Asus Eee PC Available ... In Less Than A Month

By Jerry Jackson, NotebookReview Editor | | 7546 Reads

After months of anticipation and intense consumer interest, Asus announced yesterday that their low-priced Eee PC ultra-portable notebook will be available for purchase in the United States "within a few weeks."

Asus isn't providing specific release dates at this time, but their official press release does mention the Eee PC will be available for purchase at Best Buy and New Egg in two configuratons. The Asus "Eee PC 2G Surf" comes with 256MB of RAM and a 2GB Solid State Disk Drive (SSD), but the built-in web camera has been removed in order to bring the cost down to $299. The Asus "Eee PC 8G" is pre-configured with 1GB of RAM, an 8GB SSD, and webcam for $399.

Of course, the $299 and $399 retail prices for the Eee PC will likely come as a shock to some consumers who were hoping to purchase an Eee PC for the originally publicized price of $199.

Asus is also offering the "Eee PC 4G" with 512MB of RAM and a 4GB SSD, but early indications are that only the 2G and 8G versions will be available at New Egg and Best Buy during the initial product launch. Additional specifications (though limited) are listed below:

Specifications:

Model Name	Eee PC 8G	Eee PC 4G	Eee PC 4G Surf	Eee PC 2G Surf
Display	7"	7"	7"	7"
Intel CPU & Chipset	V	V	V	V
Operating System	Linux installed, Windows XP compatible	Linux installed, Windows XP compatible	Linux installed, Windows XP compatible	Linux installed, Windows XPcompatible
Ethernet Communication	V	V	V	V
WLAN	V	V	V	V
Memory	1GB (DDR2)	512 MB (DDR2)	512 MB (DDR2)	256 MB (DDR2)
S.S.D. Storage (Solid-State Disk)	8GB	4GB	4GB	2GB
Camera	V	V	-	-
Audio	Hi-Definition audio Stereo speaker Microphone	Hi-Definition audio Stereo speaker Microphone	Hi-Definition audio Stereo speaker Microphone	Hi-Definition audio Stereo speaker Microphone
Battery	4 Cells: 5200 mAh, 3.5hrs*	4 Cells: 5200 mAh, 3.5hrs*	4 Cells: 4400 mAh,2.8hrs*	4 Cells: 4400 mAh,2.8hrs*
Weight	0.92 kg	0.92 kg	0.92 kg	0.92 kg
* Specificatioin changes are subject to different models * Actual battery life will depend on actual operations and other settings. * Product contains software under GPL license agreement