News Bits: Asus 10-inch Eee PC Rumors are False, SanDisk Vaulter Disk

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Asus 10-inch Eee PC Rumors are False

This is not a 10&quot; screen Asus Eee PC, nor will there be one anytime soon -- says Asus (view large image)

There has been a lot of discussion going around the web today that Asus is going to ship a 10-inch screen Eee PC at the beginning of 2008. Having just reviewed the Asus Eee PC 4G 7-inch screen notebook we decided to reach out to our contacts at Asus and ask why they wouldn't have told us about this upcoming version. Our queston to Asus was:

NotebookReview.com: &quot;Several different sites are picking up on the following story and running with it. We don't recall hearing anything about a 10-inch Eee PC at that press event on Monday.

Apparently, a German Asus PR rep said that the 8G is going to have a 10-inch screen. If this is true, that's news to us. The last &quot;official&quot; word we received was that the 8G will be available in late November with a 7-inch screen just like the 4G.

Please let us know if Asus is indeed planning to launch a 10-inch version of the Eee PC and please keep us informed about other news from Asus.&quot;

The response we got from our contact at Asus in California was:

Asus: &quot;I have just spoken to our product manager for the Eee PC and he said so far there has been no plan to introduce the Eee pc with another screen size for the North American market.  I don't think other regions will have them either.  As you know the demand for the existing Eee PC is already overwhelming, they can't make them fast enough.&quot;

Asus is usually not shy about telling the world what they have coming, so the fact they're denying these rumors and pretty much acting clueless as to what it's about is a probable sign we won't see a 10&quot; screen Asus Eee PC anytime soon.

SanDisk Vaulter Disk combines SSDs and hard drives

SanDisk has introduced a solid state storage solution that works with the PC's hard drive to enhance system performance. The Vaulter Disk is a flash-based PCI Express module. It only needs enough memory to host the operating system and optional user data while the hard drive stores everything else such as documents. It will be offered to notebook manufacturers next year in 8GB and 16GB capacities.

Read More (SanDisk.com)


LED backlit panel prices not expected to drop more than 20% in 2008

Despite the ever-increasing demand for applicaiton-use LEDs, the prices for notebook-use LED backlighting panels are only expected to drop 20% next year after dropping 30% this year. Quoted prices from Taiwan-made LED chips are about 30% cheaper on average than Japan-made ones. If LED is to replace CCFL screens in notebooks, then the prices need to continue dropping.

Read More (DigiTimes.com)


Arima to sell notebook business to Flextronics

Arima Computer has decided to sell its notebook and server business to Flextronics; the deal is to be completed in the first quarter of next year. Arima currently has HP and Dell as a client, producing 330,000 - 350,000 notebooks each month. Flextronics will take the notebook business further by moving the production capacity up to 500,000 units after the takeover.

Arima plans to focus more on strengthening its investment business while putting increased focus on communication, opteoelectronics, and energy saving industries.

Read More (DigiTimes.com)


AT&amp;T and Sierra Wireless announce USBConnect 881

AT&amp;T and Sierra Wireless announced the availability of the AT&amp;T USBConnect 881, a wireless USB data device that is the first to have the AT&amp;T Communication Manager software pre-loaded. When the device is plugged in for the first time, it automatically installs the software on Windows 2000, XP, and Vista computers. The device enables notebook computer users to access the Internet on AT&amp;T's 3G HSPA BroadbandConnect wireless network. Upload speeds range from 500Kbps to 800Kbps and download speeds from 600Kbps to 1,400Kbps. The USBConnect 881 can be used internationally in 139 countries, and works on HSPA and EDGE/GPRS networks.

 

What was the name of the computer company that went bankrupt after it annonuced a 2nd "better" model is coming while still selling their 1st product ?

-- there are some pics at engadget of what looks like a 10" white Asus called 1001 .

 

That is some interesting news, however, I think the Asus Eee can receive a 10" screen with some aggressive mod.

The main reason why I would buy one of those toys is to prove it, the only issue is to find an LCD that would be compatible with width and length of the screen, removing the speakers and putting them on the sides of the trackpad (there is space for them).

Also a main issue here is to find a compatible LCD plug with right alignment of data wires (usually I think that plugs that fit should have the same alignment)

Not to forget the fact that this should not interfere with the webcam and power inverter (I would push each to the margins).

