We'll be the first to admit that we lost track of ASUS' ever-expanding Eee range some time ago, however, to the Taiwanese manufacturer's credit, it continues to roll out new Eee-branded products that catch our attention every once in a while.
This week, it's the ASUS Eee PC 1004DN, the latest in a long, long line of Eee PC netbooks. Making the 1004DN unique is the inclusion of a built-in "Super-Multi" optical disc drive, a surprising first for the Eee PC range.
The Eee PC 1004DN, pictured above, appears to take the best features of recent Eee products and brings them all together. It sports a classy Eee PC S101-like chassis and a keyboard similar to that found on the Eee PC 1002H.
Inside, it's equipped with a combination first seen in the Eee PC 1000HE. Out goes Intel's 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor and 945GSE chipset, and in comes the new 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 processor and GN40 chipset - a pairing that, coupled with 1GB of DDR2 memory, is sufficient to handle 720p high definition playback, says ASUS.
Unfortunately, despite the high-def promise, the Eee PC 1004DN's screen is a 10in affair limited to a WSVGA resolution of 1,024x600 - not quite enough to natively enjoy 720p material.
Weighing 1.45kg, the netbook ships with a 6-cell battery that promises around 5.9 hours of battery life and unusually features a slower-than-usual 4,200RPM 1.8in PATA hard drive. Elsewhere, there's a multi-card reader, three USB ports, Gigabit Ethernet, Wireless N, Bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel webcam and a fingerprint reader, too.
No word on pricing, but we'd expect the Eee PC 1004DN to be one of the premium Eee offerings.
Official press release: Eee PC™ 1004DN – An Omni-capable Companion for All Occasions
