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Intel Hardware

Asus Eee Top All-In-One Touch Screen PC Tested 42

Posted by timothy from the looks-perfect-for-my-car dept.
MojoKid writes "Asus recently announced a new addition to their Eee PC family of low cost desktops and notebook products. The Eee Top ET1602 builds upon the popular line of Asus Eee-branded products by introducing an all-in-one desktop form factor, complete with a 15.6" touch screen. Like the Eee PC netbooks that preceded it, the Eee Top ET1602 is built on an Intel low-power Atom platform, with the 945 GSE chipset. Other features include an integrated webcam and 802.11n Wi-Fi, 4W speakers with SRS Premium Sound enhancement, and a flash memory card reader. The touch screen interface demonstrated in the linked video shows it has some novel features and functionality built into its interface. The product is essentially a lower cost competitive offering to HP's TouchSmart line."
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Asus Eee Top All-In-One Touch Screen PC Tested More

Asus Eee Top All-In-One Touch Screen PC Tested

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  • Addition? (Score:1, Redundant)

    by Facetious ( 710885 )
    This word. I does not mean what you think it means.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Facetious ( 710885 )
      Great, I fire off a post making fun of the OP for saying "addition" when meaning "edition," only to re-read the summary and find out I misread it. ::Hangs head in shame::

  • Would it have killed to list the competitive price? was it really necassary to miss that one specification that anyone interested in the story would really be interested in??

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by fuzzyfuzzyfungus ( 1223518 )
        Most likely because Ion wasn't available when they started work on design/preproduction, the 945 is really cheap, and an extra 10 or 20 watts makes a fairly minimal difference in a desktop scenario(sure, better for your power bill and the environment; but people don't really factor that into their buying decision, unlike battery life, which counts).

      • The Ion was announced, like, two weeks ago and might not even be available in volume yet.

        Intel is working on a replacement for the 945 - google for "Intel gn40". It'll do 1080HD video, etc.

  • While laptops and notebooks seem to be headed in the direction of the netbook, I don't think desktops are headed in the same direction.

    Even laptop users have reasons to using a laptop instead of a netbook (portable but powerful?) if they need to do anything heavy on the CPU or GPU. The netbook can't handle either very well.

    I think everybody's jumping on the bandwagon without thinking why.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by WTF Chuck ( 1369665 )
      I'm thinking it may do quite allright as a cheap touchscreen kiosk type of thing.

      • Or a computer for the elderly: a powerful CPU or GPU isn't needed, the touchscreen is a little more obvious to use than a mouse and easier on arthritic hands, expandability doesn't matter, and the price is right for someone on a fixed income who may not need or even want a netbook (or finds the keyboard too small).

        At a few hundred dollars cheaper than the base iMac I could see it selling quite well, provided it isn't utter crap.

    • One use I can think of for this thing is to build something that I have wanted for a while. An easy drop down kitchen computer. Load up krecipes on it, migrate my cookbooks in and I have a nice little machine perfect for cooking. Another nice thing is that while I'm cooking I can stream in music or podcasts with it. I could put qbrew on it for my beermaking needs. Of course all this is convenience, but I still like the idea of having an upgradeable computer in my kitchen that could grow with my culinar

  • Why would anybody want a touch screen on their desktop? Screens are hard enough to keep clean without actually touching them. Ick!

    PS: And why on earth is the OS listed as "Genuine Windows XP Home"? Is there any other sort of Windows XP Home?

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by twmcneil ( 942300 )
      Who said anything about a desktop? I think this machine should go in the kitchen. Just stick it to a cabinet door and behold! A $600.00 recipe book with p0rn.

      Actually, I like the idea but it's bit expensive after you add some more memory to make the Atom suck less.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by rinoid ( 451982 )

        Bingo -- this is definitely a niche product IMO.

        Point taken -- nobody wants to be reaching forward at a desk, they'll use a mouse.

        This form factor is gee-whiz unless it's installed in a vertical application like a museum kiosk, way finding, or yes perhaps a kitchen recipe device (cooka sutra?).

        • Some hospitals use touchscreen PCs mounted so that the screen is sitting under their hands at an angle. Think like a paper on a counter, but mounted a slightly different angle (145 maybe?), and kind of sliding off the counter.

