Is this a Keyboard or PC?

[haveaniceday]

Saw this Asus EeeKeyboard

.. attractive..

it has an Intel Atom N270 processor along with 1GB of DDR2 memory..Sounds really cool.

[Blanka]

I think it's totally crap.
599$ is the same you pay for a MacMini with 2.26 ghz core2duo and 9400M
Combine it with a BT keyboard and you have a way more comfy experience.

Or buy an Asus EEE-box, mount it with accompanying vesa mount behind your TV, add a BT dongle and buy an Apple BT keyboard for 300$ total if you want similar performance and less crap on your lap.

[NiN^_^NiN]

I quite like it altho the price isn't the best the thing this is great for is HTPC as it can sit on your coffee table send the video throught wireless HDMI so it's a good setup i think.

I can see this being the HTPC remote as you won't need any wires to display onto the tv the only downsides are the price and charging cause not everyone can have their htpc setup look nice if the remote needs to be charged after a few hours

Still i can see this doing quite well but i do think it should be cheaper

Just some ideas on how the keyboard could be used

The screen on the keyboard could be used to change tv channels by displaying the logo of the tv station you want.

It can display information about a dvd or have the dvd cover displayed for a quick look while your watching tv or playing games.

It can be used for IMDB while ur watching a movie to finish an argument on who the actor really is

It can be used for chat programs while you watching a movie

There are so many options that it could be used for it's alot more useful than you might think first off

[solidteezme]

Think it would be bloody usefull, but am unsure about a wireless HD connection could be painful.

also it the whole thing on amazon says about how its HD, but then at the bottom says its only 720p. Nice try amazon.

[Howard_Casto]

I quite like it altho the price isn't the best the thing this is great for is HTPC as it can sit on your coffee table send the video throught wireless HDMI so it's a good setup i think.

I can see this being the HTPC remote as you won't need any wires to display onto the tv the only downsides are the price and charging cause not everyone can have their htpc setup look nice if the remote needs to be charged after a few hours

Still i can see this doing quite well but i do think it should be cheaper

Just some ideas on how the keyboard could be used

The screen on the keyboard could be used to change tv channels by displaying the logo of the tv station you want.

It can display information about a dvd or have the dvd cover displayed for a quick look while your watching tv or playing games.

It can be used for IMDB while ur watching a movie to finish an argument on who the actor really is

It can be used for chat programs while you watching a movie

There are so many options that it could be used for it's alot more useful than you might think first off

Well if it were just the keyboard then all you are saying would be true.... the problem is the pc is in there as well so your light keybaord suddenly weighs a few pounds.  Also it's too puny to handle hd video... especially if you are going to stream it wirelessly.

[NiN^_^NiN]

I think the weight isn't an issue it never has been with the EEE PC line till they started going to the heavier 10" ones but the downside is no HD but it depends on the person they might not download HD movies just DVD rips so it's perfect for them i think

As a HTPC it would work great but people who use it for HD rips then its not for them

It's the same argument for netbooks

But at that price i think you could easily build a wireless 7" touchscreen for HTPC purposes

Or buy an old Win Mobile and use some software that turns it into a 3rd wireless monitor and have a app with controls on that window

Heaps of different options and id use this for a bedroom HTPC id have my normal one in the lounge room for HD but in the bedroom i don't think id need or care about HD but then again i watch alot of MST3K so that in HD is a big no no lol

[SavannahLion]

I think the whole thing is a nice try but it's too niche. I think a far better experience could be had by a combination of a server, HTPC, Wireless keyboard and iPod Touch.

The 16GB HDD is anemic. You would effectively be streaming the video from the source (your server) to your "keyboard" then to the TV. A lot of wasted bandwidth that could easily be recovered by a couple of dedicated wires. 

My wireless keyboard takes two AA batteries and lasts approximately 4 months as opposed to this thing which lasts a mere four hours. Granted my wireless keyboard is a bit old and the wireless component has a couple of warts. But geez, the battery life murders this thing. 

Lastly any decent server running LAMP (or some other custom suite for this purpose), a bit of trickery with routing addresses and a bit of code and your iPod Touch (or any other web accessible device) becomes your HTPC remote. Even control your movies from anywhere in the house. 

Yeah... this thing is just too niche. It's nice to have an option when building your home entertainment center, but there are far better, more flexible and more powerful designs out there.

[solidteezme]

Or buy an old Win Mobile and use some software that turns it into a 3rd wireless monitor and have a app with controls on that window

Enlighten me? 

[NiN^_^NiN]

I think the whole thing is a nice try but it's too niche. I think a far better experience could be had by a combination of a server, HTPC, Wireless keyboard and iPod Touch.

The 16GB HDD is anemic. You would effectively be streaming the video from the source (your server) to your "keyboard" then to the TV. A lot of wasted bandwidth that could easily be recovered by a couple of dedicated wires. 

My wireless keyboard takes two AA batteries and lasts approximately 4 months as opposed to this thing which lasts a mere four hours. Granted my wireless keyboard is a bit old and the wireless component has a couple of warts. But geez, the battery life murders this thing. 

Lastly any decent server running LAMP (or some other custom suite for this purpose), a bit of trickery with routing addresses and a bit of code and your iPod Touch (or any other web accessible device) becomes your HTPC remote. Even control your movies from anywhere in the house. 

Yeah... this thing is just too niche. It's nice to have an option when building your home entertainment center, but there are far better, more flexible and more powerful designs out there.

Funny enough i've been doing this using my android phone as a remote to select dvd's to play and have them play throught VLC on my hdtv and im just using VLC's webserver to do it no lamp for now

[NiN^_^NiN]

Or buy an old Win Mobile and use some software that turns it into a 3rd wireless monitor and have a app with controls on that window

Enlighten me? 

There is software for PocketPC called SideWindow which runs a small server program on the pc and when u connect from the pocket PC your PC adds the PDA as a 2nd or 3rd monitor depending on your setup then you can drag any app to the PDA and use it like a normal monitor setup

I use to use it for MSN and photoshop tools on an old O2 and even had video playing ok altho it was a 802.11B wifi adapter in the pda

I just checked their website and they don't seem to have it but it should be found easily enough on google