This is what's inside the computer-inside-a-keyboard.
After 16 months of first laying eyes on it, the Asus Eee Keyboard is finally an officially launched product.
Asus over the weekend launched the Eee Keyboard on its website, giving it official specifications. Now we know exactly what you're getting for your $599:
Specifications
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Model Name
EK1542
Operating System
Windows® XP Home
Display
5", 800x480 Multi-touch Panel
CPU
Intel® Atom™ N270
Chipset
945GSE / ICH7-M
Default Memory
DDR2 1GB on-board memory
Hybrid Storage
16GB/32GB SSD
Wireless Video Transfer
Ultra-wideband Technology
Wireless Data Network
802.11b/g/n @2.4GHz
LAN
10/100/1000 Mbps
Bluetooth
V2.1
Battery Life
Internal battery (up to 4 hr)**
Multi-media
Video decoder
Broadcom 70010/70012 Solution
Speaker
Speaker x2
Built-in Mic
Single Mic
Interface (Rear IO Port)
˙ USB 2.0 x3˙ HDMI out x 1˙ VGA x 1˙ Antenna (WAN + Ultra-wideband) x 1˙ Giga Lan RJ-45 x 1˙ Headphone-out jack x 1˙ MIC x 1
Receiver Interface
˙ HDMI out x 1
Power Supply
12Vdc, 3A, 36W EeeKeyboard PC Power Adaptor5Vdc, 2.4A, 12W Ultra-wideband Power Adaptor
Physical
Dimension(mm)
145mm(L) x 425mm(H) x (10mm front ~ 24.4mm back)(H)
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
thejerkI'd like dual-core for that price, please.Yah, but I guess you pay for the extreme portability and unusual form factor. Otherwise, it's just a netbook with a smaller screen and bigger keyboard...
I think this design was poorly thought out. I could see a potential use for the basic concept if you could pair it with a tablet to be able to get more productivity power and a keyboard for when you need it. Aside from that I don't really see much of a use for something like this and it would need different specs to really be useful for productive purposes.
Wow, you guys just don't get what this product's function actually is, eh? This isn't supposed to be like a laptop or netbook. It's supposed to be more like a set-top box that sits on your living room table and let's you watch videos, browse the web, etc, on your HDTV (hence the Ultra Wide Band transmission capability). The little screen is actually an input device, not a monitor.
That said... why is it XP and not MCE? Also, the price/power. Also, it does seem pretty useless, not even taking the price into consideration.
When I first heard about the EEE, I didn't hear much, but it piqued my interest. The general idea of the form factor and limited functionality seemed like a decent idea to compete with the (nonexistent?) tablet market. But any novelty has now worn off because for $600 I could get a pretty nice laptop. One that has 4 times as much RAM, 10 to 20 times HDD space, a screen I can actually see (do they really expect people to stop typing and hold that entire contraption up to their face just to see what they just typed?), a non-Atom processor (I'm not sure an Atom could power anything other than a cell phone with any proficiency), and with an OS much better than XP.
Sorry Asus, as a G71 laptop and P6X58D Premium desktop owner, I really do love your products, but this one is just pathetic.