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The New 9-Inch Eee PC Will Come With Extra Features, Atom ProcessorEarly adopters, you'd better hold your horses until the new offering |
By Bogdan Botezatu, Hardware Editor
10th of March 2008, 13:54 GMT
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Asustek has told media about the new 9-inch offering right before the CeBIT event. Despite the fact that company representatives allowed the press to fiddle with the small notebook, they did not allow anyone to turn on the exhibits present at the event, in order to furthermore fuel the rumors regarding the device's processor. Since too much secrecy can harm the brand, it was the company to start spilling the beans
on the Eee PC sequel.
The Eee PC 900 comes with a brand-new, 8.9-inch LCD display that can work at a maximum resolution of 1024x600, a welcome improvement over the original Eee PC 401. The low resolution was the main objection to Asustek's sub-notebook, because it was extremely difficult to work with Windows-based operating systems at lower resolutions.
The storage options have also been updated, and the new Eee PC will hit the market with up to 12GB of solid-state based memory. However, according to Jerry Shen, Asustek CEO, the notebook will come in an 8GB version with Windows XP, but the Xandros-based units will arrive with more storage space: 12GB or 20GB capacities. However, the Eee PC will optionally ship with conventional, miniature hard-disk drives. "In June and April we will only support solid-state drives," said Shen. "Hard drives will be options at a later date."
More important updates are yet to come. For instance, the first units of the Eee PC 900 will still be powered by the good-old 900MHz Intel Celeron M processor. Things will change in the shortest time, when Asustek will introduce the brand-new Atom processor, formerly known as Silverthorne.
"From my view point, Diamondville is the better choice, because it uses the 45 nanometer processor. And price-wise it is very competitive. In my planning I will continue to use Intel's Diamondville," added Shen. "And for the VIA one I think from the power point of view, Diamondville is still better. In May, these machines will be hitting the market."
Asustek will also introduce a new model of power adapter that will add enhanced portability. The adapter is also alleged to dramatically reduce the charging time of Eee PCs batteries and will be suitable for both the 401 and the 900 models. The battery will last longer with the advent of the new CPU's power saving technologies, such as the SpeedStep. According to Shen, a fully-charged battery will be enough for a whole day's work.
"In the near future, we also are trying to support one-day computing which would provide more than 8 hours. I think in May we might be closer to providing that," stated Shen.
The notebook will also undergo a face lift, that will add some more sex-appeal to the already popular Eee PC. Future versions of the Eee PC 900 "will really reflect the New York City and London city style," Shen concluded.
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