Meet the new desktop Eee. The Eee landed in our labs today, and as these pics show, it's tiny, not much bigger than an Eee PC 901.
[See our photo gallery on the right]As we've already reported, the Eee will cost a mere $429 when it goes on sale in 4 to 5 weeks.
Like the Dell, but differentThe news comes hot on the heels of Dell's new mini-system, dubbed the Studio Hybrid, which starts at $999 (without a monitor).
The SpecsWe're impressed with the look of both systems, but it's clear they'll be different machines, not just because the 'Box is more than $500 cheaper. For one, the 'Box is half the weight of the Studio Hybrid (
see our story here)- a mere 1Kg, vs more than 2Kg for the Dell.
While it's cheaper and lighter, the 'Box looks like being more of a media extender, lightweight email/Web machine, than a fully fledged workhorse. It will have Intel's Atom, at 1.6GHz, similar to ultraportable notebooks like the Aspire One and Eee PC 901. The Dell is a Core 2 Duo system, though it's not a gaming system either.
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| The Eee Box, fresh out of the . . . box |
Other specs for the 'Box include onboard 802.11 WiFi (optional on the Dell), ExpressGate (7 second startup), 80GB HDD, 1GB RAM, and …drum roll please - Windows XP Home. Thankfully no Vista, and we wouldn't expect otherwise considering the spec.
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| Side by side with the Eee PC 901 |
Stay tuned for our review.
Also see our story: Dell Studio Hybrid: can the desktop PC ever be sexy?Also see our story: First Look: MSI Wind, a mini-laptop with a screen that doesn't suck
Also see our story: FIRST LOOK: HP Mini-Note 2133, makes my leg feel like it's on fire
Also see our story: FIRST LOOK: Eee PC 900 head to head - XP vs Linux