Once and Still a Techie Weblog

Eee PC 900 series sold out in Hong Kong

The 8.9″ screen iteration of the Eee PC series of Asus UMPCs sold out within hours of shops opening in Hong Kong last April 21st. Who wouldn’t rush out to buy this baby. I mean, take a look at how it’s an improvement over the original Eee PC 701:

This new UMPC called the Eee PC 900, aside from it’s larger screen compared to it’s 700 series brother’s 7-incher, one of which I happily own, has

a) more storage space to the tune of 12GB for the Windows XP version and 20GB for the one with Linux pre-installed. The difference in storage space is because ASUS is determined to have the two versions go for the same price. Apparently the Microsoft OS license costs the difference between a 12GB and 20GB SSD (Solid state drive). Since these SSDs have no moving parts, even if you accidentally drop the unit your data will remain safe.

b) a larger touchpad with what Asus calls “FingerGlide” technology which works much like the iPhone’s multi-touch screen allowing you to zoom out of a picture by pinching your fingers and zoom in by, you know how… You can also scroll horizontally or vertically by moving two fingers simultaneously over the pad instead of having to find the sweet spot on the far right of the pad to scroll vertically.

c) it has a 1.3 megapixel webcam compared to the prehistoric 0.3 megapixel cam on the 701.

d) it comes with twice the RAM in the default configuration at 1GB.

And everything else that makes the 701 the mobile wonder that it is has found it’s way into the Eee PC 900, namely: it’s WiFi-ready out of the box, has three USB ports, is ultralight at less than a kilogram, is the size and weight of a hardcover novel… what’s not to like? The keyboard retains its original size though, so you touch typists will still have to make do with typing using just your index and middle fingers. But I’ve come to live with that.

My 4G 701 unit is a bit over 4 months old now and I have yet to see a day go by without my spending at least an hour on it. Heck it’s online almost 24-hours a day and still running strong.

The Eee PC is the mother of the extremely low-cost ultra handy portable computer, a lot of competitors have sprung up over the past few months since its launch, but in my opinion they’re all in catch up mode and Asus is staying one step ahead of a bunch of copy cats. That’s just my two cents.

So when are you going out to buy your own?