Atom Eee to hit by end of the month

Alex Kidman | Jun 20, 2008 11:05 AM

And guess what? There's ONE price for Linux or Windows XP, and price drops for existing models.

Hot on the heels of unveiling the Intel Atom powered Eee PC 901 at Computex, Asus has announced Australian availability for the pint-sized powerhouses in Australia. They'll be available "by the end of the month" from "selected computer resellers" in both Windows XP Home and Linux variants.

Unlike the Eee PC 900, however, there's no pricing differentiation between the Linux and XP versions; both will come with a standard RRP of $649. As with the Eee PC 900, the Linux version comes with more storage, via a secondary inbuilt flash drive with 16GB of storage, compared to the XP version's 8GB drive. Available in "Pearl" White or "Shine" Black, the 901 Eees have 1GB of memory, Draft-N wireless networking and 8.9" 1024x600 pixel display screens.

One of the bigger differences for the Eee 901 is that you won't, at least at this stage, be able to pop down to your local Myers and pick one up. While the Eee 900 was only available in XP form from mass market retailers and the Linux flavour only from computer resellers, the 901 will only be initially sold through computer resellers. Asus representatives told PC Authority that there were no retail plans for the Eee 901 as yet.

With new models coming in, the company also announced price cuts to the older Eee stock. The Eee 900 drops to $549, whether in Linux or XP flavour, which must suck if you rushed out and bought one a month ago. Meanwhile, the 7" Eee PC 701 drops to an official RRP of $479.