CybertronPC CM900, Eee's long-lost twin?

Sure, it looks like the Eee, it sports the same CPU as the Eee, heck, it even appears to use the Eee's OS -- but it's actually the CM900! What does that mean? Well for starters, you'll pay more money for less computer ($349.99 for a 2GB system, the same price for a 4GB ASUS)... but of course you'll have that CybertronPC name to fall back on. Honestly, we'd say this was a rebrand if it weren't for the minor differences in specs, and who knows -- maybe it is. If not, however, this is the knock-offingest knock-off we've seen in a good long while. Far be it from us to condemn the CybertronPC gang for trying to get in while the gettin's good, but maybe next time these guys could at least give us a fair shake on the storage / price breakdown?

[Thanks, Brian]

[Microswirl @ Jan 28th 2008 3:11AM]

Holy crap! That hand is HUGE!

[BrianB @ Jan 28th 2008 3:58AM]

I bet he's keeping that laptop from falling merely by his pinky.

[Daniel @ Jan 28th 2008 3:12AM]

how are they even allowed to do that?

[helloUser @ Jan 28th 2008 3:13AM]

Something about that photo looks unreal, almost photoshopped to make the laptop look smaller. Am I the only one or am I just suffering from photoshop paranoia?

[Mike @ Jan 28th 2008 3:43AM]

totally, it looks like you put two fingers to cover the whole trackpad.

[Reader @ Jan 28th 2008 4:35AM]

No it's definitely photoshopped, I can tell my looking at the pixels :D

[superted @ Jan 28th 2008 6:09AM]

i don't think it is potatoshopped a friend of mine has one, they really are tiny; you could easily hold it like in that picture.. that track pad is almost too small!

[Bill @ Jan 28th 2008 7:59AM]

You can tell it's Photoshopped just from the angle the hand is "carrying" the machine. Basically the hand is balancing the corner of the machine in the V between thumb and forefinger. That's what they get for hiring a Chinese preteen to Photochop in a hand instead of just taking another picture of someone actually holding the machine. Chumps.

[Sauerkraut @ Jan 28th 2008 10:31AM]

superted your friend is a losser

[letstakeawalk @ Jan 28th 2008 2:17PM]

I cannot tell if the image above has been manipulated, but I can assert that my 4G eee can be held in my own hand in a similar fashion. I have medium-sized hands (I never really thought about it before...), and my fingers land at approximately the same points as illustrated.

I can't tell you how many times I've been using the little bugger in public and had people ask what movie I was watching. They all assumed it was a portable DVD player, and were not aware how tiny the eee really is.

[BrianB @ Jan 28th 2008 4:00AM]

@helloUser

There are people in China that big and I take it this product is made in China.

[Tony @ Jan 28th 2008 4:12AM]

This is totally an eeepc...same keyboard(no tilde). Same screen size. Same on/off button. This has got to be the same computer!

[David @ Jan 28th 2008 6:44AM]

Gee, my Eee has a tilde above the 1 and 2 number keys (to the right of the Esc key).

Maybe you need to look harder for it.

[AlexTheSane @ Jan 28th 2008 4:26AM]

Less computer for more money? If I wanted to waste money I'd get a MacBook Air.

[shaliron @ Jan 28th 2008 4:34AM]

Oooh, snap!

[strider_mt2k @ Jan 28th 2008 7:40AM]

Yes.
Snap indeed.

[Derred @ Jan 28th 2008 4:36AM]

I have the EeePC in my hand right now. Also, I am 1.95m (that's 6.3976378 feet according to Google) tall. As you might imagine my hands are huge. That image is Photoshoped. Or the hand-model they used is half orc/ogre/giant

[rs @ Jan 28th 2008 5:49AM]

Hi,

this is likely not a rip off, it i just rebadged. Asus were selling there notebooks in the US mainly via resellers and not under their own brand. May be someone still had contracts from this period and is using them.

cheers

r.

[Toby @ Jan 28th 2008 6:10AM]

Why isn't this a 'Keeping it real fake' part 1 million or what ever your up to?

[Richard Lai @ Jan 28th 2008 7:31AM]

Asus is also well-known for making OEM products. Chances are this is one of them.

[John Laur @ Jan 28th 2008 11:28AM]

Wow, really, has nobody at engadget realized that ASUS has been a laptop OEM for almost a decade now? If engadget wanted to sell the eee as the "Engadget Mini-Gadgethub-5000BT" (with internal bluetooth!) and a blue plastic case all they would have to do is call up ASUS and order some. In fact, scores of companies like ASUS routinely send salesmen around to smaller computer builders to hawk their reference designs. The reality is that there aren't actually very many laptop builders out there. The difference with ASUS though is that they have always made their designs first-party branded and directly available as well, but until the eee I suppose none had really been popular enough for the rebranded products to be labeled as 'knockoffs'.

[OneLove @ Jan 28th 2008 11:45AM]

Take your pills already.

[bartoron @ Jan 28th 2008 9:28AM]

Richard Lai does bring up a good point. I don't think any company would be stupid enough to make a laptop that looks EXACTLY like a laptop made by another company.

Here's a good comparison to show the EEE and the CM900 side by side:

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/5176/eeevscm900gm8.jpg

Other than the brand name on the laptops, they look exactly the same. The keyboard, the left side ports, the power button, even the four indicator lights are all the same on both laptops.

[gfar @ Jan 28th 2008 9:49AM]

Cybertron? Seriously?
Hey Hasbro, want a new lawsuit?

[bryan @ Jan 28th 2008 10:04AM]

With a name like CybertronPC and no Transformers(tm) reference? Galvatron would be pissed.

[Teebo @ Jan 28th 2008 9:51AM]

I do own an ancient ancestor to the Asus EEE PC: The Zeos Palmtop computer. Has a modem the size of a pack of cigs. 2 Type I PCMICA ports. Non-backlit LCD screen.

[OneLove @ Jan 28th 2008 11:44AM]

Zeos. Oh sweet college memories. sniff, sniff.

[courtenay27 @ Jan 28th 2008 10:03AM]

"Eee PC superior, CybertronPC inferior."

[Tamer Brad @ Jan 28th 2008 10:37AM]

Does it run on Energon?

[jd @ Jan 28th 2008 10:50AM]

one quesstion:

if the price is abov EEE, who would people buy the same thing for more price from CybertronPC?

[Mile @ Jan 28th 2008 1:52PM]

Because of their name. Like Apple, CybertronPC is able to command premium dollars for its products based upon an almost cult like following by people who find their products easy to use, solidly built, and short-term future proof.

[Jonny @ Jan 28th 2008 8:07PM]

Its just a rebranded Asus Eee for Cybertron.

ASUS does this stuff all the time.

Like all HP computers have rebranded ASUS mobos.

[Edge @ Jan 29th 2008 12:04AM]

And don't forget the Macbooks Asus made/makes...

[Aaron @ Jan 28th 2008 9:12PM]

I bet the batteries in this one (being a knock off/re-brand) catch fire.

[mcgillnicholas @ Jan 29th 2008 12:34AM]

well according to the specs it has a better screen resolution than the Eee pc.

[Don @ Jan 29th 2008 5:05PM]

Screen Resolution are the same as ASUS Eee PC.
This is a knock off of ASUS Eee PC at a higher price.
Eee PC 2G Surf only goes for $299 and 100% of specs are the same

[Power @ Feb 11th 2008 12:40PM]

The photo is exactly an EeePC. But cannot find this CM900 in its web site. Just a fake news?