ASUS Eee Box available Stateside, yours for $350
There are cheaper computers out there, and even smaller computers out there, but the ASUS Eee Box seems to strike a similar chord to that of its laptop counterpart -- solid minimalism, just a dash of design sense, and a lovable price point. J&R has started selling a $350 version the computer in the States, complete with Windows XP, a 1.6GHz Atom processor, WiFi, memory card reader, 1GB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive. We're especially into the prospect of quick-boot Express Gate Linux tomfoolery, with a seven second boot time all that's keeping us from web browsing, Skype and IM -- oh, and buying one. Black and white versions are available now.
[Thanks, Mike]
[Thanks, Mike]




















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
CAHLITO @ Aug 8th 2008 11:55AM
Ordered!
Pochi @ Aug 8th 2008 12:51PM
Bullshit!
Jhongerkong @ Aug 8th 2008 11:59AM
More like Weee box, amirite?
chickenator @ Aug 8th 2008 12:11PM
if throw along the WeeeMote, yes it is.
Randavance @ Aug 8th 2008 12:33PM
That joke was so corny it needs it's own scarecrow to keep away the birds.
thatrotierkid @ Aug 8th 2008 12:51PM
ditto
sinai @ Aug 8th 2008 12:00PM
so they're basically selling me an EEE PC without a screen for the same price one with a screen should have been?
Also:
"Ordered!" is the new first?
greg @ Aug 8th 2008 12:19PM
actually I'm pretty sure the eee with the atom processor is like $400 or $450. That seems about right since a 7" lcd costs about $50
sinai @ Aug 8th 2008 12:59PM
"for somewhere between $299 and $399, the Eee PC isn't exactly a workhorse"
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4044
Oh, by the way, the Atom costs all of $44 at retail - FIVE MONTHS AGO.
http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20080319PD217.html
BretC @ Aug 8th 2008 12:07PM
Add, the full 2GB RAM / 160GB HDD / All Linux version come out when ?
cuban, the paris hilton of tech @ Aug 8th 2008 12:22PM
awful.
that stand has to win an award for hideous crap of the year.
Jamus @ Aug 8th 2008 12:42PM
I am wondering about the Linux version too. I am guessing it will be either less expensive or have more resources (HD, SSD?).
Macdelaney @ Aug 8th 2008 1:40PM
@Jamus: It'll have a 160gb HDD and 2gb ram apparently, although i would prefer a smaller SSD
sinai @ Aug 8th 2008 4:27PM
knowing Asus, it'll be announced in a week, to come six months later for $200 more.
JohnnyBoy @ Aug 8th 2008 12:27PM
Yeah, that stand would make the people at Radio Shack cringe...
Down @ Aug 8th 2008 1:16PM
The other stand they considered was this one:
http://www.hardware.info/images/news/asus_eee_box_b202_edt_01.jpg
Good thing Asus went ahead with the better stand. Besides, it's a decent fucking stand.
Pochi @ Aug 8th 2008 3:42PM
@Down
Yeah, I agree. It's just a little metal hoop. What's up everyone's ass?
JohnnyBoy @ Aug 8th 2008 3:42PM
Hey, I'm sure that the stand does a good job of keeping the machine upright... but style-wise, I just couldn't imagine the next XBox or Playstation coming out of the factory with a wire loop stuck on the bottom.
Randavance @ Aug 8th 2008 12:30PM
It's as powerful as the computer I'm running on now, with the exception that I have a 3 year old $50 graphics card in this machine. But that's really all the power you'll ever need for an Ubuntu installation to run smooth.
konshuss @ Aug 8th 2008 12:34PM
"We're especially into the prospect of quick-boot Express Gate Linux tomfoolery, with a seven second boot time all that's keeping us from web browsing, Skype and IM -- oh, and buying one. Black and white versions are available now."
i've read this over and over, and i've decided it doesn't make sense. all that's keeping you from buying one... is.... ?
wlp @ Aug 8th 2008 12:39PM
> 7 second start-up time.
Argh after reading it a couple more times now i'm confused.
jabber @ Aug 8th 2008 2:29PM
All that's keeping us from web browsing, Skype and IM is the 7 second startup time... *and* buying one.
These two things (startup time and actually going out and buying one) are keeping them from the aforementioned three things.
I think?
metal @ Aug 8th 2008 1:33PM
I think whats being said here is sthat the box current ships with XP, and that the writer will pick one up once linux is preinstalled because linux boots faster.
Which in theory you could just buy it, wipe it and install linux yourself, but I think somewhere in that 350 you're paying for xp anyways.
StrangeBum @ Aug 8th 2008 1:58PM
I think what it means is..
all that's keeping them from web browsing, Skype and IM is a seven second boot time as well as the fact that one would need to be purchased first.
It was worded very strangely though...
Demo @ Aug 8th 2008 12:37PM
Atom processor? Why would I want an Atom in a desktop?
giantenemycrab @ Aug 8th 2008 12:39PM
Because they're cheap, efficient, and fast.
