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Hardware ASUS Reveals Eee PC Desktop Variant
Brandon Hill (Blog) - March 14, 2008 6:18 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 50 comment(s) - last by hinchesk.. on Mar 26 at 8:16 AM

  (Source: matbe)

  (Source: matbe)
The Asus Eee PC lineup expands to include a desktop model

DailyTech reported in late January that ASUS was hard at work on a desktop variant of its popular Eee PC sub-notebook. The original Eee PC turned out to be the surprise hit of 2007 and the company has already announced its Eee PC 900 successor.

ASUS is looking to cash in on that success with its new desktop PC which is called the "Digital Home System EP20". However, right below the name of the device on the ASUS placard is the familiar "Easy to Play ; Easy to Learn ; Easy to Work" catchphrase which places the EP20 squarely in Eee PC territory.

Hard specs on the devices are hard to come by, but ASUS notes that the device is much smaller than typical than typical desktops and that it has "good enough performance". Other niceties include Hi-Fi Stereo and Dolby Digital Live support. Also noteworthy is the fact that the EP20 will soldier on with the Eee PC Linux operating system (which is based on Xandros Linux).

Those looking to use the machine as an HTPC will be glad to know that the EP20 only emits 24 db of noise when running.

Things are less clear when it comes to the EP20's hardware specifications. ASUS said back in January that the initial versions of the desktop Eee PC would chip with Celeron processors, while later versions would employ Diamondville. As we all know now, Diamondville is known as Intel Atom, so the EP20 will likely get both single-core and dual-core version of Intel's new low-power processor.

ASUS said that the desktop-based Eee PC would start at $199 which is quite optimistic for a fully functioning desktop PC, but expect to see pricing closer to the $299 mark when it eventually hits the market during the second quarter.

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will it be special?
By johnsonx on 3/14/2008 6:54:45 PM , Rating: 5
Like ASUS motherboards, will this new Eee Desktop be Rock Solid and Heart Touching?




RE: will it be special?
By WTurner on 3/14/2008 8:34:19 PM , Rating: 5
Hah! I recall seeing that slogan on their website and thinking "Man these guys need better marketing people".


RE: will it be special?
By Polynikes on 3/15/2008 11:32:24 AM , Rating: 5
They need better marketing people whose first language is English, I think.

CoolerMaster's "Experience the Amazement Beyond Expectation" slogan also needs work.


RE: will it be special?
By AnnihilatorX on 3/15/2008 6:19:46 PM , Rating: 2
That's a minor error. I've seen worse.


RE: will it be special?
By Warren21 on 3/16/2008 11:29:16 PM , Rating: 2
I like Thermaltake's "Cool all your life".

Buy Thermaltake CPUY cooler, it cool you long time!


RE: will it be special?
By bryanW1995 on 3/17/2008 12:49:38 AM , Rating: 2
All your base are belong to us!


RE: will it be special?
By Slash3 on 3/15/2008 12:10:15 AM , Rating: 2
Looks like the slogan is displayed on the monitor in the 1st pic (albeit mostly out of frame), so I'd say that hearts are about to get touched a little bit more when these launch.


RE: will it be special?
By jpeyton on 3/15/2008 6:47:21 AM , Rating: 2
Two comments.

1) It looks surprisingly large for a basic PC; compared to the benchmark for size...the Mac Mini. Is this really the best Asus could come up with? Acer had a micro-desktop about half this size a year ago.

2) Asus plans to introduce it at $199, so expect to see it at your favorite retailer for at least $299-$399. Their lofty price points haven't been on target yet.


RE: will it be special?
By xSauronx on 3/15/2008 7:38:57 AM , Rating: 2
It might be worth nothing that Shuttle is selling a small, low-powered pc for $199. They call it the KPC and at that price you get linux, a celeron and 512mb, integrated video and audio and an 80gb hard drive.

you can customize it and have up to 2gb ram, 250gb hd, dual core processor, and vista. the base unit is plenty of power for general desktop use, and i think a $199 pricepoint is just as doable for the new Asus desktop.


RE: will it be special?
By inighthawki on 3/15/2008 11:05:16 PM , Rating: 2
It doesn't appear THAT small to me. Compared to the size of the disc drive, it looks maybe the equivalent of 2 wiis put together, which is MUCH smaller than the average computer. Mac Mini sized? Maybe not, but it's really not too far off, and of course, you can't compare the two until we have all the specs.

