Eee PC 904: Netbook R-Eee-mix

Hardly a day goes by where Crave doesn't see a new Eee PC. We've already heard of the Eee PC 905 -- which appears to be nothing more than a rumour -- but Asus has confirmed the existence of the 904: a mash-up of the 900, 901 and 1000 series.

It uses the same chassis as the 1000 -- but instead of a 10.2-inch screen, it gets an 8.9-inch display with the same 1,024x600-pixel resolution. It also gets the 1000's large-ish keyboard, which aids user input. Inside, it'll ditch the new Intel Atom CPU in favour of the old 900MHz Pentium M that featured in the Eee PC 900.

Other specs aren't confirmed, but we expect the 904 will use a standard hard drive -- possibly 80GB -- plus 1GB of RAM and a choice of Linux or Windows XP operating systems.

There are two reasons for the 904's release. Firstly, there's the issue of cost. By using an older CPU and a smaller screen, Asus can pass on big savings to the consumer. Then there's the usability issue. Some people find the Eee PC 900-series keyboards slightly too small, so the larger 1000-series chassis should help improve that.

Asus has yet to confirm a release date or pricing, but we expect the Eee PC 904 to arrive in the next month or so for around £250. More as we get it. -Rory Reid

Update: Asus has just confirmed a £269 price point and the following specs: Intel 900MHz Pentium M, 1GB DDR RAM, 80GB HDD, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, 10/100 Ethernet, 6-cell battery and available with Windows XP or Linux.

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