Asus officially announced the Eee Top today, and while it’s only available in Taiwan for the time being, a US version is inevitable.

The Eee Top’s specs are in line with the current generation of Eee netbooks, 160GB hard disk, 1GB of RAM, 802.11n WiFi, 1.3 megapixel webcam, 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, and running Windows XP Home, the main difference here is the 15.6-inches of touchscreen LCD.

I was hoping it would at least feature a dual core Atom, no such luck, though I still plan on picking one up when the US version hits, after all it seems like a prime target for installing OS X.

If you missed the memo (and the ensuing knockoffs), Eee’s are hot right now. Not only is some bank in Canada giving them away for free, but now PowerUp Mobile is as well.

UK customers who sign a two-year contract with PowerUp Mobile for T-Mobile’s Web n Walk broadband service will get not only a free Eee (2G), but also a free USB modem.

Again, this offer is outside the US, but maybe someday we’ll get a similar deal.

RBC Royal Bank of Canada is taking promotional offers to a whole new level, offering up a Eee PC 2G surf for opening a new account! A nice upgrade from the free coffee pot I got for opening my account.

Of course, there are hoops to jump through…

Not quite enough to get me to move to Canada, but if they start offering a 4G Eee PC, I am so there.

You heard right, the big brother of the current Eee model is hitting stores May 12th. Not only will it feature a larger screen, but it will also be available in both Windows XP and Linux flavors for the price of $549.

How does that work you ask? One has a free OS and the other Windows, but they cost the same?! Outrageous! Actually not really, turns out if you opt for Linux you’ll be getting rewarded in the form of a 20GB SSD as opposed to the 12GB SSD with the Windows model.

Storage space aside, both options have the same specs: 8.9-in. screen, 1GB of system memory, a 1.3-megapixel camera and a multi-touch trackpad.

I just purchased an Eee PC from Newegg.com and I’m pretty excited to see what a budget Linux laptop is capable of. I’d also really like to replace the screen with a touch screen, but since the computer is meant for my girlfriend I’m not sure she’ll exactly support that idea. Oh well.

Now I started writing this post on Monday but I didn’t finish it, and since I just got the computer today (Wednesday) this is going to be more of a review, as opposed to a “oh man, this is gonna be sweet” post.

Like I said, I just got the computer. Obvious first impression is “holy crap! It’s small!”, because frankly it is… Moving on to a more technical note, I clocked the boot time at 33.7 seconds, just over double the claimed 15 second boot time, still not bad. This is the 2G Surf model, so it has a slightly slower processor which might explain the slower boot time. When compared to the 31 second boot time of my Macbook Pro it truly is an impressive feat.

More random thoughts on the Eee PC after the jump
Read More…