Asus rolls out Eee PC in Japan, Windows XP standard

It's taken a while, but it looks like folks in Japan can now finally get their hands on Asus's diminutive and eminently-hackable Eee PC, although not exactly the same models we have 'round these parts. Dubbed the Eee PC 4G-X, the Japan-centric laptop is apparently identical to the regular 4G model, with the notable exception that it now comes pre-loaded with Windows XP Home Edition as standard instead of the usual Linux OS. That, of course, takes up a hefty chunk of the 4GB of internal storage, so Asus has thoughtfully 4GB SDHC card with the laptop as well. Look for it to be available in your choice of black or white for ¥50,000 (or about $468), with free access to NTT's WiFine hotspot network thrown in for good measure.

[Zeus.:God @ Jan 24th 2008 11:03AM]

Linux fanboy invasion imminent. I suggest we evacuate the area.

[Chebwa @ Jan 24th 2008 11:15AM]

Someone - SOMEONE - will say something about "shoehorning" OS X onto it, too. Just you wait.

Also, it is now proven that Japanese people hate Linux. I knew it.

[paragraph @ Jan 24th 2008 11:20AM]

@Chebwa

That strikes me as odd, of all the people who would embrace linux i'd think Japan would be in the top 5. It's the model of effiency and micro-sizing...

to each his own i guess...

as for OSX on Eee.... interesting proposition, but i don't think the puny Intel processor would be up to it :\

[Andir3.0 @ Jan 24th 2008 11:38AM]

Can I post "Zeus Incoming" in front of every Pro-PS3 and Anti-Microsoft story too? Cause, we all know your going to be there spouting some Pro 360 or Pro Microsoft rhetoric as usual.

[Rayonic @ Jan 24th 2008 12:28PM]

@paragraph:

Windows apparently has great international language support. Bringing their own little Linux package up to speed would have been too much work for Asus, probably. Not to mention the bundled apps.

[John @ Jan 24th 2008 12:28PM]

I would post an "Andir3.0 incoming" post on EVERYTHING, except that's just too much work :/

[barrywoods @ Jan 24th 2008 6:33PM]

Screw that, it it isn't running BeOs it's a POS! :D

[m @ Jan 27th 2008 1:33AM]

osx on the eee has already been accomplished: for many people, no doubt, one more reason not to buy an Air.

http://uneasysilence.com/archive/2007/11/12654/

[helloUser @ Jan 24th 2008 11:04AM]

The awesome thing about it is that it doesn't cost $1,799 and also fits into a manila envelope.

[paragraph @ Jan 24th 2008 11:09AM]

...my laptop fits in a manilla envelope.... it's a 15.4in HP Pavilion...

The Air is a real laptop though, it's got a beefy (relitive) processor, and 2gb of RAM...

for $1799 it's not TOO bad... it could be a Vaio...

[ark_v2 @ Jan 24th 2008 7:32PM]

"...it could be a vaio..."...and worth that price tag.

[Bobs @ Jan 24th 2008 11:05AM]

Now that its got XP, i might wait for it to come stateside and buy it. its not a magic do it all computer, but for web browsing and stuff like that, i bet its awesome at.

[Michael LaFramboise @ Jan 24th 2008 11:10AM]

If all you do is "...web browsing and stuff like that..." then Linux should be good enough for you :)

[Draconis2941 @ Jan 25th 2008 12:26AM]

I'm waiting for the XP version too. I know I could force it on myself, but I'd rather have it done for me.

My wife want's this for web surfing too. I know she is going to find silly little games and such she's going to want to download and I don't want to have to explain to her why it won't work with linux.

[JC @ Jan 24th 2008 1:57PM]

Wow, you really missed the boat on this one. It was "stateside" before it got to Japan, and XP is very easy to install on it if you have an external drive.

[Ignatius @ Jan 24th 2008 11:25AM]

Er. I don't mean to nag, but I think ya missed a word. :O

"so Asus has thoughtfully 4GB SDHC card with the laptop as well." Has thoughtfully what? Included?

[gibber9583 @ Jan 24th 2008 11:31AM]

thoughtfully included 4GB SDHC...

nope.

thoughtfully included a 4GB SDHC...

yep... that would be 2 words?

