Eee Box 1501 nettop brings ION to just about anywhere

The Eee Box line has become quite popular as the low-cost desktop versions of ASUS’ popular line of netbook computers.  As the name kind of implies, the Eee Box machines aren’t laptops but instead are small form factor computers that can be attached to a TV as a basic HTPC or even to a standard keyboard/monitor setup if this is all the power you need.

Continuing the ASUS onslaught of new products this week, the Eee Box 1501 combines the power of the NVIDIA ION chipset with a dual-core Intel Atom N330 processor and Windows 7 Home Premium to produce a machine that I think will find many great uses.

The primary use I see for the Eee Box 1501 is as a basic home theater PC, that now with the update to Flash 10.1 available to the public, could play back all sorts of H.264 and Flash-based video over the integrated HDMI connection to your TV.  That means you can now get Hulu and other video services where they should be – in front of your couch not your computer chair.

The Eee Box does include a slot loading DVD player (not Blu-ray though) and support for 5.1 channel audio output from a SPDIF connection.  It also includes a Gigabit Ethernet connection and 802.11n wireless networking so you should be able to easily stream media from any PC in your home to a TV connected to this device thanks to the new Windows 7 media features.


Of course there are other great uses for the Eee Box 1501 – it will include a VESA-compatible mount to attach it directly to the back of standard PC monitor (or TV for that matter) making it a nearly invisible addition to your computing household.

The Eee Box 1501 should be available on Decemeber 7th with an MSRP of $479 – I am eager to get my hands on one for a review here on PC Perspective.  Stay tuned!!

Interestingly, the Eee Box 1501 is basically a desktop version of the recently announced/released ASUS Eee PC 1201N using the same CPU and chipset combination.