racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

Had a blast this afternoon discussing the dynamics of the EeePC and the Philippine market during the launch at Makati Shangri-La.

Came with the wife and kids. Food was great, but in my opinion, too much! I guess that’s the Chinese (Taiwanese?) way.

Will post my thoughts and tidbits of my conversation with the product managers soon. Photos, too!

Too bad no one came home with review units. The shipments were still stuck in customs!

According to Asus Philippines, they are set to launch the upcoming EeePC 1000 this July 29th. I earlier ranted that Asus is launching the 1000 here, but not the 901. I’m betting Asus here still wants to clear its stock of EeePC 900 units (as the 901’s price difference is just about $50, or even reportedly zero in some parts of the world).

The Asus 901 and 1000 (photo credit: Engadget)

At any rate, the 1000 is a completely different line in terms of form factor, since it sports a 10-inch screen, and is therefore a bit larger and heavier than the 90x and 70x EeePCs. The 1000’s direct competitor is the MSI Wind. Most probably, pricing will be approximately same as with the MSI Wind’s PhP 26,000. Note that the EeePC 1000 retails for US$550 elsewhere (price recently dropped from $650), which is about PhP 24,750.

It’s the year of the netbooks, people! There’s more to come, with Dell’s “E” series to be launched this August, and the HDD models of the Acer Aspire one, also to be introduced come August. Who’s next? Apple?

I’m putting up my Asus Eee 701 on the marketplace. I’ve upgraded it to 1GB RAM (Apacer brand), and I’ve installed Windows XP, so prospective buyers can check out performance. This used to run eeeXubuntu Linux, but I’m thinking most people would rather use Windows anyway. I’ll throw in a 4GB SDHC (PQI brand) to boot.

You can always revert to the stock Xandros Linux using the DVD recovery disc. I have a USB optical drive I can lend, in case you intend to do this. But the installed Windows XP is actually an OEM version from Asus itself, so the drivers, tools and other apps would come as bundled with the EeePC 900. This means everything should work 100% OK.

Full specs here. This is the one with the webcam and the 5200 mAH battery. The battery should still give you 3 to 3.5 hours uptime in normal usage (i.e., web browsing, etc.).

Asking price is PhP 12,000.

Reason for selling: I’m considering an upgrade.

I earlier mentioned I was planning to acquire an HP 2133, but was instead holding off due to numerous other hot ultraportables that other computer manufacturers are releasing. Turns out ultraportables are hot these days. Even the NY Times thinks so (and i think Asus paved the way for it with the Eee). Well, I’m definitely holding off for now. After searching high and low for a HP 2133 on sale, I have finally found myself a good deal waiting for.

So it’s still my ol’ reliable Asus Eee 701 for now.

I’m almost sold on the HP 2133, and I’ve actually been scouring stores for stocks these past few days. Never mind that I’ve been offered a hefty discount by a distributor contact—I have to wait for stocks to come. But now with other worthy alternatives, I don’t think I should rush into going for the Mini Note yet.

Enter the Acer Aspire One and the Asus Eee PC 901. Both don’t look as sexy as the HP Mini Note, but both run on Intel’s new Atom platform. That means better ultraportable mobility, in terms of low power consumption (and hence heat), and longer battery life.

That’s one gripe I usually hear about the HP Mini Note—that it runs on a VIA platform, rather than Intel. And it’s not even VIA Isaiah yet, which is supposedly at par with Intel Atom when it comes to ultraportable computing.

The Acer Aspire One looks attractive and is supposedly priced more reasonably than other ultraportables.

– Intel Atom @ 1.6Ghz – 8.9” LED-backlit 1024×600 screen, – 512MB of RAM – Linupus Lite OS – 8GB of SSD. – SD card reader (5-types) – Four colours: sapphire blue, seashell white, golden brown and coral pink – 248mmx170mmx29mm – 3hrs (3-cell) and 6hrs (6-cell) battery options. – Options: 1GB RAM, 80GB HDD. Windows XP

The Asus Eee PC 901, meanwhile, will be much like the 900, but with an Intel Atom processor, which should boost the battery life upwards of 7 hours.

Screen size: 8.9”
OS: Genuine Windows XP® Home / GNU Linux
Storage: SSD 12GB (Genuine Windows XP® Home) / SSD 20GB (Linux)
Processor: Intel Atom
Networking/connectivity: 802.11 n / Bluetooth
RAM: 1GB (DDR2)
WebCam: 1.3M Pixel
Audio: Dolby Sound Room Certified / Stereo speaker / Digital Array Mic
Battery: 6 Cells, 4.2 ~ 7.8 hrs*
Weight: 1.1 kg

Both are tempting options.