14 DAY TRIAL // It's no secret that Asus has really struck gold when it came up with the Eee PC, a small, ultra-portable computing system that's selling like hot cakes, although the processing power it provides isn't exactly amazing. However, the form factor and the other functions this thing can provide seem to have done the trick, and everyone's trying to get one nowadays, including the power users.
During our visit at CeBIT 2008, we've also had the chance to visit Asus' booth and spend a few quality moments with the EeePC, and to tell you the truth, these moments have been quite addictive. Sure, it might look like a toy, it might even feel like one, but the device does manage to carry out all the simple tasks one might throw at it (the Celeron 900 Mhz processor and 504 MB of RAM can do a pretty good job, all things considered).
However, there were a few things related to the Eee PC that were a little bit troublesome. First of all, the very small display makes it a bit difficult to use (especially for the owners of widescreen monitors), and the keys are also rather small, especially for a person with bulkier fingers.
As you probably know already, the Asus Eee PC features 512MB of DDR2 memory, an Intel Celeron processor, a 7-inch LCD display that can provide a maximum resolution of 800 x 600, three USB 2.0 ports, a SD-HC memory card reader, 0/100Mb/s Ethernet, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and a 0.3-megapixel built-in webcam.
The Eee PC's running Xandros come with an Intel Celeron processor clocked at 900 MHz. However, the Windows XP models report a clock speed of 630MHz but we are not able to tell whether this is an error or the processors have been willingly downclocked.
The Eee PC 900 is still under quarantine, so we cannot tell whether it is powered by the same Celeron 900 CPU or by the newest and more appealing Intel Atom chip, formerly known as Silverthorne. However, we will come back with details about Asustek's newest UMPC king as they become available.
Live report by Bogdan Popa and Alex Vochin from CeBIT 2008 Hanover, Germany.
