No UK/US launch for Asus Eee PC 1004DN netbook
April 1, 2009 at 2:48 pm
The Asus Eee PC 1004DN is the company’s first netbook with an in-built optical disk drive. Some sites have bemoaned the fact that this can’t be a netbook as it has an optical drive, it’s not a view I share. As long as technology miniaturisation doesn’t end up being counter-productive then I’m all for it.
We revealed the full specifications last weekend, however we have since learned that the 1004DN is unlikely to make it to western shores. Asus PR reps in both the US and UK are saying that there are currently no plans for a 1004DN launch. This may change at some point, but until then, this is likely to remain an Asian release only. For those that are interested you had better speak to your local importer.
ASUS Eee-Easter Mystery Giveaway
April 1, 2009 at 2:32 pm
ASUS is giving away four Eee PC products over the next few weeks to celebrate Easter. To be in with a chance of winning you’ll need to visit the ASUS Facebook page and also follow Asus on YouTube. As far as I’m aware if you leave a comment you’ll be entered into the draw, although more details are likely to be forthcoming.
No details on exact prizes so far, I suppose that’s why it’s called a ‘mystery’ giveaway! The competition is only open to those in the US and Canada. Check out the Asus competition video after the break. Read more
Netbook Review Roundup 31/03/2009
March 31, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Netbook Choice’s roundup of netbook reviews from around the web on Tuesday 31st March 2009.
Acer Aspire One D150 @ PC Advisor
ASUS Eee PC 1000H/ Lenovo IdeaPad S10/ HP 2133 @ Cape Cod Times
Asus S101 @ The Sydney Morning Herald
HP Mini 2140: A Nice Netbook With SUSE Option @ Linux Planet
Lenovo IdeaPad S10 Hands On Review @ Digitpedia
Lenovo S10e review @ PC Advisor
Samsung NC20 @ Cnet UK
Rating: 9.0
The all-in-one Sony VAIO P review post @ UMPC Portal
Netbook Review Roundup 30/03/2009
March 30, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Netbook Choice’s roundup of netbook reviews from around the web on Monday 30th March 2009.
Asus Eee PC 1000HE video review @ JKK Mobile
Rating: N/A
Asus Eee PC 1000HE @ liliputing
Rating: N/A
HP Mini 2140 netbook @ The Register
Rating: 80-percent
Lenovo IdeaPad S10 Review (Update) @ Notebook Review
Rating: N/A
Hands on photos of the Asus Eee PC T91 netbook
March 30, 2009 at 7:23 pm
We have already posted a number of videos and photos of Asus’ upcoming 8.9-inch convertible tablet, however given its sleek looks we still can’t get enough. This time round, Cnet UK managed to go hands on with the Eee PC T91 and after an extended play with the device, they came away very impressed and even in love.
Something we haven’t picked up before is that the T91 carries an inscription on the silver panel towards the top of the T91. The inscription reads “Eee PC Touch Series” highlighting the fact that this will not be the only touch-based model from Asus. Hardly a surprise but it’s nice to have the confirmation.
Asus also told Cnet that the keyboard seen in these photos is expected to get bigger for the final retail release. Given that they found the keyboard a little cramped this can only be a good thing, although this is likely to come at the expense of a smaller touchpad.
Whilst we love the design of all of the upcoming convertible tablets, we can’t help to think that in just 6-9 months time there will be similar units with multi-touch screens running Windows 7. However, you can’t wait forever for new technology otherwise you’d never buy anything, The T91 is expected to launch in late May/early June in the UK with a price tag of around £500. Click through for a full gallery of photos. Read more
“Mr. Compromise” looks at netbooks
March 29, 2009 at 4:23 pm
David Pogue’s “Mr. Compromise” of the New York Times has finally taken a look at netbooks with a ‘review ‘ of four different models. He asked Joanna Stern of Laptop Mag which ones to look at and came up with four 10-inch models. The Asus Eee PC 1000HE, HP Mini 1001, MSI Wind U120 and Samsung NC10.
