The price for Asus Eee 4G (no Surf)

While surfing eBay (the American one) I played with an idea of not getting the cheapest Eee, but the 4G model. So basically the same model as is sold here in the EU. The prices were higher, they stared at $399 - this was the price for the model with a webcam, so it was not a Surf model. If I add $80 shipping to EU to this price, I get a higher price then it is here in Europe! And that is without the possible customs. So it looks like it's better to buy it in Europe if you're from Europe. The shipping just adds too many dollars to the price.

So, I have decided - if I buy my Eee, I will buy it in Europe. Color? White, if possible.

I have also checked the prices in Austria (in Cosmos in Villach). They only had one more Eee left, the price was 299€, and it's color was white. Since it had the German characters engraved on the keyboard I have decided that it might be better to buy it in Slovenia if I want Slovenian keyboard. And it gave me some more time to think about buying a toy that I don't really need for 300€. Or 299€, if I'm more specific.

Not all models everywhere :(

I have wanted to see how much the price in Slovenia, where I come from, is. I was surprised that the price is the same as in other EU countries and not a Euro higher. So it is higher than in US, but the same as in Europe. Great.

I have investigated further to see what model I can buy for this price. I have realized that in Slovenia there are only 4G EEEs available, and (for now?) only in black color. I wanted to have it in white, but I think black is nice as well. So there were no 2G, 2G Surf or 4G Surf models. Interesting. That also means that the price is not 33% higher, because the price $299 was for the 2G Surf model. 4G (no Surf) was more expensive.

I have checked the prices in Austria and Germany and they were the same as in Slovenia. However, I was able to find white model in Austria, so I guess they'll ship them to Slovenia as well, eventually. But I'm not sure I want to wait for the white model :)

The price is right!

When I knew what I was looking for and how it is called the next step was to see how expensive it is and whether I could afford it or not. It was small, so I thought the price will be high. In fact I thought the price would be too high for me - I already have a notebook, so why buy another one (smaller one) and spend $1000 for a double notebook? Well, I was surprised when I learned that the Eee was a low price notebook! In fact, it was one of Asus' priorities to make it inexpensive. Great! The price was only $299 for the first model! The next one was $50 more, and the next one another $50 more. These were the prices that I found in different shops that Google found. I tried Amazon and the price was the same.

I am from Europe, so I wanted to see what are the prices over here. Disappointment here - the price was 299€, which is basically one third more expensive as in the US! Yes, $100 more if you buy it in Europe. Where is the logic of that?!

A tiny elegant machine

I went to a European eGovernement conference "Alliance with users" in Brdo, Slovenia. The conference was very interesting - even I had presented a Pan-European Pilot that shows establishing a limited company in Slovenia online by using EU (in this case Estonian) digital certificate. Even more interesting was the tiny laptop that one of the attendees had on his knees. It was very small, bright white, and it almost didn't look like a computer. The screen was small, but it looked like the man using it has been reading and responding e-mail. So it had to mean that this is not a toy with limited capabilities but rather a real computer. I peeked over his shoulder to see what it can do, but the most I looked for some kind of name or logo on the laptop so I could identify it and learn more about it on the internet. From the moment I saw it I knew that I wanted to own it and that some day it will be mine.
When the man stopped using it, he shut it down, closed the lid, and the name ASUS appeared on the tiny little wonder. It was enough to remember.