Asus to add touch to Eee PC

Author: Gareth Halfacree
Published: 10th October 2008

The Eee PC is due a hardware refresh at the start of next year, with models featuring touchscreens and dual-core Atom chips confirmed.

Just in case you thought that it was only bad news that came out of Asus these days, here's something to cheer you up: an official Eee PC model with integral touchscreen.

According to an article over on Gizmodo, Asus is looking to release the touchscreen variant of its popular Eee PC netbook some time during the first quarter of next year – with the first models likely to surface at CES in January.

The touchscreen mod has proved particularly popular amongst Eee PC owners who don't mind losing the warranty associated with the device, and it's not hard to see why: with a form factor only slightly larger than an old-fashioned palmtop, the ability to navigate the OS via fingertip is certainly a temptation. While the official touchscreen Eee PC model won't go as far as some homebrew modifications have done – the ability to rotate the screen in the manner of a teeny-tiny tablet PC is unlikely to appear – it's certainly another option for anyone who wants something a bit special but doesn't have the soldering skills or confidence required to roll their own.

The news gets better for Eee PC fans, too: according to DigiTimes the company is also planning some new top-end models using Intel's dual-core Atom chips, and a new entry-level system that keeps things closer to the Eee's original design spec of an ultra-low-cost PC with an MSRP of just $300.

Would you be tempted by an official touchscreen Eee, or is the whole idea just too gimmicky for you to swallow? Share your thoughts over in the forums.