If you’re in the United States and have been waiting for an Eee PC to come with Windows XP preinstalled, you better get your wallet ready because they’re coming to Best Buy starting on the 9th. Though it doesn’t come right out and say it, it apparently looks like they mean in brick and mortar Best Buy stores, and not just BestBuy.com.
Laptop Magazine has a full hands on with the Eee PC 4G-X running Windows XP, which appears to be exactly the same as the 4G that runs Linux.
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Gosh frickin darnit, not the 4G again Asus. I already own one of these.
How about releasing the new 8.9″ already!
If the price really is $400 like they said, should we be expecting a slight pricedrop on Linux units?
yeah i know, i wonder why people would buy 4G now when the 8.9″ is being released soon.
Maybe they don’t know the 8.9″ is coming?
I’m saving money for the 8.9″.
Almost exactly the same, except will they all have weak batteries now?
Whhhhhheeeeeeennnnnnn will there be no battery shortage and 5200mah or LARGER batteries?
Please.
Although this will be a business booster for BestBuy, this isnt gonna help Asus at all……after the DCUs out there will buy a 4G, they will just be happy with that (cause they dont have cash for new EEE) and tat will decrease their sales…..
What is the date for the Eee 900 ? I am waiting for that one….
consider the fire at LG battery factory,
I think the release of EEE 900 is gonna delay again…
Originally the release date is in June for the U.S., but then there was recently a fire that broke out at the battery factory.
I’m (currently) waiting for the EEE 900.
It’s a small laptop I’ve always wanted (Saw a Libretto years back, was in love ever since).
But I’m not waiting around forever though. Now that this marked has just been blown open, Everex, Acer, Dell and HP are good on the way with theirs, more to follow. If they should offer something better within reasonable time, that’s where people will go.
Just a hint for Asus to get their finger out.
Who cares?
imho, putting XP on the EeePC is a cop-out.
Linux is suited to this lappy perfectly.
Is this an April fools joke?
i hope this is a joke… i like being an individual with a tiny computer on campus that no one knows about
Damnit, we still don’t even got the original 701 in Sweden. What’s the freaking holdup?
@Tesla
I’ve seen multiple people with the EEE on my campus but not with a touchscreen
. I’m the only one I think.
JAmerican
See Mirosoft’s news to offer XP through at least June 2010 to low-cost laptops such as the Eee at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080403/ap_on_hi_te/microsoft_xp_extension_2
XP > Vista
DOS > Vista
This good news for me because I’ve been waiting to test a floor model. If I can deal with the 7 inch display I’ll buy one with Xandros at NewEgg, because the price of the 900 is really out of my budget.
I wonder what I will eventually get from Amazon. I ordered “Asus Eee 8G 7″ LCD Laptop (Intel Mobile Processor, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB Solid-State Disk, Linux Preloaded) Black” about 6 weeks ago for $542.99. If it’s Linux I probably will return it.
hope they keep using linux compatible hardware in the 8.9’s…
@ John
Why would Amazon send you a different product than the one you ordered? The Eee PC will be available with either Windows or Linux. You ordered Linux preloaded, so you will get Linux preloaded. If you want one with Windows, you need to change your order.
@jron
The Eee PC 900 (with 8.9-inch screen) will still be available with Xandros pre-installed. Versions with Windows XP and with Xandros will both be available. Asus CEO Jerry Shen mentioned a 8GB SSD model with Windows XP and a 12GB or 20GB SSD model with Xandros:
http://blog.laptopmag.com/eee-pc-to-get-intels-diamondville-hard-drives-and-fashion-forward-style
I doubt we’ll see the 20GB SSD so soon. This is from a company that currently offers a wimpy 2GB laptop, lol.
It’s really nice to see that we’ll be able to touch it in brick and mortar stores. I have been wanting an EEE for a while but have been unsure getting a 7 inch or waiting. Now I can figure out whether I want to wait for the bigger one!
.
@Snake,
I agree. Not this year – with the exception of selling a small engineering batch somewhere just so they can say they were available in 2008 before year end. Remember 8Gs in 2007?
Third party distributors should drive the SSD availability. Samsung has great SSD drives already, and others too.
Only we need the Mini-PCIe format – yuck! I believe the sockets are rated for 50 insertions before failure – be careful. I have that link somewhere…
Ye of little faith. I think that ASUS see the writing on the wall, i.e. the stiff competition coming from the likes of HP and MSI (heck the new Cloudbook MAX looks decent, but I bet it will be expensive). I think they will put out a rushed version in mid to late April with the WIMAX and Atom loaded platform in June.
the xp machines are on Bestbuy.com now, I ordered one this morning. It looks like they plan to have the black machines in store as well, but there aren’t any in the stores around here yet. I like the idea of the larger screen, but I don’t want to wait–I’m travelling a lot in late April and May, and don’t have space for a full-sized laptop. Small, light, cheap!
