Asus dropped into the office to confirm the details of the forthcoming Eee 901 mini-notebook PC. Launching on the 1st of July, both the XP and Linux versions will cost £319 (less than the current Eee 900), with the significant difference being a 20GB SSD on the Linux model and 12GB on the XP version. Both use a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB of memory and will include a 6600mAh battery and Bluetooth.

First impressions of the 901 are good: it's similarly sized to the original Eee 701, with a curvier body holding the (larger, higher resolution) display and (similarly small) keyboard. Interestingly, Asus's Helen Ling predicted that plenty of 901s would be available at launch, telling us that "we don't have a problem with Atom supply". MSI was far more cautious when discussing its forthcoming Atom-powered Wind notebook, due for £329.

We'll bring you a full review in Computeractive very soon.