After months of anticipation and intense consumer interest, Asus has announced that its low-priced Eee PC ultra-portable notebook will be available for purchase in the United States "within a few weeks."

$200 Model Nowhere in Sight

Asus isn’t providing specific release dates at this time, but its official press release does mention the Eee PC will be available for purchase at Best Buy and Newegg in two configurations.

The Asus "Eee PC 2G Surf" will come with 256 MB of RAM and a 2 GB Solid State Disk Drive (SSD), but the built-in web camera has been removed in order to bring the cost down to $300. The Asus "Eee PC 8G" is pre-configured with 1 GB of RAM, an 8 GB SSD, and webcam for $400.

Of course, the $300 and $400 retail prices for the Eee PC will likely come as a shock to some consumers who were hoping to purchase this model for the originally publicized price of $200.

Asus is also offering the "Eee PC 4G" with 512 MB of RAM and a 4 GB SSD, but early indications are that only the 2G and 8G versions will be available at Newegg and Best Buy during the initial product launch.

Additional specifications (though limited) are listed below:

Specifications: Model Name Eee PC 8G Eee PC 4G Eee PC 4G Surf Eee PC 2G Surf Display 7" 7" 7" 7" Intel CPU & Chipset Yes Yes Yes Yes Operating System Linux installed,

Windows XP compatible Linux installed,

Windows XP compatible Linux installed,

Windows XP compatible Linux installed,

Windows XP compatible Ethernet Communication Yes Yes Yes Yes WLAN Yes Yes Yes Yes Memory 1 GB (DDR2) 512 MB (DDR2) 512 MB (DDR2) 256 MB (DDR2) S.S.D. Storage (Solid-State Disk) 8 GB 4 GB 4 GB 2 GB Camera Yes Yes No No Audio Hi-Definition audio

Stereo speaker

Microphone Hi-Definition audio

Stereo speaker

Microphone Hi-Definition audio

Stereo speaker

Microphone Hi-Definition audio

Stereo speaker

Microphone Battery 4 Cells: 5200 mAh, 3.5 hrs* 4 Cells: 5200 mAh, 3.5 hrs* 4 Cells: 4400 mAh, 2.8 hrs* 4 Cells: 4400 mAh, 2.8 hrs* Weight 0.92 kg 0.92 kg 0.92 kg 0.92 kg * Actual battery life will depend on actual operations and other settings.

More information on the Eee PC is available on the Asus web site.

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