Asus EEE Box + 2R! - Blog - Etchy - My profile

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Born in DC, Lived in SF for 12 years, then Japan for 2 more. Been in HK since Summer 06. Take a look around, feel free to leave a comment!

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Asus EEE Box + 2R!
( 繁 | 简 )
Sunday, Jul 20, 2008 12:00PM / Standard Entry / Hong Kong / Members only
10 comments
On Monday afternoon I snuck out of the office for a semi-work related trip to Mongkok -   2R (Race and Rosanne) were appearing at a promotional event for a new Asus computer, the newest addition to their EEE PC line, called the EEE box... 月曜日午後モンコクへ行った。２ＲのＰＲイベントを参加した、ＡＳＵＳパソコンのデビューイベントだった。レースちゃんとロサヌちゃん特別セレブリティーゲーストだった。新品はＡｓｕｓのＥＥＥＢｏｘと言った。

It looks something like this:

(some more pics from gizmodo are here)

So what is an EEE box? well like Asus' other EEE PC line (which are all ultraportable notebooks), its an suprisingly low cost, compact and lightweight computer...     Its hard to believe but this thing is a complete desktop PC and it only about the size of a large hardback book and costs only HKD$2400 (thats about USD$300!)

Here are some stats:
size: 224 x 179 x 27.4mm
Intel Atom N270 CPU @ 1.6 GHz ，
Intel GMA 950 Motherboard
802.11b/g/n
multi-card reader
$2400 version is 1GB DDR2 / 80GB SATA 5,400rpm HD
Windows or Linux available, and also you can get the Solid State drive too.

Of course there are compromises with something this compact and inexpensive, its not going to win any processor speed tests, but at US$300, you can't complain too much right?

Etchy's Bottom Line: They took their EEE laptop, took the screen, keyboard and monitor off and put it in a fancy box. At US$300, it makes a good 2nd computer for sure.

(actually i'm really tempted to get one so I don't have to keep carrying my laptop back and forth from the office...)

Due to its small size and light weight, they even advertise that you can mount it directly to the back of your LCD monitor and basically it becomes similar to an all-in-one desktop a la the iMac (but perhaps better, because it isn't actually all-in-one)

But you may notice they've gone a bit further than just a computer, its got a wireless remote too? wait a sec... white box, white remote controller?   sits at an angle? hmm. looks kind of like a Wii...

yeah, apparently they decided to try and market it as a Wii-like game system too!

They showed this somewhat cheesy commercial during the presentation to high light the game features and PC features:
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SggPzmQMr0E

Hmm... not Wee, its EEE..... yeah kinda cheesy... almost reminds me of the ever hilarious 'Vii' from China...   I think if I were in charge of Asus, I would stick to the PC stuff and not risk looking like a 2nd rate wannabe Wii knock-off... :-P

Some more info:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9957071-1.html (English)
http://gizmodo.com/394563/asus-eee-box-...look-plus-official-specs-only-300 (English)
http://www.hkepc.com/?id=1450&fs=h3t (Chinese)

But wait, I know at least 90% of you aren't here to just read my blog about tech hardware... here's the OTHER amazing sights at the event:

2R doing interviews before the show started... It went something like this:
"I use my computer to write blogs... on alivenotdead.com!" "www.alivenotdead.com/racewong!"
"and www.alivenotdead.com/rosannewong!"

Since it was a tech related event, Race and Rosanne went with something futuristic for their wardrobe... I like the shoes the most. ;-)

They came up on stage after the Asus execs gave their talk and theirw as some strange skit performed by two guys demonstrating how the EEE box makes a good dorm PC... :-P
(sorry I didn't bother to take any pictures of those).

They quizzed the audience on the presentation to see who was paying attention.. some ASUS swag for those who answered the questions.

Luckily for me, the technical presentation was in Mandarin (since the president of Asus is from Taiwan...) but unluckily most of the rest was in Cantonese, so I didn't understand most of that... :-P

Then a pose-down for the press!

At events like these, some photographers will shout out to ask the star to look diretly at their camera... Etchy needs not do such things! :-P

Finally some PR photos w/ the bosses... Lucky day for the Asus President... :-P

Some press coverage:
http://news.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/nw/show.cgi/15/1/1/806311/1.html (Race = Photoshop!)
http://paper.wenweipo.com/2008/07/15/EN0807150026.htm

On the way out 2R had to stop for the requisit fan photos:

Mostly they just took photos and signed some autographs. I think in HK, its usually the same hardcore group of fans that appear for their favorite artists every time... so after a while everyone knows everyone.

(no one asked to take a photo with Etchy though... doh). :-P

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Entry comments (10)

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downlau
posted on Monday, Jul 21, 2008 9:39PM [Report]

Beatiful and Sharp.
francisluk
posted on Monday, Jul 21, 2008 9:00PM [Report]

Thanks for sharing with us the tech report and most important, the photos of 2R ^_^
Flagday
posted on Sunday, Jul 20, 2008 11:20PM [Report]

Another great reporting job Etchy. But I did notice that Etchy is starting to talk about Etchy in the third person. Don't let that get away from you. lol
JoanneSanderson
posted on Sunday, Jul 20, 2008 7:31PM [Report]

this looks quite impressive, but the commercial needs changing, well cheesy.
JoanneSanderson
posted on Sunday, Jul 20, 2008 7:31PM [Report]

whoa, Rozy & Race has gotta let me know how they walk in them heels, I'm lucky if I don't fall arse over tit from a 1.5".
janechu
posted on Sunday, Jul 20, 2008 3:21PM [Report]

cool! their outfits are awesome... =) and as you said, their shoes as well... hahaa...

wow... the EEE is really small... but its so funny how they tried to market it as a Wii... hahaa... rather interesting... kinda like how all the phones nowadays try to "copy" the iPhone... hahaa...
Race Wong
posted on Sunday, Jul 20, 2008 3:20PM [Report]

very very true. That was exactly what we said !!
stephen
posted on Sunday, Jul 20, 2008 3:14PM [Report]

Actually, that thing looks pretty good... I got my video server for $2000 HKD, but w/o the wireless remote and a much larger, louder case. If there's a way to upgrade the hard drive to 500 GB, then that thing is definitely my style... Another thing -- it looks like it probably runs silently (like the Wii) which makes it great as a video server...
Etchy
posted on Sunday, Jul 20, 2008 12:18PM

AC100 - the funny thing is that i attend these things w/ my point-and-shoot and i'm muscling out the 'pros' with their fancy cameras for the best shot... :-P
AsianChick100
posted on Sunday, Jul 20, 2008 12:02PM [Report]

haha... i LOVE your comments on these photos. ;)
they are SOOOO cool!!! (not to mention HOT, hehehe)... i'm sure you enjoyed being the photographer.