Taiwanese PC maker Asus believes small is beautiful, and it hopes Americans agree. The company, known more as a maker of motherboards and contract computer manufacturer for the likes of Apple, has launched an ultra-small laptop. Weighing in at just two pounds, the Eee PC comes with a seven-inch screen. The mini-laptop is a major push for Asus, which had revenue of $17.4 billion in 2006, to get into the branded PC business.
The sleek-looking laptops, which have a bit of a MacBook look, run on the open-source Linux operating system. Eventually, some models will come bundled with a version of Microsoft Windows.
The notebooks have a one-click graphic interface for such functions as e-mail, video conferencing and messaging. Each model has three USB ports. The Eee PCs come in white; other color options will be offered later.
– John Boudreau, Mercury News
