New EEEPC units are here!

I went to SM Mega Mall last night and two laptop computers caught my attention. At first I wondered why this Asus EEEPC had a different webcam design on top of it's screen. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that it was the new EEE 900 series. I really didn't think that it would arrive here in Manila so soon... actually, I didn't think that it would arrive at all. This series has a 9-inch (8.9 to be exact) LCD, maximizing all the available space of the laptop. Unlike its 700 series counterparts, it doesn't have any speakers next to the display so I'm still wondering where the audio output hardware is. From what I know so far, it has 1GB RAM and the storage capacity can go from 12GB to 20GB. Awesome!

Decisions decisions...

I've been looking around for some new gadgets in Green Hills when this new computer caught my attention. It's Blue's answer to the Asus EEEPC - the DEEP BLUE H1 UMPC, another model of Mobile PC.

The laptop has a greater memory capacity, a faster processor speed and it has the features the EEEPC has. Here are the specs of each computer:

Deep Blue H1
Processor speed: 1.0Ghz
Hard disk: 40GB SSD
Memory: 1GB DDR2
Built in speaker, mic and web cam
Screen size 7" LCD
Weight: 1.2 Kgs
Selling price range: PHP16K-18.5K

Asus EEEPC
Processor speed: 900Mhz
Hard disk: 4GB Flash memory
Memory: 512Mb DDR2
Built in speaker, mic and web cam
Screen size 7" LCD
Weight: 0.92 Kgs
Selling price range: PHP16K-18.5K

At first glance it looks more powerful and a better deal than the EEEPC... or is it?

The H1 definitely wins by it's greater memory size but it's the processor which makes it questionable. The H1 runs on a VIA C7-M while the EEEPC runs on an Intel Celeron 900. The VIA brand is new to me so I've been reading though some forums to get some feedback from the users. Unfortunately some reviews contradict each other. Some say that the VIA is more energy efficient while others say that it consumes so much power that it can cause the system to overheat. Some even say that the VIA must clock in at an insane speed of 2.0Ghz just to match the speed of a 900Mhz Intel Processor (Whut?). Intel is seen in the industry as the "Rolls Royce" of processors so the memory of the EEEPC is sacrificed. This makes the VIA processor look like a weaker contender and less valuable. So which Mobile PC is more practical? I can't really say for now. If any of my readers have any opinion on this please shed some light on this topic. Feed backs are greatly appreciated. Thanks

Asus EEPC... WANT!

The progress of technology sure is fast. IT companies have been flooding the Philippine market with lots of low-cost computers. The image of laptops and PDA's as luxury items is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Just recently, I saw this awesome laptop in an Octagon Computer store. It's the Asus EEPC, a low-cost and portable computer. I want to call it a portable computer because it's smaller than your average laptop. Don't believe me? Here are some pictures.