tag vs. the $600. If my only options for small computers were ones over $600, I probably wouldn’t buy one.
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:35 am
Hopefully, demand will drop as soon as the whinners figure out what they really want and get off this board. Personally, I want to throw a small SSD into my bicycle bag and peddle off to do genealogy research. Read Clayton Christensen’s “The Innovator’s Dilemma” and come back with something meaningful to add here.
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Matthew, my 701 is very mobile when I pair it with my mobile phone.
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:53 pm
i’m sorry………… but that is around the price point for me to just buy a macbook.
i have the 4G model which is the price point i was looking at for the eee but $650 is outta the park for me to consider……… sorry asus.
this has moved into a cult novelty arena now at this price point.
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:53 pm
I hope the the black 900 comes out before the 901
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:22 pm
You people are crazy, I am 16 and can afford a 650 dollar laptop, I make that amount in a week at my job (I work at a software company). I do not understand why you are complaining. Go try and find another laptop that weighs 2 pounds and has an ssd for the same price and then we can talk. and Matthew, that laptop is probably more expensive in USD, it is already 400 pounds which is equivalent to 800 USD without adding the VAT tax you would have to spend to buy it from that website!
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:25 pm
I agree this laptop is too expensive, and not many people have that kind of money. It should sell for around $300. It is more than twice the amount of what I would consider affordable. Until they drop the price to below $300, I will NOT be buying one.
This probably cost them about $50 to make. $300 or even $250 is very reasonable for this laptop.
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Way to go Ben! Really I’m sick of people complaining about the price as well. 650$ is nothing. In Europe it’ll be 650 euros most probably and I would not have problem to pay such price for UMPC like Asus Eee 901. Peace!
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:49 pm
I’ve read the posts here and I come down on the side of this being too expensive. I wish I had a better battery and bluetooth on my Eee, but they aren’t deal breakers. The 9″ screen is a huge difference, however. But the price counts me out. I have a couple of kids and a wife, so I don’t buy a lot of toys. This one is absolutely out of my reach.
Such is life.
May 24th, 2008 at 2:42 am
Ben, at 16 you probably don’t have much else to spend your money on. You’re too young to drive, have many kids or your own house with its bills. Enjoy it while you can.
May 24th, 2008 at 3:08 am
Shut the hell up Sanddancer. Speak for yourself. You do not know him. Don’t get jealous of Ben because he can afford to buy a $650 laptop.
May 24th, 2008 at 7:05 am
Ok, $650 is not expensive for a laptop that does what EEE can do. My comment was based on the models already release by ASUS. FOR ME, the price increase of the 901 over the 900 doesn’t make sense. People need to relax and allow others the right to their opinions. Remember, you view of the world is not my reality.
May 24th, 2008 at 8:08 am
We’re not insulting the integrity of the laptop (it’s great) or any eee fanboys (most of us like the 701.) We just think that for what it is, $650 isn’t the sweet spot on price because while it’s it compares favorably with other small-scale laptops, as the price creeps up, it starts to compare negatively with other slightly heavier laptops that have more functionality. And then it depends how much one values the size of the eee.
At $350, I think the eee is a great deal. At $650, I start to wonder whether I’d be better off saving up, buying a slightly larger, slightly heavier MacBook as a primary computer instead of having the eee as a secondary computer. The relevant comparison isn’t just with the stuff like the MacBook Air.
May 24th, 2008 at 8:42 am
I am really sick of you whiners. If the 901 will appear to be too expensive for you, look for a machine you can afford. Just wait and see what the initial price will be (there has not been any official announcement about a price yet) and how sales and price will develop. If there will be enough people willing to pay that price for the 901, then the 901 is not too expensive. It is as simple as that, that is how the market works.
May 24th, 2008 at 10:41 am
And I’m sick of people saying “I’m sick of people whining about the price of the 901.” Really now, EEE was built to be cheap, easy to learn and portable. Now you lose the Cheap part. Might as well call it FFF or something now, cause clearly, the 901 is not an EEE anymore in essence.
And Ben? Suuuuure.
May 24th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
The EeePC is now a product line from cheap to, yes, expensive. The cheaper models are not being replaced by the more expensive models and I suppose that the 4G and the 900 now represent the best value for money, depending on what you want or need. Go for the EeePC 2G Surf if you want the EeePC that is easy to learn and portable AND cheap, but do not complain that Asus is extending the line with a sort of high end EeePC.
