Eee PC killer coming from Acer?

Is Acer prepping to go head-to-head with ASUS in the surprisingly hot low-cost laptop market? A Chinese-language Commercial Times report says so. The laptops are expected to carry 8- and 9-inch displays when launched "late in the first quarter or early second quarter" and priced to compete directly with the Eee. Of course, ASUS is planning their own refresh about that time so Acer (and Everex) had better keep on its toes.

[Superprime @ Jan 16th 2008 5:30AM]

Wohoo! We the consumers stand only to win from this

[Joe @ Jan 16th 2008 9:11AM]

Absolutely... war on!

Apple's totally gonna have an eeePC killer at MacWo... oh, nevermind.

[D.L. @ Jan 16th 2008 9:30AM]

Cheap laptops from Acer?

How much cheaper can they get, I got my Acer Core2Duo 5620 for $499 in December.

[Jeebus @ Jan 16th 2008 11:30PM]

I'd like one with touch screen and no keyboard. Basically, all screen.

[Adam @ Jan 16th 2008 5:46AM]

I've been wanting an eeepc since it came out & I've been playing with one for a few days now (I love it even more now) but it looks like waiting to buy one was a good idea, bring on more players, its only better for us.

[MaxP @ Jan 16th 2008 6:04AM]

yeah, now that we also have the Air... lol

[Oinquer @ Jan 16th 2008 6:07AM]

i just hope this ones don't take a lifetime to come to europe...

[Adam @ Jan 16th 2008 6:17AM]

Apple can shove the air, we want small and cheap, not the $2499 price tag that they have put on it in Australia. Bring on the next gen eeepc & what ever else anyone has to compete with it.

[Superprime @ Jan 16th 2008 6:41AM]

Asus EEE was out in Europe the same day it was up on Newegg.com

[Tim Brown @ Jan 16th 2008 8:37AM]

The fact that you could buy all of the competing computers for 1 air and have change (a lot of it as well) left over, F that, give me function over form any day! Add to that the fact that you can mod any of the PC laptops without voiding the warrantee (well much, thanks to Asus updating theirs), where as with anything Apple, you pretty much void the warrantee just by looking at it.

[riggs @ Jan 16th 2008 8:52AM]

holy crap i think i just voided mine.

[DrXym @ Jan 16th 2008 6:23AM]

There are two faults with the Eee PC. First the screen resolution is too small. Second the Asus specific software is a little bit rough around the edges and is not getting updated much (e.g. Firefox is not getting any patches). Any competitor would do well to improve on these things.

[Jason @ Jan 16th 2008 9:11AM]

1024x768+ is coming in either a new version or the Eee PC competition.

You'll have your 1.5 hours of battery life soon enough...

[Jack @ Jan 16th 2008 6:49AM]

I would be excited if Acer wern't so craptastic

[frank @ Jan 16th 2008 7:30AM]

Amen!

[emailtabs @ Jan 16th 2008 7:05AM]

Acer, You will have a hard time cracking the eee fans out there.
I have compiled a couple of hints and tips for you.

Screen to fill bezel - its an old gripe but would gain you mass respect.
(I find the size is actually really good for me but everyone seems to complain)
DO NOT let the weight and size exceed the eee. if possible make it smaller and lighter.
Have your chip actually running at advertised speeds. preferably a 1.2GHZ.
Keep costs as low as possible. undercutting eee price will win fans!.
Preload XP as having to use a usb thumb to do it is a pain in the ass.
Have bigger SSD memory i.e. > 20gig. no spinners please.
Have 3g enabled out of the box. i have got to mod a board into my eee.
minimum 1gig RAM.
Add either component or S-video out as well as VGA.
Decent graphics capabilities.
Touchscreen?, Bluetooth?

If you do go with the cost cutting linux route then please don't do the kiddy easy mode malarky. i got so fed up with booting through this to get to advanced i gave up in the end.

BTW i love my eee so you will have to do something special to wrestle my little geeekbook from my claws.

Its good top see the UMPC market opening up after the eee launch. i knew these things existed before but they stood seriously outside of my price bracket as these things are really just glorified toys and i can't defend spending £1500+ for portable movies, games, work (a little) and internet.
But for £200 it was an easy choice to make.
These are not aimed at the serious user but the general population - remember this fact and don't cost yourself out of the market.

[Superprime @ Jan 16th 2008 7:15AM]

1GB of RAM is useless for such PCs. I'm working on a 1.6Ghz laptop with 512RAM and I've put it head to head with an identical laptop upgraded to 1GB and mine loaded absolutely the same.

