ASUS Eee Box: Initial Impressions and Dissection
by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 29, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Anand
I've been working on a few major projects lately and each time I'm nearing completion of one, something even more tempting comes my way.
I've got part 2 of the HTPC build process coming along, despite serious advances in hardware acceleration and mature platforms like AMD's 780G there's unfortunately no perfect HTPC setup at this point. I'll explain more in the article.
Hothead sent over a couple review copies of On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, both Jarred and I have finished the game and it's just a matter of writing the review up.
Then there's OCZ's nia, the gaming input device that uses your facial muscles to control in-game actions like jumping and shooting. I would be working on all of these things except that today an early sample of ASUS' Eee Box arrived at my doorstep:
Like its mobile counterpart, the Eee Box is designed to be a low cost desktop that won't break speed records, but should be fast enough for basic tasks.
Opening the Eee Box
The machine I received features a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor paired with an Intel 945G chipset, 1GB of DDR2-667 memory (a single SO-DIMM module is installed) and a 160GB Seagate Momentus 5400.4 2.5" SATA hard drive. There is no optical drive but the machine has built in Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11n wireless. Bluetooth is also built in so you can setup the machine to only have two wires coming out of it (DC power and DVI out to your monitor).
At the top we have the Intel 945GMCH, the sliver of a CPU in the middle is the Atom, to the left of it is a standard Core 2 Duo E7200 and to the right is the 802.11n card. Above the 802.11n card is the sole SATA/power ports on the motherboard.
ASUS will be shipping three models of the Eee Box and unfortunately I don't have pricing or availability information on any of them at this point. I expect to have more details by the time the review is complete. I do have some early impressions though:
- My sample shipped with Windows XP, and the Atom processor is surprisingly quick. I haven't tried putting Vista on it yet but so far this thing is more than sufficient for web surfing, email and basic office work. And yes, YouTube/Hulu work just fine on it.
- I'm extremely impressed with the size and design of the machine, ASUS did a tremendous job here. It feels fairly well built and comes in a form factor that's quite similar to the Apple TV. Ever since the release of the Mac mini I've yet to see a PC maker really come close to introducing a competitor, but ASUS has finally done it with this thing.
- There's no optical drive but the machine is fairly well connected thanks to integrated Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n and Bluetooth.
- The system isn't passively cooled although I suspect it could be. Unfortunately the fan is fairly noisy for the size of the system, at least in this early machine. I've already passed along the feedback to ASUS so we'll see if any changes can be made before the thing ships.
- Like most modern ASUS motherboards, the Eee Box can boot into Express Gate (splashtop) which gives you instant access to IM (via Pidgin), Skype, a web browser or a photo browser.
- While the Eee Box is fast enough to decode DivX/Xvid, it doesn't have the horsepower to do full 1080p H.264. I've found that low bitrate 720p H.264 is possible but with CPU utilization at around 90%. I would've preferred if ASUS had used the mobile Atom processor as its chipset has full H.264 decode acceleration, although I get the impression that it's not quite ready.
- It all comes down to price. At the right price, the Eee Box could be a very good machine to have in rooms around the house. What would you all pay for something like this?
I'm working on performance testing now and I'll keep you posted on how this thing stacks up. I don't have any VIA C7 based platforms in my lab so my first performance comparisons will unfortunately only be to Intel CPUs.
On a side note, after using Windows XP all day on this thing I've completely forgotten how light the OS feels compared to Vista.
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mmntech - Thursday, May 29, 2008 - link
The Mac Mini is going to inherently be better since it has a faster Core 2 Duo processor. It also has a DVD drive built in. However, I think the Mini is still shipping with just an 80gb HDD and it's (probably) more expensive.I think what people here who are criticizing the Eee Box's lack of power are forgetting one thing. Most people don't use their computers for high power tasks. An internet/email/word processing box is all most home and office users need. I think the point of these systems is to hook them up to an HDTV in a living room where people can accomplish every day tasks from the comfort of their couch. As an HTPC, it's got plenty of power for music and SD video. Given lacklustre sales of Blu-ray, I don't think people are too concerned with on demand HD content (as opposed to broadcast HD) yet to warrant it being able to output HD video. I didn't like the Eee PC that much but the Eee Box is shaping up to be a nice product. I'd certainly buy one of these.
