ASUS's Atom-based Eee 901 shows up in pictures

It was just yesterday that the official announcement of the Atom-based MSI Wind's pricing prompted us to wonder where ASUS's promised Atom Eee 900 was, and would you look at that -- here's the Eee 901, looking radiant in white. Of course, the major changes are internal, so the exterior looks pretty much the same -- apart from some extra buttons and the relocation of the power jack -- but it's good to know this thing is inching closer to release. Now if we could just get some benchmarks and pricing info, we'd be all set. Check the read link for tons more pics.

[Via jkkmobile]

[Peter @ May 14th 2008 7:50PM]

Looks like my old V-Tec. In white.

[Eh @ May 14th 2008 7:54PM]

If this thing is $399 then it will be a tough decision between the MSI. If its more than $399 then the MSI is a no brainer.

[Randavance @ May 14th 2008 8:04PM]

I think I might do an HP Mini Note if they go Intel Atom like everyone else. It may cost a good deal more, but damn it that Aluminum exterior is sooooo nice.

[AC @ May 14th 2008 8:14PM]

I have a feeling that the HP will go with the Via Isiah when it is released. From what I hear it will be socket compatible with the C7, so changing the processor would be much cheaper than changing the board and processor.

[Eh @ May 14th 2008 9:26PM]

I would never pay more than ~$400 for these tiny laptops. The HP may look the best but its price is a joke, I can get a regular laptop for that much. $400 is the sweet spot for these things and its why the EEE took off the way it did. These things are gadgets/toys pure and simple, they need to have gadget prices.

[Rob @ May 14th 2008 11:46PM]

Until the Asus Eee came along (in response to the announcement of the OLPC "$100 laptop"), ultraportable laptops only existed as high-end machines pushing $2000. There's room for a midrange at conventional laptop prices.

[Mike MacCana @ May 15th 2008 12:04AM]

This is an official announcement:

Anyone who mentions they can get a regular laptop for the price on an ultralight on these forums is exiled to gizmodo where they will to sit around missing the point forever.

Thanks very much.

Management.

[nodspy @ May 14th 2008 7:55PM]

Ok I'm confused. Is the atom cpu that is going to be in the msi wind and the atom eepc a dual core or a solo core?

[Jayayess1190 @ May 14th 2008 9:47PM]

Single core.

[Ryan @ May 14th 2008 8:05PM]

I would wager solo, a duo would negate the battery life benefits.

[E. Leigh @ May 14th 2008 9:06PM]

Dual core Atom is in these little machines, supposedly. The Dual core (diamondville) will be in the "cost optimized" machines to be released. Solo core Atom is known as silverthorne, which has a GPU controller will be used for higher end MIDs, and not used in the low-cost, low-energy notebooks.

[iofthestorm @ May 15th 2008 12:21AM]

No, it's not dual core, but it has two hardware threads (SMT or hyperthreading).

[Randavance @ May 14th 2008 8:01PM]

And the winner of the Light weight low cost laptop war is...

Intel.

[Reader @ May 14th 2008 8:22PM]

Just like the console war if I remember correctly.

[Matt @ May 14th 2008 11:13PM]

No, the winner of the console war is IBM.

[rBoLt @ May 15th 2008 2:22AM]

2nd to that!

[Travis @ May 14th 2008 8:25PM]

Your pictures of the EeePC 900 with an Atom processor look radically different than the 900 with a Celeron. What gives?

[Jack @ May 14th 2008 11:08PM]

I was thinking the exact same thing.

When I read this "Of course, the major changes are internal, so the exterior looks pretty much the same" I was pretty confused... since it looks quite different to me, and I've been following the 900 close (so getting one).

[Apollo @ May 14th 2008 8:23PM]

Make it black, give it about 50 more gigs, turn it into a tablet and i'm sold.

[FRZ @ May 15th 2008 12:21AM]

That's what I've been saying and still am. That is the only thing this thing is missing and it would be a definite buy, especially for its size.

[Ayman @ May 15th 2008 3:37AM]

Didnt sony do that?

[Ryan @ May 15th 2008 3:38AM]

And you would end up with a price of what? 1.5k?

The whole point of these laptops is that they're cheap. Adding extraneous features just makes it like any other laptop.

[Hellios @ May 14th 2008 8:32PM]

The EEE is dead to me, seeing how the Celeron based 9incher costs $600, the Atom version will cost even more.

The Wind however is going in the right direction I think, because the price should never ever go above $500 and even that's pushing it for something so weak.

[crazyyellowguy @ May 14th 2008 9:44PM]

It will be CHEAPER just like how the MSI wind was cut in price with atom, you can assume that the eee will too

"We already knew most of the details on the MSI Wind, but the Atom-based ultraportable just got official US pricing and availability today -- and just like we hoped, it got a little cheaper on the trip over."

http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/13/msi-wind-gets-official-pricing-and-availability-for-the-us-399/

[Hellios @ May 15th 2008 4:27AM]

It won't be cheaper, those current Celerons were an old Intel stock that nobody wanted, that's why Asus got them so cheap for their 700 and 900 line.

