Eeeks! It’s getting harder by the day to deny that Asus is exploiting the Eee brand name now more than ever. What started off as a single model — the 701, a pioneer in the netbook industry — has now mushroomed into an international product roadmap of well over 20 Eee PC models. Too many models, way too many choices. How then does the latest entrant, the Eee PC S101, plan to differentiate itself from its ‘sEeeblings’, leave alone the fierce netbook competition?

For starters, the S101 has been infused with a heavy dose of class. An executive netbook if we ever saw one, the S101 shoots for the premium look-and-feel of pricier ultra-portable notebooks, but with the processing power and price of the netbook segment. With looks borrowed from Asus’s own line of high-end ultraportables, the S101 loses the toy-ish looks of the current Eee PCs in favour of a premium glossy black plastic and brushed metal finish. And the puppy fat is gone too, with curved edges and a tapered profile that results in a slim 1kg package.

The keyboard, always a hit-or-miss (literally!) on netbooks, is fantastic. Thanks to the 10.2-in screen, there’s ample space for decent size keys, and it is large enough to touch-type with great accuracy. The keys also provide fairly good feedback, and are good for extended sessions of use. The mouse trackpad is large but well-positioned to avoid accidental contact with your palm while typing and as with previous Eee models, is compatible with multi-touch gesture inputs.

The 10.2-in, 1024 x 600 pixel display evokes similar reactions, and is rather useable, even outdoors. Viewing angles aren’t that great and contrast could have been better in photos and videos, but I’m assuming the S101 isn’t shooting for home-entertainment territory, so we’ll let that pass.

Of course, under the hood, this is all pure netbook, powered by the usual 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor and the Windows XP version features 1GB of RAM. WiFi is there, as is Bluetooth, so you’re all set, connectivity-wise. If you’re familiar with netbooks, there’s nothing new on the performance front. Of course, this is not meant for those looking for the cheapest netbook, rather for the lot who likes the idea of a netbook but needs something more refined and sleek, though at a premium.

Now while the S101 largely hovers around the netbook territory, the Eee Top (yes, more Eees than you’d ever see in one column!) is a clear departure from the other Eees. For the most part, the white chassis on this all-in-one-desktop reminds me of the toy-like characteristics of the standard Eee PC models, yet the 15.6-in screen, Apple-style keyboard and clear Perspex base give it a far more stylish feel than the rest of its low-cost brethren.

It’s easy to see where Asus got the inspiration for the Eee Top — it’s the separated at birth twin of the last generation Apple iMac. And did I mention, this is a touchscreen display, something current gen iMacs lack? Talk about imitation and one-upmanship in one breath!

And the touchscreen interface works well, too. While the Eee comes equipped with Windows XP Home, it’s really not noticeable — Asus layers an interface over-the-top, styled to resemble the tab-based version of Xandros Linux that was installed on the original Eee PCs. So you get ‘Communication’, ‘Fun’ and ‘Work’ tabs that segregate the various applications.

A stylus, which can be slotted into the rear of the keyboard when not in use, can be used for navigation, but with the majority of the icons scattered around the four tabs being reasonably large, your God-given styluses will do just fine too.

The touchscreen is fairly responsive, but it has two weaknesses. First, let’s be honest, Asus would really have pulled one out of the bag if the screen was multi-touch. And using the touchscreen for photos and movies is fine, but anything beyond that will have you reaching for the comfort of the wired keyboard and mouse. Wired…hmm. Not good. I can already start making a long list of features that Version 2 needs to fix.

Underneath the attractive exterior and touchscreen interface is largely the same hardware that powered the Eee PCs — Intel’s 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, a gigabyte of RAM, and a 160GB hard disk. No optical drive though. The familiar spec means performance is similar — tolerable, but not fast. XP and the touchscreen interface run without any problems, as do word processing and web surfing. Try no more though — gaming or video editing will have the Atom CPU struggling to cope.

Of course, that isn’t the point of the Eee Top. Like netbooks, this is meant to be a secondary PC for simple tasks, and I can see place for it say in the kitchen, or a child’s bedroom. It’s stylish, and it’s got a touchscreen, which almost no PC offers.

Nevertheless, we do like this little machine, and if your needs fall within its niche you won’t regret buying it.

Eee PC S101

Rating: 8/10

Price: Rs 27,990 (excluding taxes)

Eee Top ET1602

Rating: 8/10

Price: Rs 44,000 (excluding taxes)

URL: http://in.asus.com

Keeping track

Creepy but cool. The new version of Google Maps for your GPS enabled phones allows you to share your location with your friends and family, and vice versa. After your friends have shared their locations with you, you can see where they are either on a map or in a list. Of course, you can easily show or hide your location from a friend, manually set your location, and enable or disable the Latitude feature at any time. Just what we wanted, not only does Google know everything about my life, it knows where I am as well!

• URL: http://www.google.com/latitude
• Price: Free

Good doggie!

One for the kids. Scout the Puppy is an ordinary looking stuffed toy, except that it has a USB connection. Yes, you read that right, Scout’s USB connection allows parents to hook him up to a computer to personalise him, entering information like the child’s name, favourite colour as well as the ability to download tunes from an online server that can be played back to keep the kids happy later on. Scout will interact with your child using the pre-programmed data, including inserting your child’s name in generic phrases! And best of all, no house-training required!

• URL: http://www.leapfrog.com/
• Price: $19.99