ASUS' ultrathin, $199 Eee PC X101 netbook narrowed to July
updated 04:30 pm EDT, Mon June 27, 2011
ASUS Eee PC X101 to hit in July with prices shown
ASUS' MacBook Air-inspired Eee PC X101 is now slated to get a quick launch but also possibly a processor switch, tips hinted at on Monday. The ultrathin netbook is now poised to arrive in July, just a month over it was shown. To get to the $199 price for the MeeGo version, though, Digitimes heard it was using a single-core 1.33GHz Atom N435 and not the previously mentioned dual-core 1.5GHz Atom N670.
The faster processor is likely for the Windows 7 version. Industry contacts say the version running Microsoft's OS will cost $310 to $350 and isn't justified solely by the costs. Windows 7 Starter typically costs $30 for a license.
Other companies are now expected to jump on the relatively untested N435 chip, such as Acer, Lenovo, and Samsung. None of these have been identified so far but could include thinner sequels to the Aspire One, Lenovo IdeaPad S series and Samsung's N series netbooks.
