Asus' new Eee PC 701 joins the laptop-lite fray with a bang

Asus and Intel seem to be bridging the gap between the fairly humanitarian efforts of the OLPC project and their own Classmate PC efforts, and the recent rash of mini-laptop attempts such as Palm's Foleo and VIA's NanoBook. Specs and launch plans aren't entirely nailed down, but this new Eee PC line has quite a bit going for it, even as crowded as this market is getting. The 7-inch ultraportable is based on an unnamed Intel chipset, and runs regular Windows XP or Linux without a problem, but really shines in its "easy" mode that strips things down to a barebones OS mainly for internet browsing (sound familiar, Foleo?). Asus didn't even leave Palm alone with its Wii comparisons either, stating that the Eee name, which stands for "easy to learn, easy to play, easy to work," also conveniently conjures images of the Wii game console, which is known for being novice-friendly. The Eee line will kick things off with the Eee PC 701, which will sport 802.11b/g WiFi, Ethernet and a modem for connectivity, along with a webcam, 512MB of RAM and a 4, 8 or 16GB flash drive for speedy, reliable storage. The real kicker is that prices for the 2 pound laptop are supposed to start as low as $200, and the Intel / Asus duo won't be aiming this at massive governmental purchases, but instead will be offering it to consumers through traditional retail channels.

[Via HardwareZone]

[Logan @ Jun 5th 2007 12:46PM]

Should we call this the Foil-eo??

[YukonDawg @ Jun 5th 2007 12:50PM]

Buh-bye Folly-Oh!

[Erik @ Jun 5th 2007 1:01PM]

"The real kicker is that prices for the 2 pound laptop are supposed to start as low as $200"

Sure it will start at $200...and there are flying pigs but they are a rare breed.

[zorg @ Jun 5th 2007 1:05PM]

This will be great for boys like Logan and YukonDawg who need to convince someone that 7" is better than 10"!

[Logan @ Jun 5th 2007 1:13PM]

lol not just the screen. if u want just a bigger screen then get u a monitor.

[Ryhan @ Jun 5th 2007 1:06PM]

"OLPC" intrigues me; it would be intersting if schools in america could hae a laptop per child, and help subsidizethe cost. Then, schools could get rid of aging equipment, and reap all the benefits of modern software...

It would be nice if apple tried too...

[G$ @ Jun 5th 2007 1:08PM]

Battery Life: 3hrs

That's a real disappointment.

[Jenelle @ Jun 28th 2007 1:08PM]

Gee, didn't we get used to that kind of battery life with our flashlights and our cell phones? What is a battery, anyway.

I'd like to see some meaty follow up ideas for wrangling all those spent batteries (Cadmium, Mercury, etc) into an environmentally responsible recycle solution. That's going to be an important social concern in about 50 years.

[Bachus @ Jun 5th 2007 1:10PM]

my days of relying on a smartphone for powerpoints, etc in class are nearing an end, thank god. skype this bitch and good-bye t-mo. (wifi blanket all over campus, and i've got a gaming rig too expensive for a laptop companion)

[Marek @ Jun 5th 2007 1:12PM]

$200? Sign me up.
Pricing seems ridiculous - I'll assume that cost increases exponentially as you opt for bigger drive options.
Windows on this thing? I think it's time to try out Ubuntu.

[Logan @ Jun 5th 2007 1:21PM]

besides that, it also has memory and sells for less than half the price of the folly-o.

[JeffNLA @ Jun 5th 2007 1:28PM]

What a good concept. I always wanted a quick somewhat inexpensive way to surf and check email around the house.

[Blink @ Jun 5th 2007 1:31PM]

This would be perfect for enterprise admins. Use a citrix desktop for any heavy lifting and your set. EEE + Me = No crackberry

[Jon Acheson @ Jun 5th 2007 1:34PM]

That screen is probably going to be the sticking point. It's too small to read PDFs on (assuming 800x480 resolution), and would kind of suck for web browsing too. The three hour battery life is not particularly good either.

OTOH, it may beat the Foleo on processing power. And it's certainly inexpensive.

[Russ @ Jun 5th 2007 1:35PM]

Oh man, are you kidding me? For $200 I'd snap this up in a heartbeat, dumb name notwithstanding. Even if it only has 4gb of storage, that would be more than enough to run Ubuntu (I have it installed on a 5gb partition on my giant HP laptop, and use it way more than I use the XP install.)

