ASUS Eee PC 900 On Sale In US: Stock Seems In Short Supply

As confirmed a week ago, ASUS' Eee PC 900 has gone on sale in the US giving buyers a choice between the original, smaller-screened Eee and this new 8.9-inch version.  However stock seems to be in relatively short supply; Amazon have it listed for $549.99 but "out of stock".  That's allowing those with the 900 on hand to demand a premium, ranging from $15 to $50 in some online stores; Buy.com have stock, and are selling the Linux version for $565.99.

The Eee PC 900 packs up to 20GB of storage, a 1.3-megapixel webcam and SD/SDHC slot as well as the new 1,024 x 600 8.9-inch LCD.  OS choices are between Windows XP and Linux.  The Windows version uses 4GB of Flash memory and an 8GB SSD to make up a total of 12GB storage.  Meanwhile the Linux machine uses twice as much SSD capacity to bring the total to 20GB.

Asustek expect the Eee PC 900 to account for half of all Eee shipments by June.  Initial reviews of the European versions seem to be glowing, with usability, price and portability all coming in for praise.  However battery life could reportedly be an issue, with tests showing around 2hrs use with WiFi switched on and the screen backlight on full.