Philippine Telco Blocking Sale of Netbooks with 3G?

In the Unboxing the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 thread of Netbooks Philippines, Site Administrator ranns claims "...I was able to replace my HDD in just two minutes. It only took 5 screws. The empty mini pci-e slot on the left below the HDD is for the mini pci-e 3G modem. Why is it empty? Here's why. According to Lenovo people, they were supposed to release a 3G version too, aside from the current release. However, they said that Globe Telecoms BLOCKED its release saying they won't be able to sell their USB dongles (Visibility and Tattoo) anymore..."

Win an Asus S101 from Bo’s Coffee

From Yugatech -

Asus Philippines has partnered with local cafe chain Bo’s Coffee to give away 5 units of their high-end Asus S101 netbook (worth PhP34,000 or about US$705). For every PhP200 (about US$4.15) worth of orders at any Bo’s Coffee branch, a customer gets a raffle entry. Promo is open to everyone and start March 15 to May 31, 2009. In addition, during the promo period, anyone bringing their Asus Eee PC gets a free upsize on drinks.

Acer Aspire One with WiMax available Jan 19

Submitted by Steve -

Philippine-based online retailer PC Corner has posted a classified ad in Tipidpc forum announcing a new Aspire One with Wimax to be available January 19, 2009 -

Embedded WiMax + 3G included !!!!!
incoming.....Acer WebStore Promo
E.T.A. January 19, 2009

AO 110-L08b (Sapphire Blue) - PhP 12,995.00 (w/32.0Gb SDHC)
AO 110-L08w (Seashell White) - PhP 12,995.00 (w/32.0Gb SDHC)

Acer Aspire One® SSD
Intel® Atom™ N270
1.6GHz
1.0Gb
8.0Gb SSD
8.9in.
camera
wireless LAN
Operating System: Linux

Asus to stop shipping Linux Eee PC in the Philippines

Per Netbooks News, Hacks and HowTo’s, Asus has decided to stop offering Linux-based Eee PC in the Philippines.

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Given that netbooks offer very minimal margins for both retailers and manufacturers and the Philippine market is one of the most price-sensitive cutthroat markets, it would be interesting to see how Asus will fare with its higher-priced Windows model.

One of the bestselling models right now is the 7" Astone UMPC, a VIA Nanobook variant. It is being sold at roughly USD203, the same price as the original Asus Eee PC 4G. Prices for other models are expected to drop, if not during the holidays, right after as well.

Qube M1 Netbook In The Philippines

From ubergizmo -

Still another me-too netbook launch, this time it is the Qube M1 netbook to be introduced in time for Christmas in the Philippines. Specifications include -

8.9" display at 1,024 x 600 resolution
1GB RAM
80GB 2.5? SATA hard drive
Three USB 2.0 ports
SD/MMC memory card slot
1.3 megapixel camera
Wi-Fi connectivity
About $327.

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With so many so-called generic brands of netbooks popping in the market and with both the 7" Astone UMPC and the original Asus Eee PC 701 4G already now selling at around $200, patient buyers who can wait after the holidays will most likely have their picks of bargains from among those left on the retail shelves.

Astone UMPC Now Only $171

Per a TipidPC forum thread, the Astone UMPC (1GB/30 GB hard drive) is now available for only P8,500 (around $171) at a Philippine reseller (Abacus, V-Mall, Greenhills). This is so far the lowest price we have seen.

Could $99 be a possibility early next year? And we are not talking Windows CE based devices here. Happy shopping, folks!

Asus Eee PC 701 4G now same price as Blue H1 in the Philippines

In what appears to be a response to local rebadger Blue slashing the price of its H1 down to P9,995 (about USD212), Philippine reseller PC Corner has lowered the price of the original Asus Eee PC 701 4G (512MB) down to match the P9,995 price.

While this may cause problems for Blue, the big winner here is the buying public as it definitely means the price war has started. With upgradeable dual-core Atom based models expected by January 2009, we can expect other manufacturers to start reducing the prices for their current models. Hopefully the price war will expand to other countries as well. This is one war we definitely are supporting. :)

You can visit the PC Corner online store here.