3G is also a not so good because:
a) you have to have a simcard and that means a lot headaches
b) it eats the battery like a pig

Keep it Linux. XP is an option and should remain as one to reduce costs.

Otherwise I agree with your assesment. Though I could live with a 16GB hdd.

[emailtabs @ Jan 16th 2008 7:45AM]

Fair 'nuff,

I use a gig as i have removed pagefile. with 512 you will experience slowdown with this setup.

3G is worth it. maybe shortcut key to disable this.
How often do you change your sim?.

16gig minimum then, i use a wd passport external but i would like to put more on my geeekbook itself.

Linux - Well each to their own. it took me about 6 hours forum trawling to get VPN set up in advanced desktop. with xp it takes 5 minutes.
Either sort out your repository asus or lose the linux.

[Superprime @ Jan 16th 2008 8:04AM]

You're right Linux is a pain but the issue here is cost. XP would add 150-200$ to the price.

[Jack @ Jan 16th 2008 8:32AM]

I say leave it as it is regarding linux, keeps the price down, and if you really need XP im sure you can "acquire" it... nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more

[bob @ Jan 24th 2008 8:45PM]

agree with keeping it linux. i dont want to pay for windows again and again and again. i'll just use one of my other 2 copies.

you cant ask for too much , so i will only ask for a touchscreen.

[aoeu00 @ Jan 16th 2008 10:24AM]

I believe Acer could have something up its sleeve. I have one of their booksized PCs.. it's very compact. It's the L310 or L100 or whatever it's called.

Competition is good.

My personal stats:
- 512MB RAM (1gb would be nice though)
- 16GB secondary storage (SSD?)
- 7-8" display with minimal bezel margin
- Decent display resolution (dunno what would be ideal with a 7-8" LCD display)
- Linux

[Alex R @ Jan 16th 2008 11:16AM]

@ emailtabs

You do realise that people from Acer will not be reading this, right?

[steve @ Jan 16th 2008 10:25PM]

emailtabs-
The specs you proposed is not feasible for under $500 for at least another year, with the falling dollar, probably closer to two

As for booting to easy mode, why don't u just install ubuntu? The hardest part of linux was always getting the right drivers. At least with EEE, you are guaranteed compatible compoenents with drivers

[emailtabs @ Jan 17th 2008 5:35AM]

Steve, I am in UK and as such anything less than £400 ($800) is worth the purchase. if it goes up to £600+ ($1200+) i may have to walk away. i think the main cost point on what i ask for is the SSD. wait a year or so and i should upgrade my eee. (only 4gig HD).

Alex, Wanna bet?
If i was a multinational tech firm and i had released some new specs into the wild i would probably follow that up by reading what people think.
(If there is ANYONE from acer here please do post!)
If not then i will owe you a fiver alex, where you at?

[Joe @ Jan 16th 2008 8:06AM]

Why does it always have to be a "killer"- Eee PC Killer, iPhone Killer, Treo Killer? Why can't all just be friends in competition?

[blade417 @ Jan 16th 2008 8:43AM]

because we all thirst for blood one way or another

[Kozzi @ Jan 16th 2008 9:39AM]

because this is SPARTA, 2nite we dine in HELL and so on...

[Kurian @ Jan 16th 2008 8:16AM]

Great. More underpowered crap with as much HDD space as my PC's RAM.

[Lokizilla @ Jan 16th 2008 8:29AM]

So it's not for you, then. Boo hoo.

[Jack @ Jan 16th 2008 8:43AM]

What! you mean it wont be able to play Crysis! Fuck that shit!

[Kurian @ Jan 16th 2008 8:46AM]

Play??!??

You won't even be able to INSTALL Crysis on that thing.

[Tim Brown @ Jan 16th 2008 8:48AM]

It was never intended to be a gaming rig. These machines are for users who want access to documents, internet and email on a small, compact machine. No one expects to install and run Vista and Crysis on these machines, just do what they need to do without having to lug a multi Kg machine around. Plus its nice to get all this and a media machine (although no HD) for around £200.

[emailtabs @ Jan 16th 2008 8:52AM]

Aah.. but it will play Doom and thats all that counts!

[Charbax @ Jan 16th 2008 8:40AM]

Acer should simply do this, use all the OLPC technologies, paint it in black, provide an adult sized keyboard, simply put an Acer logo on it and sell it for $250.

Most crucial component is to use a fanless CPU in there, and an LED backlit screen, to save lots of battery life.

