Evidence mounts for August Eee PC carnage with $299 Dell E launch

Doing with a single E what takes ASUS three, Dell's mini netbook looks to be on track for an August kill sprEee. We've already seen Dell's launch timeline and specs, of course, and this morning we've got the hushed whispers of DigiTimes' "market sources" again claiming that the Compal manufactured Dell 8.9-inchers will launch in August for $299. For that price, assuming everything we've heard so far is correct, you'll get an instant-on Linux distro running atop Intel's 1.6GHz Atom processor, a 1,024 x 600 display, 3x USB, a wee SSD, integrated webcam, WiFi, and more in a 0.82-1.22-inch thick sled weighing about 2.2-pounds. With the netbook market now thoroughly saturated, we expect the Dell launch to mark the beginning of an industry shakeout. Any bets on who will survive?

[alvaro @ Jul 15th 2008 2:29AM]

the worst!!!!

[zomg0t @ Jul 15th 2008 2:46AM]

THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST!!!
As long as that is what you get for $300 and you don't care about graphics...

[sinai @ Jul 15th 2008 2:29AM]

die asus, die die die.

also, dell coupons for all!

[Matthew C @ Jul 15th 2008 10:57PM]

HEY! Asus is awesome. But Dayumn ... I already've owned 2 dell Lappies, this is almost good enough to be the third.

Finally a netbook with a reasonable price.$500-600 and more, ASUS, are you kidding?

[Darryl @ Jul 15th 2008 2:33AM]

I hope they make one with SSD, XP, and an Atom processor. It's between the new old eee 900 and whatever Dell's come up with now.

[LuvMuffin @ Jul 15th 2008 2:38AM]

finally i can make my choice on which one to get ... well soon i can make my choice

[apeguero @ Jul 15th 2008 2:40AM]

SSD? I hope one will be able to swap that for an HDD. But, so far, looks pretty darned good for that price. This and the MSI one, makes me wonder what the hell ASUS was thinking when they priced themselves out of the market with the eee PC part deux.

[giantenemycrab @ Jul 15th 2008 3:21AM]

It's really sad. The Eee was great, Asus just got greedy.

[Eh @ Jul 15th 2008 4:16AM]

I think ASUS just got lucky with the first one and in reality didnt know what they were doing, where they were, or why they were doing so great. Like my uncle Freddy after 2 bottles of gin.

[qaz @ Jul 15th 2008 6:24AM]

swap to HDD? I am just waiting when SSD gets more affordable to swap to it in my laptop.

[Bandit5317 @ Jul 15th 2008 2:41AM]

"...August killing spree"

Fixed.

[Prokanda @ Jul 15th 2008 3:59AM]

... oh PLEASE, please... be sarcasm ...

[Fara @ Jul 15th 2008 2:42AM]

This seems pretty decent. Especially if launched for that price, with decent batterylife.

Asus will survive, and spam even more EEE models (like they do in all market sections).

[Fara @ Jul 15th 2008 2:43AM]

This seems pretty decent. Especially if launched for that price, with decent batterylife.

Asus will survive, and spam even more EEE models (like they do in all market sections).

[Fara @ Jul 15th 2008 2:43AM]

This seems pretty decent. Especially if launched for that price, with decent batterylife.

Asus will survive, and spam even more EEE models (like they do in all market sections).

[zomg0t @ Jul 15th 2008 2:48AM]

Oh noes! What happened, Fara?

[whowhatme @ Jul 15th 2008 2:57AM]

while we're on the subject of spam...

[Fara @ Jul 15th 2008 3:11AM]

Sorry about that. Stupid Engadget didn't work properly (or my browser or connection), and my comment didn't appear for a few minutes after I had posted.

[Calculon @ Jul 15th 2008 10:29AM]

That's right... blame Engadget!

[Lazarpandar @ Jul 21st 2008 5:04PM]

You hit "Add Your Comments" ONCE

ONE TIME

I don't care if it doesn't show up when you refresh the page, I don't care if it takes 10 minutes, you hit it once.

[edward @ Jul 15th 2008 2:52AM]

Give me 6 cell battery and min 16 GB SSD and XP for under $400 and I am sold methinks, if I has the money at the time...

[brie987 @ Jul 15th 2008 5:39AM]

This is as close as I have seen it. You can probably ad XP to it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220362

[Friday @ Jul 15th 2008 2:54AM]

Finally, a mini-PC that actually looks kind of smart, and doesn't cost more than an iPod touch... I still don't know what a guy is supposed to actually DO on these things... email at Starbucks I guess...

Is the Newton 2.0 far behind?

[Prokanda @ Jul 15th 2008 3:59AM]

yes... it's called the iPhone.

[Derek @ Jul 15th 2008 4:24AM]

@Prokanda
Why do you feel the NEED to discuss the iPhone on this thread that has absolutely nothing to do with it?