May 24th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
yes the 901 is still much cheaper than those similar products produced by other brand like Sony, but i don’t think that the change of cpu and the adding of bluetooth in the 901 could make it $150 more than the 900!!!
bluetooth is cheap stuff, it just cost less than HKD$150 to add a bluetooth in the eee900 here in HK, adding a touch screen in shop wouldn’t cost more than HKD$700 too!
so i think the price tag of the 901 is simply ridiculous
May 24th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
If you wait a year, I bet this laptop will go down in price, to something like $199, just a hunch.
May 24th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
I would never pay more than $200 for this, EVER.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Alright, I’ll whine some more.
I want a good laptop, want it to be very small, want it to run Linux, and want it to be inexpensive. The original Eee did all that. The one thing I wish is that I could get a better screen. I don’t really need more storage space on this machine, don’t need bluetooth, don’t even need a longer lasting battery (though all of that would be nice). And so it looks like the 900 is the way to go for me instead of the 901 (if I’ve got the numbers right). This thing is just too pricey for me.
That said, wouldn’t it be great if people could say that $650 is too much for this product and not get ripped for it? I just don’t see why this one is so much more expensive and I think that this niche of the market should shoot for $500 and below. That’s just me.
If I want to spend more on a machine, I’ll get a sleek Sony or one of the XPS Dells. Nah, the hell with that–if I want to spend more I’ll get a Mac. Regardless, I want to be able to say this or that and not have to be concerned that someone is going to rip me a new one. Oh well.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
To Marconi and any others that may not believe that I work at a software company…
I work at Cadec Global Inc. and their website is http://www.cadec.com, based in Manchester, NH. I am a Quality Insurance Intern and I DO drive, I actually plan on buying a Mini Cooper in December.
A question for you… Why would I make such a story up? I am ambitious person and pursue jobs as such, don’t worry about it.
And also, this machine could never cost 200 dollars due to the fact that it has a SOLID STATE DISK. These disks are coming down in price, but a 16 gb ssd still costs around $200 in its self.
So there you go, if the SSD is not worth it to you dont buy it, but I need this laptop for school and work so that I can boot it up on the fly.
May 24th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Eee PC 901 will be launched on June 3 at a price below NT$20,000 (US$650)
May 25th, 2008 at 6:35 am
“Eee PC 901 will be launched on June 3 at a price below NT$20,000 (US$650)”
That usually means that te price will be NT$19,995, still US$650
But… what are we talking about?
1. The price is assumed to be to be “below NT$20,000″, based on one single source that claims that the information is “revealed” by Asustek .
2. That assumed price would be the price in Taiwan. That does not tell much about the price elsewhere in the world. There are many more factors involved than exchange rates.
3. We do not know the specifications of the 901. Minimal information was provided by the same single source and circulating speculations are mostly based only on the pictures published by blogeee.net.
4. It seems likely that the 901 will indeed look like the blogeee.net pictures, but we cannot even be sure about that. How do we know they were not pictures of prototypes, leaked to see how people would react?
May 25th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Calm down Steve, I’m guessing you must be a kid as well? It’ll be a lot more when it comes out in the UK as things always are. The 701 was better value for money than this. I never said I couldn’t afford it either, but I do have better things to spend my money on. Maybe you should get out more.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Go, Ben!
It will be interesting to see how the market shakes out, I bought the 701 because I saw it on Amazon or somewhere then found this site and thought “I have to have one of those!” For folks without the extra money who are looking for the right features and price it can be tough. Technology moves so fast I gave up having regrets or doing the “I should have wanted until.”
I haven’t really seen anything that can give me what the Eee does–but then I haven’t looked either. I think the 901 looks good if that is more than a prototype. It will be interesting to see the features.
May 26th, 2008 at 4:58 am
Hey Ben,
$ 650 for a 901 is absurd and even if you are making a lot of money, you can only be stupid to throw money away.
We are comparing the $ 650 EeePC 901 not with other expensive 12″ laptops but with the 701 & 900 models. Why should the price between the 900 & 901 be higher by $ 100 ? Absurd !
May 26th, 2008 at 5:38 am
According to this page: http://www.superetrader.co.uk/asus-eee-pc-901-black-intel-atom-cpu-ultra-mobile-pc-p-3426.html , the 901 will be £500 in the UK. I’ll stick to my Celeron 900 thanks Asus.
