ASUS Eee PC to strike back with touch screen?

[HEXUS]

ASUS' Eee PC is facing competition from various other manufacturers this year and if reports coming from Taiwan are to be believed, ASUS plans to up the ante with a touch screen Eee PC later in the year.

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[malakai5]

This should have been something implemented from the beginning considering the size and another means of a pointing device. Though it's not the 1st 'Mini Notebook' on the market to incorporate the touchscreen, Belinea s.book with their version of VIA's design has already got a 7" touchscreen but based on the VIA reference design which includes the integrated Skype handset (which I'm not too keen on). Also in the market (or soon to launch) are the Everex Cloudbook and Packard Bell Easynote have based their products on the VIA design. It'll be interesting to see if any manufacturer could incorporate some ideas of these VIA 'Mini Notebook's into a proper contender for Asus's EEEPc, as it stands none of them are particularly desirable as one has a feature that the others lack and vice versa.

A combination of a 9" (8.9) touchscreen with a web camera (no integrated Skype handset) with the reference VIA systems specs it already has; VIA C7-M 1.2GHz CPU, 1GB RAM and a varying 30-80GB HDD dependant on cost would be most welcome. Of particular note is that both the Belinea s.book and Packard Bell Easynote both have Win XP already installed. Now the only problem is at the moment both these 'Mini Notebook's cost over £250, and the major appeal of the Asus EEEPc is that it's a sub £250 ultra low-cost mobile notebook. If manufacturers can get the above 'dream' specs @ a sub £250 price point, then there definitely would be a contender for the Asus EEEPc and a lucrative 'cash cow' for this emerging and fast growing niche market.

[spazman]

Its easy peasy to add touchscreen to the 7" model, a friend of mine already has and im waiting for the pack to come into stock.

[directhex]

This should have been something implemented from the beginning considering the size and another means of a pointing device. Though it's not the 1st 'Mini Notebook' on the market to incorporate the touchscreen, Belinea s.book with their version of VIA's design has already got a 7" touchscreen but based on the VIA reference design which includes the integrated Skype handset (which I'm not too keen on). Also in the market (or soon to launch) are the Everex Cloudbook and Packard Bell Easynote have based their products on the VIA design. It'll be interesting to see if any manufacturer could incorporate some ideas of these VIA 'Mini Notebook's into a proper contender for Asus's EEEPc, as it stands none of them are particularly desirable as one has a feature that the others lack and vice versa.

A combination of a 9" (8.9) touchscreen with a web camera (no integrated Skype handset) with the reference VIA systems specs it already has; VIA C7-M 1.2GHz CPU, 1GB RAM and a varying 30-80GB HDD dependant on cost would be most welcome. Of particular note is that both the Belinea s.book and Packard Bell Easynote both have Win XP already installed. Now the only problem is at the moment both these 'Mini Notebook's cost over £250, and the major appeal of the Asus EEEPc is that it's a sub £250 ultra low-cost mobile notebook. If manufacturers can get the above 'dream' specs @ a sub £250 price point, then there definitely would be a contender for the Asus EEEPc and a lucrative 'cash cow' for this emerging and fast growing niche market.

how much of the niche is in the software? add the price of msoffice onto the price of a windows-based easynote or s.book, and you're talking lots of cashes

[Wyoming]

The current Via system is far weaker than the EEE, if you push the EEEs CPU up to its real clock of 900mhz then it's still more powerful than the 1.2ghz Via.

You can upgrade the RAM on an EEE to 2gb for £28, it takes less than 5 minutes and doesn't void the warranty in the UK.

The SSD is also faster than the Cloudbook's HD by a good margin and it will probably be more durable.

The only notebook which bests the EEE for performance is the Air, and that costs six times as much. Producers see that Asus has made an absolute killing with the EEE, but Everex's Walmart laptop is not a competitor.

On the subject of a touchscreen, I just want Asus to release an EEE with a bigger screen and higher res. That's all that needs changing. I also don't want XP as standard, it should remain an option, I'll install it if I need it but if it's mandatory it will just drive up costs.

[wombar]

Its easy peasy to add touchscreen to the 7" model, a friend of mine already has and im waiting for the pack to come into stock.

Any chance of a link to the kit?

[merple]

On the subject of a touchscreen, I just want Asus to release an EEE with a bigger screen and higher res. That's all that needs changing. I also don't want XP as standard, it should remain an option, I'll install it if I need it but if it's mandatory it will just drive up costs.

+1 Thats all I would like to see from asus too. The extra stuff is pretty cool but not really necessary (I wonder why there hasnt been any rumour on adding bluetooth?).
They say that it would only add $15 to manufacturing costs but will they pass this down to the buyer, if the premium for having wimax/touchscreen/XP takes it too far from the current price point then other options will start to look a lot more attractive.

Still looking forward to see what they have to offer, and hopefully not be disappointed by the prices.

Any chance of a link to the kit?

This one possibly?
LinITX.com - 7 Inch Touchscreen Kit

[Wyoming]

For anyone who wants to install a touchscreen on a first generation EEE just head over to eeeuser.com, the recent news links to a video demo and installation guide.

In the UK the kit costs about £50. I can't see myself using it though, it works for the DS, but this would obscure the screen - I prefer the keyboard and a USB mouse.

[virokka]

It would likely add too much to the retail value