“Eee PC is not pronounced as E-E-E-P-C. It’s just E-P-C, as if you were saying the three letters. But that’s not the kicker. It turns out that Asus is not pronounced ‘Eh-Sis’; you’re supposed to say ‘Ah-Seuss.’ Weird.” – Mobile Magazine, summing up a Gizmodo video. Go here for a Google roundup of review and news articles, overwhelmingly favorable. Let’s hope that more than a few E-P-C-ers try out the bundled FBReader.
And for the sake of balance: Read the articles and tell me, based on the information available, what you don’t like about the Asus. I wish the screen were as good for e-books as the OLCP laptop‘s is said to be.
Related TeleBlog post: Asus laptop guy profiled in Forbes—with mention of the forthcoming $300 U.S. price for the basic model. Also see news release links, one of which says an Asus was sold every six seconds. The Asus is Linux powered, but a Windows version is on the way by the end of the year.
Speaking of laptop tech: Next-gen laptops can make the jump to HyperSpace, in USA Today. “Tired of Windows? The next generation of laptops may let you jump from one operating system to another to play movies, surf the Web or read e-mail.”
Technorati Tags: Asustek , OLPC , One Laptop Per Child
Are they selling it yet? I can’t seem to find where to buy one.
Yes, this is on sale now, but the price got upped to $400.
Here’s a page mentioning $300 for the basic model. That’s also the price in the shopping cart. Any loopholes? David
I am just really, really disappointed that they decided not to sell the lower-priced models here. I was really hoping for a retail-available rival for the OLPC. They have the technology, I don’t see why they aren’t letting US have it. I think there is a real, desperate need for an affordable and lightweight portable option. I wish so much that they would just give us the option, anyway! I can’t afford $400 for a second computer, so I guess I will keep lugging my macbook to work with me. PLEASE, won’t someone release an OLPC rival in a widely available format, soon?
I bought mine from an online store based in Taiwan, Qbitonline.com. They do international shipping to where I am now in Paris. They have the black 4G surf for only US$360.35
I’ve settled for the Eee-PC as my e-book reader after having no luck in trying to buy other types of readers here in Hong Kong (not even the Sony reader!). I converted my current Eee-PC into an XP and was able to install a few different ebook readers – but is now considering getting another version (the cheaper one -which by the way is pink, not white) which I will use with the original software that came with the bundle. It’s cheaper because there’s no built-in camera. I really love this PC as an ebook reader but of course it can handle so much more than just function as an e-book device.
I own an Asus Eee and an acer netbook but i often use the Asus Eee because it is so much lighter and easily fits in my small bag.
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