NetbookShow

Microsoft has been offering low cost Windows XP Home Edition licenses to PC makers selling netbooks for nearly two years. In order to qualify, a netbook needed to have a small screen, slow processor, and no more than 1GB of RAM or 160GB of hard drive space. As a result, nearly every netbook released over the past two years met those specifications. But here’s the thing: If you’re not interested in keeping the price down, the sky is the limit, because those restrictions don’t apply to laptops with Windows Vista, or even Windows XP Professional.

Now that Windows 7 is just around the corner, Asus Japan has apparently decided to give the Eee PC 1005HA a business-class upgrade: by sticking with Windows XP, but loading the computer up with Windows XP Professional.

The Eee PC 1005HA Business edition is virtually identical to the versions currently on the market. But the new model has a silver and black chassis instead of a solid black one, and 2GB of RAM. The rest of the specs are prety much what you’d expect, including a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display. 160GB hard drive, and 10 hour battery. The Eee PC 1005HA Business edition is due out today in Japan for about $715.

Keep in mind, Asus is launching updated versions of its Eee PC 1005HA, 1008HA, and 1101HA laptops with Windows 7 in the US, Europe, and other parts of the globe later this week.

With Windows 7 set to launch in just a week, we’re about to see a whole lot of netbooks, notebooks, and other computers get a spec bump. And the Asus Eee PC lineup is hardly exempt. At an event in Germany, Asus officials outlined some of the company’s plans for the next generation of the Asus Eee PC Seashell line, including the Eee PC 1005HA, 1008HA, and 1101HA.

For the most part, the info is in keeping with a leaked product roadmap from earlier this year. But here’s the interesting part. Most of the netbooks will ship with Windows 7 Starter Edition, while the Eee PC 1101HA with an 11.6 inch display, 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z520 processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 260GB hard drive will ship with Windows 7 Home Premium.

The Asus Eee PC 1005HA will be available in two different versions. Both will have 1GB of RAM, 250G hard drives, and Intel tom N270 processors. The 1005HA-H will have Bluetooth and a 10.5 hour battery, while the 1005HA-M will lack Bluetooth and include an 8.5 hour battery.

The Eee PC 1008HA will have 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, an Atom N280 processor and a 6 hour battery.