Demo @ Aug 8th 2008 12:42PM
But Atom processor's main purpose is power efficiency, that's why it's good for laptops (improved battery life).
Atom is actually very slow compared to any modern CPU.
dennis @ Aug 8th 2008 1:20PM
There are reasons to want a power efficient desktop that can do 99% of regular, personal computing tasks, most of which actually can be done on Linux. That way you can use your 450W gaming system just for gaming and not for surfing the net or torrenting files, for example. I personally am thinking about getting one as an always-on machine to run SqueezeCenter. My NAS device can run the music server software at an earlier version, without all the features, and still very slowly. With a power efficient desktop running the software, I can keep my music files on the 4-drive NAS (also rather power efficient) while using the most up-to-date version of SqueezeCenter with all the features turned on. That's probably worth the price of a dedicated computer, as long as it doesn't run up the electrical bill too much.
Josh @ Aug 8th 2008 12:39PM
Just wanted to say there's a review of it up at ZdNet below:
http://www.zdnet.com.au/reviews/hardware/desktops/soa/ASUS-Eee-Box/0,139023402,339291089,00.htm
greatsunjester @ Aug 8th 2008 12:42PM
Now they just need to market one with Linux, a DVR card, a bit more RAM and HD space... call it the mEEEdia Box.
mirakutea @ Aug 8th 2008 12:55PM
I think $250 is more like it for this.. maybe without windows licensee, that's what it would be?
CosterMonger @ Aug 8th 2008 1:34PM
I think the XP licenses cost netbook manufacturers around $30
$250 would look a lot better then $350, I'd like $199 myself, and for $99 I would run to the store.
rocky88 @ Aug 8th 2008 1:01PM
i wish they packed in more ram...
Onetrack @ Aug 8th 2008 1:01PM
This little box is very cool. - want.
first off its bloody tiny, about the size of a paperback and only 1" thick, 2nd for that 350 you're getting draft N, GigE, DVI, a sata 80 gig hd, an xp license (throwaway) and a 945 express chipset (gma 950, intel ich7 - tried and true) - plus ALC888 audio - it'll definatly run OSX nicely. (and windows, and linux and vista - etc. your choice)
Now.. I found a video for the EEE Box - it is definately wierd.
http://www.blogeee.net/2008/07/29/asus-eeebox-la-pub-dasustek/#more-806
Cal @ Aug 8th 2008 1:10PM
How long until there are 50 different Eee Box models?
CosterMonger @ Aug 8th 2008 1:42PM
I'm sure it's exponential growth, so maybe a couple months?
Down @ Aug 8th 2008 1:12PM
I like how it looks in pictures, but in real life theres gonna be cables all over that thing.
Steven @ Aug 8th 2008 1:15PM
Shipping to Canada is $113.50.
Onetrack @ Aug 8th 2008 1:24PM
Uhm
its for sale in canada - www.ncix.com has it
CosterMonger @ Aug 8th 2008 1:37PM
I could get one for over a week here in Canada, if I wanted too
polvadis @ Aug 8th 2008 1:55PM
This looks interesting from a TV cabinet PC point of view. How does this handle 1080p and a possible Blue-Ray upgrade?
Matt @ Aug 9th 2008 5:42PM
It doesn't.
SOOPERGOOMAN @ Aug 8th 2008 3:25PM
The Ulitmate answer is ASUS. -Deep Thought...
monster @ Aug 8th 2008 4:04PM
My vote's still for paying the extra $250 for the Mac Mini - you get OS X, DVD, Bluetooth, and C2D. Only problem is that the $599 Mini is starting to outlive its price point, and the fact that Apple won't stick a damn card reader in there is beyond me.
Jimmy Jones @ Aug 8th 2008 6:30PM
Most likely the reason behind the "all-of-a-sudden" order acceptance and shipment news is because Asus is scared Dell might take over with their upcoming colorful Studio Hybrid box...
Asus marketing department must be trying really hard to gain the market share by all means both in the "netbook" and "wii-like" mini-desktops market... goodluck!
I can't wait to see Dell dropping the prices on their Studio units so the competition war can begin...
Jimmy Jones @ Aug 8th 2008 6:31PM
Most likely the reason behind the "all-of-a-sudden" order acceptance and shipment news is because Asus is scared Dell might take over with their upcoming colorful Studio Hybrid box...
Asus marketing department must be trying really hard to gain the market share by all means both in the "netbook" and "wii-like" mini-desktops market... goodluck!
I can't wait to see Dell dropping the prices on their Studio units so the competition war can begin...
Dee @ Aug 8th 2008 7:28PM
If it did 1080p (or when it can). I might get one. Till then...meh!
john @ Aug 8th 2008 9:27PM
Thinking about this one a lot, once the linux version is out.
Is it going to run Ubuntu, or some other distro?
Jon Doe. @ Aug 10th 2008 11:09PM
Fuck the Mac Mini.