Asus Eee PC 1005HA Seashell pre-orders open in US
June 12, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Whilst official launch details or pricing has yet to be revealed, the Eee PC 1005HA Seashell has now been spotted for pre-order. BeachCamera.com has the unit up for pre-order with prices starting at a very reasonable $350. The 1005HA Seashell has a removable battery and is slightly thicker than the 1008HA Seashell.
Whilst there is no mention of the 1005HA-H and 1005HA-M SKUs, there will be two different models offered by the retailer. The configuration, which includes a 1.6GHz N270 Atom CPU, will cost $350 and is available in black or white. For a slightly faster CPU, 1.66GHz N280 processor, this will set you back $389 and will come in black or blue. There’s no signs of the Eee PC 1005HA’s pre-order availability in the UK right now.
Via Portable Monkey.
Asus Eee PC T91 available in UK from “early July”
June 11, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Asus’ first convertible tablet, the 8.9-inch Eee PC T91, was originally slated for a late May/early June release. As things stand though, it is still nowhere to be seen. We got in touch with Asus UK to find out what the deal was and was told that it should now be expected in “early July”.
We pressed for a more definitive date, but they said that the actual launch date will depend on a number of factors that just aren’t known now. All we do know is that “early July” encompasses week 1 and 2 of July. So hopefully by the 11th July this should hit UK stores. They did confirm the price to us though, expecting it to sell at an RRP of £449.
The official specifications were released last week and include a 1.33GHz Z520 Atom CPU with the Poulsbo chipset and 1GB RAM. It will come with 82GB of storage that constitutes a “16GB Solid State Drive + 16GB SD Card + 30GB Portable Hard Disk Drive + 20GB Eee Storage”. Asus claims that the sealed Lithium polymer battery is good for 5 hours of use. However, with a rumoured multi-touch T91 model launching in with Windows 7, £449 may be a bit much to ask for a model that may become superceded so quickly.
Boost your Asus Eee PC 1000HE Wi-Fi performance
June 11, 2009 at 2:11 pm
One of the (small) criticisms we had of the Asus Eee PC 1000HE, when we reviewed it, was that the Wi-Fi performance felt a bit patchy. Apart from having a nightmare trying to set it up in the first place, we noticed it didn’t latch onto a signal as quickly as other netbooks/laptops did.
Well it looks like these problems may be a thing of the past, courtesy of a wireless driver from the yet to be released Eee PC 1005HA. According to the Eee User Forum, people are reporting that this driver (7.7.0.259, 13 March 2009) improves performance and stability.
To get this to work, you need to make sure you have a 1000HE with the Atheros AR928x (AW-NE771) card installed. We don’t have the 1000HE to hand any more, but we’d be interested to see if this tip works.
Via GadgetMix.
Asus Eee PC 1101HA Seashell video hands-on
June 9, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Whilst Asus formally announced its 11.6-inch Eee PC 1101HA Seashell at last week’s Computex show, we didn’t come across many hands-on impressions of this unit. However, it looks like Sascha from NetbookNews has just got round to uploading his thoughts on YouTube.
We don’t learn too much that we didn’t already know. The 11.6-inch (1366 x 768) Seashell comes with a styling that looks similar to the 1008HA. This includes a glossy lid and flush display and the unique pimpled touchpad. What we don’t get are the flaps that cover the ports although I’m not sure that’s too much of a big deal.
An interesting comparison is made with the Samsung NC10 and whilst the 1101HA is obviously wider and taller, it appears to be marginally thinner. There are two different 6-cell batteries for this model which should give between 9.5-11 hours of battery life. It will be powered by a 1.33GHZ Z520 or 1.6GHz Z530 Atom CPU. I imagine that the latter will become the sensible choice for most, given the problems seen in the underpowered 11.6″ Acer Aspire One 751 which runs a Z520 Atom CPU. Check out the video after the jump. Read more
Asus Eee PC 1005HGO Seashell with built-in 3G
June 6, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Asus is planning on releasing a 3G enabled version of the Eee PC 1005HA, under the model name of 1005HGO. This follows the naming convention used with other 3G enabled Eee PC’s including the 1003HGO and recently announced 1101HGO.
