New details of upcoming Asus Eee PC Models

Again from the Eeeuser forum, where a new member who goes by the name ZORROMAN2008 posted the following (edited for brevity's sake and typos):

Hello to all, I have a ASUS North American Contact and I got some facts. First off I ran that Chinese article with the ASUS CEO interview by my ASUS - North America contact.

He confirms that the specific facts and contents of the article are accurate, and true, with just one small error on the pricing. The last version/category on the Eee PC pricing should have been $369-399.

He goes on to further clarify the article, as it is written from an overseas perspective, rather than an exclusively USA perspective -

(1) There WILL only be TWO Eee PC versions that will be sold in the USA. There are THREE versions in total slated for initial international release. But only two of those three will specifically come to the USA. The third will be sold overseas. This “only overseas" model is the $199.99 cheapest version.

(2) The FIRST $199.99 version is in fact the two battery version referenced in the Chinese article. The 199.99 two battery version WAS going to be sold in the USA, but just recently it was decided by ASUS NOT to sell it in the USA. The price was targeted for $199.99, only in the USA. Now the 199.99 version will be sold overseas at $229-239. The main reason is that ASUS determined from past experiences that the smaller TWO hour only battery versions would not be desired by USA market, so they chose NOT to sell the $199.00 version for the USA.

(3) The SECOND $269-299 version WILL sell in the USA. This will be the 7" 2GB version. It comes with 4 cell battery, 512mb, and wi-fi as standard. The differences in price is if you want 6 cell battery, or whatever other added optional feature will be available.

(4) The THIRD $369-399 version WILL sell in the USA. This will be the 7" 4GB version. It also comes with 4 cell battery, 512mb, and wi-fi as standard. Again, differences in price is if you want 6 cell battery, or whatever other added optional feature will be available.

(5) There WILL be TWO colors available in the beginning. There WILL be the white, and a black ASUS Eee PC 701.

(6) My contact also added that the Web browser will be fully capable of playing ADOBE FLASH 9 on its browser, and it CAN stream Utube and google videos. He says a lot of people have asked him if the browser could or not, since it has been reported that the PALM FOLEO will NOT stream off of Utube or google video cause of its limitations.

(7) RELEASE DATE - Contact said still slated for late September.

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December - September - October. $199 - $299 - $369 - $399. Frankly I don't know if this thing is getting uglier by the day or the details are simply becoming more defined, albeit not the exactly the type of info most people were hoping for. Reactions in various forums have been mixed although there has been a noticeable sprinkling of potential buyers who abandoned the idea of purchasing the Asus Eee.

Something tells me though if Asus is able to stick to the lower range ($299 or below), they will try to rush the release by October to get an early lead heading to the holidays. That is assuming they are able to resolve the flash memory supply shortage. If not, Asus will most likely release the Asus Eee PC in December instead - way after the Thanksgiving sale in the USA to avoid competing with marked down lappies in the $400 and under range.