Asus France to phase out Eee PC 1000HE netbook

We recently reported that Acer UK are planning to slowly withdraw the best-selling Asus Eee PC 1000HE to re-focus the Eee PC line-up to just 3 models by July. These models will consist of the recently launched Asus Eee PC 1008HA Seashell, 1005HA and an as yet unannounced model.

Well it appears that the same may be happening in France, after Blogeee got confirmation that the Eee PC 1000HE will also be phased to make way for the new range of netbooks. Unlike the UK, it appears that the marketing for the upcoming Eee PC T91 convertible tablet will be unchanged for France.

Aluminium-skinned Asus Eee PC 1002HAE gets videoed

The Asus Eee PC 1002HAE is very similar to the Eee PC 1002HA apart from the fact that it has a sleek aluminium skin, chiclet keyboard and the faster 1.66GHz N280 Atom CPU (the 1002HA has a N270 Atom). It certainly looks very attractive and it’s a shame that Asus have only confirmed this for the Japanese market until now. Peter from Portable Monkey has gone hands-on with a ‘Deep Red’ version and provided his initial thoughts.

From the exterior it looks as if not has much has changed from the Eee PC 1002HA. However, the lighter aluminium casing brings the weight down from 1.45kg to 1.2kg. It’s nice to see the Eee PC 1002HAE using a matte display, although it does have glossy innards. A full review is expected shortly, in the meantime check out the video hands-on after the break. Read more

The art of creating a netbook video review [Funny]

Creating a video review is a fine art. Trying to get across the pertinent points as succinctly as possible, making sure the product is in full view, remembering all of the key specifications takes a reasonable amount of organisation and experience. These are things that the average person doesn’t even think about when watching these videos.

NetbookNews.de has come across an extremely funny example of a very polite Polish guy taking it very seriously. Apart from the dimly-lit garage setting, he has a full script in front of him whilst going
through all of the points. The video compares the Asus Eee PC 701 with the Polish NTT Corrino 100A. Check out the action after the break. Read more

Asus Eee PC 1008HA Seashell guts exposed

The Asus Eee PC 1008HA Seashell netbook had already hit the FCC over a month ago, however at the time there was limited information. There were no test photos of any kind (internal or external) and not even a manual. A confidentiality agreement deprived us of all the juicy details.

Moving forward six weeks, the 1008HA Seashell has already been released in the UK and US shipments are expected next week. One would think there is little else to find out. However, the FCC site has now updated the 1008HA page to include all of the test pictures including its internals exposed. Read more

Asus Eee PC 1008HA Seashell US pre-orders start at $399.99

Asus is currently running a promotion in the US and Canada, whereby if you pre-order the Eee PC 1008HA Seashell netbook you will receive a $20 discount. This means that you can pick up the 1008HA Seashell for the discounted price of $409.99 in the US or CAD$509.99 in Canada.

Having a look at a few US retailers, pre-orders at most of the major sites seem to be open. Amazon has both the black and white versions on pre-order at the discounted price of $409.99. Newegg only has the white version on pre-order but at the normal price of $429.29. However, ZipZoomFly has the cheapest pre-order price I’ve seen at $399.99. According to Engadget, Asus expects retailers to deliver the white Seashell by the 27th May with the black version following a day later. Check out a screen grab of the promotion after the break. Read more

Asus Eee PC T91 manual exposed plus hands-on impressions

The Asus Eee PC T91 netbook has hit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and they have left some juicy titbits for us to gander at. As well publishing a number of external and internal photos of the T91 being tested, they have also revealed the T91 manual.

In the documents, we get confirmation of the non-removable battery, which we already knew from recent previews. It does seem that RAM is upgradeable though with an access panel at the bottom of the lid. It also looks like the GPS board can be swapped out for a combo GPS and 3G board, giving you internal 3G. There also seems to be dual SD card slots, one of them being a “Disk-expander Slot”. Read more

Asus UK refocusing Eee PC line-up to just 3 netbooks by July

We have often lamented the sheer number of different Eee PC netbooks that Asus offers, complete with confusing naming structure. It becomes difficult from a marketing point of view given the confusion it causes to the public and it can even end up diluting the brand. It seems that Asus UK agrees, it will be offering just three Eee PC netbooks to the general public come July according to Reg Hardware.

