Asus Sets Eee PC 900 U.S. Launch for May 12th

Huh? I can only imagine what this would be priced at if it was produced and manufactured in the US... You'd be screaming for $550 at that point.

 

I was hoping for 499, but oh well. Hopefully this will get some people buying and pushing the economy somewhere.

Conspiracy maybe: Asus has the upperhand right now - they set the price and the tone. Once the major players get in the game, I wonder if ASUS has worked out the price strategy already - HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc. hit the market and ASUS drops the price on all of them. It is an incentive for waiting - plus I want a cooler skin - though you could start your own business like people have for plastic iPod cases. I think there is a lot of potential for this market - I know flying with this Eee is better than my 15.4" monster that I once thought was a good size. How airplanes change everything...

 

I don't get it. What's the global economy have to do with weak USD?

 

I showed my EEE to a college and at $400-450 he was interested. Then I showed him the HP2133 at $550 and he was not interested. He was mostly interested in price, secondly in XP, but at over $500 he was looking for a normal laptop.

He ultimately chose a refurbished $499 IBM/Lenovo with XP Pro installed, for his daughter for school. I get a similar reaction from my other friends with any price over $500. Therefore, I agree with your sentiments and so do my friends.

 

a weak USD, means companies do not want to set up business in the US due to currency concerns, and a lot are feeling the pressure of a weak USD because it really damages business (one of the reasons a lot of manufacturers/business left the UK for Ireland in fact). And although a lot of production is already in the east, a weak USD means companies can't buy as much as they could before the crash, meaning it effectively costs more for R&D and importing items, and raw materials which in turn makes companies raise prices, but they can't raise them too much because the consumer has been hit with a weak USD too, which means higher prices and less buyers. And the US is one of the biggest if not the biggest economic power in the world and problems in the US affect the global economy a hell of a lot. (Take Northern Rock here in the UK for example, is now publicly owned because it couldn't raise money from other banks since they didn't want to lend because of the lending problems in America, and since it didn't have any stockpile to fall back on it collapsed

And in the UK, the EEE 900 costs £330 around a bouts, which is $660, I wish the UK changed to the euro then at least our prices would be a little cheaper. But the fact is that for the time being the US is still one of the cheapest countries to buy electronics from, even if its not for the US consumer, but for consumers from other countries.

 

Stupid weird buttons on that HP - I do not want them on the opposite sides of the touch pad! That is what my main gripe is - and something else - I wish they actually weren't customizable - just put good components in the box, pricetag that is competetive, bang, good deal. Customize the OS or just buy separate, whatever, but this isn't a big machine that we are talking about.

 

way too expensive, what happend to 399?

 

I honestly think that Asus will be giving us a good price on the hardware its giving us, and unless their competitors copy their ideas exactly and use Linux instead of windows (very unlikely) that all highly anticipated UMPC's will be around the $500+ mark.

The Asus EEE is the height of UMPC's right now, the Everex came, but was too bug ridden, the HP came but was slow and had a bad layout. And I expect most other manufacturers to follow this trend, of doing what Asus has done, except worse.

 

Costs the same, but the XP version sadly has a smaller flash drive to offset the price difference.

 

Power + Inconvenience = Dell Inspiron 1525 = $549
Minimal Power + Maximum Convenience = Asus Eee PC 900 = $549
Power + Convenience = Sony TZ series = $1799

If power or screen size is more important to you than size and weight, don't get an EeePC. A lot of people think price is the only reason for this sort of demand. If you want a budget notebook, get a Compaq or a Vostro. If you want a budget notebook that's convenient, then do consider the EeePC 700 series (and if you want a bigger screen, more disk space, and have a little extra money, consider the 900 series or the HP 2133).

 

Ugh, I posted in the Asus forum, but I guess I should ask here. Seems like everyone is saying that the 900 is not worth the price. Even if I wait for the Atom model, the price would likely go up rather than stay static. Given that, is the current model (the 2g/4g/8g) the best bang-for-the-buck? What I mean is that I realize that the newer one will have more RAM and HDD and larger screen ...but relative to the cost, is it better to just get the current one?

 

This somehow does not seem to be a coincidence.

$600 Stimulus Deposit on May 9th

$549+tax ASUS EEE PC 900 May 12th

Is this why the U.S. release date is later than Europe and Asia? Either way, this made my decision easy.

 

Very perceptive...LOL, yet another conspiracy! Though you bring up a good point - I would be marketing like crazy to have someone spend their package on my product.

 

What about something like this or an M1330 for a decent combination of power and convenience (without paying $1800)?

 

M1330 = Power + Convenience
Sony TZ = Power + Convenience + Brand Name

 

you cannot compare the Sony TZ and Dell m1530, next to the TZ, the m1530 is an absolute giant. By convenience he means how easy it is to carry around, the dell is heavier and larger, therefore less convenient. The Sony TZ is the height of the Ultra portables market, if only it didn't cost over £1200

 

^ m1330 not m1530

 

Still the same thing, the TZ is dwarfed by the m1330. And if you need portability and money isn't an issue the TZ is the better choice.

 

I understand this argument, but this kind of computer is also aimed at an audience who already has a decently powerful (at least) other computer... so buying a 15" laptop really doesn't make sense to compare to this ultraportable. But if you don't have a PC or a laptop I would fully agree here...

Personally I think I will wait until Dell gets in the competition. By that time prices (and quality) of other models by other companies should be better. I'll definately get an ultraportable then!! ^^

 

Those are certainly a good combination of power and convenience, but I don't view those two as being nearly as convenient as an Eee (or even the larger TZ for that matter). They are still much larger and much heavier and more expensive. I suppose if you needed a desktop replacement in a small package, they would be good choices. But most sub-notebook geeks would sacrifice almost anything (optical drives, superior performance, [except lots of money perhaps]) for the smallest size they can get, while still maintaining a laptop form.

Before I got my 4G, I was considering a TX2000. But I'm so glad I chose the 4G. There are places I can go and methods of transporting my Eee that I would not be possibly or as convenient with the HP. For instance, I don't need a bag or case to comfortably cart around my Eee. I just pick it up and go (I sometimes put it in a neoprene sleeve or my leather wrapper). I bring my Eee with me to church (ok, yeah, I need help, but we have wifi there and I sometimes use it between services, it's the same size as my small Bible, and leather wrapped, so it looks like one too). It even fits in my Tamrac 5546 photo backpack (very small backpack) with my dSLR camera, lens, and my gear.

And if it gets crushed, lost, or stolen in the process- I'm only out $399, compared to $800ish or more for the TX2000, U405, or M1330.