[geeks] Whee! The EEE is available in the US

[Lionel Peterson]

>From: Mike Hebel <nimitz at nimitzbrood.com>
>Date: 2007/10/31 Wed PM 12:55:53 CDT
>To: The Geeks List <geeks at sunhelp.org>
>Subject: Re: [geeks] Whee! The EEE is available in the US

>On Oct 31, 2007, at 12:52 PM, Patrick Giagnocavo wrote:
>
>> On Oct 31, 2007, at 12:43 PM, Mike Hebel wrote:
>>>
>>> Indeed.  Even the video review on their page says $199 while the page
>>> says $399.  And the video review implied that the 4GB flash storage
>>> was the minimum in the machine and the price would only go up with
>>> increases in storage, 8GB, 16GB, etc.
>>
>> I haven't found Directron to be the cheapest, so I would figure that
>> within 4 weeks or so, prices would have started to drop a great deal
>> as Asus gets more inventory into the channel.
>
>If it's Directron upping the cost then that's essentially what?  A  
>50% markup on the product?
>
>If I were Asus I'd tell Directron to knock it off before it kills the  
>product line.
>
>Too high an opening price will drive consumers away.  Period.
>
>And not being able to provide what's promised - $199 versus $399 -  
>will make the company appear disingenuous and not to be trusted.

DIrectron didn't up the price, it is available from several suppliers at $399 (or *very* similar prices) - the difference between $199 and 399 is the features in the different models - as I understand it, Asus is releasing the third most powerful version first - there will be two laptops with lesser configurations (less RAM?) and one with a greater configuration (10" screen?). It is not clear how the flash disk size plays into the pricing...

The macyhine that "statrs" at $199 has yet to be released, AFAIK - this particular model is not the cheapest one they plan.

Lionel