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Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Asus to launch Eee PC 900 in the Philippines

From Pinoy Tech Blog -

Asus will be releasing the new Asus Eee PC 900 on May 12. Invites indicated that several variants will be available:

"This new generation of the ever popular PC packs in a whole range of hardware that includes an 8.9 inch wide screen, a 1.3M pixels web cam, the new innovative Finger Glide and 12GB and 20GB storage capacities for Windows and Linux platforms respectively – catering to wider consumer needs while still maintaining the “Easy to learn, Easy to work and Easy to play” concept by keeping the overall weight under 1kg."

Despite the increase in screen real estate and bigger storage volumes, it looks like the Eee PC 900 will still hover just under 1kg. Some models are actually already being sold at PC Corner at Php 28,999 for the 12GB+Windows or the 20GB+Linux combos (lower than the previous price of Php33,900).

Asus: Eee PC shipments to soar in Q2

Per Infoworld -

Asus has announced it will nearly double shipments of the Eee PC for the second quarter as compared to the first. Shipments will hit 1.2M to 1.3M for Q2, compared to 700,000 the previous quarter.

Full article can be read here.

Asus Eee PC Wallpaper Contest

In celebration of the blog’s 1,000,000 hit – well, at least per Statcounter, we would like to hold a Wallpaper Contest with a grand prize of as much as USD100.00. So, without much ado, here are the rules –

1. To join, email your entry to asuseeehacks AT gmail DOT com.
2. Your entry must conform to the following:
a. Subject of entry email must read WALLPAPER CONTEST NO. 1 ENTRY (in ALL CAPS).
b. Entry must be actual wallpaper file, 800 x 480 resolution, max 1.2MB file size, JPG or PNG format.
c. Include your full name, country, and Paypal account, in case you win.
d. In the body of your email, confirm that you are the rightful owner of the entry and that you will allow other readers to download and use it for free, that you are verifying that you do not infringe on any intellectual property rights and that you will indemnify this blog and all affiliated blogs in case of any lawsuit arising from the publication of your wallpaper.
e. Your entry may not contain any nudity, adult situations, or obscenities, nor be discriminatory in nature and must be original. Submissions of other copyrighted images or characters will not be considered. We will be the sole judge of this and our decision will be final.
3. Entry submissions will be accepted starting May 1, 2008 until May 31, 2008 midnight (California time). The date and time stamp on the email as received by us shall be the basis for determining inclusion of entries. Once submitted, an entry can not be edited.
4. You can enter as many times as you want. There is no maximum limit.
5. There is absolutely no entry fee.
6. All entries will be posted at http://asuseeehackscontests.blogspot.com as we receive them.
7. Blog readers will be allowed to vote starting June 1 until June 17, 2008 midnight (California time). A poll will be set-up in this blog to allow voters to cast their votes. Multiple votes will be allowed.
8. At the end of the voting period, the entry with the most votes wins. In case, of a tie, the minimum cash prize will be divided among the tied entries.
9. The name of the winner will be announced in this blog. It is your responsibility to check this blog.
10. The winner will receive a cash prize, the amount of which will be determined in the following manner: the difference between the winning entry’s votes and the second placer’s votes, with each vote worth USD0.10. There will be a minimum prize of USD20 and a maximum prize of USD100. I.e. If the winning margin is equal to or less than 200, the cash prize will be USD20; if it is equal to or more than 1000, then the cash prize will be USD100. If the winning margin is in between, then the exact margin will be multiplied by USD0.10. E.g. Margin is 888, cash prize is USD88.80.
11. The winner will be required to email source files (PSD file, individual graphics or backgrounds for composite works, etc.) of winning entry sufficient to prove he/she created the wallpaper. Once this is verified, the winner will be paid via PayPal within 24 hours. For transparency’s sake, the winner’s full name and country will be disclosed.
12. Contest rules might be subject to change depending on suggestions and feedback and prior to actual start date (May 1). Once the contest begins, the rules are final unless subject to any legal requirements.
13. All decisions concerning this contest shall be based on our sole discretion and shall be final.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Asus plans Eee spin-off; 10- and 11-inch Eee PCs to come

From Digitimes -

Asus is considering spinning off the Eee brand with a lineup products including the original Eee PC notebook, an Eee TV (E-TV), an Eee desktop (E-DT), and an Eee monitor which are all expected to be introduced by the end of the third quarter this year.