May 26th, 2008 at 6:23 am
I think that’s just wishful thinking on their behalf. (I hope)
May 26th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Jack, I think that $650 dollars for a 901 is a sweet spot on the price. It would not be throwing the money away because it is still a bargain. The 701 and 900 are nice, but I have a feeling their are more featured in the 901 than we are actually seeing. For me, a better WIFI card would be enough. And when you look at the specs for even the 900, it is still well worth the money extra. Especially with the SSD prices so high right now.
May 26th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Why all the chrome accents, that’s ugly. Keep it all plastic.
I also hope they will bump up the SSD to 40 GB soooooon.
20 GB was a nice increase, but more is needed.
May 26th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Memory is up to par
With the new Atom chip, CPU is now up to par
However, storage space is still lagging in the dinosaur days. I would pay another $200 for a 40 GB SSD.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
any news on the black 900 coming out soon in the US?
May 28th, 2008 at 3:04 am
Wan eee pc XXX reach 9.5~10.5″ display size and 1280×768 resolution and mange to stay in same dimension as my new black eeePC900. And have battery autonomy of min 4h, then I will consider spending more money on it.
It also need do have:
- Ultra low power processor class, min 1.8 GHz Core2duo equivalent processor.
- 2~4GB DDR3 1XXX RAM
- at least Intel GMA X4500 graphic (GM45..GM47) OpenGL 2.0 / DirectX 10
- min 16GB primary SSD drive … (secundary can be same or greater)
- Bigger/Better WLAN antenna/transceiver 802.11n
- Integrated GSM 3G/GPRS HSPA transceiver
- Integrated Class 1 Bluetooth
———
Optional can be GPS interface, Touchscreen and 2Mpix webcam sensitive to low light ( or with ICdiode).
And I wont mind to pay another 329£ (660$) for it
:) :()
May 28th, 2008 at 4:32 am
I love my 4G but I’m sorry this 901 is a ripoff.
I’m not comparing the 901 to a laptop, my $750 compaq blows the shit out of it in all areas, case closed. Direct comparissions of the hardware and features of the eee with standard laptops were ridiculous up until the time that Asus decided touch on those prices with the EEE.
Sure $400 vs $750, anyone would be a fool to compare the two specs. $650 vs $750 though? Given those prices, anyone would be a fool NOT to give standard laptops a look while shopping for the eee. It may sober them up enough to pay less for the lower models.
The truth is that some pathetic fanboys don’t like to hear negative comments regarding their favorite toy. They are loosing perspective on what the EEE’s original strongpoint: A LOW COST sub notebook.
Yes, we all know that other sub-notebooks are much more expensive, thank you. They are also better built (than my 4g at least), have a suite of expensive software, superior hardware etc. As a result they act more as a laptop replacement than the EEE has thusfar. Granted there is a big markup on them I’m sure. So too with the 901 no doubt.
Do we really get more features on the 901? Perhaps some could invest a few hours into learning basic linux commandline. Doing so would allow them to enhance their 4G to something more to your their liking I’m sure. Storage space is no excuse, even I can format my SD card to run programs directly off of the external memory….
Anyway, I truely hope many people decide to purchase the 901. While they’re out there shelling out near laptop prices for minor improvements on the previous EEE, I’ll be picking up another 4g and maybe a 2g for next to nothing.
May 28th, 2008 at 6:28 am
650USD for that thing? It was supposed to be inexpensive and small. The trade-off was not between price and size but between performance and price&size: Low speed speed non-gamer machine, but lightweight and cheap.
I will never in a million years pay that much for this thing. It’s not a necessity for me, but would be a nice thing to have when going places where I would normally not bring my laptop. And so I’ll wait for something in the area of 300USD.
And Ben, when you move out of your parents home, pay your own food, rent and many other expenses, then see if you will be able to spend a full week of wages on gadgets. I also remember buying a lot of expensive crap when I was 16, but that changes when your parents stop paying for necessities.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:13 am
aww man, I could get a 17″ 20lb laptop for that price. What’s wrong with Asus? A 2.5 lb laptop could get lost too easily or blow away in a storm. If I’m going to pay that kind of $$$ I want some bulk!