The specifications of the 10.1-inch 1005HGO relates to the higher-end SKU (1005HA-H) which comes with a 1.66GHz N280 Atom CPU, Bluetooth and a longer battery life over the 1005HA-M SKU. It will come with the HUAWEI EM770 3G modem. Pricing and availability is unknown right now.
Via Eee-PC.de.
Moblin gets Linux distro backing & Android app support
June 5, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Moblin, the Intel-backed Linux operating system tailored for netbooks, has been growing in momentum over this past week at Computex Taipei. It has been pushing Moblin V2.0 along with the Linux Foundation, who took control of the project in April.
A number of operating system vendors (OSVs) have already committed to Moblin. This includes Linpus, who will offer its Moblin V2 Linpus Linux Lite in two versions, one with a Linpus UI and one with Intel’s UI. Canonical will release an “Ubuntu Moblin Remix”, whilst Novell demoed its SUSE edition of Moblin Version 2 on Acer and MSI hardware at Computex. Xandros also demonstrated its “Xandros Moblin 2 solution” on an Asus Eee PC in at Computex. Read more
Asus Eee PC T91 tablet netbook to support multi-touch?
June 4, 2009 at 11:27 pm
The 8.9-inch Asus Eee PC T91 is one of our most eagerly anticipated netbooks. However, if there was one feature we wish it had, was a multi-touch screen. With Windows 7 launching in just over four month’s time, a multi-touch screen in any netbook device right now would be a forward-looking inclusion.
It may seem that Asus is thinking along the same lines. Eee-PC.de found an Eee PC T91 display unit running Windows 7 software that had a multi-touch panel (see the video after the break).
I find it hard to believe that the T91 that will start to ship this month will come with a multi-touch panel. The specs listed on the official product page, specifically talks of a resistive rather than capacitive display. Asus may have a premium T91 SKU planned with multi-touch capability to tie in with the launch Windows 7. The only thing I can think of is that Asus has enabled multi-touch on a resistive panel, which is possibility.
Update: JKKMobile also has a video demonstrating the multi-touch features of the Eee PC T91. Apparently, he has confirmation that only the Windows 7 SKU will ship with a multi-touch panel. See this video also after the break. Read more
Asus Eee PC 1101HA Seashell gets official
June 4, 2009 at 9:20 am
Asus has officially announced the latest member to its Seashell line of netbooks, the 11.6-inch Eee PC 1101HA. The netbook was spotted in the wild earlier this week at Computex, along with near enough full specifications.
The press release is pretty sparse on detail, only confirming it will have a HD (1366 x 768) resolution LED backlit display and battery life of 11 hours. It also confirms a 160GB HDD, wireless draft-N, Bluetooth, a 1.3MP webcam, digital array microphone and multi-touch touchpad. Hopefully some more detailed specifications, along with pricing and availability, will be announced shortly. Read more
Asus Eee PC T91 gets official launch & live product page
June 3, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Asus has officially launched the Eee PC T91 convertible netbook at Computex this week. This is the first netbook from the company that comes with a swivelable touchscreen, but with Windows 7 on the horizon you wouldn’t bet it being the last. The Eee PC T91 comes with an 8.9-inch touchscreen that can be folded back to be used as a tablet or in a traditional netbook form factor. The product page is also now live too, giving us confirmation of the T91’s finalised specifications.
The Eee PC T91 has an extremely slim-line design, weighing just 960g and measuring 28.4mm at its thickest point. The 8.9-inch resistive touchscreen is powered by the Z520 Atom CPU and 1GB RAM. The listing for the storage is a tad confusing and reads “16GB Solid State Drive + 16GB SD Card + 30GB Portable Hard Disk Drive + 20GB Eee Storage”. Whilst the first and last points are self-explanatory, I do wonder whether Asus will be including a 16GB SD card and 30GB portable HDD in the package too. Read more
HP and Dell to launch ION netbooks in Q3 2009
June 2, 2009 at 4:20 pm
It’s a bit disappointing that we haven’t seen more big name manufacturers announcing ION netbooks at the Computex show, the only new ones we’ve seen are from the likes of Telecast and Weibu. However, both Hewlett-Packard and Dell are expected to launch netbooks using the ION-platform in the third quarter of this year according to Digitimes.