Also in addition to the Eee PC 900, Asus will launch the Eee PC 1001 with a 10-inch panel as well as an 11-inch model by the end of this year.

Alternate Chargers for Your Asus Eee PC

Monday, April 28, 2008

Assorted Asus Eee PC Wallpapers Part 2

Another collection of Asus Eee PC wallpapers. As usual, if you happen to know the creators, kindly let us know so that we can properly credit them. Enjoy!




Friday, April 25, 2008

ASUS Eee PC Face-Off: Windows XP vs. Xandros Linux

Laptop Mag has an excellent comparison of the newer Windows-based Asus Eee PC and its older sibling, the original Xandros-based Eee PC. The face-off compared the two on the following aspects -

Interface

Productivity

Performance

Peripherals

Multimedia

Adding Applications

Boot and Shutdown Times

Battery Life

The Verdict? The Linux-powered Eee PC won four,the XP Eee PC won three: peripherals, multimedia, and adding applications. They drew in productivity.

Ultimately, deciding which Eee PC is best depends on your personal preferences. Windows XP may be preferred because of the familiar UI, despite the fact that you have to do a fair amount of scrolling. It's also easier to install popular programs, and preferred if you don't want to worry about which peripherals will work.

But if you’re looking for a faster computing experience, longer battery life, and don’t intend on adding much software, the Xandros Eee PC should be fine. Also, its user interface is arguably the more user-friendly solution for a 7" screen.

Winner: Xandros Eee PC

You can read the entire article here.

2 Ways of Making Your SDHC A Resident Hard Drive in XP

rljaplit of EeePH forum has posted an excellent tutorial on turning your SDHC memory card into a "permanent" drive. He describes two methods - the first by mounting your SD/SDHC card and the second by using MicroDrive drivers.

The first, mounting your SD/SDHC Card, is recommended if you only have one SD/SDHC card reader and regularly swap out cards -

A simple solution is to mount the SD/SDHC card as a directory in C: which is a local disk. This tricks programs into thinking they are being installed to a directory on the C drive, and also allows you to swap cards on the fly without any issues. And because you are not making any driver modifications, you get to keep your high read/write performance. It's also much simpler and can be easily unmounted.

1. Create a Program Files directory on your SD/SDHC card (E.g.: E:\Program Files\)
2. Create a SDHC directory in your C:\Program Files\ directory. (E.g: C:\Program Files\SDHC\)
3. Right click on My Computer and click Manage.
4. Select the Disk Management plugin under Storage on the left.
5. Right click on your SD/SDHC drive and click Change Drive Letter and Paths….
6. Click Add…
7. Make sure “Mount in the following empty NTFS folder” is selected, and browse for the directory you created in step 2.
8. Click OK to the three windows open and close Computer Management.

The second method is to use MicroDrive drivers and is recommended if you have a second card reader modification/hack or only own one memory card.

This fix will trick Windows and program installers into thinking your SD/SDHC card is a fixed local disk. While this has the obvious benefit of allowing stubborn installers to install to your SD/SDHC card just like the Mount method, it also carries the unfortunate side effects of decreased read/write performance, as well as hampering the card reader's plug and play and hot-swappability (after you install this driver, once you swap out your card, Windows will not quickly recognize the new card).

1. Download the MicroDrive drivers here and extract them to a folder on the desktop.
2. Insert your SD/SDHC card into your EeePC.
3. Click Start > Run > type “regedit” (without quotes) and click OK.
4. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Enum\USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_USB2.0&Prod_CardReader_SD0&Rev_0100/.
5. Inside that you should find another directory that is just a bunch of numbers. Mine reads: 146030377350&0. Select it to display its contents in the right pane.
6. In the right pane you should see a key called “HardwareID”. Double-click on it.
7. You should see 7 lines of text. Copy ONLY the first line to the clipboard. Mine reads: USBSTOR\DiskUSB2.0__CardReader_SD0__0100
8. Click Cancel, and close Registry Editor.
9. Open cfadisk.inf in the directory you unzipped the MicroDrive driver to.
10. Delete all lines between [cfadisk_device] and [cfadisk_addreg].
11. Below [cfadisk_device], insert a new line, and type the following: %Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,
12. After the comma, hit CTRL V to paste what you copied from the registry into the file.
13. Save the file.
14. Right click My Computer and click Manage.
15. On the left pane, click the Device Manager plugin.
16. Under disk drives, you should see SiliconMotion and USB2.0 Card Reader. Right click on the card reader and click update driver.
17. Direct the driver updater window to the Hitachi driver you just edited. It won’t detect the driver automatically, you have to specify that you're supplying the disk for the hardware and force it to use the driver.
18. After the driver is updated, restart Windows.

