Asus has just announced it has begun shipping the Asus Eee PC T91 tablet net book to retail stores today. It has been delayed numerous times but it seems it is now really happening finally. Information about its sister model the T101H is still missing.
Here are the final specifications in case you missed them:
EEE PC T91 Specifications:
Screen: 8.9″ LED Backlight / Resistive Touch Panel
Asus has published a US product page for the upcoming Eee PC T91 convertible tablet style netbook. This will be the first mini-laptop from the company with a touchscreen display that can fold down over the keyboard for use in tablet mode.
Some important features announced on the product page:
Up to 5 hours of battery life
Size of a B5 paper, 225 by 164 mm
Weight is 0.96 kg
8.9″ Display
Total internal storage is 32 Gb: A shockproof SSD drive of up to 16Gb, online storage called “Eee Storage” of 200 Gb and an expandable SSD storage slot for another 16Gb
Selected models support 3G+ (HSUPA) technology enabling them to be used on the go and connecting to data networks of your cellular provider.
The Eee PC T91 has an 8.9 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display. The version that ships with Windows XP will reportedly have a resistive touchscreen, which means single-touch only. The version that ships with Windows 7 later this year will include a capacitive display capable of recognizing multiple inputs to take advantages of the gesture and multitouch support in Windows 7.
Unique TouchSuite software for intuitive user experience
Convertible Tablet PC Form Factor for Flexibility of Use
B5 size and weight 0.96kg light
Up to 5 hours** long battery life with Super Hybrid Engine
Sleek and Stylish Portability
Anticipating that the Eee PC™ T91 will spend a sizable amount of its time cradled in users’ arms, ASUS’ designers made sure to keep it extremely slim and light. The Eee PC™ T91 measures just 225cm by 164cm, and weighs a mere 0.96kg—making it one of the smallest and thinnest gadgets with an 8.9″ display in the world today.
Intuitive TouchSuite software
The Eee PC™ T91’s unique software applications, collectively known as TouchSuite, allow users to perform a myriad of fun tasks with their fingertips, such as touching up photos, creating photo albums, leaving handwritten desktop memos for loved ones, and sketching cartoons or custom emoticons.
Touchscreen and Convertible Tablet PC Form Factor for Flexibility of Use
The Eee PC™ T91’s tablet PC functionality makes it easy to cradle in one arm, enabling users to read documents, scribble ideas into digital notebooks and surf the Internet while traveling on foot. The Eee PC™ T91 is also equipped with a TV tuner* and Global Positioning System (GPS)* for extensive entertainment options and advanced navigation capabilities on the go.
“Hybrid Storage” for Massive Storage
The Hybrid Storage options allow users to choose between different ways to enjoy easy access to data storage on-the-go. Users can choose from: Built-in Shockproof Solid State Drive (SSD) of up to 16GB, exclusive Eee Storage of up to 20GB which allows users to upload and download their files via an intuitive drag and drop interface, and also download games, wallpapers and customized software to enhance their Eeexperience, and expandable storage via through the Disk Expander Card of 16GB.
Extended Battery Life with Super Hybrid Engine
With the exclusive ASUS Super Hybrid Engine’s increased power efficiency, the Eee PC™ can deliver an impressively long battery lifespan—eliminating worries about power while on-the-go and easily keeps users connected for 5 hours**, unplugged computing.
Always-on Connectivity
The Eee PC™ T91 is equipped with 3G plus (HSUPA) technology*, enabling high-speed Internet access anywhere. With support for 802.11n, you can now enjoy faster surfing speeds than previous a/b/g wireless standards. This allows you enjoy quick downloading and streaming of large multimedia files; and with a full range of applications, help enhance your communications and computing experience.
* Available on selected models
** Actual battery life is subject to normal usage and configuration as well as model type
* All specifications are subject to change without notice. Please check with your supplier for exact offers. Products may not be available in all markets.
* PCB color and bundled software versions are subject to change without notice.
* Brand and product names mentioned are trademarks of their respective companies.
