Asus unveils Multi-Touch Eee PC 900

Second-generation Eee PC introduced to combat rivals, offers larger, higher resolution display, increased memory, and multi-touch control pad.

Asus has revealed some details of its follow-up to its wildly successful Eee PC laptop that has proved a hit with both consumers and corporate users.

As suspected, the Eee PC 900 will sport a larger 8.9in display, (compared to the 7in original), while the resolution increases from 800 x 480, to 1,024 x 600. The standard memory complement is now 1GB, up from 512MB. The laptop’s weight however is only 0.99Kg.

Two flavours of the Eee PC 900 will be available, each costing £329. One will offer Linux and feature a 20GB solid state hard disk, while the other will run Windows XP, but come equipped with only with a 12GB solid state disk. The reduced storage space for the latter seems a surprising choice considering the larger footprint for Windows XP.

Remarkably, Asus has also revealed that the Eee PC 900 will offer a multi-touch touchpad, used for two finger zooming, aka Apple’s Macbook Air, though this will be limited to certain applications.

Other confirmed specs are a built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam, three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA out and an SD/MMC card reader. Battery life has been quoted as 2.5 hours from the 4-cell battery and 3.5 hours from the 6-cell.

Some watchers have suggested that the Eee PC 900 would be powered by Intel’s new Atom processor, as opposed to the Celeron used in the original. However, Asus did not reveal exact details of the CPU, listing it only as an ‘Intel Mobile’ processor.

In a refresh to the older model, Asus will be adding the Eee PC 4G Win editon, which will have Windows XP preinstalled. This will be available for £249 and along with the two new Eee PC 900s is scheduled to hit the UK on 1 May.

Having established the market for budget laptops, Asus is facing competition from the likes of HP and Elonex among others, as others look to muscle in on this nascent market.