Sunday, July 22, 2007

ASUS subnotebook PC run Xandros

As some of you might already have read on the web, Xandros will be providing the OS for the 200$ ASUS notebooks. Images of the Eee PC can be found here. ASUS also have a nice flash demo here. The users will have the choice of running in simple mode or full mode. The simple mode is meant for first time users. The main interface consist of a friendly application launcher. The full mode is basically running KDE and is aimed more toward power users. The user can switch between the two modes anytime using a simple option in the user interface. The simple mode is quite addictive because it let's you start your favorite application very quickly.

Hardware highlights:

CPU: Pentium M
RAM: 512MB DDR2 memory
Connectivity: 100Mbps Ethernet, 56K modem, WiFi 802.11b/g
Main Storage: 4GB Flash (more storage will probably be available)
Mutimedia: built-in stereo speaker, built-in web cam, built-in microphone

I've been involved in the development work for the simple mode and I can say that this laptop is quite nice. I really like it's small size and I could see myself carrying it everywhere I go. If they can keep the price around 200-250$ I'm sure a lot of people will buy it. It takes a little while to get used to the tiny keyboard and you won't be able to play Supreme Commander on it but it is more than adequate to read your e-mail, browse the web, watch streamed movies, etc.

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