Asus EeeBox PC (formerly Asus Eee Box) is a

nettop A nettop (or miniature PC, Mini PC or Smart Micro PC) is a small-sized, inexpensive, low-power, legacy-free desktop computer designed for basic tasks such as web browsing, accessing web-based applications, document processing, and audio/video ...

computer line from ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated, and a part of the

Asus Eee Asus Eee is a family of products by AsusTek Computer Inc. The product family began with the release of the Eee PC subnotebook in 2007; since then, the product family has diversified into a number of PC form factors. According to the company, th ...

product family. First released on August 11, 2008, the Asus EeeBox PC series is marketed as a small, light, inexpensive and energy-efficient counterpart to the

Asus Eee PC The ASUS Eee PC is a netbook computer line from Asus, and a part of the ASUS Eee product family. At the time of its introduction in late 2007, it was noted for its combination of a lightweight, Linux-based operating system, solid-state drive (S ...

netbook Netbook was a commonly used term that identified a product class of small and inexpensive laptops which were sold from 2007 to around 2013. These machines were designed primarily as cost-effective tools for consumers to access the Inte ...

subnotebook Subnotebook, also called ultraportable, superportable, or mini notebook, was a marketing term for laptop computers that are smaller and lighter than a typical notebook-sized laptop. Types and sizes As typical laptop sizes have decreased over t ...

laptop series. Its

motherboard A motherboard (also called mainboard, main circuit board, mb, mboard, backplane board, base board, system board, logic board (only in Apple computers) or mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expand ...

employs

Splashtop Splashtop is a family of remote-desktop software and remote support software, developed by Splashtop Inc. Splashtop enables users to remotely access or remotely support computers from desktop and mobile devices. Splashtop enables remote compu ...

technology called ''Express Gate'' by Asus.

Features

"Instant-On"

The EeeBox PC motherboard features a form of embedded

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

, referred to in the user manual as ''Express Gate'', a result of the ASUS

SplashTop Splashtop is a family of remote-desktop software and remote support software, developed by Splashtop Inc. Splashtop enables users to remotely access or remotely support computers from desktop and mobile devices. Splashtop enables remote compu ...

software. In the EeeBox PC implementation, the user is presented with a customised Linux desktop a few seconds after powering up the EeeBox PC, with the option of launching a web browser, an online chat application, a file manager, a photo browser or a

Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...

application, without having to load the main operating system. If the user does not select any of these options, the main operating system (typically Windows XP Home) loads automatically.

Low power consumption

The EeeBox PC uses an external power supply, but due to the low power requirements, this unit is physically smaller than most external computer laptop power supplies. At December 2008, the supplied UK power adapter is a small rectangular "in-line" block measuring approximately 30 mm × 35 mm wide, and around 90 mm long (not including cable stress relief grommets).

"Zero footprint" option

As of December 2008, the EeeBox PC comes with two mounting options, a desktop stand, and a monitor mounting. The monitor mounting option consists of a heavy plate with mounting holes designed to fit to the

VESA VESA (), formally known as Video Electronics Standards Association, is an American technical standards organization for computer display standards. The organization was incorporated in California in July 1989To retrieve the information, searc ...

100 or VESA 75 mount area found on the back of many flat-screen monitors. When mounted on the back of a monitor, the EeeBox PC does not require any desk space. With the addition of a compatible USB "TV tuner" dongle the EeeBox PC can be used as a

digital television adapter A digital television adapter (DTA), commonly known as a converter box or decoder box, is a television tuner that receives a digital television (DTV) transmission, and converts the digital signal into an analog signal that can be received and displ ...

, and add both TV reception and recording facilities to a flat computer monitor.

Robustness

The EeeBox PC hard drive has a hidden recovery partition containing an image of the factory OS installation. This allows the EeeBox PC's operating system to be reset to its initial factory state without the need for any external media or optical disc hardware (although conventional recovery discs are also included). The permanently embedded Linux system also guarantees a working graphical user interface and a certain degree of functionality (such as web browsing) even without a separate functioning operating system; on most computer systems, the only embedded functionality in this situation would be a very limited set of menu-driven

BIOS In computing, BIOS (, ; Basic Input/Output System, also known as the System BIOS, ROM BIOS, BIOS ROM or PC BIOS) is firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization during the ...

Features

"Instant-On"

Low power consumption

"Zero footprint" option

Robustness

Models

See also

References

External links