Fully Loaded Eee PC: Netbook or Notebook?

Last week we found out about an upcoming Eee PC model that will contain an optical drive. Strange, we thought, considering the original philosophy behind the netbook, a segment Asus helped to pioneer.

Asus will next month launch the Eee PC 1004DN, which will have an optical disc drive. The 1004DN reported to sport an Intel Atom N280 CPU paired with GN40 chipset, which should provide some light-HD decode, and a 120 GB hard drive.

Today Asus has released the official specifications, which weigh the 1004DN at 3.2 lbs (1.45 kg) with the 6-cell battery and optical disc drive. The battery is also advertised to give 5.9 hours of computing time, but we do expect that number to fall under active computing. 

The 1004DN will also have an Express Card expansion slot with USB 2.0 and PCI Express compatibility. Like the other high-end Eee PCs, it’ll have Bluetooth 2.1 and b/g/n Wi-Fi -- rounding out what is a very complete feature list for a notebook.

The 1004DN will even try to look prettier than your average Eee with “brushed aluminum gracing the palm rest and an electroplated frame bordering the keyboard assembly.”

Pricing hasn’t been announced, but early reports have it between $531 and $590 -- sitting straight inside the territory of budget notebooks.

This brings us right back to the question of where the line is between netbook and notebook. We can just look at the Atom CPU and the screen size and say that qualifies it as a netbook, but if you put those two things aside, the specs read very much like a full sized notebook. In fact, with all the bells and whistles, the light and casual computer user could likely get by fine with this has his or her primary computer.

We asked you last week what you thought of the blurring line between portable form factors, and this is what some of you had to say:

“No matter how many bells and whistles they put in, no device running the Atom CPU can be worth more than maybe $399 max. The CPU itself is just too slow to be a viable alternative in more expensive note/net/notbooks.” -JimmiG

Of course, what sets this apart from the other ‘expensive’ netbooks is its DVD drive, which gathered good insight.

“I bought an external dvd/burner along with my 1000H Eee, and I would recommend that to anyone considering a netbook over getting one with the actual optical drive. I can install anything easily if need be.” -presto311

“The only time you need a optical on a netbook is if you need to reinstall the OS. I use Dameon tools to mount images to install disks on my Asus eeepc 900HA. I agree a netbook is worthless after you break the $399 price. $500+ is absurd, looks like Acer will the top Netbook producer with their low prices.” -daship

“A netbook needs an optical drive to watch DVD movies without having to decrypt/rip/process/copy. Sure, there is SW available to rip DVDs - but one ventures into controversial territory when doing so: Is it legal "fair use", or illegal breaching of the DVD copyright warning screen and DMCA? (The answer probably depends on how much $ you have to hire teams of lawyers to fight MPAA, if it comes down to that.) And since one of the few valid uses of the small/light-for-travel netbook is to watch movies in-flight, this is a relevant issue.” -tinkerer_64

“I think theses things might just sell. People still seemed married to the DVD - as my wife put it, "how am I supposed to watch movies?" Sure I could rip it for her but the whole process is a pain from her point of view.” -jawshoeaw

Have your own point of view? Sound off in the comments below!