New Asus Eee PC 904 – an Acer Aspire One killer instead?

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Saturday, 05 July 2008 15:57

Opinion and Analysis

Now, it must be remembered that the 901 series uses the Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor which costs more than the Celeron 900MHz.

So, the Eee PC 904 will be cheaper, right? Well, it will be in the UK – it’s set to sell for £269, which is around AUD $553 over here.

Asus is still yet to announce the 904 or 1000 series, let alone issue pricing for either model, but when news on new devices breaks overseas it’s impossible these days for anyone to stop that news filtering worldwide.

If the pricing holds, it means the equivalent of the Celeron 900MHz powered 900 series Eee PC but with a larger keyboard. The 900 series model has already fallen in price in Australia to AUD $549 following the 901’s announcement at $649, so when the 904 is launched it could see the 900 series fall in price even further.

Whatever happens price-wise, competition is really hotting up in the subnotebook ‘netbook’ space.

Is the 904 better than the Acer Aspire One? Well, it has a larger keyboard to start with, but the processor isn't an Intel Atom.

For some the larger keyboard will make all the difference, while others won't care. If the price turns out to be right in Australia, effectively costing the same as the 900 series at $549, that'll put it squarely in between the price of the Aspire One Linux and XP models.

While we yet don't know whether the 904 will come with a 3-cell or 6-cell battery, either way it will be a tough decision.

For everyday computing, meaning web browsing, email, basic wordprocessing and other ‘office’ tasks and more, in a much lighter and more portable size than larger 14-inch notebooks at similar prices, the choices seem to be growing faster than ever.

As we noted in previous articles on the topic, the ultra portable and low cost computing revolution can’t be stopped and by Christmas this year they’ll be cheaper and more plentiful than ever!