Asus officially announces launch of Asus Eee PC 900

We heard about the second generation Asus Eee PC at CES back in January and today Asus made the official announcement for the Eee PC 900. This next gen device improves in a couple of areas with a larger 8.9 inch display at 1024x600 resolution, 1.3 megapixel webcam, and more storage capacity.

You will be able to purchase the Eee PC 900 with Windows XP (12 GB total flash) or Linux (20 GB total flash). The flash storage actually comes as 4 GB integrated with 8 and 16 GB flash modules so there is the possibility that you could upgrade this with higher capacity modules later. We saw that Asus was pretty open to some basic tinkering by the end users in the previous model so this is likely.

The Eee PC 900 runs with an Intel Mobile CPU (speed not given in the press release), has DDR II 1GB RAM module (again should be easy to upgrade), integrated WiFi, SDHC storage card slot, 3 USB ports, and a unique FingerGlide trackpad. The FingerGlide supports multi-touch functionality similar to the MacBook Air and I really like the fact that you can scroll right/left and up/down using a two finger slide just like I do on my MacBook Pro. This navigation functionality is one of the main reasons I love my MacBook Pro and is a major bonus on this new Eee PC for me. All of this still weighs in at just under 1 kg (2.2 lbs). Both of these models should be available in May for a retail price of around US$650 each. A 12 May launch at US$549 has been confirmed.

The first review of this new model has been posted at TrustedReviews and it is quite glowing. I just ordered the 3.2 lb HP Mini-Note PC, but am fairly certain I will be canceling the order since it won't ship until May and I need to be a bit more patient and see how this ultra portable PC market shakes out. Besides, from the sound of the review I could save a $100 and get a very nice device.