[Ignatius @ Jan 24th 2008 11:32AM]

Fine fine, correct My Engrish. :O

[Randomness @ Jan 24th 2008 11:43AM]

I would rather they leave out the XP and useless 4gb card which only adds to the price. If you want more storage, people usually buy a card >4gigs given the cheap retail pricing now. I hope they still offer the no frills linux model without forcing us to buy addons with it we dont want.

[Karl HacksWell @ Jan 24th 2008 11:44AM]

Did anyone else notice this error?

"that, of course, takes up a hefty chunk of the 4GB of internal storage, so Asus has thoughtfully 4GB SDHC card with the laptop as well"


Im suprised sometimes that these guys get paid to write and they make mistakes like this. Sorry, I just had to say something.

[AlexTheSane @ Jan 24th 2008 11:49AM]

That right. We don't verbs. Verbs for losers.

[Karl HacksWell @ Jan 24th 2008 11:53AM]

Whats funny is your mind adds verbs for you when your reading fast, and you don't think about it. But when you slow down, you realize that something isn't right.

A slow breakdown of the English language. Its inevitable.

[OddManOut @ Jan 24th 2008 12:36PM]

mang dey ain nuhn slo boutit...

[SFO Kevin @ Jan 24th 2008 12:47PM]

MTX... (My thought exactly)

[john @ Jan 24th 2008 11:53AM]

I thought the key feature of the Eee was that it was a linux box?

I mean, it's not the cheapest laptop (walmart specials cost less) ... it's not the smallest general purpose portable computer ...

So, if the Japanese version doesn't have linux, what's the point in buying it?

[John @ Jan 24th 2008 12:31PM]

There are many categories to evaluate a laptop based on, and while the EEE isn't the superlative in any, it's high enough up in enough of them to make it worth buying.

[Electromodo @ Jan 24th 2008 3:09PM]

How about:

-Playing games (many older games will run OK on Eee hardware, like, say Star Wars)?

-Running multimedia applications supporting all major formats of audio/video

-Running different productivity applications you could not run before (like Quicken, Visio, MS Project, etc.)

-Still having a small form factor

This is the reason many people decided to install XP on Eee right from the beginning. With XP it moves from the web-chat-browse device to a small full-featured laptop.

[HektikLyfe @ Jan 24th 2008 11:54AM]

I really like the urban LED undercarriage lighting they have going there. You would be forced to carry that thing around like a waiter everywhere you go though to show it off. Is it an optional add-in or does it come standard?

Yes I'm being facetious.

[CosterMonger @ Jan 24th 2008 11:55AM]

now they can sell the Eee-PC in South Korea alongside a copy of StarCraft
{and I can still do multi-boot}
now where is that 8.9" model?

[Togarth @ Jan 24th 2008 12:34PM]

..my laptop fits in a manilla envelope.... it's a 15.4in HP Pavilion...

The Air is a real laptop though, it's got a beefy (relitive) processor, and 2gb of RAM...

for $1799 it's not TOO bad... it could be a Vaio...


My PC also fits in a Manilla Envelope and I believe its made by the same people who mac MacBooks but it only cost £230 & runs a REALLY stable OS.
Its an ASUS Eee PC

[Hyperpcs @ Jan 24th 2008 12:53PM]

Finding someone with any in stock is also posing a problem as well.
I prefer adjectives to verbs myself!
To the proud owner of the HP
"Don't tell us your problems"!

[Superevil @ Jan 24th 2008 12:56PM]

Mmmm, Delicious Spam.

[Dankoozy @ Jan 24th 2008 1:22PM]

Japan & South Korea are the two most MS-only countries out there. LUG meetings are held underground and when I went to Korea the only freaking computer I saw there not running windows was the one I took with me.

[Onetruebill @ Jan 24th 2008 2:42PM]

CanCar,
The Hawaii spam is NOT the most stupid thing I have ever seen...
But I am old and have seen a lot.
Get a clue and move on. hawaiiandumbass.com sinkyourwholeisland.com

[Sam @ Jan 24th 2008 2:55PM]

I have an Eee and as far as i know, they dont support SDHC

Maybe thats the catch

[Julian Bond @ Jan 24th 2008 3:02PM]

With all the cheap ultra-notebooks coming, time for a comparative review, I think. And is it worth waiting 3-6 months for the 8-9-10" screens?

