Gateway's CULV notebook shows in Canada

From Electronista -

The Gateway EC1803h, which seems to be a rebranded and mildly re-spec'd Acer Timeline 1810T (Aspire 1410 in the US)), has been spotted in Future Shop stores in Canada. It shares the Aspire/Timeline's 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo and GMA 4500 graphics, 3GB RAM, a 250GB HD, 6-cell battery, HDMI output and 5-in-1 card reader.

Future Shop is selling the EC1803h for $600 Canadian ($555 US) in retail but doesn't list it on its website.

Canadian User Reviews Asus Eee PC

polocanada posted a review via a comment (no. 8) in Eeeuser -

Highlights of the review -

Unit reviewed is a pre-production model 701 with 4 GB. It was bought from a company that did an online review. Overall look - sexy, tiny, light, pleasant to hold.

SYSTEM INFO:
BIOS version 0155
BIOS date: 09/10/2007 (this is after I flashed the BIOS today. Flashing BIOS on Eee Pc is easy).

Software version: EEE PC 1.0
Build info: 2007-09-20 06:00. That means this EEE PC was built like 8 days ago.
CPU Type: Intel Mobile
Memory: 512 MB
Mother Board version x.xx

Screen - matte. Resolution and colors are OK. The screen doesn’t tilt flat as it is heavier than the keyboard. So limiting the tilt angle prevents it from flipping over.

Audio - even with headphones, sound is low. But this might be application dependent. Audio for anything in Firefox is too low but sounds for games were OK.

Boot time - about 20 seconds. The Eee PC uses Xandros (Linux). It has two GUIs. One is simplified (with big icons for email, gmail, gaim, firefox, Open office, player etc.) and is intended for kids, and new computer users. The other is Normal and acts like Windows or KDE. Switching between both modes is easy but requires a 20 second reboot.

Battery - A little bit warm. Not hot, but the tiny fan is running.

Stand-by mode - In stand-by mode, the Eee PC remains hot.

Touchpad - Touchpad is great. But the button is a little bit tricky and not easy to handle. It is also pretty loud.

USB ports - 3

Multi-card reader - Didn't recognized SD card from Nokia phone. Probably it wasn't formatted properly.

Microphone - located on the bottom underneath the touchpad. There might be another one besides the camera.

Hinge - perfect. Perfectly tight. Closes good and easy.

Bottom - there is a cover. Under the cover there is 1 DDR II 512 MB memory. Max might be 1 GB. Besides memory there is an Express card slot. This could be used for anything, like a GSM or 3G card or even a memory module. It is very easy to set up a 3G or HSDPA connection when you have the card. This can be setup in control panel.

Keyboard - My fingers are XXXL size so typing was some nightmare. Normal sized users might find typing OK. One very negative thing about this keyboard is that is relatively noisy. The Back Space key should have been bigger also as you will make a lot of typos.

Software update - it’s easy. There is a utility that you can start and update your software. So far, there is not much to update, just the BIOS.

Applications - There is a nice set of sweet games. SMPlayer (media player) comes preinstalled. There are other typical KDE applications, including an anti-virus. The software takes up a lot of space. There is only like 1.3 GB left out of 4 GB for my files. Also I am not clear about how to do a complete system backup.

Webcam - I tried to start the Webcam application but failed.

Charger - The power cord is long enough and plugs into the back of the Eee PC.

Bug: If a USB mouse is plugged in and then unplugged, the touchpad and keyboard stop working. If the mouse is plugged in again, the touchpad and keyboard still won't work. To get both working again, the Eee PC needs to be shut down, the battery taken out for a few seconds, and then rebooted.

I think many people will love the Eee PC and some of them will find that after initial excitement it is simply too small and thus a useless gadget. But if you need extreme mobility and always access to your stuff, work, school, internet, WIFI, movies on subway, then you are going to like Eee PC.

NCIX is selling Asus Eee PCs

According to member ve6hf of the popular Eeeuser forum, he got this reply from NCIX regarding the missing Asus Eee PC 701 listings on the reseller's site:

We will be selling the Asus EEE notebooks, we are just confirming our specs and do not want to post any incorrect information up. They should be correct, but we need to wait a bit longer and will be able to update the listings. Our purchasing team says our first shipment is expected around end of september.

Thanks
========================
K L
Customer Care
NCIX.com / Netlink Computers Inc.
http://www.ncix.com

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Other posts in the same thread suggested that it was an issue of an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) that resulted in NCIX having to yank the listings at this time.

NCIX Asus Eee PC Mystery

Canadian on-line reseller NCIX has abruptly delisted the Asus Eee PC. Instead of the price list as previously posted here, this is what you see now when you visit their site -

EmbargoA1	EMBARGOA1 *Usually available in 2-5 days	YES*	$439.99	BUY
EmbargoA2	EMBARGOA2 *Usually available in 2-5 days	YES*	$439.99	BUY
EmbargoA3	EMBARGOA3 *Usually available in 2-5 days	YES*	$329.99	BUY
EmbargoA4	EMBARGOA4 *Usually available in 2-5 days	YES*	$329.99	BUY
EmbargoA5	EMBARGOA5 *Usually available in 2-5 days	YES*	$284.99	BUY

Whatever Embargo may mean, it certainly sounds very negative under the present situation.

Canadian Reseller Advertises Asus Eee Complete with Specs and Prices

Canadian online reseller NCIX has began advertising the Asus Eee in its website. It lists three models (prices are in Canadian dollars) -

Eee700/2G/25...	ASUS Eee PC700 Celeron M 7IN 800X480 WLAN 10/100 DDR2 256MB 2GB LAN Linux Camera Notebook W/ Bag (Eee700/2G/256M/Camera) *Usually available in 2-5 days	YES*	$329.99	BUY
Eee700/2G/25...	ASUS Eee PC700 Celeron M 7IN 800X480 WLAN 10/100 DDR2 256MB 2GB LAN Linux Notebook (Eee700/2G/256M) *Usually available in 2-5 days	YES*	$284.99	BUY
Eee700/4G/51...	ASUS Eee PC700 Celeron M 7IN 800X480 WLAN 10/100 DDR2 512MB 4GB LAN Linux Camera Notebook W/ Bag (Eee700/4G/512M/Camera) *Usually available in 2-5 days	YES*	$439.99	BUY

Some points of interest:

1. The webcam is missing in the list of features for the $284.99 (approximately U$267.43).
2. The website indicates the standard 2 year Asus warranty applies.
3. ETA is end of September 2007.
4. Shipping weight is 10 lbs! Don't know what else is included to make it that heavy.
5. NCIX is naming it PC700 instead of PC701. Not sure if it is just a repeated typo.
6. Zero dead pixel guarantee appears to apply only when you purchase the optional express coverage ($17.10). Free express shipping is also included when with the express coverage so depending on applicable shipping charges, it may not be a bad deal.

And as pointed out by reader vito cassisi -

7. Lower-priced models have only 256 MB RAM. :(