Asus says it'll ship 3.8 million Eee PCs next year

It's no secret that Asus has some big expectations for its low-cost Eee PC, but it looks like the company is now getting a bit more specific on the matter, with it saying it expects to ship some 3.8 million of the laptops in the next fiscal year. To put that in some perspective, HP (currently at the top of the laptop heap) shipped some 6.2 million laptops total in the last quarter, while Apple sold approximately 1.4 million in the same time period. Given that Asus is talking about one particular model (with few variations), however, 3.8 million in a year certainly isn't too shabby. What's more, as Daily Tech reports, at least some of those 3.8 million laptops will be shipping with Windows -- specifically, a stripped-down version of XP that's been designed for "emerging markets." Stripped-down or not, however, those'll apparently still demand a $30 to $60 premium over the base, non-Windows model.

[Laptop sales figures courtesy of CNET News.com]

[mhmdkhamis @ Feb 4th 2008 9:11PM]

Linux on a small drive and some low powered apps on a lightweight install, fair enough. I can see the uses and definitely see it being worth the effort and the money.Nice little portable media player running off SD cards or memory sticks. And a full DVD will fit on a pretty average sized SD card with a bit of compression..

http://game.paramegsoft.com/
http://www.paramegsoft.com/forum/

[kamakaze @ Jan 3rd 2009 12:10AM]

i want one, but i just can't justify buying one because i know that it'll become obsolete before i even pull it out of the box...ugh.

[Joe @ Dec 4th 2007 4:36PM]

That's great!!

Now just send me ONE that has a higher rez screen and we're all set!

[superfresh @ Dec 4th 2007 4:35PM]

Can't wait to get one. And I won't be tainting it with XP.

[jperry2010 @ Dec 4th 2007 4:36PM]

Yeah, I'm thinking that I am going to have to buy one just to play with it.

[Das @ Dec 4th 2007 4:45PM]

I'd pay more to get XP installed by default, so long as it dual boots.
I've been dual booting Ubuntu and XP for a little over a year now and for me it's a perfect setup. I like Ubuntu but I'm not so naive that I think I can go with only Linux, what with the Photoshop/Illustrator and Solidworks just not working in Linux.

[John Bailey @ Dec 5th 2007 2:25AM]

And you really think that Photoshop on a low resolution screen running on a 4 gig flash drive would be practical?? I have my doubts with even an old version of Photoshop..

Linux on a small drive and some low powered apps on a lightweight install, fair enough. I can see the uses and definitely see it being worth the effort and the money.Nice little portable media player running off SD cards or memory sticks. And a full DVD will fit on a pretty average sized SD card with a bit of compression..

But Windows+firewall+virus scanner+Photoshop. As proof that it can be done perhaps, but as a useful device?

[MonteVale @ Dec 5th 2007 1:09PM]

I wouldn't photoshop or any other crazy thing like this on 800x600 as it is reserved for the two x 24" screens on my desk.
However I would love to get this thing running Microsoft Outlook connected to an exchange server.
Now, is there a way to do this in Linux? (Outlook for Web doesn't count)
A stripped down, really gutted version of WinXP that is what this device is aking for.

[dmanman @ Dec 5th 2007 1:57PM]

"However I would love to get this thing running Microsoft Outlook connected to an exchange server.
Now, is there a way to do this in Linux? (Outlook for Web doesn't count)"

http://www.gnome.org/projects/evolution/

[mohaine @ Dec 5th 2007 2:03PM]

Yes, it is called Evolution. It connects to Exchange and is basically an Outlook clone.

[Charles Hamilton @ Dec 4th 2007 4:49PM]

I don"t think you are going to want to run photoshop on this little beasty.

[JC @ Dec 4th 2007 9:34PM]

Actually, if you head over to the EEE user forums, people are running CS3 decently on their EEE's. I have one myself, upgraded to 2GB of RAM, and this thing rocks!

[ReductiMat @ Dec 13th 2007 2:16PM]

What's more amazing is that these guys have been able to meet demand, unlike the Nintendian ones.

[Rotinom @ Dec 4th 2007 5:06PM]

Call me crazy, but I just don't get it. Hear me out before you flame on. I'm a windows developer, so what I want from a laptop is be able to run Visual Studio capably (1gb ram and 1Ghz is all I ask for). Decent HD storage. Easy to carry. Can surf the net & check email on the road.

Pros:
$350 price. Roughly $150 from nearest competition
Size. Really tiny.
Battery life. Haven't heard specifics, but 5 hours seems to stick out.
Linux
Wireless
Camera

Cons:
Tiny screen
No DVD/CD drive
Only 1.4 gb of Disc space left. Reasonably only about 3gb available.
no DVD drive
512MB ram
Not very expandable without "hacking" it w/ a soldering iron

So, for $150 more, I get a laptop with Windows, a larger screen, option to go dual boot out of the box, relatively expandable w/ a new HD, and a DVD drive.

So, some more ideas would be great, but I would have a tough time justifying $350 for this thing.

[AGG @ Dec 4th 2007 5:10PM]

"Crazy."

[ryan @ Dec 4th 2007 5:16PM]

Keep in mind that the Windows machine you speak of would probably be about 4 times the size of the Eee PC.

[Luigi193 @ Dec 4th 2007 5:21PM]

I started thinking the same thing, but then realized what its meant for. Ultra portability, not speed. Its fun to experiment with too because its so inexpensive.

So yes, you could get a faster windows machine, or ibook g4 for almost the same price, but this is meant to be a small compact little laptop.

