Dell's answer to the Asus Eee

Details and pics leaked

13 June 2008 16:10 GMT / By Katie Scott

At the end of May, Michael Dell got a little over excited and gave a reporter a sneaky peek of his company's answer to the Asus Eee.

Now, Engadget has got hold of specs and pics of the new Dell E line-up (very original name), and it looks like the concept may soon be a reality.

Slides that have managed to find themselves in the tech journos' mitts show two models - an 8.9-inch model clearly meant to take on the Eee 900, and the 12.1-inch "E Slim", which, at 0.8 inches thick, could be set to rival the MacBook Air or indeed, the new HP Voodoo Envy 133.

All of the Dell Eee-alikes run Linux and Windows XP.

We don't know whether it's full-featured Linux OS but there does seem to be an instant-on, Foleo-esque Linux included on all of them called BlackTop.

There are three different versions of the 8.9 inch model - the E Classic model for super low-end use, and E Video and E Video+ for more RAM, larger flash storage, and webcams.

And the Video+ boasts Bluetooth on top.

August is mooted as the launch for the E, with the E Slim following a month later.

A WWAN followup for both models is expected in October, with WiMAX after that.

Dell even has a second version of both devices slated for Q2 2009, but that's all we know about those so far.

Prices for the Dell E start at $299.