The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

Asus CEO: Eee PC to get HDD options, Intel Atom CPU

Company still backing Linux

Cloud based data management

Asus boss Jerry Shen has revealed that the upcoming 8.9in Eee PC 900 will use Intel's Atom processor and may eventually come with a hard drive.

Asus Eee PC 900

Asus' 8.9in Eee PC 900: coming April/May

In an interview with US title Laptop Magazine, Shen confirmed that the decision to offer an Eee 900 with Windows XP will not end Asus' support for Linux. XP will appear on the 8GB 900, he said, while the 12GB or 20GB model - the size has yet to be set - will come with Xandros Linux pre-installed, as is the case with the current Eee PC 701.

The Eee 900 is due to go on sale in April, Shen said, and while Asus is considering a move to offer a version with a hard drive, that's not going to happen until Q3 at the earliest.

Shen's plan is to roll out the 8.9in Eee throughout Q2. The initial release looks like comprising only a single colour, but Shen forecast "more stylish colours" in the May-June timeframe. He added: "There will be a very new color design introduced in June... you will be very surprised."

Asus Eee PC 701

Eee PC 701 and friend: looking forward to a hard drive

Shen also confirmed the new Eee will use Intel's 45nm 'Diamondville' processor, now formally named Atom. Curiously, he said this will appear in May, which is probably a more accurate timeframe for the 8.9in Eee's release.

WiMax and 3G cellular links will appear in Q3, he said - the latter once Asus has deals in place with telcos, suggesting it's looking to get carriers on board to sell bundled Eee packages rather than planning to offer a standalone adaptor.

Shen said battery supply was one of the barriers to ramping up Eee shipments, but he indicated he thinks by May this will be much less of a problem.

Regcast training : Hyper-V 3.0, VM high availability and disaster recovery

Latest Comments

Oh come now.

I know the bikini babe is distracting, but did everybody miss the caption? ... waiting for a HARD DRIVE. ? Sorry for the big letters, but really, where's your imagination? Apparently not down in the gutter with mine. As for the EEE, I have had no trouble getting a black 4G model in the States (hate white), have purchased two in the last month, in fact. The first was a mistake only because I ordered a surf on ebay and wanted a webcam. I'd like to have an 8G, but if they're releasing it with XP, forget it. I don't like paying for an operating system I don't use. Otherwise, the EEE is very smart, very upgradeable and very open, especially for an inexpensive item.

0
0
Anonymous Coward

Supply problems

Lots of retailers have them available to pre-order, stock checker http://www.pc-how-to.com/laptops/asustek-eee-pc.htm, but never actually have them in stock, whilst others do manage to get them in for a short while until they sell out.

Do you think those who allow pre-ordering are only filling pre-orders and not stocking up, or are they just not trying hard enough? Has anybody who has pre-ordered from the likes of dabs actually recieved the goods?

More importantly, are there any other shots of the beach babe?

0
0

Asus need to sort themselves out before shipping

I have an eee Pc and it's main selling point is size and lack of moving hard drives, so you can carry it without worrying, and as it is so small you forget half the time it is there. So you end up sitting on it half the time. It rocks.

But it annoys me that by may you can buy one of the new versions, but the month after you might get a different colour and you could at a later date get a hard drive and then you might also get 3g.

how many variants, models and versions are they planning. The whole point of the asus was it had two models, big and small, everything else was the same. Granted in some countries, big and small were far from equal. :) Us had the 8g and 2g, we got the 4g and 2g.

That is the most annoying thing. Just get it all sorted then ship it with all included in a range of colours.

And where were the pastel shades for the eee 701. My eee pc box has them on but they are not for sale.

0
0

More from The Register

Samsung Galaxy Note 8: Proof the pen is mightier?
Sammy’s iPad Mini killer has a stylus to stab other rivals too
Microsoft lures buy-curious vixens, corduroys with a cheap fondle
Surface slab sales latest: Will no one rid Ballmer of these turbulent tabs?
First look: iOS 7 for iPad
No, Apple hasn't released it yet, but that doesn't stop intrepid devs
 breaking news
Curtain drops on Apple Store ahead of WWDC: What lies behind?
Steve Jobs watching from on high. No pressure, lads
 breaking news
Cold, dead hands of Steve Jobs slip from iPhones: The Cult of Ive is upon us
Billionaire biz baron's death clears way for uber-shiny iOS 7
Airbus imagines suitcases that find themselves
Point your mobe at your smalls to track their every move
Surprise! Intel smartphone trounces ARM in power trials
Tests show equal performance while sipping significantly less juice
Samsung plans LTE Advanced version of Galaxy S4
1Gbps download capability could stiffen drooping S4 sales forecasts
Apple said to be 'exploring' 5.7-inch iPhone
Who's the copycat this time, Mr. Cook?