You can read the complete thread, including comments and additional suggestions, here.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Acer Readies Ultralight Atom Laptop for June

From Yahoo! News - Acer plans to launch its first low-cost ultraportable at the Taipei Computex trade show in Taipei this June. Expected to weigh less than a kilogram, the ultraportable will feature Intel's Atom processor.

However, Acer is not only the one who will be featuring new ultra-portables. According to Intel, there are already more than 25 modls being developed around the new Atom.

Asus is also expected to show an Atom-based Eee PC 900 while, ECS, MSI, and Gigabyte are all expected to launch competing products.

Full article can be read here.

Somewhat comprehensive list of low-cost ultraportables

Submitted by Brad -

I spent most of my afternoon compiling a list of low-cost ultraportables currently on the market or expected to be available within the next few months. While there's not much brand spanking new information here, it's pretty impressive to see these 24 computers and their specs all in one place - Link.

---------

Note: A few of the ultraportables listed by Brad are rebranded Classmate PCs or OEMs as in the case of the Blue H1. Am a bit surprised the OLPC is not included. At any rate, I personally would not include 10" models like the Medion Akoya Mini since that would mean adding a considerable bunch of subnotes like the Averatec 1000/1100 series, the Fujitsu ST5111 Tablet PC and its P-series, ECS G10IL, Panasonic Toughbook 19, some Sony VAIO models, etc. Moreover, 10" units are not quite the portable carry-around devices that the 7" models are and tend to be a lot more expensive as well. But then that is just me.

Nevertheless, I fully expect Brad to expand the list in the days to come.

Asus Eee PC Product Diary




LAPTOP Mag assigned staff writer Jeffrey Wilson to the task of determining how the Asus Eee PC stacks up against more featured packed computers by asking him to use the sub-portable instead of his Macbook for five days.

His initial impression was that the Eee PC is one travel-friendly notebook. He was also quite impressed with the startup time. By day 5, he has judged it to be the perfect companion. Not surprisingly, his recommendation, particularly to fence-sitters, is to go ahead and get one.

You can read his mini-diary about his experiences here.

Laptop Mag's Win an Asus Eee PC 900 Contest




Laptop Mag is sponsoring a survey contest, with the grand prize being an Asus Eee PC 900.

Contest page is here.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Asus to offer free Eee PC 900 battery upgrade?

Digitimes has reported that Asus is considering giving a free Eee PC 900 battery upgrade to Hong Kong buyers who purchased their machines on the first day of launch following complaints that the company had mislead customers.

Several buyers have complained that the battery that came with their unit (4-cell, 4400mAh) does not have the same capacity as that of review samples(4-cell, 5800mAh).

Details of a replacement program, if any, will be announced at a later time.

3K Longitude 400 Mini-Notebook


Online reseller 3K is the latest to offer an Asus Eee PC alternative. Its USD499 3K Longitude 400 resembles the original in so many ways, including the price tag, without offering anything substantially better that it leaves me wondering why not just by the original? :(

Inside the Eee PC 900







Bit-Tech.net has dissected the Asus Eee PC 900 and discovered the following -

The main PCB is pretty much identical to the one used in the Eee PC 701. The only thing new is that the mobile PCI-Express socket is now used with a 16GB SSD module. Also, to give space to the bigger screen, the speakers have been moved into the base.

You can read the complete article here.

Kira 100 rides the Eee PC wave




From Engadget -
The Airis Kira 100 appears eeerily too much like the Asus Eee PC, well, like a colorful painted version in some cases. Even its specs are almost identical - a 7" 800 x 480 resolution display, gigabit Ethernet / modem jacks, integrated multicard reader, a pair of USB 2.0 ports (instead of 3), 802.11b/g WiFi, 2GB SSD, built-in webcam and a battery good for "four hours." BIG difference is that it has a pokey 1GHz Via C7 processor, as compared to the Celeron ULV found in the Eee PC. Linux is included, Windows optional. It retails for €299 (USD476).

