Get a red Asus Eee PC Netbook for $189.99

New rules for Netbooks: Don't pay more than $300 for a model with a 10-inch screen, and don't pay more than $200 for an 8.9-incher.

Mwave has a pretty sweet deal on one of the latter: A refurbished red Asus Eee PC 900HDB for $189.99 shipped.

What are the specs? They are solid, starting with a 900MHz Intel Celeron M 353 processor (which may not be faster than the more common Atom CPU--I've read varying opinions), the Eee offers 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, Windows XP Home, and the aforementioned 8.9-inch screen.

And it's red! It's pretty rare to find a cheap Netbook that's anything but black (or occasionally white). This one's downright purty.

It's also a refurbished unit, meaning the warranty is a fairly typical 90 days. I'm going to state once again for the record that I don't consider that a negative, especially considering the $60 or so you're saving on a new unit.

I will, however, direct you to the return policy (at the bottom of the product page) for the Asus. It states that this is a nonrefundable item. You can return it within 30 days, but only for a replacement.

While this would make a fine portable PC for children and students, I think business users would find it a welcome travel companion as well. It's a svelte 2.5 pounds and its four-cell battery should be good for at least a couple hours' work.

Agree? Disagree? What's everyone thinking about Netbooks these days: Getting better all the time, or still too underpowered (or uncomfortable) to be practical? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Hands On with the eeePC T91 Touch Netbook

It seemed like ages ago, but earlier this year at CES 2009, Asus had a touch-enabled netbook prototype on display. Rumors swirled as onlookers debated whether this little convertible supported multi-touch functions.

On Wednesday, Asus officially unveiled the eeePC T91 tablet, and though it doesn't have a multi-touch panel, it is the first touch-enabled netbook to hit the U.S. market. While most of the single-touch gestures were fluid and responsive, the T91 basically took the first generation eeePC 4G and slapped a rotating touch screen on it. That, and the fact that it's expensive ($500), is likely a deal breaker for those who were looking forward to this netbook tablet.

I spent the majority of the time playing with the T91's touch functions. Surprisingly, it's not using Windows XP's Tablet Edition, as that''s usually the go-to operating system for tablets. Instead, Asus developed a layer that works on top of Windows XP's Home Edition, called Touch Gate. There are a couple of ways to enter the Touch Gate interface – via a desktop icon, a physical button next to the display or through Asus's virtual dock – and, once inside, you are presented with four customizable touch icons.

TouchSuite, as Asus calls it, is just one of three panels arranged as a three-sided cube. The other two panels consist of a widget dock, which looks something stolen right out of the Apple operating system, and Windows XP's desktop environment. You can flick the screen to navigate from one pane to the other. Touch one of the icons, and it'll do a rotating dance and launch the application. You can drag and drop different icons into TouchSuite by pulling up a ribbon of icons right below the four main ones.

Most of the touch applications were developed in-house. There's a photo application that does everything that it should do from a touch perspective, including rotating, zooming in and out, panning, and flipping through album pages. Again, it's just a single-touch panel, so you won't be able to pinch and enlarge an image with two fingers – just one. A memo and a notepad application are present as well, both enabling the ability to take simple notes.

Since it isn't based on XP's Tablet OS or Wacom's pen technology, handwriting recognition is very limited. Doodling and jotting simple notes are fine and fun, and there is a virtual onscreen keyboard that you can launch (I didn't try this feature), but this is clearly not a netbook for serious tablet users.

It gets worse from here, unfortunately. Asus had the right idea by making it a convertible, exposing a keyboard with a swivel screen. The 83% keyboard, though, is as small as the one in the original eeePC 4G. Meanwhile, popular netbooks like the Toshiba NB205, the Acer Aspire One (D250-1165) and the Asus eeePC 1000HE have keyboards that range from 92% to full size.

