Black Eee PC 901 looks good, just not $650 good
By Thomas Ricker 
posted May 21st 2008 1:37AM
posted May 21st 2008 1:37AM
[Via The Gadget Site, Thanks KC Kim]
posted May 21st 2008 1:37AM
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they ruined a good thing, with greed.
-and a bad design team.
I'm not even sure it's greed. It's stupidity! They have totally abandoned what was supposedly the point of the EeePC line. I think that their new models are nice, but dammit, they're not supposed to be nice! They're supposed to be a small, low-cost alternative to a full-size laptop for people who basically want to browse the web. Who needs a 20GB SSD to browse the web?
They should have stuck to the original price point, and just put in a 9-inch screen. Maybe bluetooth, since it only costs maybe $2 to integrate. Why can't they see, that's all that anyone wanted!
Mike Cerm: I agree the eee 700 only needed a bigger screen.
Hilarious. Asus makes a lower cost, ultra portable laptop and people complained it didn't have enough resolution, screen was too small, processor speed, etc etc. They listen to most of the demands, and now people are complaining it's too expensive. I myself am angry that it's not a 2 lb notebook with a Core 2 Duo 1.6ghz, 7 hour battery life, high res screen, 64GB SSD, discrete graphics, and costs 200 dollars. What were they thinking?!
I wasnt greed - the market demanded this notebook.
They released the original Eee, which in reality was generally unappealing except for the ridiculously low price.
Now they have put all this stuff in that we asked for - and guess what - it costs more.
the 7" eee is lookin really nice right now
Yea. ASUS has already lost when they were leading. Pretty sad. They added unnecessary features (multi-touch)? I personally like my modded EEE with the touchscreen way more. Other people seem to agree. I'm getting a Wind to replace my EEE 700.
Reason: I find typing papers unbearable on the keyboard and the screen is too small to do real school work. I've come to that conclusion after a month of usage.
A Wind?
@Jesse
The MSI Wind.
Oh, thanks.
I think they are trying to avoid the 'race to the bottom' which Sony predicted a bit earlier with these kind of laptops. The 'race to the bottom' can only benefit the customer unfortunately for them.
Yeah, again, you guys completely misunderstood the "race to the bottom" comment. The Sony exec's point was that if everyone focuses on making low-cost computers, the high-end will stagnate and performance will ultimately suffer. I think Asus is just realizing that perhaps they sacrificed too much in trying to make a cheap laptop.
It looks like crap.
And I have no doubt you know what's that tastes like too.
Wow. They move further and further away from their initial goal.
What's in this EEE exactly? Sheesh.
God damn that was a pretty fucking good milkshake. I don't know if it was worth $5 but it was pretty fucking good.
pulp fiction... classic ;)
I think I'll pass on this one. Waiting for asus 900 for under $400. That or the $399 MSI Wind.
looks good. theres no way in hell id spend $650 on it. this laptop was going to be my college lappie (with a desktop in my room of course) but at that price point, it better have a core2 and a decent HDD.
sorry Asus, but that wind is looking real good right about now.
Don't buy the thing then....I can't get over all the price complaints on this site. We live in a buy it at the manufacturers price or don't world. So don't. OK? Q.
@ChiWax
You can't get over the price complaints? And you say 'We live in a buy it at the manufacturers price or don't world. '. Right - but we also live in a 'comment and let the world know on a public blog what you think of the manufactures bull regarding their announced intent for a product pricing' world. OK?
I like the way they used a lower-priced processor and raised the price of the laptop.
Good for them.
Perhaps ASUS knows they will be losing marketshare very soon so they are trying to gouge the market while they still have it?
Or they are trying to make a profit like every single other friggin company on the planet. Every single one....Q
right. Asus is "trying" by shooting themselves in the foot.
Just so you know, Amos & Andy was incredibly racist. Probably not the best reference to use.
Oh look, the PC gestapo is here.