Additional info (in Spanish) can be found here.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Ubuntu reaping Linux dividend




From BBC News -

Ubuntu's Mark Shuttleworth said the success of the Asus Eee PC and the OLPC had driven awareness of open source. This in turn has help increased the number of users who are now using Ubuntu. Shuttleworth heads Canonical Software, which publishes Ubuntu.

You can read the full article here.

ASUS Eee PC used on ATM fraud in Brazil

Submitted by Rafael Capanema -

Thieves here in Brazil used an Eee PC to perform an ATM fraud. The laptop was connected *inside* the machine so it would store customers' information and passwords. The criminals damaged all the others ATMs so the customers would be forced to use the hacked machine.

Even before the investigation begun, one of the thieves went to a police station to register a car accident. He was immediately arrested, as well as his two crime partners.

There's a video (in Portuguese) about it on the Globo website. It shows the thieves as they were caught by the security cameras and also the confiscated black Eee PC.

Translated site can be read here.

Thanks, Rafael!

Neat trick for charging devices through USB

There's an interesting thread in the Eeeuser forum regarding charging USB devices via the Asus Eee PC -

Member jraff noted he could recharge his Creative Zen MP3 player through the Eee PC's USB port even when the Eee PC's shut down. If he plugs his Zen in and waits until the Zen is charging/getting power, and then shuts down the Eee completely, the power still goes through to my Zen. topnode added that the right-hand side USB port, the one right beside the right shift key works best.

Actually, as Doktor Jones pointed out, most laptops provide USB power while on standby as long as they're connected to AC, and some even provide it when completely shut down. Still it is nice to know the Asus Eee PC has this capability.

You can read the complete thread here.

Leather Case for the Asus Eee PC




Carrymobile sells elegant leather cases for the Asus Eee PC. They even have versions for the new Asus Eee PC 900. Prices start at USD42 upwards.

You can check out their website at www.carrymobile.com.

Asus Eee PC 900 Craze in HK

Videos of people lining to buy the Asus Eee PC 900 in Hong Kong -



New Asus Eee PC sold out in Hong Kong

From PC Advisor UK -

The Asus Eee PC 900 sold out within hours of its launch in Hong Kong. A line formed a few hours before the first store opened on Friday and over 1,000 of the units were sold quickly.

Full article can be read here.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Asus to Launch 10" Eee PC

Per PC World Asus is planning to launch a new Eee PC with a 10" LCD later this year. It will be the biggest screen an Eee PC will ever get since the company defines anything with a 12" screen or larger a classic notebook PC, not an Eee PC. In addition, it projects the new 8.9" Eee PC 900 will account for 50% of overall Eee PC sales by June and 60% by the 2nd half of the year.

The Eee PC 900 went on sale Monday in Taiwan for NT$15,988, or about USD528.

You can read the entire article here.

xkcd: New Pet

Submitted by jon bradford -

Thought this might amuse ... http://xkcd.com/413/

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Thanks, jon!

HP 2133 First Impressions/Comparison to EeePC



ClumPC has a comparative review of the HP 2133 with the Asus Eee PC. Actually it is some sort of first impressions since the author didn't have ample time to do a full review. At any rate, the verdict is that the HP 2133 Mini-Note feels solidly constructed, and seems more evenly balanced than the EeePC. Bottom line is that you don't feel like you’re using an ultra portable because everything fits on the 8.9" screen and the keyboard is an absolute pleasure to use. Downside is that the unit does run hot.

You can read the entire article here.

Why 800x480 LCDs will still be on entry-level subnotes.

One question often asked is why does the Asus Eee PC 701 4G have a weird, non-standard 800x480 resolution instead of the more common 800x600?

The answer is actually rather straightforward. Because in trying to keep costs down, Asus opted for a low-cost mid-sized LCD that would at least approximate standard computer resolutions and also provide sufficient display. This turned out to be the 7” LCD used commonly in portable DVD players and in-car panels. (5” LCDs are simply too small for graphics/text display.) As it turns out DVD (NTSC) has a resolution of 720x 480. Since the LCD panels could accommodate more horizontal pixels, the resolution became 800x480 to be nearer the computer standard of 800x600.