The T91 uses an 8.9-inch widescreen, while others in the netbook category have already standardized on 10-inch ones. A 16-GB solid state drive is the only part that will fit into an eeePC 4G body. Asus attempted to soften this blow by including a 16-GB SD card and 20 GB worth of online storage. Added up, 52GB of "hybrid" storage still pales in comparison to capacities from spinning drives.

In parts, the 1.33GHz, Intel Atom Z520 is the same processor found in the Acer Aspire One A0751h, and we already know that there's some performance degradation compared to more common Atom processors such as the N270 (1.6GHz) and the N280 (1.66GHz). I think the biggest blow to this touch netbook is its $500 price. You're basically paying an obscene amount for a 2 year old netbook with fancy touch inputs.

ASUS Eee PC 1005HA Seashell Netbook

Preview

Manufacturer:	ASUS
Product:	Eee PC 1005HA-PU1X SeashellNetbook

Introduction, Specs and Bundle

With today's economy, everyone is becoming more and more budget-conscious, and the computer manufacturers have been responding to this economic hardship with the creation of budget-oriented (sub-$400), lightweight, portable netbooks. ASUS just sent us one of their newer models, the 1005HA netbook from their Seashell line, and we decided to give you a little preview of it before putting it through the paces in a near-future review.

A long battery life in a netbook is very crucial. When buying a netbook, consumers want to know that it is going to get the job done without shutting off mid-surf. According to ASUS's website, the ASUS EeePC 1005HA (Seashell) has a long-lasting battery of 10.5 hours!! I don't know about you, but staring at a computer screen for that long would certainly make my eyes go buggy. It certainly sounds like ASUS is responding to consumer demands, and we'll find out for sure how they did when we compare the Eee PC 1005HA to other ASUS and MSI netbooks including the N10Jc, Eee PC 1000HE and MSI U100 netbooks in our follow-up review.

Specifications

Processor	Intel Atom N280 Processor @ 1.66 GHz
Operating System	Windows XP Home
Memory	1 GB DDR2 SO-DIMM
Display	10.1" LED Backlight WSVGA Screen (1024x600)
Video Card
Hybrid Storage	160GB HDD 10GB Eee Storage (complimentary at first, then must register to extend)
Card Reader	MMC/ SD(SDHC)
Webcam	1.3M Pixel.0.3M Pixel
Interface	2 x Audio Jack (Headphone / Mic In) 3 x USB 2.0 1 x VGA Port (D-Sub 15-Pin for external monitor) 1 x LAN RJ-45 WLAN 802.11 b/g/n @ 2.4 GHz Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Audio	High Definition Audio CODEC Stereo Speaker Digital Array Mic
Battery	10.5 hrs, 6-cell 63Wh Li-ion Battery 8.5 hrs, 6-cell 48Wh Li-ion Battery 4 hrs, 3-cell 23Wh Li-ion Battery
Weight	1.27kg (2.7lbs) (with 6-cell battery) 1.1kg (2.4lbs) (with 3-cell battery)
Dimensions	262mm(W) x 178mm(D) x 25.9mm~ 36.5mm(H) 10.3"(W) x 7"(D) x 1"~ 1.4"(H)
Warranty	1 Year Limited Warranty

Bundle:

The box that the EeePC 1005HA-PU1X (Seashell) comes in has a picture of the netbook lying in sand next to a seashell, which goes along with the theme. When I first looked at the box, I thought the seashell was a wireless mouse, which would have been unique to have a seashell-shaped mouse to go along with the Seashell netbook...

As we opened the box, we saw the black netbook sleeve wrapped and packaged right on top, with everything else securely packed underneath.

The ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-PU1X (Seashell) comes with the AC power adapter, a protective sleeve, user's manual, warranty card and a support DVD. The DVD contains the drivers, software applications and utilities.

Layout:

When closed, ASUS EeePC 1005HA (Seashell) has the trademark stylish "Eee" written on the shiny black top.


When viewed from the side, you can see that the netbook is shaped like a bivalve. You can get a better idea of this in the next image:



When compared to the ASUS EeePC 1000HE, the 1005HA Seashell has a sleeker design with a narrower front that earns it the name "Seashell."

