New Asus Eee PC to be announced at CES 2008

AnonymousWed 2 January, 2008 3:36pm

I had a look at the 7" version in a store yesterday - while the keyboard seemed great - the buttons for the thumbpad needed far too much pressure, and it seemed WAY overpriced to me.

You can get a full sized laptop with Vista for £280 - £300.

Add a little to £200 for a bigger screen for the Eee - plus the cost of a Microsoft OS and you have the same price.

If you REALLY need something this portable at that price - then yeah. Otherwise you'd be better paying the little extra for a more full sized laptop... or if strapped for money looking at a refurbished/second hand one, like the one I'm using now (£99 + vat + delivery bought over a year ago, with Win 2K, and DVD player etc)

AnonymousWed 2 January, 2008 4:48pm

"If you really need something this portable at that price - then yeah." kinda sums up exactly what the Eee PC is about, don't you think?

AnonymousWed 2 January, 2008 4:49pm

you generally have to pay MORE money for smaller laptops..

AnonymousWed 2 January, 2008 4:59pm

Other Anonymous user wrote "If you really need something this portable at that price - then yeah." kinda sums up exactly what the Eee PC is about, don't you think?"

I said REALLY not really!...Ultra portables have been at a huge premium in the past so its great for this to be available -- but laptop prices have fallen so much that the 7" doesn't look great value now (to me anyway) at that price compared to a bit more for a machine with Vista, full sized screen, optical drive, and full size hard drive. If you REALLY need the portability - then of course its a different matter.

AnonymousWed 2 January, 2008 6:29pm

You're talking about two very different market.

I already have a 15" MacBookPro, but I have an eee as my secondary "go anywhere" laptop that I can put in my jacket pocket. If 7" is too small for you, then that's what a real laptop is for ;)

For a device of that size, it is easily more bang for the buck compared to an OQO, which runs at 1-2k for a 5" screen. The OQO is a more functional device, but not sure if it is worth all that horse power for a small screen.

AnonymousThu 3 January, 2008 1:57am

I had 4 laptops at home and office, last week I got a 4G eee pc with build-in webcam from PC world, it's perfect for people who has to travel a lot like me. however, screen was a little bit small while browsing, staff in pc world never call it laptop, they said it's just a internet tablet. Probably because desktop is not so good as we expected, I used Linux KDE,GNOME every day at work, this asus version just like a toy PDA, I am gona reinstall XP on it, anyways, £219 is not too much..

AnonymousFri 4 January, 2008 5:02pm

"If you REALLY need something this portable at that price - then yeah."

Well DUH! Why do you think it's such good value. A £300 Vista PC will be SLOW, BIG and probably not made by someone like Asus. And the biggest drawback of all- it will be running Vista.

You have to compare this to something the size of a small Vaio - not a chunky laptop.

AnonymousFri 4 January, 2008 6:06pm

"A £300 Vista PC will be SLOW, BIG"

P C World has an "Ei System 4213 Laptop for the Move" for £299 - pretty small with a 13" screen. As against their £220 for the Eee.

AnonymousFri 4 January, 2008 6:36pm

(I'm sure anyone unhappy with the Vista Home premium could replace it with a tiny version of linux)

They had a similar sized model running XP a couple of days ago for £280 - making the Eee only £60 cheaper.

AnonymousFri 4 January, 2008 7:11pm

If you can fit a 13" laptop in your jacket pocket may I suggest you try a new tailor?

AnonymousFri 4 January, 2008 7:30pm

I once had waistcoat with about 20 pockets and the two big ones at the back were ample...

AnonymousFri 4 January, 2008 7:40pm

But, yes, we're all agreed the Eee is fabulously portable!... but extra portability is the only thing its got in it's favour... with a 7" screen and Linux it has too many compromises for me... with a more practical screen and Windows - and at not too much more price-wise - things would be different...

AnonymousSun 6 January, 2008 3:24am

gosh people! the whole point of this machine is that you don't need to buy a copy of windows! if i bought any other laptop i'd have to pay for windows just to uninstall it later to load linux! i can't wait until i save up the little cash that this costs.

AnonymousSun 6 January, 2008 11:52am

This thing needs that bigger screen

AnonymousSun 6 January, 2008 1:16pm

The EEE isn't supposed to be an alternative to a (very)low spec laptop. It's developing a different niche in mobile computing. It fits somewhere in between a pda/smartphone and a laptop -and based on the sales, this is obviously a niche that is quite in demand.

AnonymousTue 8 January, 2008 12:31am

I am tired of people always suggesting that its price is too expensive compared to a budget laptop. The Eee PC is a UMPC (Ultra-Mobile PC) which places it in a different category of products altogether. Most UMPCs cost twice the amount of a regular laptop. What makes the Eee PC unique is that it is much cheaper than other UMPCs while still providing most of the functionality. I have used one and decided not to purchase it because I felt the screen was too small for web surfing. However, you can't beat it's portability. Trying lugging around a budget laptop for a day and you will see why it is such a hit. I find even with the small storage options, it provides most of what utilitarian users need without the extra bloatware that usually just bogs down most entry level and premium laptops. The New Eee PCs unveiled at the consumer electronics show have 7, 8, and 9 inch screens, a better lower power Menlow processor and WIMAX capability. I can't wait to purchase one of these.