Review of ASUS Eee Laptop

Laptop Magazine just posted a review of the ASUS Eee PC 701. ““Pound for pound, the best value-priced notebook on the planet.” Rated 4 out of 5 stars, the Eee ranks well on usability and ease of connection to the Internet, although the availability of additional applications was a drawback. Given the specs of the system and the price point of $399, this could be a very competitive product, both for those who don’t want or need the full capabilities of a standard notebook computer as well as those who are interested in a UMPC but can’t face the prices of most UMPCs. With ASUS confirming that the Eee will also be available with Windows XP, this could easily go broad market and compete with other 7′ screen systems.

It will be interesting to see how the Eee takes off. I had a friend asking me about the Eee because she wants an inexpensive, easy to use system. This system could fit that description, depending on the expectations of the user. As an Internet appliance or surfing device, this could be great. But I don’t see using this as a laptop replacement, at least not yet. My opinion may change if and when they offer it with a hard drive in addition to the SSD.