The main big profile ION netbook that has been announced so far is the Lenovo Ideapad S12. Other big names such as Asustek and MSI are also looking to launch ION products in the second half of this year.
However, Intel is looking to spoil the Nvidia party. According to the report, Intel is “reducing its offer of price incentives to PC vendors who are considering Ion-based products”. It is also closely monitoring vendors’ Atom inventories, to prevent them from dumping chipsets bought at a discount and using the CPUs with Nvidia’s ION. Is Intel not learning anything from its EU anti-competitive ruling and subsequent €1.06 billion fine?
Asus 11.6-inch Eee PC 1101HA spotted in the wild
June 2, 2009 at 12:06 am
It looks like those rumours of an 11.6-inch Eee PC were true after all. It has been spotted at Computex, although it is unlikely to be officially announced until tomorrow. The screengrab (larger image after the jump) shows that it will feature an 11.6-inch (1366 x 768) display powered by the Intel Atom Z520 or Z530 CPU. Other features will include 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, three USB 2.0 ports, card reader, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and there’s a 1.3-megapixel webcam in the bezel.
The image shows a design that seems to be influence by the Seashell line of netbooks (Eee PC 1008HA/1005HA). Battery life is meant to last around 11 hours, although two 6-cell batteries have been spotted (2220mAh and 2800mAh). Hopefully, we’ll have some official details very shortly. Read more
Asus Snapdragon-powered Eee PC running Android hands-on [Video Round-up]
June 1, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Asus has given hints in the past that it was considering releasing an Eee PC powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip (based on ARM). It has now shown off a prototype a day before the Computex show is set to officially start.
This smartbook (note: not netbook) has a fanless design given the very low power consumption. The prototype runs on a 1GHz Snapdragon chip and is capable of HD 720p video. The chip also has embedded 3G and GPS. This allows for an “always connected” experience, very similar to a mobile phone. Read more
Asus considering Nvidia ION for netbooks
June 1, 2009 at 10:09 am
Asustek has recently started to test netbooks and nettops using Nvidia’s ION platform according to Digitimes. Whilst there is no schedule for netbooks right now, it does plan to launch an ION based Eee Boc B1006 during the third quarter of this year.
With Computex just about to start, we are expecting a whole host of announcements from other manufacturers, who are getting ready to announce ION-powered netbooks during the show. We’ll keep you updated throughout this week on further developments.
Asus’ Super Hybrid Engine new High Definition mode explained
May 31, 2009 at 12:15 am
Asus quietly launched the new Eee PC 1000HV netbook in Italy recently. This was the first Eee PC to sport discrete graphics in the form of ATI Radeon HD 3450 graphics with 256MB of dedicated memory. Whilst the benchmarks were expectedly better than most other 10-inch netbooks, another point that caught the eye was a mystery ‘High Definition’ mode in Asus’ Super Hybrid Engine utility.
This utility allows you to overclock (or underclock) the Atom CPU depending on your usage. As things stand (version 5), the Super Hybrid Engine has three different modes. The Power Saving mode underclocks the CPU to a minimum 750MHz on the N280 Atom CPU. The High Performance mode is the standard speed of the chip (1.66GHz for the N280) whilst the Super High Performance mode overclocks this to 1.75GHz. Read more
Active Media & Super Talent announce netbook SSD upgrades
May 29, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Two companies have announced solid-state drive upgrades for different netbook lines. Active Media has some new SSD drives for the Dell Mini 9 netbooks. Its new half-Mini PCI-Express SSDs offers sequential read speeds of 82 MBps and sequential write speeds of 38 MBps. The modules measure just 2″ x 1.2″ and should be able to hold data for up to 10 years. Active Media charges $65.95 for a 16GB SSD and $119.95 for the 32GB version, quite a bit cheaper than a similar drive from Runcore.
Another manufacturer, Super Talent, has also announced new SSD upgrades for the Dell Mini 9 and Asus Eee PC. The Eee PC SSD upgrades, dubbed SATA Mini 2 PCIe solid state drives, will be available in two flavours, one with MLC and one with SLC memory. The MLC based ones will be available in 16, 32 and 64GB capacities and will offer read and write speeds of up to 150 and 100MB/s. These will be backed by a two year warranty. Read more
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