Obviously this would make a lousy primary computer, but for college nerds like me with powerful desktops in their dorm rooms, this would be a great mobile companion, especially on a campus with wifi everywhere. With a remote desktop client on this thing, I could even run more resource intensive stuff from anywhere.

The only thing I can think of that I'd want more storage for is to carry around music to listen to in the library, but that's easily solved by bringing along my iPod. I could even plug it into this for more storage.

Where do I sign up?

[damocles @ Jun 8th 2007 7:58AM]

Depending on which chipsets they use in regards to driver issues, I'm thinking about running AROS on it. AROS has a very tiny foot print so base model will have excessive amount of system capability.

[Danolo @ Jun 23rd 2007 12:14AM]

Hey Russ,
You could VPN to your larger compy from this one to play your music.

-d

[Scott Schneider @ Jun 5th 2007 1:41PM]

Like everyone else said @ $200 I'll take one in a minute. I've wanted a small wifi device w/keyboard for net surfing. Foleo is dead on arrival. Palm is sinking deeper and deeper into the dead pool. Maybe Bono and the ipod designer can still save them.

[Anthony @ Jun 5th 2007 1:48PM]

Our family's tried both Nokia 770 & N800. No keyboard made it difficult to really search (browse, yes).

According to one of the original links Windows not included, but who cares? Put on Opera & some basic aps & you've got a winner.

[dave @ Jun 5th 2007 1:56PM]

Finally the ultra-portable market has some real potential. Developments in last month mean pocket-sized computing (assuming big pockets) at reasonable price- no more $1,500 Sony umpc w/4in screen.

[k0a10 @ Jun 5th 2007 2:03PM]

This is all promised but who knows what it will cost and when it will arrive. A smoke screen. Judging by the camera placement, it's not well designed, do you want to video chat with someone who is always looking down? Typical cheap knock off mentality.

[BigD @ Jun 6th 2007 6:00AM]

I like this computer. I paid about $2300 on a 10" convertible tablet last year, and this would have sufficed for all intents and purposes. I only use it to surf the web on the buses and trains when I'm in transit, and for viewing media. This might fall a little short in processing video codecs snd whatnot, but I'd be willing to deal with that. Give me this computer and iriver's bluetooth S10 with wrist accessory (they showed it off at CES), and I'll be set for gadgets this year....hopefully.


As to the placement of the camera...I don't look at the camera when I video chat. I look at the screen so I can see who I'm chatting with. Camera placement isn't that much of an issue in this case. In the case of most laptops that have included a cam for video chat, the top mounted camera is actually less suited to chatting because if you adjust your screen for glare reduction (all the screens seem to have gone glossy), you lose the angle for the camera (except in the cases of those designers with enough foresight to add rotation).

[YukonDawg @ Jun 5th 2007 2:10PM]

@zorg - sometimes it's not always about size but what you do with it ;)

Eee looks to run *FULL* XP or Vista, not a proprietary Linux implementation, and would be far more portable for those who need to do some computing on the run. Many of the limitations that have hampered doing "real" stuff on Palm, Windows CE/Mobile, & Symbian PDA's and smartphones can finally be addressed in a device like this. Sure we've had OGO, Vaio UX, etc, but the main roadblock was the price. Even a double the price ($400), the Eee would be a bargain.

[Stefan W. @ Jun 5th 2007 2:14PM]

How long 'till apple comes up with a iEEE :)

[patsy @ Jun 5th 2007 2:23PM]

Sign me up. I was all stoked about the new Samsung Q1 Ultra, especially the low-end one, except they decided to make it out of Unobtainium. If this thing starts showing up first, even with its lower capabilities, I'm in. All I really want is a TV couch browser that won't scorch my lap and is more capable than Pocket IE on my PDA.

[DorianGray @ Jun 5th 2007 2:27PM]

Finally, a notebook small enough to browse while on the shitter. If my fumes burn out the electronics, no probs: it's only $200.

[JeffNLA @ Jun 5th 2007 2:29PM]

Funny!

[Cupajo @ Jun 6th 2007 7:50PM]

"If my fumes burn out the electronics..."


What the hell are you eating?! 8o

[steve @ Jun 5th 2007 5:03PM]

that has got to be the funnest comment i've read all day. Only to the street fighter 2 vs child video

[Tomas @ Jun 5th 2007 3:32PM]

As much as I love the idea of the Nokia internet tablet, something like this would completely kill that market. Similar size, more functionality, and cheaper!

