Asus launches its new Eee PC

Matheos Viktor Messakh , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 05/21/2008 5:47 PM | Sci-Tech

With one million Eee PCs sold in just 5 months across the world, ASUS has launched its new Eee PC 900 with larger storage, a wider screen and higher performance here Wednesday.

The Eee PC 900 packs in a whole range of hardware, including a 8.9 inch widescreen (up from 7 inches), a 1.3 megapixels webcam, and 12GB and 20GB storage capacities for Windows and Linux platforms respectively.

It caters to more consumer needs, while still maintaining the "easy to learn, work and play" concept by keeping the overall weight at 0.99 kg.

The tiny laptop is also equipped with a 1GB memory standard, up from 512MB.

It is also equipped with a 1.3megapixel webcam and fingerGlide navigation on the touchpad.

"Mobility is the main factor attributing to our success. By retaining this concept, we hope we can continue to develop the Eee PC to serve consumer demands," Asus Indonesia country manager Willy Halim told reporters during the launching.

Asus Indonesia product manager Ismail Maksum said the Asus retained built-in Solid State Disk (SSD) technology because it offers a quiet, energy saving and shock proof design for stable computing on-the-go.

He said some of the features remained available were wireless connection of 802.11giga, in and out audio, three port of USB, VGA out and Kensington and card reader.

The mini laptop is expected to hit the market this week and will be sold for Rp 5.7 million (US$624.8) for Linux operating system and Rp 5.9 million for Windows.

"We are proud and happy to become a part of Asus' effort to provide affordable PCs.

"This is in line with the Intel initiative to provide greater access to affordable computers for more people in the world, especially for developing countries like Indonesia," said Intel
Indonesia Corporations marketing director Alda Siregar.

It is projected 3 to 5 million Eee PC units will be sold this year.

During the launch of the popular notebook worldwide, crowds were seen queuing up for hours before the start of sales in countries like Taiwan, US, Singapore, China and Indonesia.

"People queuing to buy a laptop has never happened before," Ismail Maksum recall the launching of the first generation in Jakarta last February.

Even on the Internet, demand for the Eee PC has exceeded expectations. The Eee PC was voted as "The Most Wanted Christmas Gift" by American Amazon.com and Cnet. It also won a prestigious award at the International CES Innovations Design and Engineering Awards for 2008.(**)

From : www.thejakartapost.com