Simple way to do it is to go to http://pixelqi.com and licence all of their technologies, it can be delivered in two months.

[Gregg @ Jan 16th 2008 9:20AM]

I wouldn't mind seeing a 200 dollar table/slate style PC the size of the eee/XO/OLPC whatever

[Hax Or @ Jan 16th 2008 9:50AM]

The MacBook Air might be successful...

but the EEEPC seems like the better deal. The price of the MBA is ridiculously high.

[Bloobie @ Jan 16th 2008 12:12PM]

A better deal? That depends on what you want or need from the two devices. For a device with a 7" 800x480 screen, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of SSD storage (with 1.4GB available), 900MHz (factory-underclocked to 630MHz) Celeron processor, 3 hours of battery life, and a simplified version of Linux, then yes, $350 is a good deal. Add on another $300 or so if you want XP Pro, until Asus releases an XP-loaded version (for which Microsoft will charge them only $40 for). If you are looking for a device with a screen almost twice the size, with 1280x800 res., 2GB of RAM, 80GB of HDD storage, a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo, 5 hours of battery life, 802.11n wireless, Bluetooth, a full-size keyboard, and a full-blown commercial OS, then perhaps the Macbook would be more suitable at $1799.

[cobb @ Jan 16th 2008 10:14AM]

awesome, competition in this market rules. I really want one of these, but it needs to have a decent 9 or 10" screen

[John @ Jan 16th 2008 11:20AM]

Acer, bring it to Scandinavia and you will already have killed the EeePC here, we won't be getting those before Q2(!).

And fill the bezel, please.

[v @ Jan 16th 2008 7:24PM]

Personally, I want slimmed down specs and OS, killer battery life, and quality construction. Good, full keyboard and nice, solid case.

[michaelluu @ Jan 17th 2008 2:24AM]

No competition at all. Acer Vs Asus: Worse Vs one of the Best laptop makers out there.

[fi @ Jan 20th 2008 1:18AM]

I will not be buying acer at all . It used to be a good brand when the taiwanese manufactured it. Ever since it outsourced to the PRC - forget that - I had to switch a brand new 2 day old laptop after the screen started flickering . Then I got a new one with a cable problem. At least the third is not giving trouble ....for now. At least the asus I got lasted 3 years and still going strong .

[Sascha @ Jun 21st 2008 10:54PM]

@Superprime

except of the UK, the european market is still waiting for the Eee PC!
Believe me, the UK isn't Europe at all :)

[Superprime @ Jan 17th 2008 3:20AM]

What the hell are you smoking?

http://emag.ro/notebook/notebook-eee-pc-asus-701-4gb-512mb-ram-wlan-alb--pEEEPC4G-W0009

And in retail stores:
http://www.mediagalaxy.ro/catalog/item/?categoryId=492&productId=2240&itemId=1384

Romania is in the EU and they deliver internationally

[Sascha @ Jan 17th 2008 4:14AM]

Sorry to be honest i don't wanna argue with you cause obviously you are one of these nerds that know everthing :p.
This is not a local version of the Eee PC!!!
The Eee PC is only officially available in the UK!
France will get it in the retail channels by the 23rd of January, Germany and Austria by the 24th. Same with spain. Maybe you just wanna check out the european Asus homepages and the different european Eee PC blogs. By the way, i am pretty sure, that there will never be any official launch in Romania, nobody cares about that market!
Maybe you should take a look at the pictures of the keyboard layout and stop drinking :)

Cheers

[Superprime @ Jan 17th 2008 6:38AM]

I have one bought from emag.ro and Asus offers full support and warranty. Doesn't that make it official? So Asus cares more about the Romanian market than the French and German market.

I'm in Bulgaria but I shop up north in Romania because they have cool stuff.

[Sascha @ Jan 17th 2008 6:43AM]

Believe me it's an imported version :)

[Superprime @ Jan 17th 2008 8:03AM]

Ofcourse it's imported. How else would it be?

If by "local launch" you mean translating the interface then you should know romanians DO NOT WANT their stuff translated. Any product with it's interface translated will be outsold by it's counterpart with english interface in Ro. They prefer their movies subtitled fo crying out loud and shun dubbed movies. 70% of the country speaks english.

That's why Romania is such a great place to shop for tech.

[Sascha @ Jan 17th 2008 8:10AM]

anyway, the Eee PC is still not launched in Europe instead of the UK. And it will never be launched in Romania. That's the point and that's what i said.