ASUS Eee PC 900 gets unboxed

Yeah, you already knew what this 9-incher looked like from our time spent with it over in Germany, but there's just nothing like seeing a spotless machine escape from its factory packaging and delight its new owner for the first time. Hit the read link below for more shots, and do your best to withhold that growing pang of jealously, will ya?

[Via jkkmobile, thanks Brad]

[jo3 @ Apr 12th 2008 11:59AM]

the keyboard seems to suffer from the same warped spacebar on the 7" model.

i'll hold out for the dell eee annihilator.

[don king @ Apr 12th 2008 12:37PM]

Your right about the spacebar. WTF is up with that?

[MaGiXX @ Apr 12th 2008 12:00PM]

Price?

[rumblejazz @ Apr 13th 2008 1:13PM]

you can preorder this in the uk for £339.99

[crazyyellowguy @ Apr 13th 2008 3:34PM]

Weren't the speakers suppose to be on the bottom? I don't see them anywhere....

[Charles R Hamilton @ Apr 12th 2008 12:01PM]

When can I get my grubby hands on when?

[Charles R Hamilton @ Apr 12th 2008 12:02PM]

When what? One is what I meant when...oh forget it.

[pinchies @ Apr 12th 2008 12:01PM]

This isn't the touchscreen one is it?
"8.9 inch 1024 x 600 screen
Intel Celeron 900Mhz
1GB RAM
12GB SSD
1.3 mega pixel webcam
big multitouch trackpad
Iit weights only 990g.
"

[Phoenix @ Apr 12th 2008 12:53PM]

No, This ISN'T a touchscreen one. This is just a bigger screen and a multitouch trackpad

[linuxamp @ Apr 13th 2008 11:56AM]

There is no "touchscreen one" that was a rumor that turned out to be "multi-touch pad" not touchscreen.

[Phoenix @ Apr 13th 2008 12:17PM]

If I remember rightly there is gonna be a touchscreen one, this just isn't it.

But I could be wrong...

[Steve @ Apr 13th 2008 1:06PM]

Touchscreen was a DIY mod that likely spawned all the rumors.

[Fusion @ Apr 12th 2008 12:04PM]

How much will it cost, and what processor is it using?

[milton thuroughgood III @ Apr 12th 2008 1:02PM]

look up.

[Jack @ Apr 12th 2008 9:41PM]

It uses the same processor as the last gen 4G and 8G eees, so a 900 MHz Intel Celeron-M ULV 353, clocked at 630 MHz.

Rumor has it though, the 8.9 inch eee will get a refresh about a month after being released with Intel's new Atom (no word on what version/clock speed.) I'm unclear though if this also means an upgrade from the GMA 900 we currently have.

[Randavance @ Apr 13th 2008 12:55PM]

@ Jack

I don't think it's going to be a big power jump with the atom. But definately expect a longer battery life.

I wonder how hard it'll be to change out the Celeron-M for a high end atom later on.

[Deputy Doffoos @ Apr 13th 2008 7:27PM]

well, going from 900MHz to 1.4 to me is like lightspeed

[Mark @ Apr 12th 2008 12:05PM]

I'd like to see one that takes advantage of the touchscreen and simply ditches the touchpad. I used an old Sharp Tripad (Vadem Clio equivalent) as my writing tool for years, and there was nothing nicer than just tapping where I wanted the cursor to be.

Since the Tripad died, I've been looking for a machine that light and handy. The touchscreen is essential.

[Phoenix @ Apr 12th 2008 12:53PM]

This doesn't have a touchscreen....

[linuxamp @ Apr 13th 2008 12:03PM]

The problem with adding a touchscreen to a device this light is that the body would lift off the table each time you touched the screen. The lid needs some other support for example opening 180 degrees to lay flat on a table, opening 360 degrees so that the back of the screen touches the bottom of the device or swiveling like a convertible tablet.

The other alternative is to lay it on it's screen and let the body stand up but I don't think it would balance so well.

[Pugsly @ Apr 12th 2008 12:06PM]

Well looks like it DOES have the sd card reader, contrary from the earlier post about bestbuy stating it will not.......we shall see..........

[cluff @ Apr 12th 2008 5:45PM]

the one best buy was stating stats for was the eee 701 with windows...not this one

[ma5t3rw1tt @ Apr 12th 2008 12:14PM]

I'm jealous already. I want a small portable computer, so I can take it with me everywhere I go. The Asus EEPC is a nice laptop, but HP just came out with a small one that looks pretty neat as well. Look like ASUS has a little competition :D

[shineliang @ Apr 12th 2008 12:15PM]

in case that you cant read chinese, it says keyboard is bigger.

[Sean @ Apr 12th 2008 12:20PM]

Not sure whether to be happy or sad that they stuck with the Celeron. Sure would be nice to see whether Atom's going to be even remotely worth the wait.

[Tri Sap @ Apr 12th 2008 12:21PM]

omg. i should've bought this instead of my tz

[Genjinaro @ Apr 12th 2008 12:26PM]

Uhh I want this, yesterday. I'm really restraining myself from buying the 7-inch model out of sheer impatience....

[Sukhminder @ Apr 12th 2008 3:48PM]

I'll second that.

[Captain Crunkled @ Apr 12th 2008 12:27PM]

Nice, but I am trying to hold out till August or September, when the market gets saturated with updated Eee PCs, Dells, etc.

If I can just hold out...

