ASUS set to announce 9-inch Eee PC 900?

We're hoping to get official confirmation for this in just a few minutes, but the current scuttlebutt is that ASUS is planning to announce the rumored 9-inch followup to the Eee PC soon. The new laptop will be purportedly named Eee PC 900, and should be the same size as the original, just with more screen to squint at. Other rumored additions include 1GB of RAM standard and SSD capacities up to 12GB. The base price will be 399 €, but hopefully that doesn't mean $600-ish in the US -- that conversion rate is certainly getting painful. While we can't vouch for the source of this rumor, Blogeee.net is claiming this is official word straight from Asus, so take that for what you will.

[Via Eee Site]

[Mehul @ Mar 3rd 2008 10:52AM]

Too much money for too little upgrade

[riggs @ Mar 3rd 2008 10:56AM]

agreed.

[emailtabs @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:43AM]

I bought my 701 for £240. (roughly $470)

400 Euros = 305. pounds or roughly $600

Thats £65 ($130) for an extra two inches on the screen, 12gig ssd upgrade and an extra 512meg of ram.

How is that not worth it?. could you even buy the parts cheaper?.

[Mehul @ Mar 3rd 2008 12:06PM]

The 7 inch costs $399 here in US. If the 9 inch will cost $600. Thats $200 more for just 512MB more ram, 8 GB more storage (Still not enough). I can upgrade the ram on my own for around $20, add a 8GB SD card for another $30 (Although its not as fast as SSD but who's using the Eee for gaming anyway), which leaves us to $150 for just a 2 inch larger screen.

At this price, wouldn't I just buy the HP UMPC which, according to the rumors, is the roughly the same dimensions but has a faster processor?

[Jacob @ Mar 4th 2008 11:03PM]

Not Much.. it seems high in http://eeepc.in website

[Jakob @ Mar 3rd 2008 10:53AM]

In Sony/Apple-land it means $399 ;)

[darkstar @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:00AM]

would be nice if they get rid of that vga port! the laptop could be a lot thinner. should anyone need it, just have an adapter or something, like my Sharp mm20.

[Superprime @ Mar 3rd 2008 1:04PM]

NO. no no.
Leave the VGA port. It's one of the main features of any laptop

[Craig @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:02AM]

Does "more screen" mean "more pixels" or just "bigger pixels"? I hope the former.

[SimonRichards @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:14AM]

Great. So this is a first for me. The engadget comment system has messed up. My other comment here about the screen res was meant to be a reply to Craig. I wonder where this comment will end up...

[Howard @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:53AM]

It's gotta be WSVGA. There's no way they would release this with the same crappy resolution as the 7-inch.

[jduley @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:04AM]

Who's the consumer for this product. It seems to be to be a $200 computer for $600.

[SimonRichards @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:12AM]

Good point. If it does mean more pixels then I don't think I will be able to resist getting one. The only thing holding me back was the screen size.

[ShadowMaker @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:07AM]

Great, now I can't get a nice little 9 inch to accompany the 7 inch I haven't got, since Asus hasn't managed to release these in The Netherlands as of yet. And yes, conversion ratewise electronic and software companies like to say $1 US = € 1. While this should actually be ehm... $1 US = € 0.675
Looking at a $1000 laptop and having to pay the equivalent of $1500 in Europe is becoming less and less fun all the time.

[Jakob @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:11AM]

VAT and taxes are the magic words :)

[ShadowMaker @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:22AM]

VAT and taxes. That's right. I keep forgetting how a 19% VAT tax will raise the price by 50%.

[Carl @ Mar 9th 2008 9:11AM]

Shadowmaker: can't you just drive to France or Germany to pick one up?

[Spirkus @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:13AM]

this is confirmed at http://www.flutlicht.biz/presse/index.php?session=6da822be5257d62b90c379101d03b801&menu=article&article_id=ccb76a8b10a16ede0b379a862c06826a

"These new Eee PCs will cost 399 Euro each, and will be available in summer this year – to select countries on the first wave of launch. All of these new models will be Windows ready, and will provide users with a chance to enjoy a brand new PC experience while on the go."

sounds good to me

[Mr.b @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:13AM]

what about the resolution?

[Pastry Chef @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:14AM]

A 9 inch screen is all fine and dandy, but what's the resolution??? If they didn't improve the resolution from the old 7 inch model, this is pointless.

[whiteasianrose @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:20AM]

if it comes in at $400 that baby is MINE!
well my gf's to be exact but you know how that goes

[KyleK @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:24AM]

I highly doubt that the new models will have higher resolution. Just bigger pixels.

