Digital Home Thoughts: Asus Eee Box B202 Details Revealed

"Here're more specifications for the Asus Eee Box B202 that will hit the US pretty soon, and I'm sure there is a bunch of you out there who can't stop yourselves from drawing comparisons with the Wii. Still, here are the nitty gritty of the details involved...The Asus Eee Box B202 will come in three flavors when it arrives on US shores - 1GB RAM + 80GB + Linux, 1GB RAM + 80GB + Windows XP, and 2GB RAM + 160GB + Linux which will retail for $269, $299 and $299, respectively. How many of you will start saving up for the B202? If they had some sort of portable LCD monitor and a roll-up keyboard to go, this will definitely outdo the Eee PC."

If you've been reading Digital Home Thoughts for a while now, you'll know I love SFF (small form factor) computers. I've been a fan of Shuttle's XPC products for years, although strangely enough I only have one of them at the moment (must be time for a new one!). 99% of all computers sold are much larger than they need to be - unless you're a gamer, you don't need a giant power-sucking video card, or the hefty power supply that goes with it. Most systems are used for Web access, email, word processing, light gaming, and photo/video work - the latter requiring some grunt, but mostly of the CPU variety. I have two HP Slimline computers, which are about 50% smaller than your average tower, but even they are about 50% bigger than they need to be if expandability isn't a priority. The post over at Ubergizo goes on to list the following specifications for this box:

• Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor
• 512MB/1GB/2GB RAM
• 80GB.120GB/160GB/250GB hard drive
• Intel GMA 950 chipset
• Gigabit Ethernet
• Draft-N connectivity
• Optional Bluetooth
• SD/MMC/MS memory card slot

I'm really interested in seeing how well the Intel Atom CPU does - I've read some impressive things about it. This Asus machine looks decent, but I think I like the look and feel of the forthcoming Dell machines a bit more...