Subnotebook Prices in the Philippines

From a post by C#@RD in the Philippine-based Tsikot forum, a listing of available subnotebooks and their prices in the Philippines. (USD1 - around PhP44.20) -

Asus EEE 701 02Gb solid state device Cel-M / 512Mb / 2Gb SSD / 7in. / no cam / wifi / Linux 11,300 Demo
Asus EEE 701 02Gb solid state device Cel-M / 512Mb / 2Gb SSD / 7in. / no cam / wifi / Linux 11,900
Asus EEE 701 04Gb Solid state device Cel-M / 1.0Gb / 4Gb SSD / 7in. / cam / wifi / Linux 15,900
Astone [060Gb SATA] Via / 1.0Gb / 060Gb SATA / 7in. / cam / wifi / Linux 16,500 Value
Whiz Book [020Gb SATA] Geode / 512Mb / 020Gb SATA / 8.9in. / no cam / wifi / Linux 16,500
Deep Blue H1 [040Gb SATA] Via / 1.0Gb / 030Gb SATA / 7in. / cam / wifi / Linux 16,500
Neo Explore X2 [040Gb SATA] Cel-M / 512Mb / 040Gb SATA / 8.9in. / cam / wifi / XPH 17,999 Value
Whiz Book [060Gb SATA] Geode / 512Mb / 060Gb SATA / 10in. / no cam / wifi / Linux 18,500
Acer Aspire One 08Gb solid state device Atom / 1.0Gb / 8Gb SSD / 8.9in. / cam / wifi / Linux 18,800 New !!!!
Asus EEE 701 08Gb solid state device Cel-M / 1.0Gb / 8Gb SSD / 7in. / cam / wifi / Linux 19,900
Asus EEE 900 XP 12Gb solid state device Cel-M / 1.0Gb / 12Gb SSD / 8.9in. / cam / wifi / XPH 23,300
Asus EEE 900 Linux 20Gb solid state device Cel-M / 1.0Gb / 20Gb SSD / 8.9in. / cam / wifi / Linux 23,300
Asus EEE 1000H [120Gb SATA] Atom / 1.0Gb / 120Gb SATA / 10in. / cam / wifi / XPH 29,900 Soon !!!!
MSI value Wind [160Gb SATA] Atom / 1.0Gb / 160Gb SATA / 10in. / cam / wifi / no OS 23,900 11-08-08
MSI U100 Wind [080Gb SATA] Atom / 1.0Gb / 080Gb SATA / 10in. / cam / wifi / XPH 25,900 Best Buy
MSI U100 Wind [160Gb SATA] Atom / 1.0Gb / 160Gb SATA / 10in. / cam / wifi / XPH 28,900 Best Buy
MSI U100 Wind [160Gb SATA] Atom / 2.0Gb / 160Gb SATA / 10in. / cam / wifi / XPH 29,900 Best Buy
HP mininote 2133 [120Gb SATA] Via / 2.0Gb / 120Gb SATA / 8.9in. / cam / wifi / VHB 29,900 Hot !!!
HP mininote 2133 [160Gb SATA] Via / 2.0Gb / 160Gb SATA 7200 / 8.9in. / cam / wifi / V-bsns 34,900 Loaded !!!

Source forum thread here.

HP 2133 Priced and Specs

From Yugatech -

The HP 2133 is now out and on sale in the Philippines. Units went out this week in HP retail stores. Specs include 8.9" LCD, Via Via C7-M 1.2GHz processor, 2GB RAM and 120GB HDD. Operating system is Windows Vista Home Edition. The HP 2133 mini-notebook is selling for Php29,990 (they got 0% deferred payment for 6 months).

Source article here.

Lower Price for the Asus Eee 701?

Eeeph member macmon has observed that a shop in the SM Cyberzone mall (Philippines) is selling the white Asus Eee PC 4G and 8G at PhP16,000 and PhP21,000 respectively. Initial price was PhP18,000 to PhP19,000 when the subportable was first available last November.

Another member had previously mentioned (in another thread) another shop also selling the 4G at PhP16,000. Other members suggested it is possible this is in anticipation of the introduction of the 900.

Complete thread can be read here.

Laptop Bag for your Eee PC Contest

The Asus Eee How To blog is holding a simple raffle contest, with the prize being a laptop bag for the Asus Eee PC.

You can read the details here. Too bad, it is only for Philippine residents though.

Philippine Telcos Bundle Asus Eee PCs

As first reported in the Philippine Telco to bundle Eee PC with DSL post back in January 21, Philippine telcos Globe Telecom and Smart Communications are now bundling the Asus Eee PC with their services to attract new subscribers.

Per Buddy Blogs, Globe is offering a 384kpbs max broadband service + Asus Eee PC bundle at PhP1495 (roughly USD36) monthly (credit card payment) or PhP1620 (roughly USD39) monthly (cash) with a 24-month lock-in period.

