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Similar to the recent announcement of the Eee PC 904, this has come with little excitement. However the Eee PC 900 is now available for pre-order online.

The Eee PC 900 features the 8.9-inch display, an Intel Celeron 900Mhz processor, 1GB of RAM and 16GB SSD. The 900 also includes the now standard Eee PC features which include a 1.3-megapixel webcam, built-in card reader and Wi-Fi.

The Eee PC 900 is available in black or white and offers the option to have either Linux or Windows XP installed. The Linux version is priced at $399 and the Windows XP version is $449.

Product [Excaliber PC] Via [jkkmobile]

Asus has officially unveiled their latest netbook in the Eee PC lineup, the Eee PC 904, however although it is expected to be available soon, they have not announced a specific date.

The 904, seems at least to me, just another small notebook to wear the Eee brand. The specs are pretty much what we have been seeing before and nothing really stands out all that much. The Eee PC 904 will feature an 8.9-inch display with a 1024 x 600 resolution, 900MHz Celeron M processor, 1GB of RAM, 80GB hard drive and running Windows XP.

There is one nicer feature on the 904, and that is the keyboard, which is the slightly larger layout that is taken from the Eee PC 1000.

The Eee PC 904 will retail for £269 (around $535 US) and will be available in mid-July.

Via [TechRadar]

Asus has announced the new B51 notebook which is being touted as a ruggedized machine that can withstand harsh treatments such as drops, shocks, spills and scratches. The B51 is built with a lightweight strong magnesium alloy chassis and buffered against shock with rubber bumpers along its edges. It also has a protective film to shield it from scratches.

Like all ruggedized notebooks in its class, the B51 was said to have passed military specifications namely the ‘MIL 810F Method 516.5 Procedure IV’ which simply means that it can withstand fall from a height of up to 75 cm (about 2.5-feet). Even the data stored in the hard drive will be protected from corruption by a sponge protection system which also protects its keyboard.

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Asus has yet to even get the Eee PC 901 or the 1000H into the US market, however the latest rumor has them working on getting an Eee PC 904 and 905 ready. The new 904 and 905 is expected to keep the same form factor as the Eee PC 1000, but include a smaller 8.9 inch display, which means it will have a slightly larger bezel around the display, similar to the Eee PC 701. The 904 and 905 is also expected to feature a slightly bigger keyboard, but there was not any mention on what is expected to happen (if anything) in terms of storage capacity or battery size.

As of now, there is not any expected time frame to see these new models begin shipping, however it is estimated that they will be priced in the same range as the Eee PC 900 or 901.

I hate to say it, but what started out as a great little, low-cost laptop it has turned into a confusing range of notebooks. With so many similar model numbers and little change between them spec wise it is becoming harder and harder to keep track of.

Via [I4U News]

Asus has already launched both the Eee PC 901 and 1000H in Taiwan, and have announced a July 1 launch for the UK, but up till now the US release date has remained a mystery.

However, according to an Asus pre-sales department rep, both the 901 and 1000H will become available in the US on July 8. While still not an official announcement it is at least a date to hope for. Of course, this would not be the first time that Asus has had to push a launch date back. Hopefully for their sake they will hit this one, because with the impending launch of the MSI Wind, which is expected to retail for $479, Asus is going to have some competition.

Via [Liliputing]

We may not be able to get a spare battery for the Eee PC directly from Asus, but that has never stopped third party manufacturers from offering up accessories. The latest is a battery charger from expansys and is very unique, it will allow you to charge your spare battery while you are using your Eee PC. It will reach a full charge within 4 hours and has dual LED lights that indicate the status of the current charge. The spare battery charger will be available beginning July 31 and retail for $40.95. Keep reading to check out another image of the charger…

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Asus has never really been a company to release a full set of details with a press release, they always tend to leave some important items such as release date and pricing out. They also almost always fail to give a nice gallery of press images, however as is the case with the Eee Box, its better late than never, and they have just let out a nice collection of images. While most of the images are what we would have been expecting to see, there is a little interesting tidbit here, notably the red Eee Box. The original announcement called for two colors, black and white, however it looks like Asus has a third color hidden up its sleeve. Keep reading to check out a few more images…

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The group over at Tweaktown recently got their hands on a shiny new Asus Eee PC 1000H and of course did the usually unboxing, however they were crazy enough to not stop there. Instead they disassembled the 1000H for all the rest of us to see. These tear downs are great to see, because I was always the little kid who was in trouble for taking something apart, now thanks to the internet, I can share in some of that cool feeling of seeing just what makes up the inside without having to shell out lots of money.

The above picture is of course the before, so keep reading for a few more pics, and then hit the read link below to check out the full gutting.

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It looks like the Sugar user interface, which known as the current operating system that powers the OLPC XO Laptop could soon be heading over to the Classmate PC from Intel.

During a recent interview with PC World, Walter Bender has confirmed that “a community volunteer is working with Intel on Sugar for the Classmate PC. Sugar Labs helped to expedite the relationship.”

Mr. Bender also went on to state that while he considers the XO Laptop their “primary” project, they are currently in talks with four other “low-cost laptop makers” one of which is Asus. Could that mean we may be seeing a Sugar powered Eee PC coming in the future? While it seems Sugar Labs is expanding their market they have also confirmed that they are still working on future versions of the UI with the XO in mind.

With Sugar having such a simple kid friendly interface, this could be a good addition for many of these low-cost netbooks that are currently swamping the market. Of course, I am not entirely convinced that kids really need a simple interface to be able to use a computer. I have a (just turned) six-year old daughter who uses a Mac and Eee PC, and thinks the Eee PC desktop is “strange.”

Read [CNET]

Asus has officially let the Eee Box out of the bag, an official press release has been posted on their website, and it gives most of the details. I say most, because in typical Asus fashion, the neglected to mention any release date or price. They were instead nice enough to give us a complete run down on the specs.

The specs were pretty close to the rumored set, so we can only hope the rumored pricing will be just as close, if so we can expect the Eee Box to retail for somewhere around $299. The Eee Box, according to the press release will be running Windows XP Home and powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor. The mini PC will also include 1GB of RAM, an 80GB hard drive, 802.11n Wi-Fi, a 10/100/1000 Ethernet port and built-in card reader.

While overall a standard low-cost, low-powered computer it does have a few positive points such as the exclusive Express Gate which promises the ability to “access the Internet, manage pictures, or communicate over IM/Skype just 7 seconds after boot up.” In addition the Eee Box has a “unique heat dissipation module” which allows for a quiet computer that puts out just 26db of noise.

As we mentioned, the press release left off any mention of an actual availability date, however we expect it to be hitting the market sooner than later.

Read [Asus]