ASUS Eee PC 900A specs leak out, reason for existence still a mystery
By Nilay Patel 
posted August 4th 2008 3:44AM
posted August 4th 2008 3:44AM
[Via jkkmobile]
posted August 4th 2008 3:44AM
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Yet another Eeeeee PC 'story' by Engadget. Does anyone really care about these Eeeeeee PCs? Why is Engadget so obsessed by them? And why did Asus give them such a stupid name?
There are only articles so Engadget can stick the boot in...
I, for one, will be extremely disappointed if I don't see at least one new Eee PC every week. I've gotten so used to checking out every new model and model designations with even the tiniest upgrade or new option. It my weekly way of telling that Asus is alive and thriving trying to satisfy all of it's customers. They're telling their customers, "We care about each and everyone of your needs."
I just need to ask them if they could add on a little retractable claw device that would function as a backscratcher. I'll bet if they had that option, it would sell like crazy. They might add it as an option for the 902C for an added cost of just $10.
My avatar is still waiting for a model with the banana holder. I jokingly told him it will be on the 905F model in a month or so. Damn chimp almost pulled my arm out of it's socket. Lower primates have a very poor sense of humor.
iEEE = the summary of all engadget articles.
Not everyone needs Bluetooth and a good webcam on their laptop. it's cheaper than the 901 so that's another reason why people would get this. What's Totally unclear is why you fail to notice a lower priced Eee is great.
Why do people feel the need to DEFEND some awful, confusing (yeah, point to charts and shit all you want, but this line is a God damn mess now), clusterfuck of a laptop line like it's their own?
This model is COMPLETELY unnecessary and is just one reason the Eee brand is never going to be truly competetive. I'm the last one to defend Apple, but Asus is obviously trying their own "i" line with this and missing the reason it is successful completely.
As soon as the big boys (in other words, Dell) dip their hands into this market, Asus with their dozens of models and configurations is going to be screwjobbed.
Asus = Asses.
It's not COMPLETELY unnecessary, only a little bit. Sure, Asus should have made the Eee user configurable on their website but they didn't so this model is necessary for those who doesn't want to spend too much for the 901.
"Sure, Asus should have made the Eee user configurable on their website but they didn't"
I disagree.
Mass production and dealing with e-tailers/retailers instead of end users is what Asus has been doing for years. Building a facility and hiring staff to customize and ship individual units out would probably drive up the price of the laptop. Huge e-/retailers are much more suited for dealing with end users.
First to fail~!
Could it be intel is planning on dropping the celeron CPU?
More than likely I would say, which would means that asus would not be able to supply the normal 900. Maybe engadget should do some research before laying into them.
We could only hope.
Eee....name....so....diluted...
Asus is so overpriced these days, look at what the guys at www.impulseglobal.com are offering. Their similar spec laptops are cheaper!
impulse global: 400mhz, 7" screen, 128mb ram, 1gb drive, 2100mAh battery
Asus eee 900a: 1600mhz, 8.9" screen, 1024mb ram, 16gb drive, 4400mAh battery
Those are similar?
Misread your post. I see the other "coming soon" laptop there with...
1ghz via, 7" screen, 512mb ram, up to 16gb memory, unknown battery
under $200 and coming soon.
Really though, I feel 10x better buying a laptop from an established brand like Asus and am willing to pay a 'mac premium' for it.
Fail, Epola. Major fail.
iDon't care.
you'reVeryobnoxious
At $15 more expensive than the 900 and $135 cheaper than the 901 it's a pretty fair price for the Atom upgrade. Some people prefer the matte finish of the 900 to the new glossy finish of the 901 (me included), and others don't need bluetooth or wireless-n or a good webcam. It's the same thing stat wise as the 900 with a(n arguably) better processor for $15 more. 900 with an Atom, 900A, that's pretty logical.
I don't see why people are taking issue with this.
"Why would anyone want to spend €299 ($465) on this? Totally unclear -- just like the entire Eee PC lineup."
Because Asus is the only company offering some of the lightest and well equipped netbooks? The Wind, Aspire One, and M912 all have big nagging problems such as non-replacable RAM, no or little SSD option, and weight. Some of us are comparing the pricing to other ultra portables in the market which run over $1000 and not to the magical $200 pricepoint that no one has been able to match. Although, funny enough, the 700 Surf models are the closest.
We need to do like what they did in Harvey Birdman with all the unnecessary duplicates. We need to copy an 'enemy' brand and set them upon each other to destroy each other.
you know what else is totally unclear? Engadget's reason for continuously spewing up articles about the Eee PC even though they think it's a waste of time. Clearly they have nothing else better to do.
