Rumor Has It Asus is Making an Eee PC With a GPU

Register Hardware reported this morning that Asus might make an Eee PC with a dedicated Graphics Processing Unit, or video card in layman’s terms. Why Asus would want to make their wonderful Eee netbooks pull double duty I’ll never know. One of the things I like about netbooks is they’re task-specific, never claiming to be a gaming PC or desktop replacement.

Did the reviews calling the Eee PC “amazing but not for gamers” get under Asus’ skin? I’d be concerned about a dedicated GPU in an Eee PC for a few reasons.



First, netbooks run notoriously hot after as little as an hour’s use. Anything 90 degrees Fahrenheit or up gets really uncomfortable on the lap, and most netbooks reach those temps without a discrete video card.

Second, I’d like netbooks to remain in the netbook category. Maybe I’m being a little obsessive-compulsive about it, but I like everything in its place. I can’t help but think that with more hardware and features crammed into a netbook, the less they’ll appeal to prospective buyers. The Eee PC 1000, and MSI Wind already approach the ultraportable laptop class, and so do their prices. The addition of a video card and a gaming OS like Windows XP could drive the cost up by as much as $300. If I’m going to spend $800 or more on a laptop, I’ll spend an extra couple hundred to get one with Tablet functionality, more RAM, and more battery power.

This is just rumor at this point, but we’ll keep an eye out for more concrete proof. Just in time for the Holidays, we’re almost done with our review of the best netbooks, so keep an eye out over the next week and be sure to drink your Ovaltine read some of our other posts.

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