Asus’ John Swatton told them that only the 1008HA Seashell, the 1005HA (which was only announced today) and an as yet unnamed model will complete the UK line up. It does beg the question, what happens to the Eee PC T91 net tablet? According to Swatton, the 7-inch and 9-inch models will be reserved for sales to schools and other large organisations. Somehow, I find that hard to believe, especially given the amount of interest surrounding this particular 9-inch convertible tablet. Will Asus really restrict the sale of the T91 to the public? It seems a very odd move if true. Read more

New Asus Eee PC 1005HA-M and 1005HA-H Seashell netbooks get official

A few days back we came across evidence from the Asus support pages that the company was planning to launch a little brother to its 1008HA Seashell netbook. Well this has now been officially confirmed by Asus France who has presented some official specifications, press photos, pricing and launch details for two new Seashell models, the Eee PC 1005HA-M and Eee PC 1005HA-H. Read more

Asus Eee PC 1008HA Seashell gets US pricing

Whilst here in the UK we are looking forward to the Asus Eee PC 1008HA launching tomorrow, details on the US launch have been very quiet up until now. Asus has now officially confirmed that that the 1008HA Seashell will launch for $429 when it hits the US later this month, with pre-orders starting on 18th May.

The specifications should be familiar to most by now. The 10-inch (1024 x 600) Seashell is set to become one of the most desirable netbooks on its release with its 1-inch thickness and 1.1kg weight. The specs aren’t too shabby either, with a 1.66GHz N280 CPU, 1GB RAM and 160GB HDD and wireless draft n. Asus claims that its in-built battery should last for around 6 hours.

A few sites including Gizmodo, Laptop Mag and PC World have some hands-on impressions that are worth checking out. It will launch here in the UK tomorrow for £379 and in Europe for €399.

First Asus Eee PC T91 review hits the web

TechRadar has this morning released the first review of the much anticipated Asus Eee PC T91 netbook. The 8.9-inch convertible tablet is probably one of our most eagerly awaited netbooks and judging by the review, it won’t disappoint. TechRadar says that the T91 “genuinely moves things forward” in the netbook space and the only factor that could hinder its success will be its price. They also confirmed that the T91 is expected to launch at the beginning of June.

It’s worth noting that the review was based on a pre-production sample so there may be a few differences come the final retail release. This is probably the reason that they found the Asus Easy Mode touch interface still needing a bit of polishing. Other than that, the T91 was found to have a comfortable keyboard, an excellent touchscreen display as well as a reasonable battery life of over 3 hours.

Unfortunately, it looks like the T91 is taking a leaf out of the 1008HA’s book by having a non-removable battery. The touchscreen display also means that fingerprint smudges are something you just have to get used to. The Asus Eee PC T91 is expected to hit the UK at a £449 price point. This is certainly not cheap, but the T91 is placed in a unique position with few competitors. TechRadar awarded the T91 an impressive four and a half stars. Check out the key review points after the jump. Read more

New Asus Eee PC 1005HA Seashell with removable battery planned?

Asus is looking to follow the Eee PC 1008HA Seashell with another netbook using the ‘Seashell’ brand name later this summer. The Asus Eee PC 1005HA will be very similar to the 1008HA in looks and specs but will come with a removable battery as opposed to the sealed battery found in the 1008HA.

A firm release date for this hasn’t been given, although we understand that it is expected to launch within the next couple of months. The ‘Eee PC 1005HAB’ is already listed on the official Asus support pages although there are no documents there for now.

