14 DAY TRIAL // The advent of a larger-screen, more powerful Eee PC in the 900 series is hardly news, as Asustek announced it before the CeBIT show in Hanover, Germany. However, the company decided that it's time it release more details about what proved to be one of the best sold products in its offering.
The 9-inch Eee PC 900 will start shipping in April, but the manufacturer hasn't nailed the event down to a specific date yet. The Eee will hit the market in both Windows XP and Linux-based Xandros flavors. The Windows-based configuration will include an 8 GB SSD and 1 GB of main memory, while the Linux version will come with 12 or 20 GB of SSD memory. The 9-incher will hit the shelves with a price tag of $499, but Asustek's CEO, Jerry Shen, did not exclude a drop in its pricing. "I think this is the initial price. I believe in June the market will decide the price and it can drop down."
During the same month, Asustek will release its 7- or 9-inch offerings with smaller power adapters, in order to enhance the device's mobility and battery performance. The new adapter will dramatically decrease the battery charging time, among others. The battery life will be also improved for the 9-inch model, and estimations claim that the Eee PC will be able to offer as much as 8 hours of uninterrupted work between charges.
The Eee PC will get a significant performance boost in May 2008, when it will be shifted to Intel's Atom (Diamondville) processor. The new chip will give the sub-notebook much more horsepower than the Isaiah counterpart from chip manufacturer VIA. According to Shen, the Atom processor is still the best pick for ultra-mobile computers, as it is built on the 45-nanometer architecture and offers the best price/performance ratio.
The Eee PCs will become available in more color palettes during the May-June timeframe. According to Shen, the company will release the Eee PCs in more than five color schemes and a few stylish design twists, to increase its sex-appeal. At the same time, new accessories will kick in, but the most interesting add-on will be the upcoming handwriting tablet pads, internet phone devices and TV-tuners. Last, but not least, the company plans to add optional WiMAX wireless access adapters and HSDPA modems later this year.