The ASUS Eee PC 701 almost single-handedly defined the 'mini-notebook' genre of small, inexpensive and relatively slow notebooks that have become one of the hottest properties in the computing world. Naturally there have been attempts to emulate the Eee's success, but most have failed, so it's left to Asus to push the envelope with a new model.
Step forward the Eee PC 900. This brings several improvements, including a high-resolution 8.9in. screen, more storage, more memory, a multi-touch touchpad and an improved webcam. In other words, it's a far more attractive proposition even than the original. But is it enough of an evolution to stave off competition from its rivals? The price and release date for the Australian Eee PC 900 is yet to be confirmed, but we expect a release by the middle of May. The Australian price is also yet to be released, but given the Eee PC 900 is available in the UK for 329 pounds, we can expect it here to cost around AU$700.
Design
The Eee PC 900 isn't too different to its predecessor, at least aesthetically. It's still ivory white and is still the size of a hardback book. It is, however, half a centimetre deeper than its predecessor and approximately 80g heavier at 999g. The speakers that sat on either side of the screen have been moved to accommodate the larger LCD, which immediately makes the notebook more attractive.
The Eee 900's larger screen size and higher resolution means that most web pages now fit perfectly on the display, with no need for horizontal scrolling.
The speakers now live at the bottom of the system, below the wrist rest — an arrangement that adversely affects sound quality, particularly if you're using the Eee PC 900 on your lap. We'll forgive it this oversight, however, because the quality of the speakers on the original Eee PC 701 was poor in the first place.
We had hoped that the Eee PC 900 would have a larger keyboard than the 701's, but were disappointed. As a result, we had the same trouble typing on it as we did before, resorting to a four-finger — index and middle finger — method instead of our usual all-digit touch typing. It slows you down, but you'll get used to it after enough time.
The mouse trackpad is now in a wide aspect ratio and supports multi-touch gesture input.
The touchpad has been improved considerably. It now has a wide aspect ratio to match that of the screen, so your finger movements will more closely mirror what's happening with the on-screen cursor. The left and right selector buttons have also been improved, sporting a silver finish and are easier to press.
Best of all, though, is the addition of multi-finger input, often referred to as 'multi-touch'. The touchpad now lets you scroll horizontally and vertically through documents by swiping two fingers up or down across its surface. You can also zoom in or zoom out of images by making pinching or stretching movements with your fingers — just like on a MacBook Air.
The selection of I/O ports on the Eee PC 900 is identical to that of the 701. The left side carries an Ethernet port, a single USB port, plus microphone and headphone jacks. The right side is home to a VGA-out port, two additional USB ports and an SD card reader. The latter can accommodate third-party SDHC cards for up to 32GB of additional storage. Larger cards are expected to become available in due course.
The Eee PC 900's webcam is now a 1.3-megapixel unit, a big step up from 0.3 megapixels on the 701.
Anyone expecting the new Intel Atom processor in the Eee PC 900 will be disappointed. This model uses the same 900MHz Intel Celeron M 353 CPU as the old 701, although it now has the backing of 1GB of DDR 400 RAM — twice as much as you got in its predecessor. We'll have to wait until at least the summer before Asus updates the Eee again. There is one upside, in that the Eee PC 900's Celeron M isn't throttled back to 630MHz by default, as it was on the 701.
The amount of storage you get in your Eee PC 900 depends on whether you opt for the Linux or Windows XP version. The Linux model comes with a generous 20GB, while the Windows XP model has just 12GB. The reason for this discrepancy is that ASUS wants to keep the price of both models identical: had the Windows model shipped with a 20GB drive, its price would be higher due to the cost of the Windows user licence.
As before, the SD card reader accepts SDHC cards, which can provide up to 32GB of additional storage.
Both versions of the Eee PC 900 use Samsung flash memory chips rather than a traditional hard disk drive, with all the speed, low-power and robustness advantages that solid state storage brings. The only drawback here is that you're not getting the 32GB or 64GB SSDs seen in bigger notebooks like the MacBook Air, but that's not a massive issue.
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Max
17/09/2008, 10:20 PM
rating
8/10
Asus EeePC 900 is best for business. Its faster and reliable but lil tiny from its previous brands. Its wight color is very graceful. This mini system is used for tech talk. Me and my friends also used it for tectalk which experienced was great.
Pros: Tiny little as much as easy to handle it.
Stylish and compact.
Wight is great.
Cons: Keyboard is lil small.
Not for professional networking.
