Asus Eee PC 701

The Asus Eee PC 701 was first announced at the 2007 Taiwan Computex. At less than 1 kg and measuring only 225 × 165 × 21~35 mm, it took the industry by storm with its use of solid-state drives (SSDs) instead of conventional hard drives as well as a Linux distro instead of Microsoft Windows. With a tag line of "Easy to learn, easy to work, easy to play" it was targeted at the so-called 2nd billion market - people who still do not own or use computers, meaning just about anyone around the world. It was also viewed as Asus' response to the Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project.

At the Intel Developer Forum 2007, Asus demonstrated the Eee PC, and listed specifications for four models of the Eee PC, ranging in price from US$199 to US$399. Of significance was the low-end price of US$199, which effectively redefined the established paradigm of adding a premium to miniaturization.

However, it took several months before Asus was finally able to deliver the Eee PC. In September 2007 the final pricing and specifications were announced and these differed from the initial announcements. The price rose to US$245 while the size of the included SDD was reduced from 4GB to 2GB, the VGA camera was dropped, and the included RAM was halved to 256 MB.

Then on October 13, 2007 the ASUS website revised the specifications again. It changed the model numbers 700 and 701 to Eee PC 4G, 4G Surf, and 2G Surf. The Surf series differed from the 4G in that some units had soldered RAM and do not have an access cover for the RAM. Three days later, on Asus finally released the Eee PC 701 4G in Taiwan. Three additional models followed.

A MS Windows XP version was announced for released by year-end 2007. Actual delivery was in January 2008.

ASUS sold over 300,000 units in 2007, and projects to sell several million in 2008.

Manufacturer	Asus
Model	Eee PC 701
Display	7" (17.8" cm) 800x480 TFT LCD with LED backlight
Dimensions	225 x 165 x 21~35 mm (8.9 x 6.5 x 0.9~1.4 in)
Body Finish	Colors: Pearl White (non-Surf only), Pure White (Surf only), Galaxy Black, Lush Green, Sky Blue, Blush Pink
Weight	920 g ( 2 lb 1/2 oz)
Price	4G Surf US$349.99 4G US$399.99 8G $499.99
CPU	900 MHz Intel Celeron-M ULV 353 clocked at 630 MHz (70 MHz x 9)
Chipset	Intel 910GML series
Graphics	Integrated Intel GMA 900
RAM	4G/4G Surf - 512 MB DDR2-533/667, max 2GB 8G - 1 GB DDR2-533/667, max 2GB
Storage	4G/4G Surf - 4GB SSD 8G - 8GB SSD
Battery	4G Surf - 4 cell Li-Ion 4400 mAh, 7.4 volts, 2:45 hrs battery life 4G/8G - 4 cell Li-Ion 4400 mAh, 7.4 volts (unknown duration) or 4 cell Li-Ion 5200 mAh, 7.4 volts, 3:30 hrs battery life
Camera	4G Surf - none 4G/8G - 0.3MP, 640 x 480 max, 30 fps max
Audio Chip	Realtek ALC6628 Hi-Def Audio 5.1 CODEC
Speakers	Built-in stereo
Audio Ports	Microphone In, Headphone jack
USB	3 USB 2.0
Card Reader	MMC/SD/SDHC
Modem	Non-functional, empty
Video	VGA, up to 1600 x 1280
Connectivity	10/100 Mbit Ethernet (Attansic L2) 802.11b/g WLAN mini PCI-E (Atheros)
Expansion	2 PCI Express Mini Card slots (one used); second unavailable in newer models
Pointing Device	Touchpad with singl bar (dual function)
Others	Kensington lock slot
O.S.	Xandros with KDE and IceWM or MS Windows XP with MS Works and Windows Live Suite

Product Page

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