ASUS previews new ION-based EeeBox

ASUS took the world by storm when it release the original EeePC netbook a couple of years ago, and while the nettop EeeBoxes never received quite as much fanfare, they certainly bring a lot of interesting features and design to the table. The latest revision is the EeeBox PC EB1501, a very small form factor PC that still manages to fit in an optical drive, decent graphics performance and all the connectivity you could ask for.

To start, the new EeeBox devices have a sleeker design than ever, keeping the angled approach that provides easy access to the front ports while refining the style a bit. Inside, ASUS has decided to go with a dual-core Intel Atom 330 CPU, so while it's still very much a low-power processor, the second core will be able to help out with some tasks, like graphically-intensive web pages, without bringing the entire system to a halt. The 330 is paired with an NVIDIA 9400M graphics subsystem so decoding HD content won't be a problem -- and with recent news about Adobe managing to finally deliver on GPU-accelerated Flash content, then neither will advanced Flash videos and games, which have been a traditional sticking point for these systems.

Specifications

• Processor: Intel Atom 330 @ 1.6GHz
• Memory: 2GB DDR2 @ 800MHz, 2 slots (up to 4GB max)
• Hard drive: 250GB 2.5-inch SATA
• Optical drive: Slot-loading Super multi DVD+/-RW
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
• Chipset: NVIDIA Ion
• Networking: Gigabit Ethernet
• Wireless networking: 802.11/b/g/n
• Inputs: 4x USB2.0, SD card reader, VGA and HDMI out, 1x eSATA, Headphone and S/PDIF out, Mic in
• Power supply: 65W externa,
• Dimensions: 193 x 193 x 39 mm (HxDxW)
• Weight: 2.64 lb

While the unit will come with a wired keyboard and mouse by default, ASUS will make wireless units as well as a remote control available as options. The EeeBox will come in both black and white color options. So far, in terms of pricing and availability, ASUS has said that it'll run around $580 in Europe, so we might see something like a $499 or lower price point here in the US. It's expected to launch sometime around the ship of Windows 7, which is scheduled for October 22nd.