OSNews: http://www.osnews.com/story/19833/Asus_Shows_off_Eee_Box Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2012, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:41:09 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif OSNews.com http://www.osnews.com Slick!! http://www.osnews.com/thread?317530 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317530 Mac mini look out!
That machine is really slick! Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:53:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jensa) Comments Wii http://www.osnews.com/thread?317531 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317531 It's looks too much like Wii, despite the wooden finish. Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:55:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (CapEnt) Comments Bamboo http://www.osnews.com/thread?317532 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317532 I do hope they stick with the bamboo sides - bamboo is very sturdy, and can be easily stained like wood. Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (BrianH) Comments htpc http://www.osnews.com/thread?317536 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317536 too bad it's missing sound ... could have potential for a nice media center unit. Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Ikshaar) Comments RE: Slick!! http://www.osnews.com/thread?317537 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317537
Mac mini look out!
That machine is really slick!


Except the Mac Mini has an optical drive...

I'd say the lack of an optical drive in a formfactor like this is going to be a big turn off for me.

Edit: Also, why not add a couple extra USB ports on the back?Edited 2008-06-06 20:20 UTC Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:19:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (umccullough) Comments RE: htpc http://www.osnews.com/thread?317538 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317538
too bad it's missing sound ... could have potential for a nice media center unit.


Oh yeah, that would have been nice also...

Maybe they should have just swapped the DVI with an HDMI port ;) Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (umccullough) Comments Wow http://www.osnews.com/thread?317544 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317544 That thing is going to be a big seller. From the point of view of style, space and power saving, it's already a huge winner and you're going to probably see this become the standard piece of MythTV hardware and other such devices for just about everyone. There is nothing you have to build in yourself there. It has everything.

Considering that they showed this alongside a new TV:

http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/007065.html

I'd be surprised if the TV tuner rumour wasn't true. Asus have got the most compelling and interesting product line around today. Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (segedunum) Comments RE: Wii http://www.osnews.com/thread?317547 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317547 So what's wrong with that? Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (RGCook) Comments Base http://www.osnews.com/thread?317554 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317554 Yes, the base can be removed. It can lay flat, on the base, or mount behind a monitor with an included VESA mount. Anandtech posted a review (sort of) and some benchmarks of the Intel Atom. There's was black with gray specs.

http://tinyurl.com/67tw5l Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:28:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kirihito) Comments RE[2]: Wii http://www.osnews.com/thread?317556 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317556
So what's wrong with that?


Nothing! It's just another random blatant obvious observation. ;) Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:35:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (CapEnt) Comments hardiness of Asus hardware http://www.osnews.com/thread?317566 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317566 I hope the new boxes are as hardy as the eeepc is. I have dropped my eeepc several times from a good height and it is still working. My power supply on my home box blew out several months ago and I was able to just unplug my external USB drives and plug them into the eeepc. I was amazed the little machine could power a 20 inch LCD monitor and all the USB devices I had attached to it. If the price was right I would buy one of the new Asus boxes just to have a backup computer around. It would be nice if they supported Firewire or eSATA drives.Edited 2008-06-06 23:23 UTC Fri, 06 Jun 2008 23:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (buff) Comments RE: Base http://www.osnews.com/thread?317578 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317578
http://tinyurl.com/67tw5l


Aha! Thanks for the link.

I see in one of those pictures that the faceplate flips down to reveal additional ports:

"With the front panel flipped down you’ve got a HDD activity LED, power button/LED, two USB ports, a SD card slot, 1/8” audio out and 1/8” mic input. "

Very good.

Still no optical drive though ;) Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (umccullough) Comments RE[2]: Base http://www.osnews.com/thread?317594 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317594 Unless you were planning to use this as your main PC I'm not sure you would need an optical drive, there are so many other options.

Install over your network.

Use solely freeware apps from the web, the quality of which has grown tremendously over the past couple of years.

Use web based apps.

Heck I'd even go as far as saying ditch the hard drive too and put an SSD back in there, I could use the ridiculous amount of free space I have left over on my web host for storage.

