Sweet. I might actually be able to use a little XP machine at these specs. People are probably going to make noise about the thing costing $549 (more than expected, I think), but really it’s still an incredible bargain and the hardware bump allays the concerns many had about getting an Eee. It’s got a gig of RAM now and 12 or 20 gigs of solid-state hard drive space (12 for XP, 20 for Linux), plus the new 9-inch screen at 1024×600. It’s already showing up outside the US, but us Yanks will be getting our hands on it come May 12.

Asus provided their tiny Eee PC with 3 USB 2.0 ports in order to make it on par with most other notebooks on the market, however it has been lacking in support for many popular peripherals such as TV tuners. It now seems that Asus is updating the Linux drivers for it’s My Cinema U3100 Mini DVB-T and DMB-TH tuners.

Preliminary testing shows that the driver and software work well, but H.264 software decoding was unavailable, so HDTV channels that broadcast in that format will not play on the Eee. Channels sent over in MPEG-2 work just fine, and play back correctly. The one drawback is that the software is missing a recording function, but then again, the Eee isn’t exactly designed to be a media center, so that probably won’t be much of an issue.

This update makes the already attractive Eee PC a little more interesting for many customers.

What’s small, opalescent, and runs Windows XP Home? It’s the ASUS eee PC that just landed here at the Biggs home, amazing my mother with its tininess. It has 4 GB of solid state storage and a 900 MHz processor. Nothing to write home about but I think this beast deserves a second look. Look for a full review next week.

Windows XP is one of the two available OSes for the Eee PC, but there’s a problem: The Eee PC is fairly new, but Microsoft has publicly said it is planning on killing XP in the near future. That would put purchasers of the minuscule laptop up the creek, support-wise.

There are rumors, though, that MS will stay the execution of XP for small laptop owners, a very quickly growing market segment.

There’s no confirmation from MS, of course, but this would mean that XP would stay in the tech world at least another year, and hold off Vista for those with new hardware that’s just not up to the task.

For those of you who’ve been looking for the Eee PC to check out and perhaps even purchase but didn’t know where to look, we can help. Turns out Best Buy is landing the laptop at some point in the next two weeks or so.

This is the original 7-inch version running XP for $399, but we can likely expect the 8.9-inch version this summer.

Asus President Jerry Shen said the next-gen Eee PC would not have a touchscreens in January, but panel makers in China are telling otherwise. Sometime in Q2 a new Eee PC will be launched with a resistive touchscreen, but why would anyone want that? I don’t go poking the screen on my laptop so why would I want to do that on the Eee? The touchscreen panels are said to cost Asus an extra $10. No other specs or details were revealed.

Asustek next-generation Eee PCs said to feature resistive touch screen panels [Digi Times]

Asus keeps bringing the Eee, and we thank them for it. Word around the Web today is that at a press event tomorrow, Asus will be debuting a new Eee PC ultraportable with a (relatively) huge 9-inch screen. Suh-wheat.

Other stats of the so-called Eee PC 900 are 1GB RAM, up to 12GB storage, and a 1024×600 resolution screen.

No word on the processor or other details, but we’ll cover it tomorrow for sure.

Asus announces EeePC with 9-inch display [Daily Tech]

The page doesn’t offer much in the way of “instruction” or “advice” but the writer does propose that the eee PC’s measly processor can be replaced with a faster, $30 processor with a little soldering and an iron will.

the cpu run at 840Mhz default using bios 0801,then i need the full power ,just use some CPU freq tuning software ,like eeeclock^^,thx alot

5.other test are coming soon.

Got that? Luckily most of the important info is there. If you try it, tell us, but I wouldn’t if I were you.

replacing EEEPC’s processor with an ULV PM 753 1.2G 2M L2 cache [Tom.com]

Forget the MacBook Air, I’m getting myself a Linux-free Eee PC. I love Windows XP and I’m a big fan of the little guy from Asus. The 4G-X, as it’s being called in the land of the rising sun, is really the 4G and nothing other than the OS is different then what we have here. I’m still jealous and I want one. It goes on sale this Friday for about $470.

Product Page

Image via Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

With CES next week, expect this week to be filled with lots of “Item A to debut @ Show, could be bad or good.” The first such rumor I’ve seen is that a revamped Asus Eee PC will be at CES with an 8.9-inch display (the current Eee PC has a 7-inch display). No, that’s not really exciting. But WiMax, that’s a different story.

Yes, if you got to Asus’ Web site, you’ll see a casual little mention of it joining to gethet with Intel and Sprint and to immerse yourself in tomorrow’s wireless protocol of kings. Translated, we think the next Eee PC will work with WiMax right out of the box.

One rumor down, lord knows how many to go.

ASUS giving next Eee PC WiMAX wireless, 8.9-inch LCD? [Electronista]

Asus @ CES [Asus]

Not really bedazzled, but I was just listening to Dane Cook and he was talking about his sisters bedazzling his jean jackets when he was a kid. Umm. Ok. Awkward. Asus is looking to cash in on the popularity of the Eee with a handful of accessories for the new year. Whatever shade of vomit you decide on for your Eee, if you don’t have one, can be accompanied by a mouse with the same shade. The noise-isolating headphones, unfortunately, only come in white as well as the power adapter and extra battery.

Product Page

If you were lucky enough to grab an Eee PC before they flew off the shelves then you may want to consider slating this DIY project for the weekend. Doesn’t seem too difficult a task and it’s probably worth the effort to have 16GB of storage and Bluetooth. If you’re not that adventurous then consider the Belkin Bluetooth USB dongle, pansy.
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Asus thinks it’s going to sell 3.8 Million Eee PCs next year. While that’s a grand notion, it might actually have some substance. According to an anonymous leak, Asus is in talks with Microsoft on adding official Windows support to the sub-sub-laptops, and Intel wants in on the action as well.

But even with the “help” of Windows, is 3.8 Million a likely number? No. A lofty target? Sure. Realistic at all? Not a chance. But the news of MS and Intel’s interest is telling, and, if as predicted, Apple launches a sub-notebook at MacWorld in January, then 2008 is going to shape up to be a truly mobile and lightweight year.

ASUS: We’ll Sell 3.8 Million Eees in 2008, Some with Windows [Daily Tech]

When the lines between UMPC and laptop get blurred, we get confused, angry, agitated, and aroused. It’s an odd reaction mixture, sure, but our shrink says it’s natural. That’s what we’re feeling now on news that Asus’s eee PC line has new models and a new naming scheme. Ok, not the most earthshattering news, but those who’ve been anticipating these little portables should be excited.

All four models are about the same, and are separated into two general categories: those with cameras and those without. The sans-cam models are known as the “Surfs”, and you can tell how much SSD storage each has by its name. The 8G has 8GB storage, the 4G has 4, etc. They have varying amounts of ram, and thankfully i4u put a chart together at the link below so I didn’t have to.

New Asus eee PC 8G, 4G, 4G Surf and 2G Surf [i4u]