As for the pricing, we can't say anything until there's a finished product. Expected price points almost always go up, so we will have to wait and see.


RE: will it be special?
By theapparition on 3/17/2008 8:06:17 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
2) Asus plans to introduce it at $199, so expect to see it at your favorite retailer for at least $299-$399. Their lofty price points haven't been on target yet.

On the contrary, they have been exactly on target.....your just not the target.

When the original EEPC Laptop was anounced at $199, that was US$199 OEM price, not retail. Meaning, Newegg pays Asus $199. Retail price is something entirely different, that's what you pay. The original Asus announcement never indicated retail price. See the difference?


RE: will it be special?
By Xodus Maximus on 3/15/2008 12:15:39 PM , Rating: 3
Hopefully you guys are not police detectives or anything... ;)

Because you saw the touching part on the monitor, but missed the obvious placement of the slogan right front on the piece of paper of the first pic. To the right of the title "Digital Home System EP20" you see the blue ASUS logo, under the asus name it says in blue Rock Solid. Heart Touching.


RE: will it be special?
By Lazarus Dark on 3/15/2008 3:19:45 PM , Rating: 2
My fiance laughed at me when she saw that on the box for my Maximus Formula. Here I am trying to impress her with my manly quad-core core 2 maximus formula 8800gt (and other big impressive words and numbers she couldn't understand) and she sees that rediculous slogan and laughs her butt off. There went my cool factor.


RE: will it be special?
By theapparition on 3/17/2008 8:10:29 AM , Rating: 3
Trust me, your cool factor was already gone when when you tried to impress your girl with the "leet" hardware.

She was alreay laughing in her mind, the Asus logo just pushed it over the edge. ;)


RE: will it be special?
By waltzendless on 3/15/2008 4:43:56 PM , Rating: 4
It's working - for my heart is deeply touched, and elsewhere I have become rock solid with all the touching.


RE: will it be special?
By johnsonx on 3/17/2008 1:34:31 PM , Rating: 2
Like many people around here, I build systems for customers. As is somewhat common for (very) small scale system builders, I used to provide to the customer all the little manuals, Windows package, disks, extra cables, etc. that came with the components by putting them in the mainboard box. But I just couldn't bring myself to hand a customer a box that said 'Rock Solid and Heart Touching' on it. Likewise the ASUS mainboard boot logo says it too, so I had to disable that as well.

In the pantheon of lame marketing slogans, this one has to rate right up there. One of the case and cooler companies has "Cool all your life"; that isn't much better. I get it, but it has that 'all your base are belong to us' sort of ring to it.

(yes, i'm replying to my own post... so shoot me)


This is a Nettop......
By crystal clear on 3/15/08, Rating: 0
RE: This is a Nettop......
By drzoo2 on 3/15/2008 5:03:39 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
Vista does not fit the requirements of netbooks & nettops .


There, fixed it for you. Nothing sad about it.
z


RE: This is a Nettop......
By crystal clear on 3/16/2008 2:44:16 AM , Rating: 2
it does not have "good enough performance".

zzzzzzzzzzzzz


RE: This is a Nettop......
By crystal clear on 3/16/2008 2:38:49 AM , Rating: 1
Asustek says two-thirds of Eee PCs will have Windows XP

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Asustek Computer (2357.TW: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's top maker of computer motherboards, said nearly two-thirds of its Eee PCs shipped this year will be Windows-based as consumers embrace the company's low-cost laptop models.

The Taiwan company's branded business last year launched a 7-inch child-friendly Linux-based personal computer priced as low as $200, and new models with Microsoft's Windows XP will be priced around $390 to $400.

"About 60 percent of them (Eee PCs) will have Windows XP operating system," Asustek Chairman Jonney Shih said at a news conference.

The Eee PC has won Asustek much recognition worldwide and Shih said his company was keeping its previous target of shipping 5 million units this year versus 300,000 units shipped in 2007.



http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUS...


RE: This is a Nettop......
By johnsonx on 3/17/2008 2:12:37 PM , Rating: 3
Am I the only one who thinks Crystal Clear's name is a bit ironic?


About time...