Atom on the other hand is in demand by EVERY laptop manufacturer (seriously, how many Atom based laptops/MIDs were announced in the last 3 months, 20? 30?) which will drive the price up. The only good thing coming from the Atom based EEE is the increased battery life, which is still marginal. Asus should really get better batteries for a LCD screen that size.

[Peter @ May 15th 2008 11:49AM]

Why would the atom cost more? The atom was built to be a low-cost chip.

[Brian @ May 14th 2008 8:39PM]

$450 would be my max. I would love to own an Eee, but I can get a thin 15" thinkpad for under $500.

I'm sure ASUS will price it at $550 or $600, which would completely defeat the reasons for the Eee's success. C'est la vie.

[digitallysick @ May 14th 2008 8:57PM]

I am so happy the msi wind came out at a decent price, asus will have to beat the msi wind price for me to buy

[Brady @ May 14th 2008 9:16PM]

Hopefully they come out with this soon and give it some extras like the rumored, though doubtful, GPS or touchscreen, or just keep it nice and cheap. Oh and an extended keyboard like the HP mini-note would be really nice although I haven't actually tried out the Eee's keyboard. And if I had my druthers then this would be in silver, metal.

[fuzzy @ May 14th 2008 9:19PM]

Seriously, Asus. Will it be that hard for you to add a $5 bluetooth part to this machine? Even at all trim levels?

[Jeff @ May 14th 2008 9:54PM]

But that would make too much sense.

[emailtabs @ May 15th 2008 7:46AM]

Add one yourself!, its scary but not actually too hard, go see eeeuser.com and search in the modifications section, walkthroughs, pics etc can be found

[miles @ May 14th 2008 10:13PM]

Is Engadget getting kick-backs from Asus? They go out of the way on every EEE story to kiss their A$$.

[Loonie @ May 15th 2008 11:37AM]

Well they covered it, if that's what you mean...

[kr @ May 15th 2008 12:44AM]

Looks like they relocated the Kensington lock port too. The 701 EEE has it next to the VGA port, which makes it nearly impossible(without modifying your VGA cable) to have your computer locked up and hooked up to a secondary display at the same time.

[mm3guy @ May 15th 2008 2:05AM]

I thought all laptops were atom based? :P

[Peter @ May 15th 2008 11:50AM]

All matter is atom-based.

[Raj @ May 15th 2008 5:13AM]

Is it so hard for ASUS and MSI to install a DVD drive? Or have I missed something along the way??

[emailtabs @ May 15th 2008 7:50AM]

Yeah you have.

Have you seen the internals of an eee, there is no room for a drive and as such they would have to make it bigger and more expensive,

If you need a drive that much then buy an external and glue it to the bottom. its pretty much what they would have to do except they would modify the housing for you

[Hinhale @ May 15th 2008 6:23AM]

Yeah, you pretty much missed the most obvious point with the whole netbook ultra-portable market. They're meant to be small and lightweight, not powerful and able to handle any media known to man.

You might just aswell ask why they haven't put in a couple of raid:ed 7200rpm drives.

[Hinhale @ May 15th 2008 6:25AM]

Ehh.. that was in response to Raj's comment.

[mostlyharmless22 @ May 15th 2008 9:23AM]

Don't like the new look at all. I'll probably buy a black 900 when I can find one.

[Rosannadan @ May 21st 2008 7:44PM]

Should I wait for the eee to offer WiMAX? I live in the toolies. Is WiMAX something that can be "upgraded" to?

[grey2vs @ Jun 4th 2008 4:09AM]

The only thing I like about this one is the mouse pad....it's huuuuge! look at that thing! as wide as the space bar (or perhaps the space bar is smaller?).

Anyway from the last interview with Asus people I heard this thing would sport a bluetooth and yeah the diamondville Atom...the normal 20GB SSD......the likes: the new design isn't bad, the mouse pad is a good improvement, diamondville is not bad, better than silverthorne....dislikes: the chrome does it for me (black EEE wouldn't look nice with those shiny things, I want an all black), the bluetooth isn't necessary it just increased the price and most people wouldn't even use it. They should have left the same specs as the 900 (20GB SSD variant) and just add the atom processor. I was planning on getting one for University next year but damn, Looks like I have to wait and see.

[Mike @ Jun 5th 2008 1:00AM]

OK, it's June 4th. The eee 901 was supposed to come out on June 3rd, wasn't it? Where do I buy one????

[PCMario @ Jun 8th 2008 6:34PM]

9th of June, you can only buy in Thaiwan from the fabric...

[Leah @ Jun 18th 2008 5:34PM]

It's now JUNE 18; where the bloody hell can one buy one of these things???