If you follow this blog you’ll notice a trend towards me covering the release of new Ultra Mobile PC’s. In an attempt to further re-brand my blog as the UMPC portal I’ve decided to talk about the newly released Asus EEE 900 model.
Again, for my regular readers you will know I’m a big fan of the Asus EEE 700 series. The only reason I’ve stopped myself from buying one (besides for a prudent and disapproving girlfriend) is that I’ve been waiting for the 9 inch model. Finally that time has arrived where I can frivolously spend my hard earned cash on gadgets.
Firstly the all important specs:
The most relevant spec upgrade is the 9 inch screen. Not only is it two inches bigger but also a much higher resolution of 1024X600. This means a lot less scrolling and the ability to run multiple programs on-screen. The next big step up is in the solid state flash hard drive. Before you were limited to either 2,4 or 8 gigs of hard drive space. In the new 900 series you have a 4 gig flash as the main partition and then either a secondary 8 or 16 gig memory card giving you a total of 12 or 20 gigs of space in total. It’s very important to mention that the prices for these two models are expected to be the same; the difference being in the fact that the 12 gig model has Windows XP installed by default and the 20 gig model has Linux. The price for Windows obviously the reason for less space. When I initially heard the amount of space on the Linux model I knew that this device was finally worth owning.
Other upgrades include a 1.3 Megapixel camera as opposed to the 0.3 Megapixel found in the 7 inch version. The touchpad has also been greatly upgraded to include both two finger scrolling (ala Apple touchpads) and the ability to use two fingers to “pinch” or “pull” on the touchpad allowing you to zoom in or out ala the Macbook Air and iPhone.
Now for the downsides as every device has some:
The battery life on the machine is currently only around two to two and a half hours. This makes the machine a lot less portable that it should be. A device of this size should have a battery that lasts around five hours to be truly relevant.
Secondly the keyboard is still pretty small, a point of contention for many users.
Third and finally the machine still uses the 900Mhz Celeron processor found in the previous 7 inch model. Fortunately this time around the chip isn’t underclocked automatically. Future models will use the Intel Atom chipset which uses less power even if it is slightly slower than the Celeron at equivalent (and higher) speeds.
I’m going to get one of these babies the moment they come out in South Africa and am seriously considering getting one from somewhere in Asia. Expected price is around $500 but that hasn’t been announced yet. All I can say about this laptop is this: “Apple Macbook for sale. Roughly a year old and in very good condition” 
Update: Reviews can be found here and here.
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“(besides for a prudent and disapproving girlfriend)”
hahahahahhaha!
Ah dude, classic. I do have to tell you though, they don’t stop being prudent. Tho, having said that, i’m not too sure if it’s THEM that’s prudent, or if it’s us that makes them into prudes.. i find myself spending $ on mine all the time without thinking too much about it. BAD.
It’s almost imposible to go through blogs while trying to concemtrate on work..
That little PC’s looking nice. Tho, i’m not a huge fan of little devices like that. I reckon that if you’re looking for something like that, why not go for a nice Nokia? It has all the functionality and makes calls
“Makes them into prudes…” – Funny Christopher!
I think the reason I would chose this over a Nokia is
A) Screen size: this is a proper laptop just more portable. You can watch a movie on the thing
B) This way I can turn off the laptop and walk out the house with my phone rather than carrying “both” in my pants.
Almost bought the older model in Thailand in Jan. Major turnoff was the HDD. I see that things are getting much better much faster than i expected, and if i can get my hands on a 120GB HDD i wouldnt think twice about buying one.
I travel a fair amount and its bloody impossible to open a 15.4″ on a plane and a decent 12″ is so overpriced its crazy!
I hate carry on luggage, but this thing is damn perfect, cos it will fit in a small backpack!
Would love to MSi hit back with their version.
Look, if you use your laptop like I do for emails and office then it’s perfect.
Unfortunately I do a bit of work in Photoshop and this machine just wouldn’t cut it for that.
I am throughly tempted to get one of these, sell my Macbook and get a Mac Mini on my desk.
A Mac user switching to PC and that too a low spec pc? You will go insane dude!
Nothing is more annoying than a pc hang when you have been used to Mac.
If i were you, i’d wait abit and a get a MacBook Air. thin, light, super fast and RELIABLE. The external optical drive will be abit annoying at first, but nothing that you can’t adapt to.
Don’t want a PC as my primary or only machine. I basically want to get an iMac or something as my main desktop/design machine and a little Asus to do my typing on at varsity.
I think the Macbook Air is very very over rated considering the specs and price. Everyone is losing their head because it fits in a manilla envelope. Big deal, just get a bigger envelope!
I’m looking to get more into design so an iMac is great for me at this stage. Macbook isn’t powerful enough and often hangs in Photoshop.
Right on. Ever since one of ouer consuiltant from the UK showed up for a meeting with one of these bad boys it’s been an object of desire.
Needless to say when I heard that the ( inch model was on the way I freaked!
When, Where, How Much?
I have a friend in the US and he’s due for a trip to SA – I have a sneaking suspicion he may be carrying an extra pound or two
Technically I don’t think the 900 series was ever released in SA. The 900 has also been discontinued and replaced by the Atom powered 901 model.
I would recommend you get an MSI Wind for a decent screen size and much lower price.
Can you believe the 700 model is on special now for just over R 2K?
See:
http://blog.gezact.com/2008/11/extreme-value-alert-on-asus-eee.html