It is therefore not surprising at all that a lot of the new sub-portables that have been introduced after the trendsetting original Eee PC also have the 800x480 resolution, implying the use of the same LCD type. While some new subnote models may have higher video resolutions, including the Asus Eee PC 900, these invariably cost more and are definitely not entry level products.

So for as long as the 7” LCD is demand either for use in portable DVD players or in car panels, it will continue to provide the best value for subnotebook manufacturers. Therefore entry level models will continue to have 800x480 resolutions. Meaning we can expect Asus to continue selling the original Eee PC 701 with its 7” LCD. Hopefully, prices will eventually decrease down to the USD199 level. (After all, the 800x480 7” LCD is relatively new as a product, having been introduced only recently – in 2006.)

And if Asus finally truly positions the Eee PC 701 as a consumer electronics appliance, we can expect price levels to drop down to USD99. If not, we can expect the USD199 price to be maintained but specifications will be improved (more RAM or SSD, etc.). Either way, the lower price should further increase sales.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Asus Eee PC refurbs on Amazon for as little as $256




Submitted by Brad - Just thought I'd pass this along... A Liliputing reader turned me on to the fact that you can now pick up refurbished Eee PC 701 2G/4G Surf/4G models on Amazon for as much as $60 off the original price.

You can read the original article here.

Thanks, Brad.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Zepto to release 299EUR notebook

From Darkvision Hardware -
Danish PC marker Zepto has announced its going to release a 299EUR notebook called Titan. But unlike other new low-cost products which tend to be sub-portables, the Titan is normal-sized and has a 15.4" LCD. Its other features are so-so - Celeron M550 2GHz, 1GB RAM, SiS Mirage graphics, 80GB HDD, a DVD burner and a 3-in-1 memory card reader. It also does not come with a pre-installed OS.

100 Portable Applications for your USB

From the MakeUseOf site, here's a list of portable applications you use on your Eee PC (Windows version).

Note: Per the site, a portable app is one you can carry around with you on a portable device (e.g. USB flash drive) and use on any other computer. It can be your email program, your browser, system recovery tools or even an operating system. The coolest part about it, is that all of your data and settings are always stored on, say your USB drive, so when you unplug it, none of your personal data is left behind.

Among the apps listed (with their respective download links) are:

1. Portable Office Software
2. Portable Email/Calendar/ToDo Programs
3. Portable Text and Voice Messengers
4. Portable Media Tools (Audio / Video)
5. Portable Graphics Viewers and Image Editors
6. Portable Browsers and Web Tools (FTP, Feedreaders, Torrent clients…)
7. Portable Security Software
8. Portable Games
9. Other Portable Utilities
10. Portable Developer Tools (Techies Only)
11. All-In-One Packages
12. Portable Operating Systems (’HowTo’ Articles)
13. USB ThumDrive Tips

There are also download links for how-to articles as well as tutorial on various operating systems.

Check out the site - it definitely is worth your while.

Deep Blue H1, latest to the Eee-clone party

Submitted by Brad -

Philippine computer makers Blue Digital Systems are busting out another Eee clone, this one with a 40GB hard drive, and $400 price tag. Specs include a VIA Esther 1.0GHZ CPU, 1GB RAM, the ubiquitous 7" 800 x 480 LCD, wifi, webcam, among others.

No word on pricing or availability outside of the Philippines.

More details are available at Brad's Liliputing site.

You can access Blue's website here.

Intel Atom Crystalmark Benchmarks and VIA Isaiah comparsion




From our good friend Sascha -

I just published the first Intel Atom benchmarks and I compared them to the Celeron-M, VIA Isaiah and VIA C7. You might be interested in this cause these Atom benchmarks are exclusive (did it on an Intel Mini-ITX board).

You can check out the benchmarks at Sascha's EeePCNews (German) site. English translation is available here.

Thanks, Sascha.

Atom-powered Eee PC to Hit UK




ubergizmo has reported that Asus will release an Intel Atom-powered Eee PC by the end of this June in U.K. Word is that this new Atom release will occur right after Computex.