[Matt Keller @ Apr 12th 2008 6:01PM]

It's easier to hold out when you don't have any money until August. Like me.

;~;

[Cesar Cardoso @ Apr 12th 2008 12:42PM]

I'll get a 7" model, but now I'm salivating on the 9" one.

[James @ Apr 12th 2008 8:21PM]

That's what she said.

[bartoron @ Apr 12th 2008 12:48PM]

To be honest, I would rather they just stick a cheap 40GB hard drive in there rather than a SSD. It would make it cheaper, and offer more space.

[KyleK @ Apr 12th 2008 5:54PM]

True, but it would also be louder, and it would use a lot more power. Since the Eee doesn't have that large a battery to begin with, SSD seems to be the more efficient choice.

(I also doubt that a 40GB 1.8" HDD would be that much cheaper than 4 or 8GB of flash memory)

[iamdigitalman @ Apr 12th 2008 12:49PM]

very nice. The white is so shiny it almost looks like a pearl. I was thinking of getting the EEE when it came out, but I like the 9" screen better, and it does not make the whole machine bigger. Down with huge bezels!!

I just got a blast from the past yesterday, an HP Jornada 820. I like the idea of a trackpad on a small machine. Touchscreens are nice, but are a novelty on something that needs a mouse. And I must say, the 820 holds it's own. CE is speedy, the screen is bright (LED backlighting from 1998!!), it has a CF card slot, and I plan on getting a 4gb card for it (have a 128mb card now), and I have an 802.11b wifi PCMCIA card, which makes it easily connected. I just wish it had USB drivers for mass storage, or I could find some, and there were a better browser still being made, PIE just does not cut it anymore.

[tabbott @ Apr 12th 2008 12:56PM]

A note to a few comments above. The rumor of the Windows one missing the card reader was only the $399 7" 700 model. Yes HP does have a mini laptop too to compete, but I think I would rather have Intel CPU and graphics then VIA. It also has only a 3 cell battery.

ASUS has talked about having an optional hard drive ans since they moved to a SSD instead of flash memory it would be a simple swap.

I would like to see BlueTooth, a 60+ GB hard drive, WiFi, 8.9" scream, Windows XP, 1GB DDR2, the new Atom core, and webcam for $500. Skins would be nice, but a replaceable top cove would be better.

[Sam @ Apr 12th 2008 1:50PM]

A reasonable wish would to be to list features you do not want and then a price that would reflect the removal of those features

Saying that you want a device upgraded and its price lowered when the entire product line has not been out for even a year is unreasonable

That said, I have another reply
Ubuntu is a much better fit for this machine that XP
XP requires too much disk space and screen real estate and is not very customizable
Ubuntu with Compiz makes great use of the available screen and linux apps tend to carry a smaller footprint on the hard drive/SSD

[Panda @ Apr 12th 2008 12:59PM]

hehe!

[milton thuroughgood III @ Apr 12th 2008 1:02PM]

I hope they make it in black.

[Abuzar @ Apr 13th 2008 12:20AM]

That's what she said!

[Khoa Khuong @ Apr 12th 2008 1:34PM]

Site down? Dammit!

[Sam @ Apr 12th 2008 1:46PM]

As someone who owns an Eee, I can say that this looks very appealing but at $600 dollars it does not make me regret my purchase.
Yes I would like 8 more GB of space and a bigger screen would be nice
At the same time, my Eee 4G with Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon and 1GB of RAM gives me no reason to complain
The multi-touch trackpad to me seems more like a lateral change than a step forwards, might get annoying
The biggest problem with this thing is battery life. Every time I have to stop and charge it seems less and less portable
If they really want this thing to be a second generation Eee and not just exist alongside the old one, it needs to be 500 dollars

[David @ Apr 12th 2008 7:34PM]

Ditto re: $600

Also not regretting the power-brick, which the Eee 701 doesn't have, nor the extra length (height?) the 900 has.

I paid $399 for mine. That's a huge difference in price, for minimal gain.

I use my Eee 701 every day, and really have no complaints whatsoever about it. It's handled every task I've asked of it well, and without exception. It's tiny and weighs little.

I will probably get the 6-cell battery when it finally comes available, but compared to other people's laptops, even now I seem to always win in the battery marathon department -- especially against HP's ;-).

[mex @ Apr 13th 2008 4:51AM]

i just bought a dell m1330 2.2ghz 7500, led lcd, 128mb 8600M, 8x burner, 2GB ram, 120GB SATA hdd, all for $940 including tax and shipping from the dell outlet site. This eee=$600 - what a rip! I'm glad I paid the $300 extra for this kick ass m1330 - bitches!

[mex @ Apr 13th 2008 4:53AM]

o, i forgot to mention its hdmi port and express card slot - what now bitches!

[gareth @ Apr 13th 2008 5:57PM]

Mex, why lie? Dell doesnt make a xps 1330 with that video card. Does making up specs on purchases make you feel better about your purchase?

[mex @ Apr 15th 2008 2:14AM]

@gareth: sorry 128 nvidia 8400M... happy now? haha stick to your crappy eee toy! jealous are we... haha.

[CAC @ Apr 12th 2008 2:09PM]

Makes you wonder what Ben Heck would make out of this....

[Jamma @ Apr 12th 2008 3:20PM]

What could he make?!? An Eee Laptop?
Oh wait....

[Amol @ Apr 13th 2008 2:56AM]

Well he could add a swivel screen, and make it look like those Kohjinshas. It might make that touchscreen a *tad* bit more helpful.