Asus to revamp Eee PC 901 with bigger keyboard?
Fixing what ain't broke
Asus' latest Eee PC, the 901, hasn't even gone on sale in the UK yet - tomorrow, since you ask - but the company is already preparing the machine's successors.
Asian reseller moles cited by DigiTimes claim Asus is working on the Eee 904 and 905. Like the 901, both are expected to use Intel's Atom processor and sport an 8.9in display. However, they use the Eee PC 1000's 10.2in chassis to provide users with a full-size keyboard.
Asus' Eee 1000: fancy this with a smaller screen?
They may also come with more storage space than the 901, which provides 12GB in the Windows XP version and 20GB if you buy it with Linux.
It's not entirely clear how the 904 would differ from the 905. The report suggests the 904 will replace the 900, while the 905 replaces the 901. Yet surely the 901 was supposed to replace the 900? That's certainly what seems to happening over here in the UK.
Eee PC and friend: looking for something... bigger
It's said that the 904 and 905 will be priced to match the 900 and 901, respectively.
If the claims are correct, it certainly seems as if Asus is steering itself away from the low price, small size foundations on which the Eee PC series was formed.
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COMMENTS
Seems it is nowhere to be seen
Quite funny these release cycles. I didn't buy a 701 or 900 'cause i knew i wanted a 901 instead. Now i need to get it before the 904/905 bloated version comes!!
Ja, so...
..it's 1st of July, anyone know of any 'actual' stock of the 901 in the UK?
Paris, 'cos she'd have had it in already.
701 still the king...
The 701 is still the king of the bunch for me.
I bought one last week for £200. I bought it because it was tiny, and because it was £200. The only thing I would change about it is the fact it could do with a slightly larger drive, say 10gb to not have to butcher xp, and the atom processor with bluetooth. Add those, and I'll have one. Until then, my EEE PC does what it says on the tin, and does it in the true spirit of the EEE PC.
Alien, because ASUS is on another planet on this one...
Her expression...
Has anyone actually taken notice to her expression?
You can tell she is looking at the old EeePC... "urrgh, my eyes are burning" (from the poor resolution). That or she has the shits.
Stupid idea.
Make a bigger machine just to be able to fit a bigger keyboard is not a good idea unless you want to appeal to users that mainly want to use it as a portable typewriter.
Now these users do exist (I personally know one), but they constitute a much smaller niche compared to the users that simply want the biggest screen in the smallest form factor possible (for a reasonable price).
Launching this as a side product to the 901 and targeting aspiring writers and secretaries may be an idea, but replacing the 901 by this would be suicide, as it wouldn't be able to compete with the acer one and the dell E in the consumer space.