More details available here.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Assorted Asus Eee PC Wallpapers

A collection of Asus Eee PC wallpapers. Unfortunately we do not know the creators. If any reader happens to know, kindly let us know so that we can properly credit them. Enjoy!





Laptop interface for privacy, warmth, and concentration in public spaces

From Sternlab - I think the photos say it all.

Asus Eee 900 Gets 20GB Linux version

From Gizmodo, Asus has announced that the Asus Eee PC 900 XP version will have a permanent 4GB SSD and 8GB slot-loaded. The Linux edition will have a whopping 16GB of slot-loaded storage. Specifications below taken from Asus press release.

Specifications

Display: 8.9" Display, 1024 x 600 resolution
Color: Pearl White, Black
CPU: Intel® Mobile CPU
Processor: Intel Mobile Chipset
Memory: DDR II 1GB
Display Card: Intel UMA
Storage: 12GB (4GB built-in + 8GB flash) SSD (Microsoft Windows OS Version)
20GB (4GB built-in +16GB flash) SSD (Linux OS Version)
Audio: HD audio / built-in speakers
Wireless: Built-in 802.11b/g
Camera: 1.3M Pixel webcam
Storage Cards: SD / MMC (SDHC)
Input / Output: 3xUSB / VGA-out (D-Sub, 15pin) / earphone jack / mic / RJ45 10/100 Mbps
Power: Output: 12V, 36W; Input: 100-240V AC, 50/60Hz universal
Tracking Control: Utilizes FingerGlide
Operating System: Windows XP Home / Linux
Dimensions: 22.5cm(W) x 17.0cm(D) x 2cm~3.38cm(H)
Weight: 0.99 kg

CNET's Asus Eee PC 900 Review




CNET UK has reviewed the Asus Eee PC 900 and concluded it is a fantastic purchase, although personally I would wait until Asus starts using the newer Atom processors.

Summary - Keyboard is still difficult to use, but the addition of a larger, high-resolution screen, multi-touch mouse trackpad and better storage gives it the edge over just about all of its rivals. It falls slightly short of a wholehearted recommendation due to the mooted touchscreen version and the huge likelihood that Asus will begin using newer Intel Atom CPUs, but for those who can't wait, it's a fantastic purchase.

You can read the entire review here.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

MSI, Gigabyte to launch low-cost PCs at by June

Per Digitimes, both MSI and Gigabyte are planning to launch their low-cost PCs by the end of the second quarter this year. MSI showcased its Wind notebook at CeBIT 2008. The Wind has either an 8.9" or 10" LCD and will cost USD470 - USD1099. Gigabyte, on the other hand, expects to market its low-cost PC with telcos with the initial launch mainly focusing on Taiwan and Asia.

IN DEPTH: Official Eee PC with XP


APC Mag Australia has an in-depth review of the XP-based-Asus Eee PC -

The XP version is identical to the Xandros-based 701-4G model except that it has the standard XP Home Edition SP2 preloaded and comes with the XP Home OEM install disc and Asus’ XP drivers and a recovery utility DVD. It also costs USD80 more.

However included versions of Media Player, Live Messengers and other applets were not always the latest version. A special edition model that will have a trimmed down version of the XP, which will include MS Works, will be released soon.

XP Home takes up more than 2GB, compared to Xandros' 2.2GB. But the latter is also preloaded with tons of apps, making it instantaneously usable. With the XP install, you will need to load your apps, which will quickly gobble up the remaining SSD space. That is why Asus has thoughtfully included a 4G SD card in the deal.

Boot Time - XP clocked at 25 seconds, compared to Xandros' 20 seconds. But it goes into standby in 3 seconds, and awakens within 3 seconds as well. Xandros needs 10 seconds for each cycle.

The 7" screen runs at a max 800x600 and is obviously too small to be user-friendly. Above screen cap shows the Start menu disappearing off the top while also taking up half of the screen width. Hopefully Asus will come out with almost-XGA drivers to rectify the problem.




A utility lets you change the screen resolution on the fly in order to see more of the XP window using the 800x480 size, which rescales things so that they mostly fit on the screen. But expect to still do a lot of window dragging, especially to view the control buttons.