May 28th, 2008 at 11:34 am
hey guys check this out
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20080528PD207.html
apparently Asus is getting into the 10″ screen laptop fight, what I find interesting is that those laptops are going for $460 US price range. If the specs are the same as the 901 I wonder if this will effect the price mark
May 28th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Thanks SaikyoX, Acer & MSI can will steal a lot of Asus’s customers with prices like that. Asus needs to drop the price of the 701 to what they originally planned and reduce the price of the 901 by quite a bit before their competitors can get their products out.
May 29th, 2008 at 7:18 am
Well, Easy to learn, Easy to play, Easy to work or smthn, but not that EASY TO AFFORD anymore :/
May 29th, 2008 at 8:46 am
chrome = ugly. scrap this pos and start over… this time, keep price in mind!
May 29th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Yeah thanx for that link SaikyoX! There were a couple of related story links concerning the eee, but in that little article I found this the most interesting:
“The Eee PC 1000 is now expect to be launched on June 3 along with the Eee PC 901 and Asustek is also preparing lower priced versions of current models, the sources noted.”
lower priced versions of current models?Nice!
May 29th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Whoa Nellie!! Ok, enough bickering about the price. Have some patience and see what happens in the next 3-4 months. The market will dictate what happens with this 901. Even a dumb schmuck like me knows this. If this 901 doesn’t sell as successfully for $649 US like the 701 series has for the $299-$399/$499 US range, then Asus will have to reduce the price. We will also see how successful the competitors are against the EEE like the MSI wind during the next 3-4 months. Competition drives down the prices. So, don’t bother buying the 901 right away. Wait a bit and see what happens.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
chrome = lame
May 31st, 2008 at 12:52 am
So my brand new EEE900 is going to be here tomorrow…do I open the box or send it back and wait for the 901 or the 1000??? /argHHHHHHHH.
May 31st, 2008 at 9:52 am
An Atom based Eee 901 by June 3rd?
What a joke, ASUS can’t even get the black 900’s to the U.S. market in a timely manner!
June 1st, 2008 at 11:04 am
There was no indication the 901 would be sold for $650 in the US.
Prices vary from region to region. For example, the 20gb eee 900 is sold for $650 in Europe and $550 in the US.
It’s possible the price mentioned (NT$20,000 - which btw was in new Taiwan dollars - not US dollars) was for Europe or another region
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:19 pm
i dun understand why you guys complain so much..
to me 650 is still much cheaper than HP-mininote..
and if u check online.. running the same XP windows..
EEE is much faster too..
how come no body complains about the 800 dollar mininote.
and complaining about the EEE??
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:54 am
While its not as cheap as the 701, I think the 650$ are worth it. A portable Laptop 4-8h batterylive is worth it.
In Euros its 450€ + tax = maybe 500€
That’s a good price.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:02 am
“What a joke, ASUS can’t even get the black 900’s to the U.S. market in a timely manner!”
The reseller I ordered my black 900 will ship by June 5, so they are probably getting them in Jun 3, processing orders, and shipping them out. I don’t think the lag between white and black 900s is much different from what they have done with other models?
June 3rd, 2008 at 3:33 pm
what dealer did you purchase form? USA?
I need a white one for work. Construction MIS in the field, I own a 15.5″, too big, heavy. I need to walk and type & picture and talk on the run.
Hope this uit will fill the bill…..
Pinkie@surfside.net 562 688 1817
June 3rd, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Maybe $650 is wrong !!!!!
http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/03/eee-pc-901-and-1000-series-specs-and-pricing/
901 - $559
And price drops for 701 and 900!
I’m crossing my fingers that this is true, because it has some things I would wait for (Atom, Bluetooth, 7.8hr battery)
Please, please, please Asus…. make my dream come true!!!
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:35 pm
I bet $650 will be the price in Europe and $560 in the US.
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:37 pm
It’s got an 802.11n wireless chip plus the atom cpu. Sweet.
June 4th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
I don’t understand. I thought the ‘launch’ of the 901 was on Tuesday? Are these things being sold anywhere? If so, where? If not, where do you think some of the first places to get them in would be and also does anybody have an idea when they will be launched?
PS - I can’t believe they are putting a non-SSD harddrive in the 1000. That goes against everything that the EEE stands for.
June 7th, 2008 at 9:49 am
if u dont like the hard drive, they sell a 40gb ssd in the reg 1000. only the 1000(H) has the 80 gig non SSD drive
June 7th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
im just saying….. the eee pc 901 does cost alot, but i think for now im sticking to the eee pc 701, just some upgrades and im good to go. but i do love that atom powered celeron….. im just gonna check the reviews for the MSI wind nb and the eee pc 901, to check which one is better….
