Asus Eee PC 900 hits the US on May 12th

We're serious this time, people. No more kidding around with those international ship dates, we've got ourselves a real live release date from Asus: May 12th. The hotly-anticipated Eee PC 900 with that relatively bountiful 8.9-inch screen is going to sell for a starting price of $549, with Linux and XP versions available at launch.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[Khris @ Apr 19th 2008 11:44AM]

I'll wait until the Atom version is released.

[Mike Cerm @ Apr 19th 2008 12:52PM]

...and until it's cheaper than the HP MiniNote. If the EeePC is going to have a Fisher-Price keyboard, it should sell at Fisher-Price prices. $449, at the most. With Atom.

[dennis @ Apr 19th 2008 10:20PM]

Unless someone needs it now, better to wait until we see the Atom vs. Isiah (HP MiniNote?).

[Seth @ May 9th 2008 9:59PM]

I think Asus is about to find out how price-sensitive the popularity of their eeePC is.

There is no way I would pay $549 for that.

The eee pc continues to have some serious limitations that virtually everyone was willing to overlook at $299-$399.

[mex @ Apr 19th 2008 11:41PM]

rip!
off!

By a real laptop people. Don't listen to me but.... "...would you be taking the barbie doll aswell with your toy."

[JAmerican @ Apr 19th 2008 11:45AM]

WOW in UK it costs £250. Which is $500 in American. Why the $50 increase. ASUS becoming greedy???

JA

[pete @ Apr 19th 2008 11:58AM]

Plus in UK, tax is already included in price.

at 17.2 percent.

[KyleK @ Apr 19th 2008 12:51PM]

Where? All stores I see sell it for 329 pounds and more.

[x20mar @ Apr 19th 2008 1:10PM]

Actually VAT is 17.5%. If you're going to import it then you have to pay customs on top.

[cheaplikeafox @ Apr 19th 2008 1:30PM]

it's 329 pounds in the UK which is $657 in USD

[WiiFTW @ Apr 19th 2008 11:46AM]

I'll wait until it can run Doom and Crysis simultaneously while being rickrolled.

[bjrcboy @ Apr 19th 2008 12:08PM]

Fail.

[Khris @ Apr 19th 2008 2:18PM]

@ WiiFTW

I think you need to be Rick Rolled

[dj-kenpo @ Apr 19th 2008 2:51PM]

why exactly did the person giving a failign grade to the doom comment get low ranked?

IT'S A MAD HOUSE IN HERE!

[emailtabs @ Apr 19th 2008 4:07PM]

Shits and giggles bro, shits and giggles!.

[kawaiipikachu @ Apr 20th 2008 7:28PM]

Of couse it can run doom a million times over same with Doom 2 but what you should be saying will it play Doom 3 ?

[decapitor @ Apr 19th 2008 11:47AM]

for that asking price I want GPS and atom. reasonable or not, that's when I'll jump on board this whole UMPC thing.

[Wisam @ Apr 19th 2008 11:53AM]

without touchscreen and swivel screen this price is too much!

[darkstar @ Apr 19th 2008 2:32PM]

even with GPS, aret there mapping software on Linux as good as MS streets and trips??
at this price, its way overpriced man. i would get it at $400.

[Fred @ Apr 19th 2008 9:58PM]

Under (almost) no circumstances will you find Windows software without a linux equivalent. Also, my friend has a current-gen Eee, and it took me and him about 1/2 an hour and $40 dollars to add bluetooth and GPS to it (not including the tools we used or the wire, stuff like that) we went back into it later with his dad (who is more experienced with working on computers) and upgraded the processor, added more RAM and more USB ports (internally)
we also swapped in a better wireless card and stuck a memory stick inside

It wasn't very hard, all of the instructions are easily to find online, going on that experience, start with USB ports, for practicality, Bluetooth was easiest, then the memory stick, the processor upgrade was the most difficult, as the soldering was tricky, the wireless card and the memory were the most worth it.

[shineliang @ Apr 19th 2008 11:52AM]

anyone can tell me what happened to the HTC shift giver away?

[Fusion @ Apr 19th 2008 11:54AM]

cheaper than the uk, in the UK it costs £329 (or $658) recomended retail price

[Fusion @ Apr 19th 2008 12:05PM]

cheaper than the uk, in the UK it costs £329 (or $658) recomended retail price

[Db @ Apr 19th 2008 12:08PM]

Now they are just pricing themselves out the market. At the $200-300 price range they are a nice toy that is very cool. Now at the $500-600 point they put themselves right back to standard laptop prices - no matter how UM they might be.
The whole thing that got people excited was the small form factor and very low price.
Do I want a larger screen - yes, memory - yes. But not more than the original price range. I know they have to make money, but .....

[Jon Acheson @ Apr 19th 2008 12:21PM]

I agree. The thing about a portable device is, you're going to beat the crap out of it. It's likely to get dropped, or wet, or just messed up from daily wear, and you're going to have to replace it. So it has to be cheap enough that you can afford to replace it when that happens.

