Asus stuns Computex with $189 laptop

Raven 06-07-2007

Sin is getting a new computer just to see what its going to be like, then giving away another computer.


Asus chairman Jonney Shih sprang a surprise during Intel's Computex keynote today with the announcement of a $189 laptop.

The notebook measures roughly 120 x 100 x 30mm (WDH) and weighs only 900g. We saw the notebook boot in 15 seconds from its solid-state hard disk. The huge auditorium then burst into applause as Shih revealed the astounding price tag. Dubbed the 3ePC, Shih claimed the notebook is the 'lowest cost and easiest PC to use'. As the crowds rushed the stage, we sneaked off to the Asus stand to take a closer look.

The notebook uses a custom-written Linux operating system, much like the OLPC, though unlike the OLPC, Asus has chosen a more conventional interface. The desktop looked fairly similar to Windows and we saw Firefox running on one 3ePC. A spokesperson from Asus told us that the notebook would come with "an office suite that's compatible with MS Office", though he refused to confirm or deny whether that meant OpenOffice.

He claimed the 3ePC would be available in all areas of the world, not only developing nations.

The low price comes from some interesting design choices, primarily the flash-based hard disk. A disk of today's standard capacity would cost more than notebook itself as we saw with the 32GB Samsung disk, but Asus uses a 2GB disk. We were not allowed to touch the 3ePC so couldn't tell how much of this is left after the bespoke OS is installed.

The CPU also remains a mystery, though Shih said the version on show did have 512MB of RAM. Another version will be available for $299, but nobody could tell us what the difference between the two models is.

Nina

Yeah that's what he needs another computer. You know when his house is all ready there's going to be tons of them running. He always has enough of them, should be some more giveaways soon.

GIR

im glad that its not to just thrid world nations, i was worryed on that as other have been on for them, i think this will make more money in th long run, as they can mass produice them more. its a nice small system for any amatur user that needs portablility and not something like a XPS from Dell.

Sugarlipz

well thats good. I will take the computer thats given away please. Thank you

Raven

That would take care of most people's basic needs. Aslong as you didn't try to play UT2k4 or anything that intensive you will be fine. Too many people are buying overpriced computers without even knowing that they doing to use it for. Atleast one company is trying to give people exactly what they might need.

GIR

unless you a gamer, or a programmer, and use programs like CAD, and UT MAP maker, you really dont need much in a machine. but sales ppl want teh commision.

Nina

Word be great for school. ESpecially if you don't have the time to always go to a campus or library for a computer. May want to add some memory but that's getting cheaper by the second. Sin will proably benchmark it then trash it.