What a dismissive write-up. Real professional.
"Why would anyone want to spend €299 ($465) on this?"
Because it's €100 less than the Eee 901?
I don't see why so many people feel the need to whine with every Eee related posting. Asus releases many different models for people who want different things. People want an Atom instead of a Celeron, so they release the 901/1000 with extra goodies. Then people complain about the high price and Asus releases a cheaper Atom version that cuts some features and people are complaining again.
It seems the only thing that will stop people complaining is Asus releasing everything with all features under the sun for the price of the 701. No wait, then people would still be complaining that Asus doesn't hand them out for free and that they get so confused by the multiple models. I guess Asus should only sell the one model that the complainer wants, and nothing else.
He speaks the truth
I MENT $399 AND $445, sorry
I MENT $399 AND $445, sorry
reason for so many models? they don't offer customisation, and just sell direct to high street/web stores. What's the issue? granted they could maybe name them a bit better, but given you can probably have 10^10 combinations of a lenovo t62, how is a choice of 20 really killing anything? And how is it diluting the brand - 'eeepc' is still very much the 'hover' of netbooks - adding an extra 5 to the range doesn't change this. It dilutes the value of a '901' but if punters are buying a 900 instead, why would asus care?
poor, bias reporting once again engadget. 1/10
$299? seriously?
In the UK it's £269 for an Eee 900, that's over $540!!
Not surprising.
Strangely enough, the 701 is quite useful for quick browsing, checking Gmail, and other basic web access. I was planning on getting the 901 as soon as the Linux shipments were settling out, but the 900A matching the 701's look for not much more than the 701 back when it was released makes me want to save the $100 I would of put to the 901.
Re: "...Totally unclear -- just like the entire Eee PC lineup..."
Umm, a little unfair (and disingenuous) for Engadget to comment like this - for it was this site that gushed so liberally about the original Eee and some of its larger-screen kin.
That said, it is true that ASUS has lost its way with its weekly release of yet another Eee and, in doing so, the creator of this consumer market is losing ground to others that seem to have a clue.
ASUS would have done better to limit its models to 2 - 3 models with set specs and to spend its time actually fixing the issues that have haunted the product since its inception (locking 3rd Party programs in the OS partition, hopeless and unstable patches/updates/upgrades via its Synaptic Manager, sporadic reported wi-fi connectivity issues and patchy build quality in its more recently produced models), rather than bunging out a model a week at a price premium others are able to match or beat with fewer issues.
I can see now how they handle their weekly meetings: drunk chimps that throw darts at a collage of specs for an Eee model...
Who cares about the amount of models, it's just like WW2, Nazis made vehicles for every purpose, and the Commies made one for a lot of purposes.
Still they both killed eachother pretty badly.
Choose a model from 30 options that fits you best, and if you find that too confusing (8gb SSD or 80gb HDD OH GOOOOD WHAT DO THOSE MEAN?!?!? SO CONFUSING WHY YOU MADE ME THE OPTION TO CHOOSE!?!??!?!?!ONEONE!?!), you are better off not browsing a technology blog at all.
Wow really!?!?!? 3.99?????!?
*hits joo with stupid stick*
Is there any place I can go and actually see an Eee PC?
They list Costco on their website but the guy working there in the computer dept. acted like I was crazy when I mentioned these small laptops - he'd never heard of them.
Don't see them at Best Buy, Circuit City or anywhere. Are we expected to buy these things sight unseen?
Do you guys do the press for Paris & Britney too? Because we're a little burnt out on them too.
Err.... I have absolutely ZERO use for bluetooth or any kind of built in webcam. I have a usb mouse and no desire for anyone else on this earth to see my ugly mug. If I can save a hundred bucks over the 901 and still get 7 hours of battery life and all the other cool features, I'm on that like a porn star on skank.
Charles.
Wonderful !
The 901 is a big mistake in that it has a BIGGER case and is more HEAVY.
The whole point with the 900 is the dimensions/weight and the thicker case of the 901 just wont have me buy one.
Here comes the life saviour for 900 enthusiasts. We can get rid of the troublesome Celeron processor
which drains batteries too fast, and instead get most of the features of the 900 PLUS the Atom processor.
That should make the 900A a most compelling variant. Rest assured we will soon see people replace the 0.3 MP camera of their 900A with the 1.3 MP of the 900. Since these laptops are so easy to modify people can end up with pretty much what they want. The Atom CPU inside the 900 is a true enabler.