Eee PC T91 touchscreen netbook - first look

Eee PC T91 touchscreen netbook - first look



Philip Barker - 26 February 2009 - 5:43pm

Following a visit from Asus earlier today, we got the opportunity to get an exclusive look at some of its upcoming products – including the first touchscreen Eee PC Netbook – the Eee PC T91.

This tiny device is little larger than the first-generation Eee PC 701 – with an 8.9-inch screen, but you’ll now find a swivelling touchscreen panel that allows use as a Tablet PC.

The screen is one of the T91’s best features. It has the same 1024 x 600 pixel resolution as most of the other netbooks we’ve seen, but colours are brilliantly vivid, bringing photographs and movies to life. Images are also clear and sharp – which is unusual on a touchscreen panel. The glossy finish will frustrate some, however, proving reflective in brighter conditions.

The first T91 models to hit the shelves will feature Windows XP, with following products featuring Windows 7. Asus was also keen to stress that the T91 will ship with the company’s own eTouchSuite software, offering a user-friendly environment more suited to touchscreen use.

The sample we saw was a pre-production unit, and it’s too early to judge on build quality. However, there’s plenty of space for keys of a reasonable size, and we found usability to be reasonable.

Components such as the Intel Atom processor and 1024MB of memory are standard netbook fare, although more unusual options include a GPS chip for satellite navigation and a TV tuner.

On sale towards the end of April, prices start at around £420 (inc. VAT).