[Chebwa @ Jan 24th 2008 3:06PM]

Just a few months to bring the screen to a reasonable level (7" really, really is not reasonable)? I think absolutely. Hold off. You'll be glad you did.

[iRobot @ Jan 24th 2008 5:34PM]

Wasn't the whole point of this thing is to break away from Windos/MacOS. Sticking WinXP on it and charging a $100 bucks more doesn't really justify the extra hassle that come along with having a Window Machine.

EEE PC is suppose to be a cheap, light weight, fun, device for internet, ebooks, and games. Not bog-down with virus protection software, pointless user codes and updates. I have that already.

[m @ Jan 27th 2008 1:42AM]

in a word, no. the prime consideration is money, and the only problem with windows for a company like asus is the price. the average consumer doesn't give a #%@* about linux, and would likely consider it a strong negative if they did. why else do you think asus has gone to such lengths to disguise the inner workings under a custom GUI? they aren't part of your crusade!

[iRobot @ Jan 27th 2008 1:49PM]

@m

Part of "MY" crusade? Yeah, its ALL me. Is that why the EEE PC sold out the moment it launched, because I'm on a crusade for Linux? It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that the unit is considerable cheaper WITHOUT Windows?

Hey, don't let that stop you from buying one for $500, even though another hundred would get you a REAL computer. Clearly we're talking about you -- not me.

[Georgi @ Jan 24th 2008 5:36PM]

BTW, the price is 49,800 yen, and that's AFTER 5% sales tax in Japan (couple of years ago they changed the law in japan so now all items prices are displayed at after sales tax price), so it's actually 47310 yen, which is about $442.

[Matthew @ Jan 24th 2008 11:09PM]

EeePC absolutely does support SDHC. I use my Kingston 6gb MicroSDHC on it all the time. It's the only device I own which does support sdhc, in fact.

[doctorpiorno @ Jan 24th 2008 9:53PM]

Curses. I was planning on getting one, but I'd much rather have Linux on it if I can. Anyone knows if the eeePC Linux distro can be freely downloaded from the ASUS website, or obtained somewhere else with reasonable ease?

[Magisterchief @ Feb 11th 2008 3:16PM]

personally i cant wait for the win xp release in the us because it would save me the $200 to buy a copy of windows and another $150 for an external drive to install it with that im probably only going to use once.

dont get me wrong the linux os looks great and all but you cant do much more besides light office tasks, kiddie learning programs, media playback, and internet stuff if thats all your doing then linux is enough to get you by but for the rest of us who want to get as much as possible out of eee then linux just doesn't cut it.

one thing i'd like to mention is the fact that windows IS NOT too bulky to run smoothly on what some would call weak hardware. keep in mind that while having substantially less specifications than most pcs nowadays designed to keep up with vista the eee has more than double the system requirements for windows xp home edition. also the processor that asus says is clocked at 900MHz is actually underclocked from the factory at around 665MHz witch is still more than the 300MHz that windows requires. plenty to run most programs and some games but is easily overclocked safely up to about 850MHz letting the true power of the eee shine. also that the eee is using an SSD instead of an HDD so there is no spin-up or seek time during start up enabling windows to boot in about 20 seconds (dont believe me go search youtube). if thats to long for you to wait then you have a really short attention span and need a new hobby.

the reason people want windows is so that they can use programs that only windows can run and to be able to install those programs easily with the standard .exe files they are familiar with. for example: games like Unreal Tournament, Half-Life, Halo, Marrowind all of witch run flawlessly with little to no lag whatsoever.

bottom line is that by pre-installing xp asus is actually saving us windows users a lot of time and money even though the price goes up because of licensing its still about $250 cheaper than buying what you'd need to install xp yourself.

by the way im glad to see someone attempting to bring back xp since nowadays even computers incapable of running vista home basic are shipped with premium installed regardless.

[Asus Eee PC Lover @ Mar 30th 2008 10:59PM]

This is a great way to boost sales although it isn't hard to get XP on the Eee PC - I did it myself after playing with several linux distributions first - makes life easier for the wife which makes life easier on me :o)

www.eeesale.com

[Asus Eee PC Lover @ Mar 30th 2008 11:06PM]

This is a great way to boost sales although it isn't hard to get XP on the Eee PC - I did it myself after playing with several linux distributions first - makes life easier for the wife which makes life easier on me :o)

http://www.eeesale.com