Surprise, surprise he found that owning a netbook requires making compromises. Some of the issues with each netbook include mouse buttons on either side of the touchpad for the HP Mini 1001, the Samsung NC10 costs too much, the Asus is too heavy and the Wind doesn’t have upgradeable memory. The video doesn’t cover any new ground but is meant to be a bit of light relief, check it out after the break. Read more
Asus Eee PC 1004DN netbook – Full specifications revealed
March 28, 2009 at 1:54 pm
The Asus Eee PC 1004DN is the company’s first netbook with an in-built optical disk drive. It was first spotted at CES earlier in the year, however not everything that turns up at CES becomes a reality. It is of course, not the first netbook to come with an optical disk drive. Japanese manufacturer Kohjinsha has done it with its SX line, and JVC made a mobile mini notebook with DVD as well. But the Kohjinsha model isn’t available outside of Japan, and JVC’s offering is dated.
Yesterday’s news that the 1004DN is expected to launch in April brought a commercial release that one step closer. The move is likely to blur the line between netbook and notebook even further. Today we have managed to get our hands on a full list of technical specifications on the 1004DN. Click through after the break for the full detail and the first official press shot. Read more
Netbook Review Roundup 27/03/2009
March 27, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Netbook Choice’s roundup of netbook reviews from around the web on Friday 27th March 2009.
Asus Eee PC 1000HE @ Khabrein.Info
Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)
HP Mini 2140 @ Wi-Fi Planet
Rating: N/A
MSI Wind U120 @ PC World
Rating: 4.5 Stars (out of 5)
Samsung NC10 review @ Cnet UK
Rating: 8.9
Sony Vaio P (P588E) @ Mobile Tech Review
Rating: 4 stars (out of 4)
Netbook Roundup (Asus N10Jc, HP Mini 2140, Samsung NC10, Sony Vaio P) @ Computer World
Rating: N/A
Video: Asus Eee PC T91 tablet hands on
March 27, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Pocket-Lint has posted a hands-on demonstration of the Asus Eee PC T91. A quick swipe of the touchscreen from right to left appears to toggle the OS between a Linux based kernel and Windows XP. The Linux kernel is likely to be very similar to the ‘Easy Mode’ used on Asus’ EeeTop products with access to weather, Firefox etc. Encouragingly the screen does not auto-rotate either, which could be a problem is using it on the move.
The T91 is an 8.9-inch convertible tablet powered by a 1.33GHz Z520 Intel Atom CPU. It will come with a 32GB SSD and optional extras including GPS, 3G and a TV tuner. Pricing has not been confirmed but is expected to be between $499 to $ 549 (c£500) on release. The T91 is expected to have an April/May release. Check out the video after the break. Read more
New Asus Eee PC E1004DN – First netbook to include optical drive arriving in April
March 27, 2009 at 9:53 am
The line between notebooks and netbooks blur even further. Asus will launch its first netbook with an embedded optical disc-drive in mid-April according to sources in retail channels. The model dubbed E1004DN (Asus’ model numbering gets ever more confusing) will be powered by a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 CPU and GN40 chipset. It will also come with a 120GB hard-disk drive.
I imagine with a drive included it will bulk up the size and weight of the unit. However with the model numbering suggesting that this will be a 10-inch model, let’s hope Asus follow the styling cues of the 1008HA. It certainly will be a powerful machine given that it is adopting the GN40 chipset over the ageing 945GSE. The unit will come with a suggested retail price of NT$18,000-20,000 ($532 – $590, €395 – €440, £370 – £415). We’ll come back with more information on this exciting break-through as we have it.
Update: We have attached some pictures of the E1004DN after the break.
Update 2: We now have full specifications for the 1004DN, see them here. Read more
New Asus Eee PC 1002H netbook revealed
March 26, 2009 at 12:06 pm
A new 10-inch Asus netbook has just appeared on its official site. The confusing model names continue with this new netbook dubbed the ‘1002H’ (we already have the 1000, 1000H, 1000HE, 1002HA as well as the upcoming 1008HA!) Now from what I can tell, the 1002H is nearly identical to the 1002HA. The way in which it differs include a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 CPU on the 1002H, compared to the 1.6GHz N270 CPU on the 1002HA. The 1002H also comes with a 92-percent sized chiclet-style (254mm) keyboard, compared to a normal keyboard on the 1002HA.
