Eee: Thicker, heavier, less productive
We love the Eee, oh yes we do. But here at CeBIT I just laid eyes on its new iteration (Asus are very keen to avoid the "next generation" tag) and, while some things about it impressed me, others most certainly did not.
Up goes the screen size, to 8.9". Up goes the resolution, to 1024x600. In comes Windows - though I assume a Linux version of the Eee 900 will also be available. Up goes the price, from £220-ish to whatever the UK version of €399 turns out to be in reality. Up goes the thickness, albeit only by a mm or two - probably to do with the speakers being moved from the screenside to the underside. Up goes the weight, from 900-ish grams to 990-ish grams. Up goes the RAM, from 512MB to 1GB, and the storage will also go up to somewhere between 8-12GB. And, because the same 3-cell battery will be used, down goes the battery life.
Why do we like the Eee? It's thin, it's light, it's cheap and cheerful. Make it heavier, thicker, more expensive and less long-lasting, and its appeal has got to diminish somewhat. Other manufacturers are salivating at Asus' success with the Eee, so they'd better watch their backs...
Oh well, negativities aside, the new Eee will be available in the summertime, and the size-cost ratio will still make it worth checking out.