ASUS To Sell $200 Netbooks In 2009

According to this post at DigiTimes today, Asustek’s head honcho announced plans to launch a $200 EeePC in 2009.

Shen detailed that the company has adjusted its mid-range and entry-level Eee PC's pricing and market position, and expects to launch an Eee PC priced at US$200 in 2009. Currently, netbooks with a hard drive are the mainstream specification accounting for 70% of total shipments, while SSDs account for the other 30%. The ratio of Eee PCs preloaded Windows XP and Linux stands at 7:3

Makes me wonder how bad they will hack it down to meet this budget. It's also ironic that it's now lower than the OLPC price and is privatley produced.

$200 netbook? Isn't that what they said last time?

that's pretty big, lowering prices so much will cause some rough competition.

Originally Posted by SockMan!

$200 netbook? Isn't that what they said last time?

thats exactly my thoughts. we we already told this like a year and a half ago......

doubt it.

Originally Posted by krupted

thats exactly my thoughts. we we already told this like a year and a half ago......

That was the cost to produce the 700 series. After their markup and retailers markups it hit 299. This they are aiming for a $200 Retail price.

I hope this is more than just talk. Wasn't there supposed to be a sub-100 dollar laptop years ago?

those EEEPC's are perfect for porn

in other news, Duke Nukem Forever is coming out... someday.

Glad I waited?

They better bump the specs for the more expensive versions.

Holy crap. No matter how cheaply constructed or speed limited it is, that's pretty awesome. So long as you can get a web browser and email running on that thing, man, its just a great thing for people with very low incomes.

Screw the slower cheaper netbook. I want one that has the following specs;
Case no larger then 10.5"x8"x1.5", non gloss/fingerprint surface like the new HP laptops
6-cell battery that produces 5+ hours run time actual usage
sub 3lb for computer, sub 1.5 for charger
Screen 8.5" 1024x768, flat, non gloss screen
Dual core Atom 1.6ghz or faster
2+gb ram ddr2 800
graphics card on par with a 8800GT 512mb or better
160gb hd sata2 5400rpm
802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.0+
3G w/sim card port
3+ USB 2.0 ports
10-1 multi card reader
E-sata port
vga port
mic port, 2x headphone ports
built in mic up top center of screen
built in web cam 2.0mp
NO ports on front, all must be sides or back
93% keyboard without retarded key placement, stick to standard qwerty
multi touch track pad with buttons on bottom, 2"x3" or equiv.

I would be willing to pay $6-800 for such a netbook, I will be doing a ton of traveling next summer/fall and I need something that will last on flights and not weigh a ton. I like to play games like warhammer online and I use autocad and solidworks for my job, these programs are required to usable.

i think itll take a power storage revolution to get 5+ hours battery life running a 8800gt on a little 10" notebook. furthermore two atom 1.6 processors wouldnt even come close to pushing that video... my opty165 overclocked to 2.7ghz is pretty heavily underpowered for my g92 8800gts.

Originally Posted by dagas

I hope this is more than just talk. Wasn't there supposed to be a sub-100 dollar laptop years ago?

There're at least 2 companies planning to release products around that pricepoint in the US fairly soon, they were linked to here following a asian electronics show a few months back. One of the companies involved is currently selling a $120 model in china. the catch being that they're build around ~500mhz mips/arm processors adn are esentially PDAs writ large in terms of the rest of thier specs. Both had 7ish inch screens, one 800x480 but with a seriously WTFy keyboard (made the dell mini loook good), the second a normal keyboard layout but a really small wierd resolution on the screen (570x350????????)

They already have this one for $348, so $200 isn't that far away:

"Walmart is selling the Acer AS5415-2153, which includes some respectable specs, considering the $348 price tag. It includes a 15.4-inch widescreen display, 1.73GHz Intel Celeron M 530 processor, 80GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive and 802.11 b/g WiFi. The Acer AS5415-2153 ships with Windows Vista Home Basic"

I saw one tonight - except it had a 120GB HDD.

I hate the lack of edit...........

Anyway, the price point will fairly easy to reach I think. Even the components.....it the time frame that is the real question.
btw: I realize the walmart acer isnt exact apple to apple, but it shows the costs are getting lower for the consumer.