Topic: $189 laptop announced by ASUS.

[Nemesis]

Link to full article

Asus chairman Jonney Shih sprang a surprise during Intel's Computex keynote today with the announcement of a $189 laptop.

The notebook measures roughly 120 x 100 x 30mm (WDH) and weighs only 900g. We saw the notebook boot in 15 seconds from its solid-state hard disk.

A little light on info but interesting none the less.

[Nemesis]

I found some more information.  Partially speculative.

Link to full article

There appear to be conflicting reports about the 3ePC's size. Much early web coverage sizes the device at about half as large as a normal laptop -- 4.7 x 3.9 x 1.2 inches (120 x 100 x 30mm). For its part, Asus lists the dimensions as 8.6 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches (225 x 165 x 21-35mm). Everyone seems to agree the device will weigh about two pounds (890gm), and have a 7-inch display.

The 3epc is based on an unspecified Intel processor and chipset. Given the laptop's low cost, it may well be among the first products based on Tolopai, Intel's forthcoming Pentium M-powered SoC (system-on-chip). Along with a Pentium M core clocked between 600MHz and 1.2GHz, initial Tolopai chips are expected to integrate components traditionally found in PC northbridges and southbridges -- a graphics processing unit (GPU), external memory and storage controllers, and peripheral interfaces such as USB and Ethernet.

[Just plain old Punisher]

Eh, you can buy a used laptop for not much more money and get a whole heck of a lot more functionality.

[Nemesis]

Eh, you can buy a used laptop for not much more money and get a whole heck of a lot more functionality.

From what I have seen with used laptops the batteries are in terrible shape and they weigh far more than 2 pounds.

[Just plain old Punisher]

Eh, you can buy a used laptop for not much more money and get a whole heck of a lot more functionality.

From what I have seen with used laptops the batteries are in terrible shape and they weigh far more than 2 pounds.

Then buy a new battery off E-Bay for 40 bucks.

Not a big deal.

Weight isn't the central problem here, especially when you compromise functionality. Heck with a 2 gig "flash drive" you'll have hardly any room for additional programs and the like.

Sure the sucker may be "rugged" and it might be the laptop you'll want to bring while you're backpacking in the African jungle. But here's the damn kicker ladies and gents. At 189 bucks, that's still much more than any average joe in the third world can afford. And most people in the third world don't have any use at all for a laptop. They'd prefer to eat.

[Nemesis]

Adding $40 for the E-Bay battery raises the price of the used machine a substantial percentage.

This isn't the "one laptop per child" machine this is aimed at the industrialized world.

It would be lousy as a desktop replacement but excellent as a lightweight go everywhere notetaker.   Think of it as a super PDA.  Assuming that it has USB ports you can add additional capacity as needed you might even already have such drives.  Also 2 GB is the baseline model with other higher capacities to 16GB.

[Sirgod]

Actually I could see it as a vacation device. something to send email, read the local news, maybe even have some maps on it. For gaming, or as anopther Buisness device, I would have much use for it, but for travel, sure, sign me up.

Stephen

[Just plain old Punisher]

Adding $40 for the E-Bay battery raises the price of the used machine a substantial percentage.

This isn't the "one laptop per child" machine this is aimed at the industrialized world.

It would be lousy as a desktop replacement but excellent as a lightweight go everywhere notetaker.   Think of it as a super PDA.  Assuming that it has USB ports you can add additional capacity as needed you might even already have such drives.  Also 2 GB is the baseline model with other higher capacities to 16GB.

But that's the problem isn't it. We already have PDA's that are small. This thing is big.

As far as taking notes is concerned, that's what notebooks are for. They're 99 cents =)

So you'd have basic functionality, and you wouldn't have the compact size. Trust me, this won't be a big hit here in the states, and the third world won't be interested either because they have no use for computers for the most part.

[Nemesis]

But that's the problem isn't it. We already have PDA's that are small. This thing is big.

It has a fully functional keyboard integrated in.  A screen that you can do actual text editing on and is still light weight.  I think that you underestimate its uses.  I have a PDA and a laptop, in many cases I would prefer something like this to either.  If I could have gotten something like this I wouldn't have bothered with the much heavier and far more expensive laptop.  The PDA is great to carry when I have no real expectation of needing it (but still might).  One of these would replace the laptop fully for me.

[Just plain old Punisher]

But that's the problem isn't it. We already have PDA's that are small. This thing is big.

It has a fully functional keyboard integrated in.  A screen that you can do actual text editing on and is still light weight.  I think that you underestimate its uses.  I have a PDA and a laptop, in many cases I would prefer something like this to either.  If I could have gotten something like this I wouldn't have bothered with the much heavier and far more expensive laptop.  The PDA is great to carry when I have no real expectation of needing it (but still might).  One of these would replace the laptop fully for me.