This is ridiculous. Why does the Windows and Linux versions cost the same amount? This is a bad move by Asus. Although, I might speculate that Best Buy is actually taking a loss on these units. ZipZoomFly.com is showing the XP-EEE at $469. Even so, that is only $79 over what I paid for mine. Surely an OEM XP license costs more than that.
I have become immediately dissatisfied with my EEE.
OEM pricing for XP licenses is actually well under $79… closer to $29-49 depending on volume and what kind of deal MS is willing to cut you. To get a Windows version out there (and help avoid Linux being delivered on MILLIONS of units worldwide) I bet MS went to the bottom half of that range of prices.
Actually, go to pricewatch.com, XP Home OEM is as low as $60. And that is for one single user. With a volumn discount for Asus (and maybe special incentives because Microsoft doesn’t want Linux to dominate the ultra portable market) it was surely much cheaper than that.
One other thing to remember. The Linux operating system on the Eee wasn’t free for Asus. It is a customized version, therfore, it cost money for the developers, designers, product managers, etc. of the custom version.
eee 4G with XP now available online at bestbuy.com $399
And Xandros is a for profit company… don’t they get something for their base disto?
The “Jisus” by “Van Der Led”, Dutch competition for the Eee PC?
(Van Der Led is supposedly a Dutch company. I am Dutch but I never heard of that company. Apparently it is a company that mainly sells LED lighting)
http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2008/04/van_der_led_jum.html
http://vanderled.com/onlinestore/product_info.php/products_id/81
Just stopped by the two of the Best Buys in Virginia Beach, neither had them. The bigger location said they were supposed to have them in stock, but had none and none were coming apparently. I did notice the in stock dates for it though. It said in stock date of 4/6 and an out stock date of 8/6. I wonder if there is any coincidence between that and the EEE 900s release date.
Well, I just ran down to Best Buy so that I could see one of these in
the flesh. Not only did they not have any displayed, but when I
questioned the sales person on the floor he scoffed ” We’re not
getting that…and even if we did we would never display a unit that
small!” I guess umpc’s etc. are easier to steel.
He was down right rude when I told him about what I had read online.
I think he was embarrassed that he didn’t know anything about it.
When I pressed him a bit further, he looked it up and admitted that
the scheduled stock date was 4.14.08. But he said “even if we got it
in the store we wouldn’t have it on display, so you couldn’t see it
anyway!”
Fricken weird attitude, especially considering this guy actually
looked like the manager. Incidentally, this was the Best Buy at the
Greendale Mall in Worcester, MA
Why do they keep trying to offer XP? We do not need it! Xandros is ok, else you go for ubuntu/nlited Xps…..
Please asus STOP supplying windows, it is not price competitive ¬¬
While I would really really like to run windows on my little 701 I am a bit worried about wearing out the SSD prematurley due to how Windows (fails to smoothly) run. (paging etc)
Not that this would really run Halo 1 all that well to begin with.
All in all, rather glad to not be supporting MS with this machine. Xandros even in easy or desktop mode does more to impress than I could have hoped. Now I just need to get another Eee cause my wife and I keep wanting to use this one!! ^_^
The 4G XP model is available here in Japan. The guy in the shop never knew there was a Xandros model! I played with it and it runs very fast, but takes up 3.8 gigs of HD space.
The 4G XP model advertised in Canada at http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX20588(ME).aspx claims to have built in bluetooth.
Four points.
The 900 will cost between $550 and $600 starting price..so it will not replace the 700 series.
A hack allows much higher resolution on the 700 series. (lazer tag on the eeepc forum).
Newegg has a 16 MB Series 6 speed SD card for around $60. Add that to the 700 series unit.
The XP series includes Microsoft Works pre installed.
Add this important comment from a test of the new 700 series XP version:
“When we reviewed the first iteration of the Eee PC we had three main gripes: The webcam can’t yet be used for video chats, it’s not easy to load new applications, and there is no mobile broadband support.
All three of those issues were solved in the Windows version of the system. We were even able to load Verizon Wireless’ mobile broadband software and plug in a UM150 USB modem. For road warriors who were feeling limited by the Linux OS, unable to port over PowerPoint files and other tools, the Windows XP version of the Eee PC will hit the spot.”
@crabolsky, I called the Worcester, MA store today (04/14/2008, when they were supposed to arrive) and they told me they are now expecting in-store stock by 04/17/2008-04/21/2008. Pushing it back hmm.
Just got my eeepc xp 4g 512 ram at the bestbuy in Braintree ma for $400. Well worth it! I bought a 4g sd card and got a ram upgrade on the way from new egg. I love this little machine!
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