On the left side of the 1005HA, we have the power input, display monitor output, USB 2.0 port, Kensington Lock port, and air vents. I must say that as a righty, I enjoy having the power cord on the left side of the netbook. I often use a mouse instead of the track pad, and when I need my netbook plugged in, the power cord can easily get in the way of my mouse when it is placed on the right. The Kensington Lock port allows you to secure your computer to the desk, often with a metal cable and lock. This comes in handy if you don't trust your roommates or if you need to leave your netbook in a hotel room.

On the right side of the netbook, from left to right you have your memory card slot, headphone output jack, microphone jack, 2 USB 2.0 ports, and the LAN port.

Here is a picture of the keyboard layout. In the upper right corner is the power switch, the touchpad on/off key is in the upper left, the touchpad and buttons are centered at the bottom, and the indicator lights are at the bottom right under the LR watermark.

In our review of the ASUS N10Jc-A1 Netbook, I stated,

"One feature that is lacking on this and many other laptops is an "off switch" for the touchpad for people with clumsy thumbs like me. Several times while writing this review I've found myself accidentally clicking in another part of the page and typing in the wrong spot."

I'd like to say that ASUS added the touchpad on/off key just for me, but that would probably be a falsehood. Nonetheless, kudos to ASUS for adding this feature!!

Another thing to note on the keyboard is about the arrow buttons. Notice that the up and down arrows are half the height of the other buttons. At first I did not think this was going to be very convenient, but it did not take long to get the muscle memory to use these effectively. I feel this was a very efficient way to conserve space on the keyboard, and it allows the other keys to be large enough to type without trouble.

Here is a touchpad unique enough that it deserved its own picture. Instead of being just a simple rectangle stuck at the bottom of the keyboard, ASUS decided to get stylish. Notice in the keyboard picture above that you cannot really see the touchpad. That is because it is made up of rows of tiny raised dots! Is this a good thing? Well, I think it looks very smart. As for usefulness, out of the 5 people I had try it, 2 liked it better, 2 disliked it, and one person was indifferent, citing that he hates all track pads. It is definitely a personal preference, but I think it is something that anyone can get used to. The buttons at the bottom appear as one long bar, and it is wide enough to tap without very much concentration. Oh, and did we mention that it is multi-touch? Like the ASUS Eee PC 1000HE, you can use two fingers to stretch or shrink your photos or scroll on your favorite website.

Like many of ASUS' previous netbooks, the 1005HA does have a removable battery unlike its slightly older brother, the 1008HA. Another thing to take note of, though, is that ASUS has continued to restrict access to the hard drive on the 1005HA.

Here is a picture of the 6-cell, 5600 mAh, 11.25V, 63Wh li-ion battery. This battery is rated to last about 10.5 hours, whereas the 8700mAH, 7.2V, 62Wh battery in the ASUS Eee PC1000HE is rated to last about 9.5 hours.


Here you can see the memory underneath the memory compartment cover. With just removing a single screw, you can easily upgrade the memory to 2GB if you wish.



The 1005HA comes equipped with 1GB DDR2 memory that is removable just like any other SO-DIMM.

We wanted to show the power adapter here because of how frail it looks. The part that plugs into your netbook is very thin compared to other netbooks we have looked at, and it appears to be easy to break. We will be very careful with this...

Now you have seen the ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-Pu1x (Seashell)! With an Intel Atom N280 Processor, a 160GB HDD and an advertised 10.5 hour battery life, we are hoping that this netbook pulls ahead of the others we have reviewed while on our test bench. At just $389.99 shipped at Newegg at the time of this article, this Seashell certainly has the potential to be a great netbook for anyone in the market for a budget computer.

