14 DAY TRIAL // Back when ASUS first mentioned its Atom-powered all-in-on PC, the Eee Monitor, now known as the Eee Top, people speculated on the fact that this product was the company’s way of competing with the Cupertino, California-based Apple in the market for all-in-one PCs. However, due the system's low power and low-size specifications, the Eee Top is far from competing with any of Apple's iMac systems, especially when you take a look at the performance specifications and the system's display size. However, it appears that ASUS has plans to upgrade its recently unveiled Eee Top computer system, at least as far as the screen size goes.
According to a recent piece on Digitimes, ASUS' CEO, Mr. Jerry Shen, has revealed that his company is planning the release of new 20-inch and 22-inch Eee Top models. These two models are to become available sometime in the first half of 2009, but details on the exact specifications of the upcoming products have not yet been made public. The new 15.6-inch Eee Top, as well as the 20- and 22-inch models, is expected to be outsourced to Quanta Computer, according to Jerry Shen.
The 15.6-inch Eee Top will be priced at around NT$18,900, which is roughly US$565.36. The system is built on an Intel Atom platform, which combines a low-power processor with 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive. The all-in-one touchscreen PC comes with built-in 1.3MP webcam and two integrated 4W speakers.
ASUS plans to sell about 5 million of its touchscreen all-in-one PC, a figure that should be reached in two years, according a statement coming from the company's Chairman, Jonney Shih. Initially, the 15.6-inch model will be launched in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the UK, with an initial volume of 100,000 – 200,000 units.
According to Digitimes, both Acer and Lenovo are to launch their own versions of an all-in-one computer system, although there are no detailed specifications of such systems available at this time.