If none of these options appeal to you, have you considered the playstation 3 as an alternative? I'm told that has an optical drive. ;) Edited 2008-06-07 03:16 UTC Sat, 07 Jun 2008 03:16:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Al2001) Comments RE[2]: Slick!! http://www.osnews.com/thread?317617 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317617 re optical drive. - Yeah, that would be my initial reflex, too. Then again: If I come to think of it, I haven't used my drive in month. Only recently I got a tad bored and burned a couple Live-CDs, or else, my Battlefield 2 CD just sits in their waiting for action. (Even for back-up, I have a few HDs and an Iomega Rev drive).

Now, that is two applications for a drive that do not apply to this sort of machine - it is neither a Linux test bed nor a gaming rig.

Finally, the days of CD installs for software are over for the most part. I can't thing of anything the average surfing, letter typing user would want to install that comes on a disc and not (at least) also as a download.

Trust me, this thing does not need a drive. If I wanted to install Linux, I'd use a USB Floppy and pull SuSE straight off the FTP on to that baby.

Oh and don't tell me you want to watch DVDs on this because you don't ;)

Pop it into your stand alone in the lounge and watch it on the TV screen, and if you don't have one do make the effort and spend 30 Dollars on one.

Of course I got your point... a drive would be nice, but chances are you wouldn't use it for the most part anyway. If it is not your only machine you can access a drive through your LAN. Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:39:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Googol) Comments Nor wooden cover... http://www.osnews.com/thread?317639 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317639 It's a bambu tiles cover...

Better than wood in the looks, but still related.

BTW: Bambu is a high-tech material, very strong and a very resistant color... always the same... doesn't fade nor gets darker.Edited 2008-06-07 14:41 UTC Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dulac) Comments RE: Nor wooden cover... http://www.osnews.com/thread?317741 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317741 I don't know if there's anything I'm missing (I didn't RTFA) but I can hardly understand the concept of Bambu being a "high-tech material" ... I have been growing bambu in my garden for like decades.

Perhaps there's some different "Bambu" in english I couldn't find, because if I recall correctly what I have home would be called Bamboo in english, but, anyways... never heard of "Bambu" outside of a few languages that call Bamboo that way. Sun, 08 Jun 2008 18:17:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (AlexandreAM) Comments Comment by buggyboo http://www.osnews.com/thread?317785 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317785 What, still no FireWire? Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:18:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (buggyboo) Comments small n portable http://www.osnews.com/thread?317799 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317799 The optical drive issue can be taken care by having a media server for it

Infact eeebox would make a very nice thin client capable of streaming desktop / music / media by connecting to a thin client server such as thinserver

http://www.aikotech.com/thinserver/htm Mon, 09 Jun 2008 05:43:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Different) Comments RE: htpc http://www.osnews.com/thread?317835 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317835 The Register article claims that it has an optical spdif port on the back, and analog audio on the front. I suppose that would do for those with separate audio setups, though I would have preferred an HDMI port. Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (BrianH) Comments ASUS is losing the EEEPC appeal http://www.osnews.com/thread?317946 http://www.osnews.com/thread?317946 http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20080609#feature

"However, not all was well at the ASUS stand. As a visitor interested in Linux, I was disappointed to find just one of the products on display running the open source operating system. Even worse was the fact that the entire area was plastered with advertisements displaying large Windows and Microsoft logos. The only flyer available at the stand was a Microsoft one entitled "It's better with Windows", while the technical specifications sheet showing the various products available was spoilt by a large slogan on the top reading "ASUS recommends Windows for everyday computing".


"It's better with Windows" hey? Better for whom? Certainly I can see that it is better for Microsoft, and it may well turn out that Microsoft have made it better for ASUS ... but it certainly isn't better for anyone who has to pay for one.

Windows will make it more expensive, make it run slower, make it become more susceptible to malware, therefore require it to have malware protection software, and make it less functional out of the box than the Linux equivalent.

FTA:
That said, I also felt a sense of satisfaction seeing how Microsoft had been forced to compete with Linux. Its "it's better with Windows" slogan implies that there is an alternative, the existence of which the software giant vehemently denied, even ridiculed, not long ago. Unfortunately for ASUS, it has succumbed to whatever Microsoft wanted from its next-generation Eee PC as this excellent computer is about to become big, bloated, heavy and expensive, the characteristics often associated with Microsoft's own products. Certainly a radical departure from the successful, low-cost, original Linux-based Eee PC!"


Such a shame that ASUS has apparently decided (or has been paid) to exit from the very market that the earlier model of this machine created and made such a success of late last year and early this year. Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:00:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (lemur2) Comments