[Stephan @ Jun 5th 2007 3:40PM]

"What the hell are you eating"

Unless it is in brownies I don't think he is eating anything...

Oh yea at $200 please sign me up!

[tiuk @ Jun 5th 2007 4:21PM]

Hope this turns out as awesome (and cheap) as it sounds.

[actionjack @ Jun 5th 2007 4:31PM]

At $200 I'll buy 2 even if it doesn't run OS X

[Bryce @ Jun 5th 2007 5:06PM]

this is freak'n awesome! it would be sweet to get a usb gps receiver, alot cheaper than a tom tom, with wireless browsing. great class room device. and starting at 200 bucks... holy crap. you could even watch movie's on it i suppose.

[WeakGeek @ Jun 5th 2007 6:43PM]

Where do I send the check?

Seriously.

[Coleman Foley @ Jun 5th 2007 7:40PM]

Screen size is the most important thing for this type of device, yet it is one of the least-emphasized things in the article.

[Sheila @ Jun 5th 2007 7:45PM]

I hope the higher price modules will include a 60/80/100gb hd! I can surf the web and have my entire music library in the palm of my hand. I would buy one.

Does it have a USB port or bluetooth so that I can connect to my phone network (Sprint)?

Will it support WiMax?

[rich @ Jun 5th 2007 11:33PM]

Lol - hey ASUS I hope you got Apple's permission before booting OSx86 on that thing :-)

Couple of screenies from their flash demo show it running safari

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=6fkgrxl
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=4qp2hyt

tut tut tut lol

[kyle allen @ Jun 6th 2007 1:13AM]

reminds me of the good ol libretto. cept a heck of alot cheaper

[Aymeric @ Jun 6th 2007 8:21AM]

Wh!!!!!!!
nice

[David @ Jun 6th 2007 8:52AM]

I'd be in for one, maybe two. For sure I'd drop one of these into my car, have it connect to the network in my condo whenever it was in range and have it sync music... I could use it to listen to a good portion of my music library and have it permanently installed in my car. The second use would be one of the main reasons I'd want a ultra-portable, I'd take it with me on vacations and download all the pictures I take off my memory cards. I'd originally planned to get a macbook to do this since they were small good battery life, and could play WoW (when I was housesitting for people which I seem to do a lot), but this would work well enough for everything but playing WoW.

[kit @ Jun 6th 2007 11:09AM]

just add HSDPA or EVDO or EDGE to the mix and I'm undescribably happy.

[Mattison @ Jun 6th 2007 4:00PM]

Since the indrustry has everyone paying thousands of dollars for computers, when one comes out prices at two hundred you all don't believe it and think there is a hitch, like huge prices for upgrades. Tech is pricing cheaper as we gain knowledge and building standards shrink. Now, if you only knew what it costs to actually produce and ship your gasoline, you'll really F-L-I-P!

[highjumpman @ Jun 6th 2007 4:16PM]

And there dies the reason to buy a $200 PDA...

[Thomas @ Jun 6th 2007 5:45PM]

I would definitely be willing to pay $300 if the screen was really, er, full-screen.

[Jim Smith @ Jun 6th 2007 7:58PM]

$200.00 not bad. But, I think I'll wait for the movie :)

[Jelpy @ Jun 6th 2007 8:33PM]

Did they say that for $200 (TARGET) you only get a barebone system with everything being optional?! Screen is option, as are CPU, RAM, storage, Windows?! I bet it HAS to be so to reach the $200 TARGET price.

lol

[Conner Owen @ Jun 7th 2007 12:31AM]

so whens it coming out for other countries?

[Erlik @ Jun 8th 2007 3:48AM]

I would definitely buy this for that price if the start selling it in Europe (I may even bring back one if it's availlable during my next trip to the US). From pictures I have seen the device has 3 USB ports so you can add a mouse and probably an external HDD or USB drive for external storage. I actually think this is a better solution than integrating the HDD storage in the machine. There is also a VGA out and carbus slot, so it's possible we see extentions for this (GPS etc...), the only potential issue being driver compatibility since this will be a linux based computer (I don't think the Windows option is really a good idea on such a machine).
I definitelly think they have a winner here, does anyone know when it will go on sale.

[ShadowVlican @ Jun 8th 2007 3:19PM]

i'll take two.