Asus plans to launch a version of its popular Eee PC laptop with built-in support for 3G wireless connections later this year. PC World is reporting that European customers might be able to pick up a 3G unit as early as late September.
It’s possible that these deals could drive the price of mini-notebooks down even further. When you buy a cellphone from your wireless carrier, odds are the price you’re paying is far below the value of the hardware. But the carrier subsidizes the cost of fancy phones by getting you to sign up for long term contracts. We could see the same thing happen with laptops, which means you might be able to knock a hundred dollars or more off the price of an already cheap laptop by committing to stick with a mobile company for a year or two.