System is much buggy.
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JakeL19
05/07/2008, 10:34 PM
rating
9/10
It's a great companion to take with you, does everything you need it to at a respectable pace. I was suprised and Impressed with the graphic compatibilites of the machine, as I've put a few games on mine and had a great out put from such a small machine, much much better then I had thought preiviously. The Cpu is faster then expected, though at times it does lag, but the 1gb of RAM makes up for it. The SD card slot has a great capability of installing up to 32gb SD cards into it, though you would need it from the limeted amount of space onboard.
Pros: Expect more out of the machine then you'd expect, it has great potential to become a fantastic line of UMPC's. Its fast at handling the simple tasks and is perfect for anywhere net access.
- Good screen and resolution
-Huge SD card support (up to 32gb)
-Able to install a max of 2gb of RAM
-Very light and small
-Great for travelling
-Everythings basicalling in-built ( Webcam-1.3mp, Mic)
-Handy Multi-touch pad
- Rumour has it that a touch screen is availiable to be installed.(ebay is your friend)
-Relitivly cheap
Cons: Installing XP on such a small drive and only and extra 3 gb for programs is ridiculous. Though it has a second drive the registry files fill up the main drive quickly and it's hard to install the up-to-date programs. The battery life is average, not totally crap, just average, theres larger battery's availiable on ebay though so its not too much of a worry.
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olivia7_calandra
22/06/2008, 07:15 PM
rating
10/10
great so easy to get arround i would definently buy one
great price small and easy to pack into my bag
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moi
21/06/2008, 10:07 PM
rating
8/10
Could say, "What you pay for is what you get", but that is not quite true. This is a UMPC, that has reasonable resolution, good storage options, an OS (in either format) that is workable, is light, and it is small.
Question is whether it is worth waiting for the 901? Answer may depend on whether you need power (900) or battery life (901); want to get going now or later ...
Pros: Excellent value!
Am running XP OS, got rid of bloated MS options, and am amazed at versatility.
This is a fantastic machine for being out on the town, for playing with, and not having to worry so much about the insurance policy.
Is also quite robust
Cons: Lack of bluetooth and 802.11n (rectified on 901)
The fact that barely get 900, and 901 (+ 1000) are already (supposedly) getting ready to hit market.
Worse thing about it? This computer is just such a quantum leap in terms of balance (especially value for money for the comromises made) that I keep having to argue with myself not to keep buying more and giving away to family, friends, strangers on the street, etc ...
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penguinoir
19/06/2008, 05:54 AM
rating
9/10
The EEEPC 900 replaces my 701. It has proven to be a fine upgrade in almost every resp ect in particular the screen resolution and power adapter. I'm running the factory installed 'lite Linux' and Ubuntu 8.04 on a separate partition -, a dual boot scenario.
Pros: Very light, ultra portable
Cons: Tiny but workable keyboard.
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Abdul Kadir
12/06/2008, 07:52 AM
rating
8/10
I was reluctant to by the ASUS Eee 900 XP version, initially due to the small storage size. But when I bought it, I found it quite adequate. I can use it very conveniently on my travels. Additional 16 GB SD gives enough storage.
Pros: Compact size. Good display. Good Wifi response.
Cons: Low battery life.
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ejstech
11/06/2008, 03:24 PM
rating
10/10
I own this netbook and I sometimes prefer to use it more than my primary pc. If your looking for a netbook but dont mind the below cons, this thing rocks.
Pros: Small size, light weight windows xp preinstalled
Cons: No dedicated video memory, small ssd (hdd) and low battery life.
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jumeax
03/06/2008, 02:29 PM
rating
6/10
You people do realise you can get a 16GB SD card on Ebay for about $70 plus postage,
and also the Eee can boot straight from SD card :P
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John-D
15/05/2008, 03:23 PM
rating
9/10
Small size, 2 lb weight and low-cost make it a great second PC for travel.
Pros: Low-cost, small form factor, 8.9" LCD, durable construction and it's Windows XP compatible. Very, very fast Windows boot time. The FingerGlide mouse pad is a nice "Apple-like" addition.
Cons: The SSD storage is divided into two parts (partitions) which means there is only 4GB of fast storage for the OS. The remaining partition (8GB or 12GB) is slower. Black case slow to market in U.S.
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johhny
08/05/2008, 11:01 AM
rating
8/10
anyone know if you can get the linux model (for the more storage) and then install windows over it???? email me plz coota1268@hotmail.com
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