June 11th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
On the price issue….
Asus hit the sweet spot with $400 701. They designed and targeted it at kids and women who could easily haul it in a purse or something. What they didn’t figure on is that there are enough professionals out there that also like the thing, and they don’t mind paying a few more dollars for a few more bells and whistles. ( I myself am kind of on the fence right now, moved past my sweet spot ). So it’s quite simple, If you don’t want to pay for the bells and whistles go for the 701. They still sell it. If you feel rich go for the 900, 901, or the 1000. I’m gonna sit a while and watch what happens. Hate to be a victim like the iPhone shenanigans: $100 dollar price drop withing a couple of months of being released.
June 12th, 2008 at 6:54 am
No such thing as expensive. Its just that, you just cant afford it.
Either you work hard for it ; or desire less.
June 13th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Hmm… On the issue of pricing, it does go against what the EEE pc was created for. If the 901 is around $550 then yeah sure, thats a decent price for what your getting I SUPPOSE. $650 just is simply to friggin much. That was the whole point of this thing. Cheap, and gets the job done.
June 14th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
why would it cost 650? when it only cost like 100-200 to manufacture it… i mean the keyboard is already flimsy… thats like a a 400% over expected price range… THEY MENTIONED OF GIVING A PC TO EVERYONE, THEY ARE NOT HOLDING THEIR WORDS! YOU LIED ASUS! YOUR SCHEME WAS JUST A MARKETING TOOL.. FUCK YOU!
June 16th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
waitng on my BLACK 900.
Yeah- it’d be nice to have the features of the 901 or 902 or 903 or… all for the price of the 701….
I’m suspicious of first gen atom-bleeding edge-, but looks promising. i like how stingy it is w/ power. The celery proc w/ the wider screen and all those exiting bluetooth hacks will get ‘er done for me right now.
price? like ben says- find a way to justify it if you want it- get some freelance work or something and it’ll pay for itself in a few weeks.
It’s all about the size. One guy said-”show and tell game”- It’s kind of like bicycles- you can get a nice bike for $200, or get an ultra-light one for $2000 - you are paying more money for less weight. Target audience has access to multi-core desktops(first car). This is not a second car(laptop). It’s a third car.
as a third car- it doesn’t need to run or autocad or photoshop. just word and firefox etc.
July 10th, 2008 at 1:40 am
welcome to this website:
allfreeship.com/shopexd.asp?id=2437
Contains 2 credit card slot and 4 memory card slots. Opens and closes with magnetic ,for ease of use. White stitch finishing,making this case look more beautiful.
Specifications:
* Model Compatible:Asus Eee PC EeePC 900 901
* Opens and closes with magnetic studs,for ease of use.
* Black stitch finishing making this case look more beautiful.
* Easy installation and access to all buttons and device features.
* Mady by Premium Leather Crocodile Pattern.
* With 4 Memory Card Slots
* With 1 Card Slots.
July 10th, 2008 at 3:16 am
Asus Eee PC 900 901 Leather Case Book Style Black
allfreeship.com/shopexd.asp?id=2420
Contains 2 credit card slot and 4 memory card slots. Opens and closes with magnetic ,for ease of use. White stitch finishing,making this case look more beautiful.
Specifications:
* Model Compatible:Asus Eee PC EeePC 900 901
* Opens and closes with magnetic studs,for ease of use.
* Black stitch finishing making this case look more beautiful.
* Easy installation and access to all buttons and device features.
* Mady by Premium Leather Crocodile Pattern.
* With 4 Memory Card Slots
* With 1 Card Slots.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Hello Seller, I am interested in purchasing this item, so I will like you to get back to me with the price, condition of the item and the payment options and I will be offering you 700.00 EUR and I will be waiting to hear from you. so mail me back directly to ochemcy1@gmail.com
July 27th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
All the people comparing the 900 to the 901 seem to be leaving out an important factor when you are saying “how do you account for the higher price?!” People mention bluetooth blah blah blah, but no one seems to mention the 4cell batter in the 900 compared to the 6 cell in the 901. Thats 2.5 hours compared to 6-8 hours…. very worth it to me. Plus there is wifi N in the 901 vs wifi b/g.
Im using price comparison websites and have found a eee pc 901 for $545CND and will likely be getting that before I start University in a month.