[akatsuki @ Dec 4th 2007 5:26PM]

Seriously you just don't get it. This is not aimed at you at all. Think of this as a laptop you can leave by the pool or use in the kitchen without worrying about, carry to the Starbucks easily just to do some surfing and email... along with a regular book to read and a couple of bricks to make up the weight difference you are talking about.

You want to develop? Go buy a different machine. You want to develop for Windows, definitely go buy a different machine.

[Brian @ Dec 4th 2007 5:30PM]

It's a trade-off between functionality and price... I've done development, web design, and photo editing for years on a Panasonic R4, and more recently an R6 (about 9" x 7" x 1" with a 10.4 inch screen). Everything Panasonic makes puts the Eee PC to shame, but people aren't willing to pay for small and powerful in America, which is why we don't see real ultraportables here without import.

[stillen @ Dec 4th 2007 5:40PM]

Yes, you can get a 10 lb.(I exaggerate a bit I know, but they do get frickin heavy) laptop and have it totally customizable, but you'd be comparing 2 different classes of PC's if you try and pit it against the eee. You have the multimedia laptops(the ones you refer to) and then you have Ultra Mobile PC's which the eee falls into. Other PC's in the eee's class cost hundreds even thousands more, just to have the all of that functionality in such a small form factor.

You are looking at this from the standpoint of: Can I easily take it with me, and does it do everything I need. Most people look at it from the same standpoint and for A LOT of people, the eee suits their needs just fine. You've proven to yourself that this will not work for you, that's great. For those of us who like new and upcoming gadgets, we realize that this is a revolutionary product.

I say cheers to eee in all it's low cost, ultra portable, easily moddable glory!

[Ryan @ Dec 4th 2007 5:18PM]

Rotinom, you're not crazy at all, that is a great pros/cons list and I feel the same way.

Das, with these specs I think Photoshop / Illustrator is a no-go. This machine is for comfortable, fast internet usage.

[BigBirdUK @ Dec 4th 2007 5:40PM]

Wrong Ryan, he's a loon.

[Cpt.Planet @ Dec 4th 2007 6:11PM]

The only thing holding me back from buying one is a bigger screen, hopefully the wait for the next version won't be too long.

[nsicad @ Dec 4th 2007 6:41PM]

Visit http://eeeuser.com if you want to buy one and read users comments and hacking. I got mine last week.

[Steve Robs @ Dec 4th 2007 7:17PM]

This will be great for a toy around the house to check mail, read a blog, make skype calls, searching for masterbation fodder while sitting on the john, etc.

I will wait for version 2 sometime next year...bigger screen with lower power consumption and longer batter life...and more memory hopefully and splash proof too. I don't want to burn my beanbag on it either.

[Taming @ Dec 4th 2007 8:48PM]

I'll be going for the windows version, why, you might ask, especially if you knew that I am a Linux fan. I am a social work type and my work involves driving around town seeing clients. Each visit requires a note and the on-line system we uses only works with IE. Currently I do several hours of work each night when I get home. With this little baby I will be able to do my notes throughout the day as I go, without having to lug around a big machine.

[Roger @ Dec 4th 2007 10:53PM]

Count me in. I use Google mail/apps/calendar for most of my jobs (I'm a writer). That enabled me to switch from Microsoft to Apple a year ago ... which was a relief. But I'd be happy to swap from Apple to Linux as I just like the concept of 'the network is the computer'.

[Apollon @ Dec 5th 2007 9:31AM]

Asus eee success is great for all consumers. It wont be long before all the competitors release a similar product for a similar price.
I'm really looking forward to a 10" model.
I also like the mod that was done, where a 16MB pen drive was stripped and soldered into the eee along with a Blue tooth module. Asus will no doubt make this a upgrade able option in future.

[Jaffo @ Dec 5th 2007 4:35AM]

Waste of money til they bring one out with a decent res screen; I had an old laptop that I used for downloading that was 800x600 and it was next to useless for anything else and this is only 800x480 or something like that. Next version (or competitor models) will be worth a look.

[CosterMonger @ Dec 5th 2007 10:50AM]

I guess Microsoft took a look at tinyXP and wondered "why didn't we do that?"
sadly I read you need Windows to run StarCraft on the EeePC

Portable Emulation Station complete with USB ports for a controller - I want one.

[nairbv @ Dec 7th 2007 3:17AM]

rotinom:

Instead of comparing it to a $500 6lb laptop, instead think of it in comparison to a 300$ feature laden web browsing pocketPC/palm/cell phone. That's where you really see the value of these.

And, one thing that really appeals to me is the solid state hard drive. Those are incredible and worth quite a bit. You're talking no moving parts. I've used my laptop in a boat... and since the harddrive shuts off when it thinks it's being dropped, it shuts off on the top of every wave. Yeah I can probably turn that off, but either way the laptop isn't going to last long in that environment.

A laptop with a solid state drive... the data will last a long long time, .. you could probably drop this thing with it turned on, over and over again, and toss it to a friend across the room with out doing much damage (not that I'm recommending it).

I know they'll be quite expensive at first, ... but I'm drooling over the future larger sized solidstate drives that will eventually be in more wide spread use.

obviously, for development, you need a development machine. This isn't a "computer" in the normal sense of how we think of computers, and I think many of those who want a fully functional windows installation will be disappointed. This is probably better thought of as a little web surfing machine/tool/appliance, like a cell phone or electronic address book or an ebook reader.

[Rick @ Dec 8th 2007 8:36PM]

After being a proud owner of an Eeepc I recently wrote about how Linux is making the UMPC, a highly disruptive combination. See:

http://sourcesmouth.co.uk/blog/Forget-the-Linux-Desktop-it-s-the-Linux-Laptop-that-matters.html