High-end Eee Box to gain HDMI, standalone GPU

So first we hear about Asus Eee Box desktops using Celeron rather than Atom processors. Now comes word the company's preparing a high-end model with a standalone GPU.

And an HDMI port for all you media centre buffs.

The two new models are the B204 and B206 - the original Eee Box was the B200. According to a spec sheet posted by Italian-language site EeePC.it, they'll both incorporate an AMD ATI Radeon HD 3400-series GPU with 256MB of dedicated DDR 2 graphics memory.

Asus' Eee Box: HDMI coming soon

We should point out that the B204 has a better spec than the B206 - it's got Bluetooth and a "built-in battery that performs a UPS function - even though you'd expect the higher model number to offer more features.

Both machines use the obligatory (almost) 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, 1GB of DDR 2 memory, and 160GB of 5400rpm 3Gb/s SATA hard drive storage. Both incorporate 802.11n Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet.

What we can't say is when they'll go on sale, or how much they'll cost when/if they do.

Asus Eee Box B202
Atom-based desktop PC review