$500 is really too high for me. $300 is more likely to be my upper ceiling, and $200 is more like what I want to pay.

[con @ Apr 19th 2008 12:13PM]

I agree with the release of this EEE so close to the release of the atom processor and it's significantly higher price, calling the ASUS EEE PC 900 "hotly anticipated" is highly questionable. I would only pay that much for it if it had touchscreen tablet option. I would definitely hold out and see what the competition does and watch the price for this drop like a rock.

[Striker @ Apr 19th 2008 11:36PM]

I would sure as hell call it "Hotly Anticipated", it is the successor to the ultra-portable that sells every six seconds, also, I am dying for one.

[marcin @ Apr 19th 2008 12:23PM]

wow that is too high a price.

i'll wait for the price to go down or for competitors to release cheaper options.

oh, and for atom.

[Mark @ Apr 19th 2008 1:45PM]

UP AND ATOM!

[sinai @ Apr 19th 2008 12:24PM]

atom? gimme isaiah!

[Marty @ Apr 19th 2008 12:27PM]

It's NOT a significant increase in price. The eeePC 8G is $499. For $50 more you get
a larger SSD, a larger multi-touch trackpad, an optional windows xp license and a higher-resolution larger screen without a hideous bezel.

[Mike Cerm @ Apr 19th 2008 12:47PM]

I don't care about the increased storage space, personally. An SDHC card can take care of that. I care about the improved screen. I certainly wouldn't pay $549 for this when the new HP MiniNote is $50 cheaper, with a better keyboard, and an even better (1280x768) screen.

[Matt Keller @ Apr 19th 2008 1:07PM]

And that wonderful, wonderful VIA chipset. I'll take the 900mhZ Celeron M please. The Eee is superior in many ways.

[Striker @ Apr 19th 2008 3:06PM]

@ Mike Cerm

I don't think you know how much VIA processors blow, especially compared to Intel. Hell, even a Sempron could blow a top-of-the-line VIA out of the water.

[Dennis @ Apr 19th 2008 12:28PM]

Glad I didn't sell my 7" 4G yet.

[Richlom @ May 10th 2008 9:09PM]

I agree. Price too high. I'll hold on to my Eee PC 7

[kibalt @ Apr 19th 2008 12:30PM]

So when it hits Japan ?
How long should I wait?
　 　 　　　＿＿＿_
　 　　　／　　 　 　＼
　　　／　 _ノ 　ヽ､_　 ＼ Does ASUS hate Japan?
　 ／ 　oﾟ⌒　　　⌒ﾟo　 ＼ 　
　 |　　　　 （__人__）　　　　|
　 ＼　　 　 ｀ ⌒´ 　 　 ／

[Khris @ Apr 19th 2008 2:20PM]

Asus doesn't hate Japan.....just the numerous anime characters that come out of it.

[w00t @ Apr 19th 2008 4:48PM]

Is that a set of balls in the middle of that face?
Is it even a face?

[TK @ Apr 20th 2008 10:08PM]

Japan has loads of cool tech stuff that the rest of the world doesn't get, i guess you win some you lose some wherever you are..

[Sam Zebian @ Apr 19th 2008 12:42PM]

I want to get this, but I don't have the money... yet

[sinjinn @ Apr 19th 2008 12:51PM]

but right after i rob that bank..mwahahha...

[Mikey C. @ Apr 19th 2008 12:43PM]

will the old eee's have a price drop then now that the new ones will be coming out? that would be thriftlicious!

[Mike Cerm @ Apr 19th 2008 12:49PM]

Probably not. Since these are priced so much higher, they're probably going to keep the old ones at the same price (unless they discontinue them all together).

[tekdemon @ Apr 19th 2008 12:58PM]

Man, while I understand that ASUS is just making up for the fact that the US dollar keeps sinking, this is still way too expensive. I was expecting there to be a $399 9" model, not a $550 one.
=( I've been waiting so long for this notebook and now I don't even want it anymore. Whatever happened to the $199 notebook concept ASUS? Grr.

[Matt Keller @ Apr 19th 2008 1:08PM]

Because it was unrealistic in the first place? Do all of you realize how much a normal 7" - 9" laptop costs? Well over $1000, for a decent one. This is a wonderful bargain.

[temugen @ Apr 19th 2008 1:38PM]

@Matt
These are not normal laptops and should not be compared in any way, shape, or form. If you're planning on getting your day to day work done on one, I hope you reconsider. I own the 7" version and it's merely a fun gadget to carry around everywhere just to search the web, skype, etc. Of course, I installed BT3 on it and now use it as a hacktop. But I would never replace a decent notebook with it.

[majortom1981 @ Apr 19th 2008 1:11PM]

This is expensive considering I can get a dell 1420 for $499

[Cigol @ Apr 19th 2008 1:24PM]

Tempted. Very tempted.

[Joshua Walters @ Apr 19th 2008 1:33PM]

Honestly, at the price, Im going for an HP 2133 with Linux and the 120gb HDD.

Its got a better resolution, and it has higher specs.

I guess the one downside is that the battery life is a little lower, but Ill find a way to deal with that.