The Asus Eee PC bundled model is a 2G Surf, which retails for about PhP16,000 (roughly USD385.54). Comparable unbundled DSL services runs about PhP900 monthly. So the extra 24 months x PhP595 = PhP14,280 (assuming credit card payment) is for the 2G Surf.

The offer was initially launched in the southern provinces of Cebu and Davao but is now also available in the capital region of Manila.

Rival Smart Communications also started advertising a bundle yesterday consisting of the Asus Eee PC 2G Surf + VGA cellphone promo. For PhP1800 monthly you get the Eee PC only. For PhP2,500 you get the Eee PC plus either a Nokia 2630 (VGA cam, FM radio) or the LG KU380 (1.3mpx cam).

More on the promos in this EeePH thread.

Classmate PC hits store shelves in Philippines as Neo Explore X1

According to Engadget a Philippine company that re-brands laptops under its inhouse NEO label is now selling that Classmate PC as Neo Explore X1 for PhP16,998 (or about USD408).

In comparison, the Asus Eee PC 4G model has been selling at PhP18,000 to PhP19,800.

EeePh's First Meet & Greet

The EeePh Forum (Philippines) has their first EB last Saturday. One of the attendees reported the meeting in his blog, A Personal EeePC Education & Enlightenment Experiment -




Our little local users group of EeePC fanatics, a couple of dozen of us, mostly all complete strangers to one another, spent the afternoon and evening comparing notes, exchanging tips, showing off and generally getting to know each other. We only knew everyone from the faceless camaraderie of the postings in the user group forum at eeeph.com and the handles we went by...

We caused quite a stir in the mall, with 24 tiny Asus laptops crowding the little coffee tables. Where else can you see four computers all comfortably perched, with ample room for coffee cups, on a small circular surface that usually had room enough for only one regular-sized laptop? Heads turned the whole afternoon. Even the baristas were all questions, and refused to believe that the computers each cost less than a mid-range cellphone.

We spent five hours there, yakking away about everything, and leeching off the free mall wifi. Some industrious members took the opportunity to sell wares – leather cases, SD cards, USB sticks, RAM, external DVD drives, screen protectors, speakers, car chargers – which we all gleefully perused and cheerfully bought at great discounts .

People showed off their gear, their hardware and software modifications – our forum administrator and founder had an Eee PC with OS X on it, but he couldn’t make it. Some guys took out their tools and tinkered with things right there – a couple even exchanged keyboards and batteries, ending up with a white Eee PCwith a black keyboard and battery and vice versa.

Full article can be read here.

Asus Distributors to Bundle Eee PCs?

From a post by hybrid_pc in the TipidPC forum -

"fyi, for asus distributors, they are planning to package eee pc with their regular notebook, meaning if a distributor or reseller wants to buy an eee pc, they need to get a regular notebook as well."

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NOTE: This might in all probability apply only to Philippine distributors.

Philippine Telco to bundle Eee PC with DSL

From a post by mark_eee in Eeeph forum -

GLOBE BROADBAND will package EEE with DSL?

I was talking to a technician awhile ago when they were fixing our neighbor's connection. I was just inquiring on how to get a broadband line from them since my pldt connection is still on the process (as they always say). The tech told me that they will be bundling asus eee pc's with their dsl packages...

Anyone heard about this as well?

A few posts after, 31stfreak confirmed this with his/her post -

yup it is true. a very reliable source told me but the packages aren't ready yet. they are still finalizing what kind of packages and bundles will be offered. nonetheless, the early adopters are still lucky because of the extra pci-e and it's unclear whether they will be giving away the eee's or simply bundling it where the customer still pays. lastly, they also didn't mention if it was 2gb, surf or the regular 701 model... i'd switch to globe if they'll give me an 8GB eee for free! hahaha.

Asus Eee PC RAM Upgrade Restriction Still Applies in Philippines

Per punkrocker of the Eee Philippine Users Group forum, Asus has confirmed that the warranty seal that prevents users from doing DIY RAM upgrade still applies in the Philippines. As posted in the thread, Asus' reply re the warranty is as follows -

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.

My name is Kitty and it's my pleasure to help you with your problem.

Sincerely sorry for bringing you any trouble and inconvenience!

For your question, I am sorry to tell you that it will void the warrany [sic] to upgrade RAM in Philippines at present. Asus will promulgate it if there is any news, and please refer to the official website: http://www.asus.com.tw/. You can select the country or area on the left.

Best regards and have a nice day!

If you have any other problems, please be free to let me know.

Thank you for using ASUS products and enjoying ASUS services!

