ASUS Eee Box EB1501 primed for $479 Amazon pre-order

We'd been wondering when ASUS' NVIDIA Ion and optical drive packing Eee Box EB1501 would touch down on US soil, and lo and behold today it's showing face for all those eager enough to pre-order. The device is available at Amazon for not a dollar less than $479 (though it does have free shipping), and if you'll recall, the box is boasting a 1.6GHz Intel Atom dual core N330, NVIDIA Ion graphics, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive. All that and you get Windows 7 Home Premium rather than the ever-graying Windows XP. Of course, if you're looking for all that in a mobile form factor you can always wait on the $499 ASUS Eee PC 1201N, but for set-top duty, feel free to unleash the credit card right now.

[Mentat Posted Dec 11th 2009 6:05PM]

Atom on a desktop? Al Gore will be happy!

[Zo Posted Dec 11th 2009 6:07PM]

I was going to build my own HTPC to use for Media Center, but I believe I will just get this if there is a way to put a TV tuner inside of this box.

[xtasi Posted Dec 11th 2009 11:12PM]

@Zo that's the same solution i've been looking for. I bought two ATI usb tuners from woot for 25 each. I've been waiting for something like this to drop to under $400. I hope it happens when pinetrail gets released.
the box is tightly packed. It will take some creativity to make the tuners internal. HP offers integrated express cad tv tuners. would be nice if the net tops had an express slot, you could buy the tuner an it would be "internal"

[fanboykiller Posted Dec 11th 2009 6:10PM]

Shouldn't this be cheaper? Amazon has an Asus ION platform dual core atom N330, 12.1' netbook for $500.

[smartmouth Posted Dec 11th 2009 6:11PM]

engadget, I really like what you did there with the replies being readable. Thanks!

[varchar32 Posted Dec 11th 2009 6:12PM]

$479??. it is expensive for a net top. no thanks...

[shanoboy Posted Dec 11th 2009 8:37PM]

@varchar32

This thing does look pretty damn sweet. Beautiful case too. But $500... I don't know. There are comparable nettops that lack the slot loading DVD drive but are similar in almost every other way for $200 to $250.

[kballs Posted Dec 23rd 2009 9:09PM]

@shanoboy the price isn't too bad considering it includes a $200 OS (Windows 7 Home Premium). Not everyone wants to install Linux, so unless you're going to pirate Windows you have to pay extra (though it would be nice to have a no-OS option to save money in the case you are installing Linux, and it also makes you realize how the price of Windows doesn't scale well to inexpensive hardware).

To compare apples to apples you need to see the price of other nettops running Windows 7 that have optical drives. ASRock systems have so far not included an OS so + $200 for those. Acer systems have been running Windows XP and have no optical drive. Dell nettops have a different class of processor (more processing power but also 50% more total system energy usage). Not many apples to compare this apple against yet.

[shawndoc Posted Dec 11th 2009 6:12PM]

Does anyone know if this has the horsepower to scale/display streaming flash video at 1080P?

I know Flash 10.1 is supposed to be adding GPU acceleration for Ion, but I'd like to know if the dual-core Atom has the horsepower to handle it accelerated?

I really want an HTPC that is also low powered. For this price I can get a pretty decent one based on a standard PC, but I want the energy savings of an Atom or similar processor.

[kish Posted Dec 11th 2009 6:12PM]

boo

[tclark Posted Dec 11th 2009 6:17PM]

are you kidding? a mac mini is only 599.... If this was 199, then we'd be talking about something worthwhile.

[stabbytheicepic Posted Dec 11th 2009 6:24PM]

@tclark

A Mac mini does not have the horsepower that this machine has.

[stabbytheicepic Posted Dec 11th 2009 6:26PM]

@stabbytheicepic

Never mind, the new ones are better then this.

Yeah, this should be a 200-300 dollar box.

[Dale P Posted Dec 11th 2009 6:29PM]

@stabbytheicepic I was about to ask what planet you lived on - current Mac minis have the grunt, they're just not as TV-friendly.

Seriously thinking about getting one of these if they drop in price (and if I can guarantee a multi-region DVD playback hack).

[Average White Boy Posted Dec 11th 2009 6:57PM]

@(Unverified)

Too bad Apple doesn't care much for HDMI. I guess DisplayPort will have to do.

[RyanTV Posted Dec 11th 2009 8:01PM]

@Average White Boy a $13 converter makes it work just fine with HDMI. No way I'd pay $500 for this over just getting a MacMini.

