Black Eee PC 901 looks good, just not $650 good

There you have it, ASUS' Amos 'n Andy companion to the Martin 'n Lewis Eee PC 901. The 8.9-inch Atom-based lappie show no signs of the rumored Bluetooth or anything else unusual that we can see. Black is certainly predictable as a continuation of the original Eee PC 700-series color scheme. It's certainly not as surprising as the expected $650 price tag on the original $199 low-cost laptop.

[Via The Gadget Site, Thanks KC Kim]

[shawn.zenz @ May 21st 2008 1:42AM]

they ruined a good thing, with greed.

[Waillit @ May 21st 2008 2:18AM]

-and a bad design team.

[Mike Cerm @ May 21st 2008 2:24AM]

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!

[dan wise @ May 21st 2008 3:06AM]

Mike Cerm: I agree the eee 700 only needed a bigger screen.

[bot @ May 21st 2008 9:19AM]

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?!

[Seth @ May 23rd 2008 8:36AM]

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.

[vdogg89 @ May 21st 2008 5:07PM]

the 7" eee is lookin really nice right now

[JAmerican @ May 21st 2008 1:44AM]

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.

[JAmerican @ May 21st 2008 1:45AM]

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.

[Jesse S @ May 21st 2008 2:19AM]

A Wind?

[Dan @ May 21st 2008 2:54AM]

@Jesse
The MSI Wind.

[Jesse S @ May 21st 2008 3:28AM]

Oh, thanks.

[Jeff @ May 21st 2008 1:44AM]

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.

[Charles @ May 21st 2008 2:57AM]

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.

[more.byn @ May 21st 2008 1:45AM]

It looks like crap.

[James Cameron @ May 21st 2008 2:15AM]

And I have no doubt you know what's that tastes like too.

[gradoman @ May 21st 2008 1:46AM]

Wow. They move further and further away from their initial goal.

What's in this EEE exactly? Sheesh.

[WarMouse @ May 21st 2008 1:48AM]

God damn that was a pretty fucking good milkshake. I don't know if it was worth $5 but it was pretty fucking good.

[Jimmy @ May 21st 2008 2:14AM]

pulp fiction... classic ;)

[tekoneko @ May 21st 2008 1:50AM]

I think I'll pass on this one. Waiting for asus 900 for under $400. That or the $399 MSI Wind.

[David @ May 21st 2008 1:50AM]

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.

[ChiWax @ May 21st 2008 2:10AM]

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.

[SHoe @ May 21st 2008 2:32AM]

@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?

[waiownsyou @ May 21st 2008 1:51AM]

I like the way they used a lower-priced processor and raised the price of the laptop.

Good for them.

[Jeff @ May 21st 2008 2:05AM]

Perhaps ASUS knows they will be losing marketshare very soon so they are trying to gouge the market while they still have it?

[ChiWax @ May 21st 2008 2:12AM]

Or they are trying to make a profit like every single other friggin company on the planet. Every single one....Q

[JRM @ May 21st 2008 2:39AM]

right. Asus is "trying" by shooting themselves in the foot.

[Charles @ May 21st 2008 2:53AM]

Just so you know, Amos & Andy was incredibly racist. Probably not the best reference to use.

[Mark @ May 21st 2008 4:05AM]

Oh look, the PC gestapo is here.

[Joe @ Jul 24th 2008 11:22AM]

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.

[Carniphage @ May 21st 2008 3:00AM]

Sheesh! I think I'd prefer a FOLEO!

[Luke @ May 21st 2008 3:16AM]

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. :)

[Rob @ May 21st 2008 4:09AM]

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.

[Valgas @ May 21st 2008 3:36AM]

Dammit Asus. I'm now forgetting the EEE pc. What's Dell doing? Or maybe the MSI wind.

[ishism @ May 21st 2008 4:00AM]

Dell is doing 13" lappys with core2dual that playback hd content and run dx10 games for about the same price.

[Hellios @ May 21st 2008 4:17AM]

I don't even have to say it, right?

But it's $680 now.

[Darren @ May 21st 2008 4:30AM]

If you're going to spend that much you might as well just go ahead and get a real computer.

[Gabriel @ May 21st 2008 4:48AM]

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...

[LarryLarryLarry @ May 21st 2008 5:16AM]

The MacBook owners have no problem paying an extra $200 for a black plastic case. Why do the eee owners?

[mattyukie @ May 21st 2008 10:21AM]

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.

[Mitch @ May 22nd 2008 7:32AM]

Simple, they are sane.

[ncmach1 @ May 21st 2008 10:12AM]

No. Not at that price. My black 701 is just fine.

Maybe Asus is watching the feedbacks before committing to this.

[crazyyellowguy @ May 21st 2008 11:20AM]

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... ^_^

[hayley @ Jun 29th 2008 9:12PM]

@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!

[CosterMonger @ May 21st 2008 11:00AM]

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.

[mmmmna @ May 29th 2008 8:22PM]

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.

[mmmmna @ May 29th 2008 8:22PM]

@ 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.

[eliden @ May 31st 2008 6:21AM]

they need to:

add touch screen
lower price to 550

[StomperGames @ Jul 2nd 2008 2:14PM]

the eee purpose is smudged!

- http://www.stompergames.com