woofersus - Thursday, May 29, 2008 - link
So, without full hd support, this becomes what? An internet appliance? It can't be a very effective multimedia device. It's not a laptop, so you can't use it to check those important emails on the go while listening to your music. It's not a powerful machine, so no games, no productivity apps much more demanding than msoffice.If it's just for surfing the web/checking email, it better be cheaper than what you could build with a bare bones type micro atx platform, and if it's about being compact, it better be a helluva lot cheaper than what I could build on itx. (which for around $400 could be a fantastic media extender/dvd player/dvr/tuner/etc)
The mac mini works because it's a complete machine. It's a computer. No ifs or buts. They're great for portability without buying a laptop. Mini itx offers this opportunity (although I haven't seen anything with quite the footprint of the mac mini) for pc users who want small and/or portable. What need does this fill? People who just want a dirt cheap computer the size of a router because they can't afford a nice pc? Well with no optical drive this isn't proabably your first/primary machine.
Am I missing something? Why would I want this?
jabber - Thursday, May 29, 2008 - link
Yep sorry but the lack of internal optical drive limits its appeal to me drastically. They can manage to put them in ITX boxes so whats the problem here?Having to have the box a few mm thicker would far outweigh the hassle of having to rig up external drives etc. to use the thing to any great deal. Spoils its potential as a HTPC/media centre too.
As we have seen with Asus stuff. Best to wait for the Mk2 in 6 months time.
Kobaljov - Thursday, May 29, 2008 - link
Looks promising, but the lack of the optical drive and the noosy fan are a serious disadvantage. The splashot Linux is a good extra.Price: the Intel talks about 300 USD configuration, thats will be good (or be cheaper) or compare it with the MSI Titan 700
(We have a 20% VAT here in Hungary)
Doormat - Thursday, May 29, 2008 - link
There is no good reason this should go for any more. Apple even uses a discrete video solution because it requires H.264 decode (cant do it in software with the CPU in the ATV). I'd love to see a version of this + full 1080p divx/H.264 decoding capabilities and the dual core (4 thread) atom. Would sure make a great cheap PC for $250.Anand, please be sure to test power consumption of the eeebox.
LuxZg - Thursday, May 29, 2008 - link
I'll say it like this.Here in Croatia, for 350$ (in a local shop, which means that it would realisticly cost more like 250 in US) I can get E2180, 2GB of DDR 800, G31 MBO (Gigabyte one at that), case with PSU, DVDRW and a 250GB SATA disk (7200rpm ofcourse).
So I'm ready to pay 250-300$ (local value, meaning it should be like 175-210$ in US). Let's be real, it's small, but I'm not paying (too much) extra. It should cost no more than similary configured "normal" desktop.
chrwei - Thursday, May 29, 2008 - link
the other thing you are missing is power usage. the ebox will be half, or less, the power usage, and the cost of power is only going to go upStromm - Thursday, May 29, 2008 - link
No Offense, but livin in the US and buying local your items will cost at least $315us.Comparing that to the Ebox, we're still missing WinXP, WiFi-N, Bluetooth, DVI and a really small form case.
Online in the US is not much cheaper, and about the same once shipping is included.
nubie - Sunday, June 1, 2008 - link
He is correct, the equivalent desktop could be cheaper, he just chose the wrong CPU as an example. ~$40 apiece for a Celeron Conroe-L 420 and plain 775 mobo isn't bad, and the celeron 430's I have used will clock to 2.4Ghz with a simple conductive paint strap. Not to mention how lightweight an Atom is (I could be wrong, but I think the Conroe-L is much more powerful clock for clock).Not to even mention the d201gly2 "Little Valley" ITX motherboards, which are also Core2 based with a Celeron 220, and are available for $70. The next generation of boards will likely have the Atom, IIRC.
The real trick is what it would take to get a video card upgrade in the Asus, I think you could use a Mini-express card to PCI-E x1 and a PCI-e video card to upgrade it, but it wouldn't be pretty (I would use a $25 card from ebay, geforce 6200-7300).
I think the best part is the instant on OS, forget XP, that should satisfy most of the uses for this machine.
sprockkets - Thursday, May 29, 2008 - link
This is the first official Atom benchmarks to arrive?