USB-Powered Blu-Ray Drive from Asus

At first glance, you may think the Asus SBC-04D1S-U is just another USB portable drive that can burn CDs and DVDs. But that’s only half-true.

You see, the Asus SBC-04D1S-U is the world’s first External Slim BD Combo. It is capable of reading 4.8X BD-ROM/R/RE and writing 8X DVD+R/24X CD-R formats.

It allows you to charge its power from USB ports on your computer. Its vertical stand is ideal for your notebook or PC and it allows you to enjoy high definition videos anytime and anywhere.

Asus iBoom Speakers

We all know that netbooks have terrible audio. It’s something we’ve learned to live with because, well, we get what we pay for.

However, the coming of the iBoom is no surprise. I’m pretty sure that lots of Eee owners are asking for better audio fidelity from their miniscule units.

[via]

Use your Eee as a PlayStation Portable display

No, this isn’t a hack or anything. Apparently, there’s a Windows application available, called RemoteJoyLite, that turns your Eee (or any other netbook for that matter) into an external display for your PSP. Just plug your PSP in and play away.

160GB HDD Eee PC?

Spotted on Dynamism:

It seems that Japanese distributor Dynamism is taking pre-orders for a 160GB Eee PC 1000. It will be available on September 24. The $449.99 price tag seems to be for the 40GB GD and I’m pretty sure we’d see a significant price increase for the 160GB model.
Via EeePC.net

MSI to Compete with Asus Eee PC?

The Asus Eee PC currently faces some competition with various similar-sized alternatives like the XO, the Intel Classmate PC, the Everex Cloudbook and (for some) even the Apple Macbook Air. And recently rumors have it that Acer is planning an ultraportable release.

Here’s another rumor: MSI might come out with an ultraportable of its own. Via HLWT:

MSI looks like it is going to utilize Intels new 45nm Diamondville processor for its rumored ultraportable. The new Intel processor has been specifically engineered for low power portables but it looks like MSI may be the first out of the gate with an actual product with this new chip inside. The Diamondville will be officially announced in April yet but MSI has already gave word that when the chip is “ready” then their own project will be “ready”, too. Expect the new MSI ultraportables to be in the market by July or August this year.

Smallest MSI notebooks I’ve seen so far are sized 11-plus inches. So I think they won’t be far behind in developing an ulraportable close to the size and specs of the Eee. Question is–how soon?

Everex Cloudbook: Eee Rival?

The Eee is indeed among the hottest gadgets this Christmas shopping season. But what about other alternatives (Eees are sold out in many places, after all). Here’s one: the Everex Cloudbook. According to Ubergizmo, it could make for good competition to the Eee.

This Linux-powered UMPC touts to follow the Eee PC in many aspects, featuring a 7″ display, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, wired and wireless Ethernet connectivity, a 4-in-1 memory card reader, 512MB RAM, USB 2.0 and DVI-out. It ditches the Eee PC’s solid state drive and 900MHz Celeron processor in favor of a 30GB hard drive and a 1.2GHz Via C7 ULV processor. The Everex Cloudbook is tipped to ship this January 15th, retailing for $400.

I’m sticking with my Eee. The use of a non-SSD hard drive would probably make the device heavier than the Eee (unless it’s a microdrive similar to those used by iPods). Still, the spinning disc would probably cause battery life to be a bit shorter, and would be more prone to damage from shocks and bumps (an uncommon occurrence for devices this portable).

And the unusual touchpad placement (top of the keyboard) is a bit unintuitive in terms of user interface and usability. That is at least, in my opinion.