$100 PC Era Brought by Asus EEE PC, Not OLPC, After All: $129, 9" LCD (also Alpha 400

by Clayton iN Cleveland Saturday, Jul. 11, 2009 at 2:50 PM

One of the things that capitalists fear the most, believe it or not, is the concept of a $100 PC. That's why ever since the Asus EEE came out in October 2008 there has been constant pressure to up the performance -- and of course the price -- from every kind of news and PR source and of course from Microsoft, who have practically been willing to give away their once-discarded XP OS to get it on so-called "netbooks" (as their partner in crime, Intel, promptly dubbed them).

The $100 PC originally was promised by the nonprofit OLPC (One Laptop Per Child project), and they failed to deliver, even switched from Linux to that "vast capitalist conspiracy," Windows. Even Asus failed to attain $100 exactly and switched to Windows also.

But can we finally agree that the day of "the computer you need is always $5000" -- gross exploitation of computer consumers by corporate capitalism -- is over and the day of $100 PCs (laptops, notebooks, MIDs, smartphone computers, etc.) is finally here? http://www.geeks.com/pix/2009/900M.html I mean, if Geeks.com can sell a 9-inch version for $129.95, that's close enough for me to declare victory. Even if it is only for July 2009. And even if the unit is a refurb (3-month warranty, which American Express should extend to 1-year if you use them). (Buyer Beware: When you order on a special deal online, don't forget to apply the "secret savings code," 900M here, at checkout to get the near $100 price http://www.geeks.com/pix/2009/900M.html . Write the code down as soon as you see it.) If you insist on brand new, and if a 7-inch screen will suffice, the same outfit offers our beloved ALPHA-400, always, day in and day out, for $149.99 (sometimes near $130) http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ALPHA-400&cpc=SCH .

As I said in October, the Asus EEE PC will be remembered as the Model T of computers -- the computer for the masses that put the world on the Web (and not just the core developed nations). In a sense, there is a chance to get your piece of history.

A REAL DISGRACE -- THE INTEL-MICROSOFT OCTUPUS STILL RULES

On a recent trip to the Microcenter store out in Mayfield Heights, I was shocked to find not one Linux notebook. And this was one of the first retailers to carry the Asus EEE PC in bricks-and-mortar stores. More recently, news reports say that Microsoft XP has about a 99-percent share in mini-laptops (netbooks) being sold now.

Do you feel baited and switched? It's a technique as old as retailing, mercantilism, and probably trade itself; and it works best under capitalism: "Underpowered." "Unfamiliar." "For kids." "Not for intensive gaming, video editing [or whatever]." "Needs a larger screen for real work" [as large as that mural-sized LCD on your wall, or is a 2" cellphone screen enough sometimes?]. Or as Bill Gates famously said, "Geez, get yourself a decent computer."

NONCOMMERCIAL, OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE WILL FREE THE WORLD'S PEOPLE FROM THIS KIND OF EXPLOITATION

Asus Eee PC 1101HA can be overclocked by 15% to 32%

Asus has been shipping a program called the Super Hybrid Engine with all of its Intel Atom powered netbooks since day one. The utility lets users overclock or underclock their machines to provide better battery life or a performance boost depending on their needs. The 11.6 inch Eee PC 1101HA is the first one that lets you customize the overclock values.

A few weeks ago, we spotted a setting in the user manual that made it clear that users would be able to adjust a BIOS setting to modify the values used by the Super Hybrid Engine. Now Notebook Italia has had a chance to test a working Eee PC 1101HA unit, and reports on the details of this BIOS setting.

Apparently you can choose from 5 settings: 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, and 32%. At the highest setting, the notebook is a bit unstable. But you can adjust the setting to overclock the Atom Z520 CPU by about 30%. At that setting, the Intel Atom Z520 processor, which normally runs at 1.33GHz will run at 1.73GHz.

Of course, you’ll reduce your battery life and your computer will get a lot hotter if you run it at 1.73GHz. But that may be a small price to pay to squeeze a tiny bit of extra performance out of the CPU, in some situations, anyway.