[Prokanda @ Jul 15th 2008 5:54AM]

thanks for reading first.. jackass.

he said something about the newton... apple's first handheld PDA..

clearly, the iphone was targeted at the market that wanted an apple pda-ish device.

my point was that apple will not come out with another standalone pda.

dumb asses, I swear.

[aemond @ Jul 15th 2008 3:21PM]

@Friday
"I still don't know what a guy is supposed to actually DO on these things":
I use a 9in laptop on a daily basis for 4 years now (was 2000$). I mainly do BUSINESS on the road with it. Office stuff mainly. As a productivity consultant, I make my living taking notes and writing reports. I use it for leisure too. I used to get more powerful laptops, but on the road, nothing beat the smallest laptop that you can type (80% width keyboard).

[rock99rock @ Jul 15th 2008 3:07PM]

Don't swear, its not nice. "Yo mama" jokes, on the other hand, are totally acceptable.

[Mike10010100 @ Jul 25th 2008 2:27AM]

I look at it this way. I would easily put down $200 for a computer that could connect me to any desktop in the world. With the advent of GoToMyPC and (my personal favorite) Logmein, I don't need a powerful computer to lug around to do work. Just carry around a small shell with a screen and plug into the internet. Pair this up with a decent 3g phone and you have unlimited access to the internet and every one of your desktops.

Sold.

[drive- @ Jul 15th 2008 2:57AM]

in for one dell FTW, I can already picture these things all over the place

[gagahput3ra @ Jul 15th 2008 3:04AM]

Yes!

Good news for the fanboys indeed...and nice thing for starbucking

[Prokanda @ Jul 15th 2008 4:01AM]

fan... boys...?

of? mini computers for cheap?

dell? red? ubuntu? ssd?

....vga ports?

[qaz @ Jul 15th 2008 6:33AM]

yep, vga ports suck, they are old like...
well it works... still

[Blake @ Jul 15th 2008 11:56AM]

The VGA port is to plug into a projector, which make this small, very portable computer great for business presentations.

[pyrotech @ Jul 15th 2008 3:06AM]

Will be interesting to see if the MSI camp responds come that time.

[L @ Jul 15th 2008 3:07AM]

Anything regarding the E Slim?

[Sheila @ Jul 15th 2008 9:43AM]

According to the roadmap, sometime after October. It looks like I'll be buying the Touch Pro and the Dell E Slim+Video at the same time. Now the question is, can I get PAM added to the 450 Everything plan from Sprint.

[BobTurbo @ Jul 15th 2008 3:15AM]

I do not care as I am going to buy an MSI Wind and other people can use whatever they like :)

[diode3diode @ Jul 15th 2008 3:46AM]

So what!? Does the wind come in Red? Besides the Wind is $499. The linuxWind is $399 but MSI is always pushing back the dates for its US customers so by the time it comes out I may already have the $299 Dell.

[Pochi @ Jul 15th 2008 8:59AM]

Thank you for keeping us up to date on what you WON'T be buying.

[0megapart!cle @ Jul 15th 2008 3:19AM]

Asus has doomed the success of the Eee line themselves, with all of the ridiculous numbers of products.

[gyffes @ Jul 15th 2008 3:23AM]

I dunno, Bob... I can't seem to get past the phrase, "ah, I see you've got a bit of Wind..."

I mean, what if it really stinks?

What I don't understand is where the raft of, "well, if it had a DVD-burner, 27" screen, made me toast and biscuits for brekkie, had WIFI-MAX, EVDO, Free Porn and folded my laundry AND came in under $8, I'd be all over that..." comments are?

[ahmad @ Jul 19th 2008 6:02PM]

ppls awlays say about obama: i like BO or BO stinks. its a good joke to say

[AJ in the East Bay @ Jul 15th 2008 3:24AM]

Now this is the price point appropriate for these mini-notebooks. Those other units in the $400-$500 range weren't making any sense as far as value is concerned.

[diode3diode @ Jul 15th 2008 3:51AM]

I'd +1 you but your avatar just scares me.

[gadjitfreek @ Jul 15th 2008 8:39AM]

Diode...that's just from the cover of a Rush album. :)

[Luke @ Jul 15th 2008 8:52AM]

@AJ dude gotta love Rush.
@diode there is nothing scary about Rush.

[kal326 @ Jul 15th 2008 9:05AM]

@AJ in the East Bay
No kidding, $299 to $399 would almost have to be the upper cap of mini netbooks in terms of pricing. Beyond that the price penalty for small and portable just becomes to high for what you get in terms of performance. $500 for Asus's new model seems rather ridiculous when I just picked up a HP 15.4 laptop for $650 with a TL-60 AMD chip, 3GB DDR2, 7150 Nvidia graphics and a 250GB HD. It may not be as small, have as long of battery life, or be as portable as a mini netbook, but it does stomp a mud hole in its ass in terms of performance.

[vbtrash @ Jul 15th 2008 3:29AM]

now, if only they wud put the "DELL" logo straight on the panel.

[Prokanda @ Jul 15th 2008 4:02AM]

wud.. rhymes with dud?