Sure, Asus is already selling or has announced 10 different Eee PC models (the 701 2G Surf, 4G Surf, 4G, and 8G, the 900, the 901, the 904, the 1000, the 1000H, and the 1000HD). But what’s a few more model numbers between friends? The folks at Engadget got their hands on a top secret photo showing some of the company’s plans for the future: including a grand total of 23 Eee PC models, including a bunch we haven’t seen before.
As you can see, Asus appears to be dividing the lineup into three segments, “smart casual,” “pro,” and “ultimate.” It looks like every Eee PC released to date fits into the smart casual category, even if some of the computers in that line go for as much as $699. I could be wrong, but I assume the Pro lineup will carry even higher price tags, and I imagine the Ultimate line will bear little resemblance to the $300 Eee PC 2G Surf.
A few of the names are descriptive. It looks like we can expect to see a 701SD with a 30GB hard drive in the future. I’m guessing Asus will be able to slap a 30GB hard drive in a case with a 7 inch display for about the same price as a 4GB solid state disk, so it appears the company has finally decided to give customers the choice between higher storage capacities and more durable solid state memory.
Asus has completely lost the plot. At least for me one of the great things about the eee and its like was that it was cheap and simple. Now they’re taking away both of those advantages and replacing it with a swarm of models that differ only in some small details.