And you'd have a laptop for just text editing, and a laptop for maybe playing games or watching a DVD. See what I'm getting at?

Who would want this barley functional device when they can have much better technology for a couple hundred bucks more.

[Commander La'ra]

I'm a desktop guy, and probably always will be.  The big reasons I've occasionally considered a laptop purchase is for precisely what this thing would be useful for.  I'd spring for a portable internet/word processing machine for the stated cost, mostly because the extra money I'd be paying for a fully functional laptop would be wasted.

[Nemesis]

And you'd have a laptop for just text editing, and a laptop for maybe playing games or watching a DVD. See what I'm getting at?

I would have one of these for note taking and running other light programs and a desktop for heavier stuff.  No other laptop.  This is exactly what I wanted the laptop for.   I have a portable DVD player and it combined with this is still substantially lighter than the laptop.  I still wouldn't be carrying both in any case I can think of off hand, just one or the other.

Those who need or want a full function laptop would spend the extra money for those features others would not.  Most families could afford one of these for each kid in the right age bracket but would have trouble getting a full featured laptop for each. 

[Just plain old Punisher]

Well, we shall see what the market decides. But every time they offer these low-cost, low-function models it never seems to work well. Remember E-Machines?

[Villa64]

I've got over 200000 frequent flier miles in the last few years, and I can tell you that I look with envy at the guys who are booting up little mini laptops, while I am lugging my [highly capable] HP with 15" screen.

I dont need much functionality..type a paper, do some email, power point... just some microsoft office apps I guess.

[Commander La'ra]

Well, we shall see what the market decides. But every time they offer these low-cost, low-function models it never seems to work well. Remember E-Machines?

Hope they last long enough for me to get one.

[Nemesis]

Now that they are being released to the market there is more information and price increases.

Link to full article

The most important information is of course the price. Here we have a small disappointment. The price of the Asus Eee PC starts at $299 and goes as high as $399 depending on the configuration.

Back in June the price of the Asus Eee PC was communicated with $199, which would have really been hot. The lowest configuration of the Eee PC is dubbed Eee PC 2G Surf and has 256MB RAM, 2GB SSD, small battery and no camera. With 256MB you can forget running Windows XP.
For power users the Asus Eee PC 8G is anyway the only choice. $399 is not that bad for a 7 inch notebook with 1GB RAM, 8GB SSD, webcam and 3.5h battery life. On the Eee PC 8G, I can imagine running Windows XP reasonably well.

A 2nd article

The company will sell a version of the Eee PC with Windows XP in mature markets such as the U.S. and Europe for around $1,000, while a configuration aimed at emerging market nations will cost about $500, said Jerry Shen, president of Asustek, during an investors conference Tuesday in Beitou, Taiwan.

No explanation of the high premium for Windows on the machine.

Asustek has shipped 100,000 Eee PCs so far this month to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Thailand, said Shen, and he is targeting 400,000 units by the end of this year.

Next year, Asustek forecasts it will ship 3.8 million Eee PCs.

"We're in talks with a few governments and we have already confirmed orders for one million units next year," said Sunny Han, global marketing director at the company.

Asustek also reaffirmed its commitment to pushing the cost of the Eee PC down to $199, nearly the same as the XO laptop developed by the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Project. OLPC is pricing the laptops at $200 according to its Givemany and Laptopgiving donor programs.

Two higher-priced Eee PCs were also launched. The NT$11,100 version included a built-in camera and speakers, and can carry out simple voice commands such as "computer, access the Internet," or "computer, make a phone call." It contains a 900MHz Intel Celeron M processor, 512M bytes of DDR2 DRAM (double data rate, generation two dynamic RAM) and a 4G-byte flash drive. The other laptop, at NT$13,888 and due out at the end of November, carries an 8G-byte flash drive and 1G byte of DDR2 DRAM in addition to features similar to the NT$11,100 version.

Possible explanation for the price with XP: (note this referred to a demo machine and did not specify that it was included in the price)

The hardware on board was the same as for the NT$11,100 Linux-based Eee PC. The Windows Eee PC included Office 2003 versions of Excel, PowerPoint and Word.

Adding MS Office as well as Windows XP would explain the price premium.

[Dash Jones]

I think it would be a great internet machine.  That's all I'd use it for, but for that use, it appears great.

[Nemesis]

I've seen them now.  The keyboard is small but I was able to touch type on it though it is cramped for my hands.  If it wasn't for my job situation I would get one of the high end models.

[Dash Jones]

Where did you see it, in case I want to pick one up?

[Nemesis]

Both were in Toronto one was just a local store the other was a The Source (formerly Radio Shack) store.

[Dash Jones]

Hmm, I'll have to check on of those out if I am near one.