[jon Posted Dec 11th 2009 8:46PM]

@RyanTV

Really, a $13 converter allows you to send audio over DisplayPort?

[Zo Posted Dec 11th 2009 6:25PM]

Yes, thanks for the reply :-)

I already hit the diamond site to check out the TVW 600

[sams0n Posted Dec 11th 2009 6:28PM]

mac mini is only $574 on amazon, seems like it would be worth the extra $100 to me.

[N900 Posted Dec 11th 2009 6:54PM]

@sams0n I agree; I'd either get the Mini or the Zino. They have more HD space and a reasonable processor.

[pastrychef Posted Dec 11th 2009 6:29PM]

The Acer Aspire Revo is much better deal.

[JoeJoeJoeJoeJoe Posted Dec 11th 2009 7:22PM]

Or for just $50 LESS you can get a Intel quad-core desktop with 4Gb of RAM and 640Gb of storage at J&R.

[perpetual98 Posted Dec 11th 2009 7:48PM]

@(Unverified) AND an extra $20 per month in electric bill with the Quad Core! Apples and oranges. But not the Steve Jobs apples. Real apples. That you eat. Ok, pears and oranges. Better?

[max1001 Posted Dec 11th 2009 7:29PM]

Still think Dell Zino looks better, perform better, and cheaper.

[F C Posted Dec 11th 2009 7:36PM]

@m2h

Hey sucka!
I'd betta be one o' dem people, fool!

Pretty pleeaaaase, fooool?

[krusty2k1 Posted Dec 11th 2009 11:42PM]

oh my, why is the blu ray logo on the disc?

[TonyFowlie Posted Dec 12th 2009 12:06AM]

Ordered mine from www.shopblt.com - $485 shipped, and FedEx is all set to deliver tomorrow. I have a 4TB media center in the back room that holds everything, and the house is wired for gigabit, so this will make the perfect front end in the living room hooked up to the plasma TV. No more transcoding DVDs to play through the XBox360 Media Extender, and Hulu too - whoo!

Tony

[TonyFowlie Posted Dec 13th 2009 6:09PM]

@TonyFowlie

Received and unboxed - if I feel inspired I'll post pics somewhere.

Likes:
* Looks
* Quiet - can barely hear anything except when a disc is in, then a faint whirring
* Wireless keyboard and mouse, and IR remote/receiver
* All the device drivers except ATK are built in (reinstalled Win7)
* Full screen Hulu

Dislikes:
* Took a while to figure out I needed Flash 10.1 from labs.adobe.com to make Hulu play without stuttering
* Haven't figured out how to unscrew the wireless antenna - using on-board gigabit
* My Sony receiver needs a noise on the HDMI cable before it'll fire up the 5.1 speakers, so no short system sounds, and the first couple of seconds of a movie's sound track are silent

Otherwise - cool!

Tony

[jareth86 Posted Dec 12th 2009 2:39AM]

A nettop without windows XP? There is a god =D

[Bro Posted Dec 12th 2009 8:09AM]

This is such a ripoff. You can build a nettop 2x better than this for about $180.

[infinityPlusOne Posted Dec 14th 2009 10:17AM]

@Bro

Okay then... List your specs and prices. And no recycling parts from previous builds!

[Spiny Norman Posted Dec 14th 2009 12:55PM]

@Bro

Really? Where can I buy an Atom 330 processor? Seriously, I wanted to build my own nettop, but for the life of me I could not find a place that had 330s in stock.

[uncola Posted Dec 12th 2009 9:56AM]

at this price, you should buy a mac mini

[mikez52 Posted Dec 12th 2009 7:47PM]

you can also get it with a blue-ray burner, oh yeah http://newnetbookreviews.net/2009/asus-eee-box-eb1501-available-for-pre-order/

[joelaf Posted Dec 24th 2009 1:45PM]

I love ASUS, have 2 EEE's, but my local BestBuy has the Acer (no optical drive) for $200. I already have a 1TB (re) drive, and a USB optical drive, so I might just go with the Acer. Plus the Acer has XP, and this old dog isn't learning any new tricks these days.

[dominickcirillo Posted Jan 11th 2010 9:48PM]

I would love to have this machine, and the netbook Dual Core Atom - but $500? That's way to expensive.

You can get a much better bang for your buck with a regular laptop/desktop.

I'd pay $375 at most.