Performance: The 512MB RAM is sufficient to run mid-sized apps. But once you multi-task, things will slow down significantly. Thankfully, the Eee PC isn't the sort of device on which you would seriously multi-task. The Celeron chip is underclocked by default to 630MHz to help extend battery clock. You can use eeectl (from www.cpp.in/dev/eeectl) to push the clock speed back up, along with tweaking the FSB speed, fan control and even boosting screen brightness, all depending on which BIOS version the Eee PC is running.

While the XP-based 701 is good enough, a better XP fit will likely be the new 900 series, with its 9" 1024 x 600 LCD, 1 GB RAM, and Atom processor.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Asus Press Release on Eee PC 900




Taipei, Taiwan, April 15, 2008 – Amid the buzz of reaching a new milestone of 1 million Eee PCs sold in just 5 months after its launch, ASUS has provided yet another round of excitement with its release of the new Eee PC 900. This new generation of the ever popular PC packs in a whole range of hardware that includes a 8.9 inch widescreen, a 1.3M pixels webcam, the new innovative FingerGlide and 12GB and 20GB storage capacities for Windows and Linux platforms respectively – catering to wider consumer needs while still maintaining the "Easy to learn, work and play" concept by keeping the overall weight under 1kg.

Mobility is one of the major factors attributed to the Eee PC’s success; and this is in part due to the use of the built-in Solid State Disk (SSD) technology – which offers a quiet, energy saving and shock proof design for stable computing on-the-go. Traditional hard disks spin at 5400 RPM (Revolutions per Minute) – making them more prone to data loss or damage if shocks or bumps are received. Conversely, the Eee PC is able to protect against such incidents, and is the perfect tool for outdoor computing – suitable as an ideal companion for reporters, wildlife photographers and other like-minded outdoor enthusiasts.

"Vital feedback from a wide variety of users have been received, which has spurred us on to create more options to cater to different user requirements." said Jerry Shen, CEO of ASUS.

Take a New Look with the 8.9 inch Display
Through extensive R&D, the inclusion of the 8.9" display screen does not affect the overall weight of the Eee PC 900, which remains below 1kg – making it easy for children and women to carry it around; and maintains the ultra portable theme that has become synonymous with the Eee PC. With this large screen size of 8.9", a resolution of 1024 x 600 is achieved – allowing users to view a single A4 page without the need to scroll left or right and making it much easier and more effective when reading or working on documents.

FingerGlide and Other User-Friendly Features
The new Eee PC will also incorporate an innovative FingerGlide feature that makes operating the Eee PC easy and convenient. For example, with just two simple finger movements on the touchpad, users will be able to zoom in and out of pictures (great for looking at image details), or scroll up and down for easier document viewing – making the Eee PC 900 more convenient to use.

"Due to its lightweight stature, most users will place the Eee PC on their laps or hold them in their hands during use. With the addition of the FingerGlide feature, users will find it even more convenient to use the Eee PC." commented Jerry Shen.

Furthermore, the Eee PC 900 pairs a 1.3M Pixel webcam with its wireless Internet connection capabilities for web conferences anywhere, anytime for easier web communications and increased work efficiency.

Providing Suitable Environments for Different Needs
To suit differing user requirements, the Eee PC 900 comes in both Microsoft Windows and Linux versions.

The Microsoft Windows version allows more experienced users to seamlessly utilize the Eee PC through the familiar Windows interface, and incorporates Windows Live features like Windows Live Messenger for instant messaging; and Windows Live Mail for consolidated email accounts on the user´s desktop. Complementing this is Microsoft Works, which equips the user with numerous office applications to work efficiently.

The Linux version is useful for users who desire an icon-driven and easy point-and-click interface. Well suited for children or users without any computer experience, it provides a fast boot-up time– ideal for fast Internet access while waiting for public transport, or taking notes on-the-go.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

First Centrino Atom MID launched in Japan

Again, from a ClubEee thread -

Wellcom has launched the first Atom-based MID in Japan. You can get more details here.


Asus Eee PC 701 Crystal Case


wescgw of ClubEee is offering a crystal case (show above) for the Asus Eee PC 701 for an estimated price of Singapore $20. Not sure if he will be willing to ship international though.

For those interested, you can read and contact wescgw through this ClubEee thread. Definitely worth a try, judging from the photo.

