[archangel_one]

I think Asus had blown it already with no assistance from the iPad. They've been moving away from their core market for some time - the original 7" Eee was a hit, but now it seems to have been entirely replaced by larger, more expensive models.

They've diluted their brand significantly too; originally they were quite distinct from laptops but now there's a lot of crossover. And far too many models - a local comparison site pulls up 35 different Asus netbook models - how am I meant to know the difference between a 1000HA, 1008HA, 1000HE...

I doubt it's such a big deal to most people, but their move towards Windows really puts me off too. Having the original Eee run Linux was a big draw to me.

[acqq]

Asus wanted. Some time ago Asus had preparations to introduce non-x86 (but ARM) based netbook. It would be cheap, use less power, you name it (iPad is also ARM based). But Microsoft and Intel twisted Asus' arm, and Asus even had to publicly apologize for mentioning "the product that is not going to be."

[joezydeco]

It still boggles me that ARM is everywhere and Intel still gets to call the shots in the market. I hope that doesn't last much longer.

[oiuytghyuj]

MS calls the shots.

Asus can ship a linux machine, but then they will have to go and buy the copies of Windows for all their other machines from BestBuy

[joezydeco]

Considering that Microsoft just announced they're going to be licensing ARM cores, maybe they're realizing Intel isn't going to work for future mobile devices.

[NonIdentifiable]

The different model numbers has put me off from purchasing a product as there is no clear way for me to figure out which one has higher specs, not only that but based on just the model number I can't tell the difference apart.

[pyre]

After serious searching, I found that the 1005PE and 1005PR are good models. The 1005PE has a '14 hours' battery life, and the 1005PR has '11 hours' battery live, but with increased screen resolution and a built-in HD decoder chip (allowing it to play 1080p). [The only issue with the 1005PR was that a lot of people were complaining about getting products with the HD chip missing or non-functional out-of-the-box.] I'm typing this on a 1005PE now. My only complaint is that I couldn't upgrade to 4GB of RAM (which I'm not necessarily hugely upset about).

[SandB0x]

You're totally right. All they had to do was keep things simple. Good luck to anyone wading through the (international) product line:

http://www.asus.com/AllProducts.aspx?PG_ID=7dDelmkESu9DXgVB

[cryptoz]

I actually quite like that table, but it's too bad that none of those are for sale in Canada (well, the ones that run Linux, anyway. There are plenty of Windows 7 ones).

[xtho]

Well, the original 7'' eeepc probably was too small for most people. I personally understood (and welcomed) their move to 9'' models. I personally find it interesting though that they haven't since released a model that offers noticeable improvements over the 901 that was introduced 2 years ago.

[sliverstorm]

The bigger screen size is useful. The 7" was, admittedly, a little too small.

However, you're totally right on everything else. If they could offer $200-250 models again, I might even buy one on impulse.

They really need to compete hard and drive the price down; the Kindle, iPad, cell phones and new Android tablets are making the market more competitive.

[archangel_one]

Yeah, I agree that it was a bit small for a lot of stuff - but it was a big hit, and I find it really strange that they responded to that success by changing the product. I'm pretty sure that a lot of the success was due to it being cheap enough to be almost disposable - I've known several people take them places that they wouldn't take a laptop. Increasing the screen size and doubling the price loses that.

[oiuytghyuj]

Not just Asus: The original mini was small and cheap, the new mini is the size (and cost) of a low end BMW - ditto the VW Golf and Beatle

[robryan]

The 9inch that I had might be the sweet spot for me. Although it was the keyboard that killed it for me, slightly small and the tilde key was removed an all the numbers pushed left as a consequence. Could never really get used to it.

If they could somehow get a bit more key space on the 9inch that would be good but otherwise I'd probably need a 10inch. That said very happy with the mobility vs size tradeoff that my 13inch bmp has.

[pyre]

My biggest complaint is that no one is designing a netbook with TrackPoint rather than a trackpad. (Lenovo doesn't count, b/c their netbook offerings have been horrid.)

[jimbokun]

If they could even design a model with a bigger keyboard and a screen that took up less than the available space to keep the price low, they might get fat fingered people like myself to consider one.

I don't necessarily mind the small screen, but the keyboard size keeps me from seriously considering a netbook.