[Spirkus @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:29AM]

the screen is 2 inches larger on the diagonal, I think we'd see at least some form of wxga available. The current resolution would look too grainy to sell at such a larger price premium, especially with so many other companies releasing similar models.

[gyffes @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:28AM]

"All will be windows..."

Er, no thanks. It was the linux onboard that drew me to my 7" eee in the first place.. well, that and the $399 price.

I've long been astonished at how much computer the whiners seem to expect for how little money. "Bah, for a hundred dollars more, you can get a REAL computer..." or "give me a 9" screen, real hard drive, built-in teleporter and auto-fellating device, but keep the price the same, and then I'd buy it..."

With the price of the 8G up to $499, a larger screen AND bigger hard drive HAS to boost the price, no? You (the whiners) probably also piss at every apple story ("ooh, more fanboi talk from Engadget...") but what you're asking for is Apple-type practice: increase features, keep prices the same.

Bah. Go play with your DLLs, whiners.

[SimonRichards @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:44AM]

Whiney Linux Fanboy.

[zed @ Mar 3rd 2008 7:41PM]

i was with you until the anti-windows comment. nice try.

[Nate @ Mar 3rd 2008 11:28AM]

If they're going to up the price, I'll be sticking with my 4G surf.

The Eee concept is great, but if they're going to be raising the price, half the concept is being thrown out the window. I'd rather they keep the current spec and lower the price.

[Aytunc @ Mar 3rd 2008 12:00PM]

I just bought a gateway laptop, 2 gigs of ram, 25o gigs hard disk, dvd burner, 14 inch XWGA screen, webcam, yada yada yada for 600$. tell me why i would trade that for an internet toy.
300$ maybe,

600, you lost me

[gyffes @ Mar 3rd 2008 12:28PM]

well, if you insist...

a) Gateway ain' known for its build quality

b) 14" is not an ultra-mobile machine

c) yours came with that "windows" virus

d) cost you $200 more than I paid for my 4G eee

yadda yadda.

[Jakob @ Mar 3rd 2008 1:18PM]

Well if YOU insist:

a) No but it's fine
b) No but it's larger than your 7" low-resolution EEE-pc
c) Your didn't come with Windows, his did (value: 100 bucks), better than nothing
d) Cost him $200 more than you, but got way more: 2 GB RAM, 250 GB HD, Windows and better screen.
yadda yadda.

[ijyt @ Mar 3rd 2008 1:22PM]

$600 is technically £300. For what you pay £300, we have to pay £1000. No thanks.

[Tits @ Mar 3rd 2008 9:10PM]

can you please stop bithing at windows... there is actually people using it and making tons of money. its really the most effective and reliable OS for business and post-production company.

[Randavance @ Mar 3rd 2008 8:07PM]

You may all call me crazy, but I think I'm going to invest in one of these for college.

It's not like I can't afford a nice laptop. And I'm doing an engineering major so a better one would probably be smarter. I just really like the idea of a cheap, lightweight, Linux laptop that I don't need to be afraid of breaking. And I already run Linux and a VM of WinXP on my PC, so what more so I need a laptop for?

[linuxamp @ Mar 3rd 2008 10:56PM]

So where'd they put the speakers? I hope they didn't go mono like the MBA.

[Mike @ Mar 4th 2008 2:33PM]

I'll buy one with linux please.

[Jacob @ Mar 4th 2008 11:04PM]

Hi All

There is nothing information is there in their official website about the 9inch screen in http://eeepc.in

Hope they will announce later

[Mike @ Mar 7th 2008 2:23PM]

800x480 @ 7" compares to the 1680x1050 on my 15.4" Thinkpad - works wonderfully. People thinking that one cannot be productive on 800x480 has forgotten that Photoshop used to run on a Macintosh Plus, @ an astonishing 1-4 MB RAM and a b/w display with a resolution of 512x342...

I keep all windows at a small resolution to force myself to work, design and program for less demanding resources. Notice (google it) how the requirement for Linux kernel code is "less than 80 character width (which fits a 640x... screen perfectly @ 8px/character) and no more than 3 levels of scope (for you programmers)." This is not an arbitrary restriction. Here's the scope (no pun intended):

It actually makes you MORE productive(!):

* it restructures your workflow to not rely on screen estate for navigation (which is slower), but instead use key-nav
* it makes you used to moving your mouse pointer within a space that's just small enough that it's never more than one small, quick movement
* it let's you fit 4 windows setups next to each other on a 1680x1050 monitor...
* keeps you focused on small information units at a time, which makes for a less distracting, more linear workflow

But don't believe me because I say so. Try it out - you'll like it.