Welcome to refer FAQ for ASUS products in ASUS website:

http://support.asus.com/faq/faq.aspx?SLanguage=en-us


Kitty

ASUS Customer Service Center (Shanghai , China)

If you have any suggestions or complaints about our technical support service, please e-mail your feedback to support@asus.com.cn

We will then arrange for a specialist to work on your issue.

Your suggestions and feedback are most appreciated and allow us to serve you better.

Black Pentium Asus Eee PC Coming in December

Philippine-based online reseller PC Corner is now advertising a black Pentium Asus Eee PC due out in December -



EEE PC 8G (701): black beauty lappy ... end-December incoming ... are you in for another blockbuster 7in. mini-laptop from Asus ?
EEE PC 8G: black beauty laptop ... end-December incoming ...

Really really masculine !!! comes in 100% BLACK !!! -----------in either 1Gb or 2Gb Transcend memory !


option A:
Intel® mobile CPU Intel® 910 / Pentium®-M 1024Mb RAM Transcend Linux (Asus customized flavor) 8.0Gb** solid state device 300Kb cam. / 7in. profile ! 4-cell, Li-Ion, 5200 mAh, 7.4 Volts, ~ 3.5 hrs (3hrs. 30min) Battery life 8.9 in. x 6.5 in. x 0.82 in. - 1.37 in. 3 USB ports, 1 VGA out, SD card reader, Ethernet, headphone out, mic in

NOTE: NO Optical Drive / NO Modem

Price: PhP 24,888.00 (roughly USS578.90)

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option B:
Intel® mobile CPU Intel® 910 / Pentium®-M 2048Mb RAM Transcend Linux (Asus customized flavor) 8.0Gb** solid state device 300Kb cam. / 7in. profile ! 4-cell, Li-Ion, 5200 mAh, 7.4 Volts, ~ 3.5 hrs (3hrs. 30min) Battery life 8.9 in. x 6.5 in. x 0.82 in. - 1.37 in. 3 USB ports, 1 VGA out, SD card reader, Ethernet, headphone out, mic in

NOTE: NO Optical Drive / NO Modem

Price: PhP 27,888.00 (roughly USD648.68)

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Have to admit option B sounds tempting - 2G RAM/8 GB flash - in ebony black? But at nearly $650, it is no longer the initial $199 "throw anywhere, throw away" kind of subnote. Plus I can buy a more powerful unit for that kind of money, although admittedly it won't have that Asus Eee PC feel. Besides the 4G at 512Mb running Xandros is zippier than my Fujitsu P7010D at 1GB running XP.

Philippine Reseller claims EeePC delivery this week

A member, ianpogi, of the Philippine-based TipidPC forum has ordered an EeePC from PC Corner Online and is expecting delivery this week. While other forum members expressed doubts that the Philippines will be given priority in the product release (given that a lot of sites are now indicating a September/October release) others are hopeful that the reseller will indeed have the product. Will post any update as soon as it becomes available.

Hilarious Exchange in the Tipid PC Forum thread

New posts in Tipid PC (Philippines) forum -

Posted by ekimonk on July 30, 2007 11:04 PM

mukhang panget ito..tignan mo di masaya yung may hawak..malungkot sya.. pag ito binili nyo malulungkot din kayo ([the Eee] doesn't appear to be OK, look at the guy holding it...he is sad. If you buy the Asus Eee, you will be sad, too.)



Posted by december20 on July 31, 2007 08:37 AM

bakit siya masaya ohhhh! Ang ganda ng eeepc pati nung chick! hehehe! (Why is she happy then? The Eee PC is pretty. So is the chick!)



Posted by darkchoco11 on July 31, 2007 08:40 AM

alam ko na! naka-on kasi yung eee pc nya kaya masaya! (I know! She is happy because the Eee PC is on!)

Posted Gerard on July 31, 2007 09:01 AM

haha,, yung una, wala baterya,, eto pangalawa merun,, hehe (The first had no battery, this second already has.)

Posted by december20 on July 31, 2007 09:09 AM

send pics from the beach... if you can find a hotspot



Posted by Ranma on July 31, 2007 09:14 AM

Maybe that blonde thought that tanning directly under the sun counts as a "hot spot". :)

Apparently a slightly earlier post by meeegs on July 30, 2007 09:28 PM was never taken seriously -

it's amusing how long this thread has become, and how little it has progressed.

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Well, at least the above exchange offered witty humor while we all try to wait patiently for the launch. It made my day. Hope it makes yours, too.