A quick search on Google highlights a number of European retailers already listing the 1005HA-M for pre-order. According to the specs listed, the Eee PC 1005HA will come with a 6-cell (2200 mAh) Li-Polymer battery as opposed to the 4-cell battery in the 1008HA. This means that it will end up weighing 1.4kg as opposed to the 1.1kg for the 1008HA. This new Seashell will come with three USB ports as opposed to the two found on the 1008HA.

Other than that, the specs are the same. It has a 10-inch LED backlit display with resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. It will be powered by a 1.66GHz N280 Atom CPU, 1GB RAM and a 160GB HDD. Our sources indicate that the 1005HA could be priced as low as £349 on launch. The current European pre-order pricing is between €350 and €400. We’ll bring you more information on this as we have it.

Asus Eee PC 1008HA Seashell product page now live

Asus looks like it is onto a real winner with the Eee PC Seashell netbook. It marries performance and strong battery life without sacrificing design and a slim form-factor. The official UK launch will be this Friday 15th May with the official price at £379.

Just in time for the launch, it looks like Asus Global has updated its site, with the 1008HA Seashell netbook product page now live. About time too, as we’ve already seen the 1008HA manual, an unboxing and even a couple of reviews!

There isn’t any surprises that I can see from the listing, although it does look like Linux will be an option along with Windows XP. We’ve attached the full specs after the break.

Asus is having a special event to celebrate the Seashell’s launch, if you are interested head over to Tottenham Court Road, London at 10AM. There’s even a chance to win one for those that attend. Read more

Pegatron prepping ARM-based netbooks for Asus

Asus’ CEO, Jerry Shen, recently confirmed that it was unlikely to adopt ARM/Android netbooks this year. Part of his reasoning was that most consumers are still used to Windows and that the first quarter of 2010 would provide more of an opportunity for alternative processors.

Well it looks like ODM Pegatron Technology is preparing to manufacture these ARM-based netbooks, but is waiting for the green light from Asustek. Pegatron has not received a schedule to mass produce these ARM netbooks as Asus is still apparently monitoring trends in the market place.

Pegatron also has a 7-inch ARM-based netbook and recently received orders from Chinese white-box vendors to sell the device for under $200. It seems, however, that there is low demand for Linux based products in Asia, therefore Pegatron plans to concentrate on the European and American markets.

Via Digitimes.

Asus Eee PC T91 netbook UK pricing revealed

The Asus Eee PC T91 convertible tablet is expected to have a suggested retail cost of £449 when it launches in the UK. We are expecting the T91 to launch in late May or early June, although no specific date has been set thus far.

The Eee PC T91 is an 8.9-inch touchscreen convertible netbook, similar in form factor to Gigabyte’s 10-inch T1028 netbook. As far as we are aware, the model released will not be the 3G equipped T91GO, but just the standard version.

The T91 will come with an 8.9-inch (1024 x 600) touchscreen display powered by a 1.33GHz Z520 Intel Atom CPU. Storage will be catered by a 32GB SSD and optional extras include GPS, 3G and a TV tuner. As well as Windows XP, it will also come with Asus’ Easy Mode software to be used in tablet mode. The final specs may be subject to change, but we’ll come back to you with confirmation as soon as we have it.

Via Electric Pig.

Asus Eee PC 1008HA Seashell review roundup

Whilst Asus’ Eee PC 1008HA Seashell netbook is not set to hit UK retail until May 15, two reviews have already popped up, from TrustedReviews and What Laptop. The general theme across both reviews was positive with What Laptop viewing the Seashell as a “compelling proposition” which offers excellent mobility with the main negative point being the lack of ports.

TrustedReviews believes that the 1008HA Seashell is a very refined and classy netbook that offers excellent battery life. The non-replaceable battery may hinder some, but for others, the 1008HA may be worth the premium due to the fact that Asus has created a slim and light netbook without sacrificing functionality. TrustedReviews awarded it 9/10. We hope to be receiving a review sample at some point soon. Click through for a full summary of both reviews. Read more

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