Jeremy Green, Adam Leach
New version of Asus eee PC will test the limits of the MID market
The Asus eee PC 900 begins shipping in Europe and North America today. The new version will help to consolidate the emergence of the MID (mobile Internet device) category and perhaps also clarify the limits of the MID range.Comment: It would be an exaggeration to characterise the response to the 900 as a frenzy, but there is a definite frisson of excitement. There has been a flurry of postings on the many dedicated eee PC blogs and on the specialist UMPC sites.The spec for the 900 is a considerable improvement over the previous 2G and 4G 701 versions. There is a bigger screen with a higher resolution, more processing power and more storage space. Moreover, Asus has managed to achieve all of this without any changes to the form factor - the device is still less than 225mm by 165mm and less than a kilo in weight. Curiously, the 900, like the 701 versions, is still based on the 900MHz Intel Celeron processor rather than Intel's Atom processor, created specifically as the basis for MIDs; an Atom-based model should see a significantly improvement on the eee's battery life, which will be impacted by the larger screen available on the 900. eee PC fans who want an Atom-based model will have to wait for a later model, currently rumoured for June. Perhaps more significantly, the 900 is available in a Windows as well as a Linux version. This has clearly annoyed some of the nerdier eee PC fans from whom the ability to avoid Windows was the whole point of the product, but may help to make the device acceptable to a much wider market. If the windows variant does prove successful it will be a validation of Microsoft's decision, earlier this year, to extend the life of Windows XP beyond June 2008; specifically for the inclusion in this type of product. If Microsoft had decided to discontinue XP and prevent use beyond next month, as it had planned, the developing MIDs market would have been left entirely to Linux; However, Microsoft clearly believes that the MIDs opportunity is worth pursuing. Already, some mobile operators have begun experimenting with the eee PC - even in its Linux incarnation. SFR offered an eee PC bundled with an HSDPA USB modem and data plan as early as January of this year. T-Mobile has been selling them in a bundle with a USB modem for some months, and a UK-based reseller has recently begun to offer the device free with a wireless broadband subscription.Some commentators have described the pairing as a 'match made in heaven'. Without entirely endorsing this view, it is clear that there is quite a lot of product space between the fully functioning PC and the smartphone. Add to that the simplicity, ease of set-up and sheer convenience of the USB modem, and the MID category begins to look very interesting as a way of mobilising Internet applications.However, at around €415 the 900 is rather more expensive than the €292 which the 701 sells at. This brings the device ominously close to the price point for a low end laptop - albeit not to that of the ultra portable models. It's a distinct possibility, too, that the difference between the two prices takes the product out of the “why not?” category and into the domain of serious evaluation. If that's so, then some potential customers are going to make a proper comparison between the eee pc and a more conventional laptop and find the Asus device wanting.That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. It should at least help to clarify some of the issues about exactly what MIDs are for, and resolve the relative importance of size, price and functionality. If Asus has got it right, its device will set the benchmark for MIDS; if not, there are plenty of other candidates with different trade-offs waiting in the wings.
