Eee PC S101: The Macbook air of the Eees?
So ASUS released the newest in their long line of Eees: the S101. According to Engadget:
The “fashion-friendly” S101 ($699 to $799), which will ship in brown (seriously?), champagne and graphite hues, and feature a 10.2-inch WSVGA LED-backlit display, an SSD up to 64GB in size, 4-in-1 flash card reader, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, a VGA output, three USB 2.0 ports, 0.3-megapixel webcam and a multi-touch trackpad.
I don’t know about you, but it looks like ASUS decided to take the Macbook air head-on. What do you think?
Will we see this on future Eees?
A 128GB SSD for $299? From ubergizmo:
Super Talent is now offering a 128GB SSD drive for a mere $299, which connects via a SATA II interface while supporting read and write speeds of 100MB/s and 40MB/s, respectively. At a $2.33/GB price point, this is the cheapest for SSDs so far.
I’d love to see netbooks such as the Eee go use this. A 128GB storage will be comparable to current HDs, and add to it the speed advantage of SSDs, and we have a winner.
Eee marketing getting bitchy, albeit adorably
Engadget posted a rather amusing article on ASUS’ new marketing strategy for the Eee.
When every company out there is cranking out the same 10-inch 1.6GHz Atom netbook, there aren’t many ways to make your product stand out: the obvious trick is to go low on price, but ASUS isn’t messing with its profit margins. Instead, it’s apparently going negative in the most adorable way possible — check this hit piece on the Acer Aspire One. If all these frowny faces are to be believed, using the Aspire One will basically be awkward and unergonomic for a short while, at which point you’ll burst into flames. Not only that, but ASUS can’t even bring itself to spell out “Aspire,” instead starring it out like someone might catch them saying it out loud.
Now, this seriously made me laugh. Now I can’t wait for them to go bitchy (albeit adorably) on the MSI Wind or the Lenovo IdeaPad. What will our favorite netbook manufacturer think of next?
How Tough Is Your Eee?
Very tough, apparently.
It seems that two team of explorers will be taking the ASUS Eee to extreme lengths just to prove it’s durability. One team took an Eee 900 on a 70-day excursion to the Canadian Arctic while another will be taking an Eee 701 4G to the Himalayas.
According to Stanley Wu of ASUS India, “This is one of the best opportunities for us to demonstrate our technology in the Indian market. ASUS P750 and Eee PC 4G will be put to test by one of the country’s best motor racing team in the world’s most demanding motor racing feat. We wish Team Millennium the very best at the Raid de Himalaya motor rally.”
And Australian explorer Chris Bray said, “Of all the equipment we brought with us on this expedition, it was our ASUS Eee PCs that blew me away the most, in terms of just how well suited they were to our needs and their impressive ability to survive the rigors of harsh expedition life. We’d be in the tent at night, wiping condensation off the screen with our sleeve, rubbing the touch-pad mouse clean from all the mud and chocolate and other grime, shaking the keyboard free of bits of tundra and other rubbish, and accidently bumping, dropping or leaning on them…and they never even flinched! Both Eee PCs soldiered on like true heroes right to the end.”
That’s just how awesome the ASUS Eee is.
ASUS Eee PC’s durability & reliability tested during 70 day excursion and ASUS all set to ‘Raid de Himalaya’ via EeePH
Speeding Up Linux
Over at the EeePH forum, member Joel posted a way to speeding up Linux application start-up time with a little app called Preload.
Besically, on Ubuntu you just have to open up a terminal and type in “sudo apt-get install preload“, and your applications will boot up faster.
Since I switched back to XP on my Eee a few months ago, I’d like to know if this actually works. So, Linux users, why don’t you give it a try?
Another Way To Improve The ASUS Eee’s Keyboard Responsiveness
A while ago, I posted this hack to improve the Eee’s keyboard responsiveness. It basically entailed removing the keyboard and putting in a few layers of masking tape on it. However it came with a caveat: it can raise your Eee’s temperature significantly.
Good thing reader Anon was able to give me a heads-up on another way to go about this hack. Instead of using masking tape, he suggests using aluminum foil. He says that it will even lower the Eee’s temperature.
Thanks for the heads-up Anon! Here’s the link to the forum post in Eeeuser.com. Hack away!
Windows for Cloud Computing?
According to Steve Ballmer, Microsoft is set to unveil what he calls “Windows Cloud” within a month.
The operating system, which will likely have a different name, is intended for developers writing cloud-computing applications, said Ballmer.
Ballmer was quick to point out that Microsoft doesn’t envision products such as the Office productivity suite moving entirely off desktop PCs and onto the Internet. But Microsoft is working on a service that would let people do “light editing” of Office documents at places such as a public Internet kiosk.
The thing is, Windows Cloud is a separate project from Windows 7, so we’d probably see a stripped-down Vista or XP here. Are you interested in using Windows Cloud on your ASUS Eee, or are you satisfied with your OS (Windows/Linux) running Firefox or Chrome? Tell me what you think.
Microsoft will soon release ‘Windows Cloud’ OS, Ballmer says [via Lifehacker]
Eee PCs Will Have 3.75G Built-in, 7.5-hour Battery Life
ASUS has announced that they will be putting in 3.75G and 7.5-hour battery life in their Eee PC models for internet access anywhere.
According to ASUS,
With 3.75G, the Eee PC? will be able to deliver on its promise of borderless one-day computing better than ever before. No longer bound to Internet hotspots, 3.75G-equipped Eee PC? users will be able to enjoy low latency mobile broadband Internet access at high downlink and uplink speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps and 2 Mbps** respectively, regardless of where they are?ensuring a seamless connected experience on the go. The Eee PC?s? 7.5-hour battery life*** provides more than ample power to keep it up and running during extended outdoor excursions.
ASUS will release the Eee PC 901 with 3.75G in October 2008.
Via ASUS.
ASUS Eee PC 1000HA to Rival Acer Aspire One
I really am excited for the ASUS Eee PC 1000HA. Know why? Because it is set to take on the Acer Aspire One. According to Punch Jump,
The new Asus Eee PC 1000HA will include a 1.6 Ghz Intel Atom CPU, 1GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, Windows XP and a 10-inch LCD for $429.99.
Retailer Amazon.com this month began taking pre-orders for a Ebony SKU and White SKU.
By comparison, the Acer Aspire One includes a 8.9-inch screen, 1.6 Ghz Atom CPU, 1GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, 6-cell battery and Windows XP for $399.99.
It is sold in Blue color and White color SKUs.
The Aspire One currently ranks as the No. 1 best-selling notebook at Amazon.com, followed by the Asus Eee PC 1000H at No. 2.
Acer also offers a Linux-equipped model for $329.99.
Dell Inc. in Sept. entered the netbook market with the the Dell Inspiron Mini 9. A Linux-based model starts at $349.
Personally, I’m thinking of getting the 1000HA to replace my 701.
Which will be the better netbook, the Eee or the Aspire One? What do you think?
Ubuntu Mobile on the ASUS Eee
Liliputing shows us an ASUS Eee running a pre-release version of Ubuntu Mobile. Ubuntu Mobile is basically a version of Ubuntu meant to run on UMPCs and other handheld devices.
It looks good, but WiFi doesn’t work just yet. Hopefully, it’ll be fixed on the final release. If I get so tempted I’ll install this on my Eee and get rid of Windows XP.
