New Eee PCs get UK release date

The latest versions of the Eee PC will become available in the UK on 1 July, Asus announced on Thursday.

Both based on Intel's low-power 1.6GHz Atom processor, the Eee 901 and 1000 should have better battery life than their predecessors, especially as they feature 6-cell 6600mAh batteries as opposed to the Eee 900's much-derided 4-cell 4400mAh default battery. They also include both Bluetooth and 802.11n Wi-Fi connectivity, unlike the Wi-Fi-only Eee 900 and 701.

The Eee 901 has an 8.9-inch display and the Eee 1000 has a 10-inch display, but both feature a resolution of 1,024x600 pixels. Both models come with a gigabyte of RAM, and are available in Linux or Windows flavours.

As with the Eee 900, the Linux Eee 901 has 20GB of solid-state storage while the Windows version has 12GB. With the Eee 1000, however, it is the Windows version that has more storage -- 80GB of hard drive versus 40GB for the Linux version. Both models come with 20GB of free, encrypted online storage.

The Eee 901 will come with a recommended retail price of £319 -- £10 less than the Eee 900 cost at launch. The price for the Eee 1000 has not yet been announced.