You're very wrong...their program actually brought the plight of the poor southern black into the hearts and minds of those who lived in the cities. A very clever show that actually brought black actors in to be heard nationally. Read some history before you spout of pc crap like that. Better yet get yourself a eee pc and I'm sure with a little web research you may be able to put Amos and Andy in historical aspect.
Sheesh! I think I'd prefer a FOLEO!
I'm cool with the price and all...
except:
Is there ANY advantage of the EEE 901 against the Wind?
Wind = Better keyboard
Wind = Bigger and better screen (LED)
Wind = Bluetooth
Wind = 2.5" hard drive
EEE = SSD
BUT
Wind + $100-200 could buy a far better SSD than the EEE has.
Near as I can see, the age of the EEE is over. Now the Wind is our subnotebook hawtness. :)
Agreed. Now, if this thing had sweet all-aluminum construction like the HP 2133, it would be a different story. But the SSD isn't that big a deal for such a huge price difference.
Dammit Asus. I'm now forgetting the EEE pc. What's Dell doing? Or maybe the MSI wind.
Dell is doing 13" lappys with core2dual that playback hd content and run dx10 games for about the same price.
I don't even have to say it, right?
But it's $680 now.
If you're going to spend that much you might as well just go ahead and get a real computer.
I was thinking about getting an EeePC, but the really tiny monitor and keyboard on the 700 series made me doubt. And the battery time wasn't that good, either. I loved the original idea of a low-cost laptop that's light-weight, ultra-portable and at a low cost. But as everyone has already said: Asus has lost it. The 901 machine is not worth that price tag.
It looks like it's going to be a MSI Wind, but I'll wait until August (that's when school starts) to see that happens with the prices. Apparently, Wind was first announced to sell at $600, but got lowered to $399 when it was released in the US. I hope that's what will happen with Eee 901. Still, I like a 10" screen better than 8.9".
What's really been bothering me is this new Intel Atom processor. Recent benchmarks claim that Diamondville Atom at 1.6 GHz performs about half that of Dothan Celeron at 900 MHz (the one used in Eee). True, Atom has a TDP of 2 W, but Celeron only has about 5 W. So the trade-off between lowered performance to increased battery time is most likely not decent enough to justify it. However, it is much cheaper, but clearly that's not evident in this machine...
The MacBook owners have no problem paying an extra $200 for a black plastic case. Why do the eee owners?
I work as a brand manager in a consumer product industry with a clearly defined premium and discount segment. By selling these 200 dollar laptops, and then all the other companies selling similarly priced cheap laptops, they are growing the discount market and shrinking the premium market. That is the opposite of what the industry wants.
Simple, they are sane.
No. Not at that price. My black 701 is just fine.
Maybe Asus is watching the feedbacks before committing to this.
Is it just my or would you rather the laptop have ASUS on it rather than EEE PC?
I hate how they are maketing this towards kids and mothers, it would make me feel emasculated if I ever decided to get one. Then again, I'm asian so I'm insecure about other things too... ^_^
@crazyyellowguy marketing this towards kids and mothers? im glad you think only real men buy gamer-level computers, and mothers should stick to using their kids computer. and quit with the asian comments just cuz you need miracle-gro yourself
anyways, i agree with everyone here that the price is getting out of hand. i could get a decent normal laptop on sale for that price. actually, my friend bought a really old honda prelude last year for $600. msi wind!
may if the 901 had a touch screen, 2GB RAM, 32GB SSD, and the dual-core Diamondville.
I think the buck stops at the 900 or the Wind.
901 $100 more then the 900, and if it just for ugly trimmings and a single core atom running at 1.33-1.6Ghz I'm out.
better off buying a 701 2G surf and moding the shit out of it.
I sure hope they realize that they alone dreamed up the need to push this out ahead of schedule and with reduced features for a higher price.
@ mattyukie: your 'consumer product industry' can burn for all I care. I cannot afford 650 for this toy. Can you hear us? These are the voices of the consumers; go manage your trackball.
they need to:
add touch screen
lower price to 550
the eee purpose is smudged!
- http://www.stompergames.com