Asus Eee PC 901 - The Price is WRONG Bob

[Chris Gohlke]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://gizmodo.com/5016141/asus-prices-the-eee-pc-out-of-its-own-market' target='_blank'>http://gizmodo.com/5016141/asus-pri...-its-own-market</a><br /><br /></div><em>&quot;Asus singlehandedly created the budget mini-laptop market. And now, sadly, it would seem that they've priced themselves out of it. Laptop Mag finally got Asus to announce a prices of their new 8.9&quot; Asus Eee (901) and their 10.2&quot; Asus Eee (1000). And confirming long-standing rumors, the $399 pricepoint is a distant dream.&quot;<br /><br /></em><img border="0" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1213372479.usr10.jpg" alt="" /><br /><br />I couldn't agree more.&nbsp; I'm not saying that these still aren't a good deal, but Asus is forgetting the fact that the super low prices are what got everyone so excited by the Eee in the first place.&nbsp; Previous to the Eee, small laptops usually involved a compromise in power AND a premium price.&nbsp; The Eee not only got rid of the premium, but was priced to be at a discount to pretty much any other laptop out there.&nbsp; These new models have bumped up the price just enough that they are now on part with average laptops, and in doing so have taken some of the halo off the brand.

[txa1265]

One of the things I love about my HP Mini-Note is that the build quality is fantastic. I have a HP 6910p for work and it is just 'OK' in those terms, but I put the 2133 up there with my Macbook Pros in terms of looking and feeling rock solid. So I didn't mind paying the premium to get that versus the cheapie-feeling ASUS. At the higher price, I just see the ASUS fizzling.

Interesting, the HP Mini-Note is not much smaller than my old Omnibook that I fired up again last night ... boy I still love the integrated mouse ...

[Jason Dunn]

These new models have bumped up the price just enough that they are now on part with average laptops, and in doing so have taken some of the halo off the brand.

Well, yes and no - prior to the Asus Eee PC, you couldn't get anything small/light in the $500 price range...you could only get thick, heavy, clunker laptops. So even with the price point of the Asus Eee PC creeping up to the same price as entry-level laptops, I think it's still a good deal.

But...

With HP, Dell, and others coming into this space, I think Asus is making a huge mistake by taking their Eee brand up market. The HP 2133 Mini-Note is gorgeous and I think HP will own the "premium" part of this space...Asus should focus on keeping things as cheap as possible, even if it means them having the bottom end product in terms of performance, looks, etc

[Rob Alexander]

With HP, Dell, and others coming into this space, I think Asus is making a huge mistake by taking their Eee brand up market. The HP 2133 Mini-Note is gorgeous and I think HP will own the "premium" part of this space...Asus should focus on keeping things as cheap as possible, even if it means them having the bottom end product in terms of performance, looks, etc

It was already too close in my mind even before this. I was in Singapore on business this past week and a colleague from Bangladesh came planning to by an Eee to use when he travels. (Things are cheaper in Singapore than in his home, but quite a bit more than here in the US.) In the zillions of electronics shops all over, the Eee was running just under S$700 (US$515), and they looked pretty decent for a budget model, but when he saw the HP mini-mote at S$1,000 (US$735), it was no contest. The HP was solid and classy and had much better specs with a decent CPU and a real hard drive. I'd have made the same decision. And this was comparing the HP to the lower-end Eee systems. There is just no way that the Eee will be able to compete at a couple of hundred dollars more because there are already better products out at that price point.

[Jason Dunn]

...the Eee was running just under S$700 (US$515), and they looked pretty decent for a budget model, but when he saw the HP mini-mote at S$1,000 (US$735), it was no contest.

Yikes. Yeah, Asus is making a big mistake. Despite what they might like to think, they're not a premium brand and they shouldn't compete in the high end of the market.