Very surgical eh

 

Funny how DailyTech isn't pulling or amending their article about the 10" Eee PC. http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=9660
I never read any of their articles, just usually follow the links from Anandtech.
I'd trust NBR and the Asus contact more. Still, I'm looking forward to the new Eee PC, hopefully it will come with XP still.

 

No 10", No EEE for me...

 

The SanDisk Vaulter Disk sounds promising. I recall seing quite a few posts on NBR stating how this type of combination would desirable. Seems their wishes have come true.

 

What about the 10" EEE Asus showed earlier?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=130867&highlight=Eee+1001

 

There are several few reports and pictures of a 10-inch Asus Eee PC at Computex Taipei 2007


HardwareZone.com
http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=18&id=2281

AkihabaraNews.com
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-14057-Asus+at+the+Computex+(Eee+inside).html


It looks like a prototype though..

 

Asus announced the 10" EEE PC at computex in Taipei, that is correct. But it was simply a proto type. I thought asus announced that they will not be making a 10" EEE PC a long time ago... But that they might make an 8".

 

Correct! Apparently many, many websites have picked up on this "news" about an Eee PC with a 10-inch display because one German PR guy said something wrong and people found old images of the old 10-inch prototype online.

Asus always lets people know about new products well in advance ... usually much sooner than other manufacturers. So if Asus really was going to come out with a 10-inch Eee PC anytime in the next 6-12 months we would have heard about it.

The fact that Asus is denying the 10-inch Eee PC rumor is all the proof we need that the 10-inch prototype Asus showed at Taipei isn't going to see the light of day anytime in the foreseeable future.

 

Since the costs for the first one have been higher than previously expected, I venture to guess that a 10" would drive up the costs too much at this point, and perhaps battery life would be significantly lower because of the larger screen as well? If either are true, I think it's a good move by Asus not to bring it out right now.

 

A year from now you'll probably see the 10" model become available. At the moment they're just too busy concentrating on the 7" model to work on refining the 10" it seems to me. When demand for the 7" slows that's when I bet the 10" will come out, and that will be this time of year in 2008.

Right now it would be a very unwise move to release info on the 10" and I think Asus is aware of that. They barely got the 7" to compete in the same price-range as the $300 to $450 bargain 14" to 15" laptops being sold by the big chain stores. A 10" would be high-priced compared to the other deals going on, would likely cause the value/price of the 7" model to decline, and it would also consume sales from the 7" model. Asus wants the maximum profit possible and that would be by focusing on one high-demand new hot gadget for this year before diversifying their EEE PC lineup.

Also, the SSD helper drive from SanDisk looks like a great idea. I have to wonder why this wasn't done earlier. Hopefully it works with Windows XP...or a newer version of windows that is less bloated than Vista.

 

The image on the SanDisk article (link in NBR article) shows a laptop running XP, so I would assume that means it would run on XP. The 8 GB model is probably targeted at XP users, as Vista can get over 8 GB fairly quickly.

 

I'd be fine with keeping a 7" Eee - but is there any chance of a Core 2 processor and/or a higher resolution 7" screen coming in a refresh? Those two would make it perfect.

 

I agree. I want one.

Faster boot up times along with being able to use my whole 160gig HD for media...nice.

Wonder how much it would cost for a 16GB.

 

Either the US reps are wrong, Asus is backing up or they just don't want to ruin the 7 incher sales.

If you take a look at this Asus Spain page it reads (at the time of writing):

http://www.asus.es/news_show.aspx?id=7465

"los Eee PC llegarán al mercado a un precio extremadamente competitivo alrededor de los 299€ para las unidades de 7’’, y unos 499€ para la versión de 10’’."

... which will translate into ...

"Eee PCs will come to the marketplace at an extremely competitive price around 299€ for 7'' units, and around 499€ for the 10'' version."

Looks like it's not only "the German rep" who "got it wrong", doesn't it?

 

I would love to get the Vaulter, just wish that I could actually put it in my current computer.

 

Hopefully it will not suffer the same sporadic issues as Intel Turbo Memory. And I am crossing my fingers that it will not need a new chipset for it to work properly.

I can't wait though. If it works like a charm, my combo for next year will be a 7200RPM 200GB+ drive and the Sandisk Vaulter.