An exclusive video showing a demo of the final graphical user interface of the Asus Eee PC T91 and T101H netbook tablet, we have today. Some features it shows include a touch-sensitive task switcher to move between programs by simply dragging or making hand gestures on the screen from left to right. Also a central menu button on the bottom of the screen is shown, touching this button opens up an array of most used applications such as a calendar, Internet Explorer or your notes, this menu is customizable.
A visual widget interface is also included in the Asus tablet , it enables you to add widgets to your screen to use with just your fingers on the touch screen. Asus has also brought us a top menu bar with which we can quickly change settings on the tablet netbook. Very essential is the on-screen keyboard. It is large enough to be used with fingers and makes it possible to never switch back to the real keyboard agian!
A touch-sensitive visual photo application is included as well, this looks particularly interesting. It enables users to interact with their photos as if they were lying on a table. Juggling them around or sorting them in a photobook which can be then viewed by moving the pages over. It reminds us of Microsoft Surface. Next is the notes application, it enables users to write notes with either the included stylus or their fingers, our expectation was that it would look pixely and low-quality but it actually looks like real handwriting.
Very impressive to say the least and surprisingly smooth for a tablet PC that is in fact a netbook with limited specifications.
The number of different Asus Eee PC netbooks is staggering. With complex model numbers it becomes confusing for customers and makes it difficult to choose one. Therefore Asus has decided that it will phase out all of its netbook models except for the Seashell 1008HA, the Seashell 1005HA and the T91 (and T91GO) and T101Htablet netbooks. The best-selling 1000HE (known for its 10-hour battery life) will be phased out first and replaced by the 1005HA. It is a dramatic step for Asus to phase out one of its best-selling models, apparently they have a strategy made they want to follow now. What that strategy is, we can only guess.
The Asus Eee PC T91 has finally landed in the UK. The touchscreen works great with a stylus but not so great to control with just fingers. Included in the T91 package is Asus’ Magic Desktop which needs improvement and might be the reason for the sluggish response with fingers. The model looks great with a black glossy finish and the just as glossy screen.
FCC has just given the Asus T91 clearance to be sold in the US. The FCC clearance documents show us many new photos of the tablet netbook.
As you can see, the T91 does not have a user-removable battery, which is unfortunate.
The T91′s RAM is upgradeable to 2GB from the standard 1GB. It has dual SSD card reader. One is for normal usage and one is for disk expansion, to create more internal storage.
There is a SIM card slot on the GPS chip, it seems to be possible to replace the GPS chip with a 3G chip, enabling the mobile functionality of the T91.
No news from the FCC about the Asus T101H though, we hope to see that one cleared by the end of June.
Asus seems to single-handedy be creating a whole new product segment. Like they did by being one of the first producing the early netbooks and starting a trend for other manufacturers like Acer, HP and Dell to follow. Now they are doing it again with their tablet netbooks T91, T101H. They are not even out yet, but already other manufacturers are inspired to jump in.
The demand for a small compact 8″ to 11″ swivelling netbook with a touchscreen is expected to be huge. It bridges the the gap between touch phones like the iPhone, HTC Touch and XPeria and netbooks/laptops without any touch functionality. Especially with costs of touchscreens decreasing rapidly (just look at the modded netbooks with $100 touchscreens already), manufacturers are enthusiastic to go for it.
Here’s two of the first tablet netbooks other than Asus’s that will be available soon, they are by Chinese manufacturer Fuyijama (related to Fuji?):
We will continue to update this, if we see lower prices
Where to buy the Asus T91 for the lowest price, that’s the question! The cheapest retailers for the EeePC models are generally not the physical retail computer stores (although they have some nice deals sometimes), but rather the online retailers. One of them is Amazon. They have offered the full range of EeePC’s for the lowest price. Ofcourse it will still take until June until the T91 drops, but you can already prepare to pre-order it at Amazon’s Asus EeePC page, to be sure you are one of the first to get it.
Do you know a retailer with lower prices than we have found now? Tell us in the comments!
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“Hybrid Storage” for Massive Storage
Always-on Connectivity
, to be sure you are one of the first to get it.
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News, Scoops, T91 | Heather | Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
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