Asus Eee PC hacked to include Mighty Mouse trackball

July 3, 2009 at 9:40 am

We have seen a number of netbook mods here at NbC, but this is a first. One hacker, who was fed up with the scrolling on the touchpad of his Asus Eee PC 901, decided to stick an Apple Mighty Mouse trackball into its palm rest. Plasti-Bots has the complete tutorial on how you go about doing this for the enterprising modders out there.
It’s certainly not one for the novices out there. The trackball wires had to be unsoldered from the mouse, and then soldered onto the motherboard. The finished result looks very professional and the video below shows how well it works. I wonder whether this is something manufacturers may intend on building into their netbooks in the future…

£224.25 Asus EEE PC 901 Windows XP - With 3G/HSUPA - BLACK - GRADE A STOCK

Enjoy a new level of mobility with the Asus eeePC 901. This incredible compact and lightweight Internet ready portable device features the Intel Mobile (Atom) 1.6GHz processor. The result of this is that the Asus eeePC 901 is a powerful portable computer that has a rapid start-up time, is easy to use and is able to perform all business and entertainment tasks.

An 8.9 inch screen providing a resolution of 1024 x 600 ensures that Internet browsing and all other tasks can be preformed on the Asus eeePC 901with ease. Reliability is ensured with a 16GB shock-proof solid state disk and the Super Hybrid Engine technology, which used with an SSD provides battery life of up to 7.8 hours.

The Asus eeePC 901 is provided with extensive connectivity in the form of wireless networking 802.11 b/g, SD/MMC (SDHC) slot and a 10/100 Ethernet port.

The 901 now includes a 3.5G HSUPA connection. Simply insert a SIM card into the SIM card slot (under the battery) and set up the connection on screen to enjoy wireless internet connectivity on the move.

Read more: http://www.itproportal.com/portal/tech-deals/article/2009/7/1/22425-asus-eee-pc-901-windows-xp-3ghsupa-black-grade-stock/#ixzz0KBnso7NU&C

Asus to offer free Windows 7 upgrades for some Eee PC models

Windows 7 is due out on October 22nd, and in an effort to prevent the general public from holding off on buying new Windows based PCs until October, Microsoft and a number of computer manufacturers are offering upgrade programs that let you get a free or cheap copy of Windows 7 when you buy a computer running Windows Vista Home Premium or better today.

Now Asus has announced the details of its upgrade plan, and much to my surprise, a couple of Eee PC models have been thrown into the mix. But here’s the catch. In order to qualify for the free upgrade offer, you’ll need to pick up an Asus Eee PC 1101HA running Vista Home Premium or an Eee PC 1005HA running Windows XP Pro or Vista Business. I didn’t even know those options were available, and it’s likely that most Eee PC buyers will wind up getting machines with low cost Windows XP Home licenses until Asus starts selling netbooks with Windows 7 in October or later.

Several Eee Top and Eee Box desktop computer models will also qualify for the upgrade. It looks like you’ll need to purchase a 20 or 22 inch Eee Top all-in-one to qualify, or an EB1501 (with a dual core Atom 330 CPU and Vista Home Premium). The EB1501 isn’t expected to be available until later this summer.

via Softpedia and Legit Reviews

ASUS Eee PC 1005HA Seashell netbook

ASUS has added another member to its lineup of Eee netbook computers with the 1005HA Seashell that claims to have a runtime of up to 10.5 hours on its 6-cell battery. According to ASUS, the longevity is due to the Intel Atom N280 processor in combination with its Super Hybrid Engine and LED backlit display.

According to the marketing folks at ASUS the 1005HA's "inspired by the graceful curves of a seashell". That design includes a large keyboard which measures 92% of the size of a standard keyboard and weighs only 2.8 pounds. In addition to the 1.66GHz N280 processor, the Seashell includes 1GB of memory (upgradeable) and a 160GB SATA II hard drive spinning at 5400RPM. The 1005HA is equipped with Windows XP Home and Eee Docking software, which provides easy access to utilities and software.

ASUS says the units are available for preorder at $389.99 USD and are being offered in either Crystal Black or Midnight Blue.