          It works well. But those things must cost a fortune if they're Core 2s, compared to these. (doubling prices across a hosptial full of them = a lot) Although, when I was last there, there were only some in the ER "check desk" thing. Maybe one day these little buggers could make their wa

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Bring out the gorilla arm!!

    that said, I love this device and think it can be a really usable workable home for my apps ;)

    I opted for a touchscreen laptop over Christmas, but since have wished I got myself a desktop.

    shame its not linux by default, I wonder what the driver support is like.

  • One mans opinion... A tad to expensive, but nice. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by hyperz69 ( 1226464 ) on Wednesday February 25, 2009 @03:36PM (#26985375)
    If this had been just 100 less at 499 I could see it flying off the shelves. This is the market segments that people hunger form. Low power, easy to use, cheap computers!

    I really wish they had gone Linux though instead of XP. Also wish they would have gone ION / Dual Core Atom instead of the dated 945 and Single Core Atom platform.

    Just like early netbooks though, while not a full winner this is a big step in the correct direction. I look forward to the next generation.

    P.S. *Sorry I posted Anon before, somehow I was not logged in ;\*

    • Re: (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Just today I installed debian on one of these things, and everything including the touchscreen seems to work out of the box (with some configuration) the only thing I haven't tested is the wireless.

      By the way, the built-in touchscreen seems to work much better than some LG touchscreens I've used that cost more than the whole machine, so all in all I'm pretty impressed with it.

  • wow (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    4W speakers with SRS Premium Sound enhancement

    Anyone else find that funny? It's like bragging that your car has a 80hp 4-banger, with twin turbos.

  • Screen resolution (Score:4, Informative)

    by dtfinch ( 661405 ) * on Wednesday February 25, 2009 @03:54PM (#26985673) Journal

    Since most reviews including this one assume that it's enough to just give the screen size in inches, as though readers are too clueless to care, I'll save you some searching. It's 1366x768.

  • ...I think I even read about it on Slashdot almost a year ago...actually, yes I DID read it on Slashdot in October: Here it is [slashdot.org]

    I actually tried to buy this since then from overseas (I'm in the US) vendors and it was very easy to do. If not off of eBay many vendors would ship it at a total cost of about $700 after shipping.

  • I think this will see lots of use, you could use it as a pretty nifty control panel, as a TV, or if you just need a computer for the internet, this would be great for that too.

  • Forget touch screens for info kiosks, I just wish EEE and other netbook vendors would drive the price of tablets down.

    Tablets are generally 1.5 - 2 times the price of a normal laptop, which prevents their mass adoption.

    There's the Maemo series but the is limited by the RAM, 800x480 screen, underpowered ARM CPU and tiny/onscreen keyboard. (I have a N770)

    Stick that in an Atom powered device, with a satisfactory keyboard, trackpoint as secondary input device and good battery life and you've got yourself a winn

  • Great alternative (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ps60k ( 1356273 ) on Thursday February 26, 2009 @01:58AM (#26994167)

    At about $599, the Eee Top ET1602 is relatively expensive considering its performance

    True, but this is ridiculously affordable for small/medium businesses looking to incorporate touch technology. Similar touchcomputers purposed for business use can easily run north of $2000 a pop.

    I help run an average sized family restaurant, and we use an old ink-and-paper ticketing system in the kitchen. I have been toying around with the idea of replacing it with a homebuilt touch-based interface, hanging a couple touchmonitors where the ticket rail sits. This move would help me eliminate paper, ink, and printer maintenance costs, not to mention giving my technically-inclined kitchen staff a new toy to play with.

    So far, the costs of the touchmonitors alone have been prohibitively expensive, but a product like this one could allow me to realize my idea. Being able to acquire a touchcomputer (not just touchmonitor) at a fraction of the cost definitely catches the eye of any business thinking about implementing touch-technology.

    This thing is very promising. It's almost perfect for my application. I don't need speed or any bells and whistles, I just need something touch-enabled, networkable, and self-contained. This is awesome. I will definitely be watching this thing closely.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by thechao ( 466986 )

      Make sure the touch screen works through pressure and not some electric effect. If it's in the kitchen you'll soon find you need to put some sort of saran wrap on the computer because the back-splatter from grease will coat the damn thing. Also, make sure the covering is easy to remove and replace, as this will need to be done fairly regularly, depending on your menu. We had a similar problem for a small company w.r.t. children and food.

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