Asus Eee PC 900 Hong Kong Pricing, Availability Announced

Submitted by Brad Linder -

The Asus Eee PC 900 will be available in Hong Kong on April 19th, for about USD513. The original Eee PC 701 was released in Taiwan a few weeks before it made its US debut, so if lightning strikes twice we should be seeing a stateside release pretty soon.

More details are available at Brad's Liliputing site.

Asus Eee PC 900 prelaunch in Singapore

Lead submitted by vrzone24 hrs, courtesy of ClubEee at Singapore

According to a post by Visionary in the VR Zone forums, there will be 2 Asus Eee PC 900 models - 20GB Linux and 12GB XP both same price at ~US$499. Expect prices to be different in each country.

International Launch Schedule as follows:
Hong Kong - 15th Apr
UK - 15th Apr
France - 17th Apr
Taiwan - 22/24th Apr
Singapore - xxth Apr
Australia - End Apr or early May
Germany - May
Italy - May

You can read the entire thread here.

In addition, the Eeeuser forum also has a Asus Eee PC 900 thread, complete with photos. You can read the thread here.





Thanks, vrzone24 hrs.

BTW ClubEee is a subforum of the VR Zone Forums. You can access all other ClubEee threads here.

Monday, April 14, 2008

PCM Video Overview of Asus Eee PC 900

Submitted by Brad Linder -

Hong Kong's PC Market has a video review/overview o the Eee PC 900 including a bunch of pictures and a pretty decent video showing what the computer can do. As expected, the unit has a multitouch pad and larger display. Unfortunately it's got exactly the same pokey 900MHz processor as the current model, but Asus does let users choose whether to run the computer at 900MHz or 630MHz. The current models are confined to 630MHz unless you want to overclock or run a hacked BIOS.



You can read the original PC Market article (in Chinese) here. English translation is available here.

Additional details on the Asus Eee PC 900 are also available at Brad's Liliputing site.

Asus Eee PC 900 Disassembled

The Bear Eyes blog seems to be the first to disassemble the newly introduced Asus Eee PC 900. Some of the photos -







The last photo is that of the comparatively big power brick.

You can view more photos at the Bear Eyes blog (Chinese). Slightly translated English version is available here.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Intel promo video

Asus Eee PC 900 unboxed

Xepc.org (in Chinese) as the Asus Eee PC unboxed -

SD/SDHC Card Reader, Two USB ports and VGA out


Lan port USB, Head-out Mic-in


8.9" LCD


Keyboard


Front View


Translated version of Xepc.org site into English, including more photos, can be read here.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Kohjinsha SR8KPO6S :UMPC with Optical Drive



As featured in ubergizmo , the Kohjinsha’s SR8KPO6S features a DVD writer, a rare component for UMPCs. Better yet, it can be disabled to save power.

Other specs:

* 7” Touch Display (1024x600)
* Intel 800Mhz CPU
* 60GB HDD
* WiFi G,
* Bluetooth
* 9.2 x 7 x 1.3”, 2.4lbs
* Theoretical battery life: 3.5hrs to 7hrs (extended battery)

Puppeee: Puppy for your Eee PC




Being the modders' delight that it is, the Asus Eee PC has attracted a lot of development, specially in terms of Linux alternatives. To date, there are several available - eeeXubuntu, EeeDora, ZenEee, EeePCLinuxOS, and Puppeee. The last is based on Puppy Linux, a distro with a few unique features that make it a perfect for the Eee PC.

Puppy Linux (and, by extension, Puppeee) was written from scratch with two goals in mind: speed and ease of use. It is extremely fast as it loads into RAM and runs from there. Despite its tiny size, it packs an impressive array of applications that cover pretty much all your needs - the Seamonkey Internet suite, AbiWord, mtPaint, and other lightweight alternatives to mainstream open source desktop applications. More importantly, everything works right out of the box, including wireless and wired network interfaces, sound, webcam, microphone, and the SD card slot. This means that you can set up a network connection in a matter of minutes, and use Skype for video calls without additional tweaking.

You can read more on Puppeee at the Linux.com site.

I4U Gadget Model Photoshoot Features Asus Eee PC

The photoshoot of I4U's Gadget Model for April 2008 features a very sexy Hungarian born model named Dorothy and a fashionable green Asus Eee PC 2G Surf. Some of the photos:










You can view the complete gallery here.