March 27th, 2009
Report: Asus to launch Eee PC with optical drive in April
Always-busy usually-true rumor mill DigiTimes is reporting that Asus is scheduled to launch its new Eee PC, the E1004DN, in mid-April, and will follow with the 1008HA in May, according to sources at retail channels.
The E1004DN, which will be the first Eee PC to have an optical disc drive, is built with an Intel Atom N280 CPU connected to a GN40 chipset, a 120GB hard drive. It will carry a suggested retail price of roughly $550, DigiTimes reports.
Which begs the question: is an optical drive worth offering on a netbook? It seems to me that we’ve moved past the optical drive, instead preferring flash memory, such as USB sticks.
(Tell me what you think in TalkBack.)
Andrew J. Nusca is an associate editor for ZDNet and SmartPlanet.
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