Posted 12/02/08 at 03:32:54 PM by Andy Salisbury

Acer, the world’s #3 PC manufacturer, is on the brink of releasing a new netbook to accompany the Aspire One, and an all-in-one desktop computer that’s aimed directly at competing with Asus’s Eee Top and Apple’s iMac.

The netbook will measure 10.2”, cost roughly $500 and will be powered by Intel’s Atom processor. It’s reported that the system will include Vista and offer storage capacities of up to 320GB. Thanks to the size of the screen, it’s claimed that the display will sport a horizontal resolution of 1024 pixels, allowing users to view the entire width of most web pages (like this one!).

Also, thanks to some unconfirmed reports, rumors have been swirling about the possibility of Acer launching a cheap all-in-one desktop next year. The system will supposedly be aimed at competition with Apple’s iMac and Asus’ Eee Top.

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Posted 11/21/08 at 03:19:27 PM by Andy Salisbury

Just this week Asus announced their brand new Eee Top desktop computer, which is meant to directly complete with Apple’s juggernaut, the iMac.

The Eee Top is a fancy take on desktop computing, that features a 15.6-inch touch screen, 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, 1GB DDR RAM, a 160GB 5,400RPM hard drive (boo!), a 1.3-megapixel webcam, and built-in WiFi. The price point is set at about $580 USD, but sadly the machine is only available in Taiwan. The rest of us will have to wait!

Though, the wait will be worthwhile, because if 15.6 inches sounds like it’ll be to small for you, Asus has a 20 and 22-inch version slated for release in June.

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Posted 11/08/08 at 03:59:37 PM by Justin Kerr

A small group of Maximum PC readers (and editors) tend to glaze over at the mere mention of the Eee PC. For those of you that fall into this category, I’ll do my best to keep it interesting and you’ll be glad to know, this isn’t an ordinary netbook announcement. The now household name that spawned a generation of inexpensive PC’s have unveiled a new form factor that brings the Eee product line closer to being a desktop solution than ever before. First impressions of the product are obvious, it is clearly intended to appeal to the budget conscious crowd who can’t afford an iMac, or simply don’t care to pay the Apple tax. Asus isn’t the first to take on the iMac, but the Eee brand name, and touch screen interface gives it an interesting advantage over its competitors.

The Eee Top will come in two variations, the ET1602 and the ET1603. Both models feature a 15.6” touch screen display, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of Ram, and a 160GB Hard Drive. Other less critical features include 802.11n networking as well as a built in card reader and web cam. The two models are almost completely identical with the one exception being the ET1603’s inclusion of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD3450 for graphics. The ET1602 by comparison will only sport Intel integrated. No pricing has yet been announced for either model, and both systems will feature Windows XP Home with a custom touch screen GUI.

So, is this the form factor of Eee PC you were waiting for?

Hit the jump and let us know.

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