Well, at least they didn’t put it under the Eee brand.
I’ve ranted about Asus diluting the Eee brand a few months back because they seem to slap the Eee logo onto most everything these days. After the success of the netbook (and as everyone knows by now, they did invent the market segment), news came out that they created Eee-branded nettops, motherboards, e-book readers, and cellphones. Okay, aside from the nettop, nothing came out yet, but the Eee brand is indeed in danger of getting diluted if they do push through with their plans. More »
Written by Ade Magnaye on December 26th, 2009. 1 Comment »
Filed under News.
It’s been ages since I first reported that Asus is coming out with an e-book reader, and after hearing nothing about it I thought the project already died. More »
Written by Ade Magnaye on December 24th, 2009. 1 Comment »
Filed under News.
One of the things that had me excited about netbooks when they first came out is that this is a chance to actually put SSDs into the mainstream. And then netbooks boomed. But… they seem to have left SSDs in the dust. More »
While the entire world is abuzz about Google’s attempt to rule the operating system market with its cloud-based linux distro, the Google Chrome OS, we all seem to have forgotten that there was another cloud-based operating system that arrived much earlier.
It looks like Jolicloud isn’t going to be put down by Google Chrome OS that easily, because they just released a video that showcases the amazing boot-up speed of Jolicloud. On their official Twitter account, the Jolicloud team put up a link to a video that shows the Jolicloud booting up on a Asus Eee PC 901 (not exactly the fastest Eee PC out there). And you get to boot up Jolicloud in 13 seconds.
Those looking for a nettop from Asus have to wait no longer, because the Eee Box EB1501 is coming soon. This nettop will have a dual core Atom 330 1.6Ghz processor, NVIDIA ION graphics chip and a DVD burner.
The nettop will be bundled with a remote control, a stand, an IR adapter and a mini jack to S/PDIF adapter. For those wanting to save on desk space, there is also an optional VESA mount, and an optional HDMI-DVI adapter and HDMI cable for certain monitor set ups.
The Eee Box itself will have a card reader plus 2 USB ports on the front, as well as the previously mentioned optical drive, audio jacks and power button.
On the back is everything you have come to expect from an Eee Box (VGA and HDMI sockets, an ethernet jack, an eSATA port and four more USB ports) as well as a wireless antenna to give added range to the built-in 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi feature.
So, Windows 7 came and went, and now that netbooks are running Microsoft’s latest and greatest operating system, we should expect users to slowly veer away from that darned 8-year old operating system, right?
Well, we all thought wrong. Just a few days after Windows 7 was released, the Eee PC 1005HA running Windows XP suddenly catapaulted to the top.
Did that surprise you a bit? The Eee PC 1005HA running on Windows XP sells for $358.89 while the model with Windows 7 sells for around $376.99. It’s around $18 difference in price and you’d already have a faster Eee PC with better specs and features and yet the inferior model is still preferred by users?
What could be the reason then? Users still not convinced that Windows 7 is better than Windows XP? Users still want to buy some time before upgrading to Windows 7? Price is certainly not an issue since the price difference is not that much.
I, for one would like to see Windows XP go away soon. Nothing personal, really, but that OS is too darned old and nothing would make me happier than to see all these netbooks running Windows 7.
Asus president and CEO Jerry Shen is expecting to increase its combined netbook and notebook sales from 12 million units in 2009 to over 16 million units in 2010, and global notebook shipments will rise from 140 million units in 2009 to 180-190 million units in 2010.
Shen believes Windows 7 will be the main driver for strong growth in the notebook industry, and he noted Asustek has already shifted about 30% of its Eee PC netbooks to Windows 7. He expects the adoption rate for Eee PC will increase to 80% by the first quarter of 2010 with most of devices to be based on the Intel Pine Trail-M platform.
Written by Ade Magnaye on November 2nd, 2009. 2 Comments »
Filed under News.
Microsoft is allowing netbook users to download Windows 7, its new operating system, onto a bootable USB or burn it onto a DVD, in yet another move by Redmond to disseminate the operating system to as many users as possible. Although Microsoft reported yet another quarter of declining revenues, executives remain hopeful that Windows 7, rising PC sales and a sunnier economic outlook will translate into a more profitable 2010.
Microsoft has developed a solution for porting Windows 7 onto netbooks that lack a DVD drive: a USB memory stick. The feature was announced during the Windows 7 launch event in New York City on Oct. 22.
If the title of this blog (and blog entry) doesn’t give away the answer yet (poor you), it would be the ASUS UL30A-A1.
It was stacked up against the Acer Aspire Timeline AS3810T-8737, HP Pavilion dm3, and Toshiba Satellite T135.
The ASUS UL30A-A1 is our number one pick for a 13-inch ULV based system. It is thin, light, and comfortable to use for its over 6 and a half hours of juice. The Acer keeps a close second to the ASUS with its long run time and sleek bod. The HP Pavillion dm3 and the Toshiba T135, while still affordable and adequate performers, simply aren’t the best.
One of the things that had me excited about netbooks when they first came out is that this is a chance to actually put SSDs into the mainstream. And then netbooks boomed. But… they seem to have left SSDs in the dust. 
