A First Look Inside ASUS Eee Desktop Unit

Some info on the highly-expected low cost desktop Eee from ASUS has already appeared online. As everybody can hardly wait to take at least a glimpse at the soon-to-come Eee desktop, AnandTech managed to put up some photos of it.

The new Eee unit from ASUS should represent for the desktop market the same that the Eee PC did for the notebook market at its time. Moreover, it proves that there is a need for low-cost and low-power machines that can keep up with the trends and are able to fulfill the vast majority of consumers' needs.

The unit sample dissected by AnandTech has pretty amazing specifications in comparison to the Eee PC notebooks currently on the market. The unit is powered up by a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU which fits on an Intel 945G chipset. The sample features 1GB of DDR2 memory and a 160GB Seagate 2.5" SATA hard disk drive. ASUS preferred to leave the unit with no optical drive, though a slim one wouldn't have been such a big extra cost after all. For connectivity, the unit features a built-in Gigabit Ethernet and an 802.11n WiFi - backwards compatible to 802.11g and 802.11b. A DVI connection is also available, enabling users to connect to their TFT screen to get maximum quality.

SplashTop is a really amazing feature that makes you want it even more. The Asus's SplashTop is a technology that embeds a simple Linux distribution onto the motherboard, allowing instant-on access to either media playback, web browsing, or messaging, making it unnecessary to wait for the main operating system to load. The unit also comes with a distribution of Windows XP.

The only annoying problem about this desktop seems to be the noise it makes. AnandTech stated that the fan used to cool down the Atom processor makes surprisingly great noise for the size of the box. Perhaps ASUS will address this problem before the unit hits the market, for it is quite inconvenient to some people.

The unit may prove quite the solution for those willing to cut down electricity bills. Also, anyone could afford having an Eee PC for regular basis work, while switching to a more powerful but hungry one when it comes to gaming.

The launch date should be quite near, otherwise ASUS wouldn't have the unit out for reviews, yet nothing certain has been announced on the matter, nor on the price aspect.