The other main difference is down to the styling. The chassis uses infusion technology which means that the Eee motif is inlaid within the laptop surface itself. The whole chassis is also coated in a scratch resistant and hard-coated surface which means that the design should not fade over time. The 1002H will come in three colours, Pearl White, Pink, Black.
The rest of the features are identical to the 1002HA. It has a 10-inch (1024 x 600) LED backlit display and comes with 1GB RAM and a 160GB hard-disk drive plus 10GB of online Eee storage. The trackpad also has multi-touch gesture input. It has the same weight (1.2kg) and dimensions (264mm x 181mm x 27.6mm) too. Battery life stands at 5 hours, same as the 1002HA. Other features include WiFi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, a 1.3MP camera, digital microphone array and stereo speakers. There’s also a VGA output, three USB 2.0 ports, an ethernet port, audio in/out and a multiformat memory-card reader. Pricing and availability are unknown at this time. Click through for a full gallery of pictures. Read more
Netbooks not cheap enough for Chinese
March 25, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Whilst netbooks are supposed to represent cheap and cheerful computing, for some they are just not cheap enough. Netbooks from some of the leading brands, such as Asustek and Lenovo, have seen sales fall short of expectations in China.
This has led to some Taiwanese netbook vendors questioning the potential of the netbook market in China. The main problem seems to be one of price. These vendors feel that the current average selling price of 2,000 Yuan (£192) is too expensive, especially in the rural parts of China. Most consumers find that public Internet cafes are more economical than owning a netbook outright according to sources. Could this also have something to do with the fact that access to the Internet may be patchy in rural parts of the country I wonder?
Via Digitimes.
Netbook Review Roundup 24/03/2009
March 24, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Netbook Choice’s roundup of netbook reviews from around the web on Tuesday 24th March 2009.
Asus Eee PC 1000HE @ Tech Radar
Rating: 4 Stars
Asus Eee PC 1000HE @ ubergizmo
Rating: N/A
HP Mini 1018TU Vivienne Tam Edition @ TechTree
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Samsung NC20 @ Notebook Review
Rating: N/A
Toshiba NB100 @ Stuff.co.nz
Rating: N/A
Asus takes top position in reliability study
March 24, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Asus is the most reliable computer manufacturer according to the latest RescueCom reliability report. The study compares computer manufacturers market share with consumer service calls from RescueComs call centre to determine the most and least reliable brands. Scores are based on a sample of 15,000+ calls during the last quarter (Q4 2008), with the two most important measures of reliability placed on quality of components used in manufacturing the computer and after-sale support to customers.
Asus has taken the lead over from Apple, which was ranked number one in 2008 for the lowest number of service calls. Apple slipped into third place in the latest report behind IBM/Lenovo. Sony and Dell did not rank. Asus’ score of 972 was well ahead of IBM/Lenovo at 348. However this is mainly due to the fact that Asus Eee PC shipping numbers skyrocketed from September yet RescueCom received a disproportionately small number of calls during this period. It will be interesting to see whether Asus can hold onto the Eee PCs are put through rigorous use.
The PCs reported to have the strongest reliability scores are as follows:
ASUS (972)* & IBM/LENOVO (348)
APPLE (324)
TOSHIBA (172)
ACER (151)
HP/COMPAQ (142)
Voice-controlled Asus Eee PCs due in H2 2009
March 24, 2009 at 8:27 am
Asus certainly looks to be pushing the boundaries of notebook/netbook technology. Having already announced that it expects its Fold/Unfold concept to have a commercial release this year, it has also mentioned that it wants to see ‘the end of the keyboard’ according to an interview with Asus CEO Jerry Shen.
Asus expects to launch its first Eee products (both netbook and nettop segments) which implement voice-recognition in the second half of this year. “Actually, internally we have one team dedicated to studying voice recognition. Touch and gesture input is universal, whereas language is not universal,” said Jerry Shen. It sounds like something that the company does seem to be pushing hard with dedicated teams in place working with third parties in both Japan and the US.
Now what I am confused about is that Asus Eee PCs have had some element of voice control features since the original 701. Back then, a number of apps could be launched by talking into a microphone. Now that was based on the Linux distro, so maybe Asus will be expanding this voice functionality into a Windows based system. Either way I’m not entirely sure what Asus has in store for us.
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