A few sites have started previewing the upcoming 8.9″ Asus Eee PC T91, Asus’ first touchscreen and Tablet PC convertible netbook/ultraportable.
Last week, Mobile Computer was able to make a hands-on video of a pre-production model of the Eee PC T91. They show off the build-quality. The model they had came with a built-in Digital TV tuner and GPS, although that will probably be optional at the retail level. They do show the rotation of the display and converting it back and forth between a Tablet PC and a laptop. It works with both finger and stylus. There is a button that appears to allow for converting between landscape and portrait modes. They discuss the built-in battery (that is not replaceable by the end user). Their model came with a 16GB SSD. The RAM is accessible by the end-user (so that you can probably go up to 2GB versus the default 1GB).
They even compared it size-wise with the 10″ Eee PC 1000HE and mention that the T91 will come with the chiclet-style (or scrabble-style) keyboard that comes with the 1000HE as opposed to the keyboard shown on the pre-production model.
NetbookNews.de’s Sascha was also able to put together a high-quality video, and it showcased the T91’s touch interface. He called it a “netvertible”, a play on netbook and convertible. Asus has developed a custom touch interface running on top of Windows XP Home. There is a scrolling sort of wheel with icons/shortcuts. There is a sort of a bar in the middle that you can use as a bookmark bar for applications you frequently use – it’s called a “quick launch”. The “FotoFun” software was interesting – it makes use of the touch interface.
Mobile Computer mentions that a 3G version will be sold through mobile carriers, but that none have been named. Sascha at NetbookNews.de mentions a price of $500 – not sure if that’s US dollars, and that it will be out in the second quarter of 2009.
Next week’s CeBIT 2009 should see the release of a lot more informationon the T91 (as well as the 10-inch version, the T101).
Read:
– Mobile Computer
– NetbookNews.de
via Blogeee.net