EEE PC might be more expandable than we all thought

I caught an interesting article over at Forbes early this morning; a brief interview with Asustek CEO and Chairman Jonny Shih. Jonny shared a few tidbits about the Asus EEE PC that might boost the level of attraction for some mobile device users: "the 2- to 8-gigabyte memory cards can be upgraded to 32 gigabytes and the RAM from 256 megabyte to 1 gigabyte by simply taking out two screws on the back of the machine, something that Shen demonstrates but isn't included in the marketing materials. Asustek is also linking with mobile telecom companies to provide a 3g attachment, so users can be connected when Wi-Fi isn't available."

I've had some e-mail conversation with my friend Brad Linder (who has a great two-part overview of his new EEE over and Download Squad) and he mentioned that the memory can be boosted to 2 GB. Unfortunately, it's only in Windows that the full 2 GB is recognized; under the Xandros Linux disto, only a gig is seen. With talk of swappable flash storage and WWAN add-ons, the EEE is looking a little more expandable than originally thought.

Although these two kids probably have more Linux experience than I do, you can rest assured I'll be trying to get my AirCard 875U modem working on it for some HSDPA goodness. More to follow when the unit arrives on Monday. Meanwhile, parts one and two of Brad's overview with video should tide you over. Brad also has a nice tutorial to get full desktop mode on the EEE hosted on his personal site. I'll be bookmarking that for sure.

Comments

[jkkmobile]

RAM is upgradable by end user
but flash is NOT.

There is pci-e slot for wwan but no antenna.

http://jkkmobile.blogspot.com/2007/11/eee-pc-701-4g-gets-dissected.html

http://jkkmobile.blogspot.com/2007/10/asus-eee-pc-has-pci-e-slot-for-hsdpa-or.html

If you read the quate again, u can see 2 different things.

[Kevin C. Tofel]

jkk, do you think he means SDHC and not the internal flash memory?

[Scott_H]

It was also interesting to note that, in a state of panic, Microsoft offered Windows for $40 a pop -- one third the normal price. That other article you posted about the other day that seemed to imply that Windows XP more than doubled the price of the device surely was in error.

[James Kendrick]

I've read that through twice now and there is no doubt in my mind it means the SSD is upgradable. Bear in mind that it's not Jonney saying that but the reporter though. The article clearly states the 2 to 8 GB memory can be upgraded to 32 GB by removing 2 screws on the back of the device. It seems pretty clear to me but how accurate we'll have to wait and see.

[jkkmobile]

Wanna bet James ;)

[jkkmobile]

The only way to do it would be making mini pci-e flash drive...

..and then there would be no room for wwan.

[tnkgrl]

Here's my unboxing and first impressions: http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com/2007/11/03/unboxing-the-asus-710-eee

[Kevin C. Tofel]

Sounds like a few possibilities here. 1. The article misunderstood Jonny and the device isn't upgradeable in terms of flash memory. 2. Some current models (or upcoming models) may be different internally than the one shown in the dissection. It's clear from those photos in the link provided by jkk that the memory is on-board. 3. Asus will offer SSD upgrades via the mini-PCIe slot. I strongly suspect it's number three because of the quote "3g attachment". Attachment to me indicates something external to the device, probably USB, which would leave the slot open for memory.

BTW: great writeup and photos tnkgrl! If folks haven't seen your gallery, they're missing on on tons of pics! :)

[Dean N]

They might want to get their stories straight between the CEO and the folks doing the FAQ on the website. The Eee FAQ on the ASUS Webpage states that NOTHING is user upgradeable. Upgrading the RAM is considered "Customer Induced Destruction", and will void the warranty.

QUOTE FROM THE Eee FAQ:
"Since the product positioning and service terms of Eee PC is different from notebooks, Asus is unable to provide any upgrade for the internal hardware (including the SSD and memory modules).

Customers disassembling the outer cases (including the keyboard) of Eee PC products or tearing off the warranty label is considered as customer induced destruction (CID), which will lead to voiding the warranty.

If you have demands for higher capacity of memory and storage, you may select various models of notebooks from Asus for your suitable purchase."

[James Kendrick]

Dean N, this is not surprising and I discussed this days ago with Kevin. The EEE is so cheap that the profit margin on each unit must be terribly small and Asus will not be able to support user altered units. I fully expected this.

[Kevin C. Tofel]

Since I see the "Warranty Void if Removed" sticker across the screw that Jonney references, I have no doubt I've voided it if I upgrade the memory. Here's the dumb part: why even build it with a removable cover if you can't remove it? I'll be voiding my warranty in the not to distant future for sure.