Get an Asus instead of an iPod or iPhone

iPhone and iPod Touch are nice to have, but writing is still not easy and comfortable. Still an iPod Touch and a mobile phone would make a nice pair.

Now there is the mobile offering of getting a free mobile phone with a free Asus eee PC with your mobile phone contract (Orange and T-Mobile). That sounds even more disruptive!

If you don’t want to get into such deals, the price tag on the mini portable of Asus eee PC 701 is (depending on the country) more or less the same as an iPod Touch (sometimes more cheaper, sometime less cheaper).
Of course the Asus is larger, but comes with a complete keyboard with real buttons.
Both have multimedia (sound and video) and Wifi making them the Anywhere-Internet-Connection devices.

A mobile phone and an Asus:

- Get a mobile phone for verbal communications and texting (sms) at a very low price thanks to sponsoring from the mobile operators (in Europe).
- Use the Asus for browsing, writing, spreadsheet and agenda (40 applications pre-installed) with the mini-but-complete keyboard and the Wifi connection.
Additionally you can use Skype for lower communication costs instead of using your mobile (Skype is pre-installed).

Of the many features:

Starting up: many times faster than a normal PC: less than 15 seconds versus over 50 seconds. So you don’t need to wait forever.
And 3 USB slots for connecting anything to your desire. Connections (MicroSD slot and Ethernet port too) that an iPod Touch and an iPhone miss.

Ever tried to make an appointment when speaking on the BlackBerry?
Speak with the customer on your mobile phone, while you flip open the Asus for looking up your agenda or to verify the content of an email.

Ever tried to write more than a short answer on the BlackBerry or to write a page on an iPhone?
You can on the Asus, maybe not for writing books on, but blogging would be great.

Reviews on the Asus by NotebookReview or TrustedReviews

Of course you will need to pay-as-you-go for the Wifi connection, but you won’t complain on the speed of the Internet.

Lower prices to come

As Asus is shipping the same mini-portable concept, but with a larger screen (8.9″ instead of the 7″) the Asus eee PC 900., expect bargain prices for smaller screen model after the summer holiday.

Go for the white one: it looks cool like an Apple MacBook and it has the flash drive like a MacAir.
Of course not playing in the same league, but you can write letters, notes, email, make quotations and surf the Internet whilst on the road.

Now you only need to connect the mobile phone with the Asus and surf on GPRS when no Wifi is available. This could be done by using a Bluetooth USB key, as most mobiles support Bluetooth.