It appears the  Asus Eee PC faces more and more challengers these days. Among those after its head is Blue Digital’s Deep Blue H1. Should Asus be afraid? Definitely.

 Unlike the Eee PC, this tiny PC boasts a 1.0GHz VIA Esther processor, partnered to a 7-inch 800 x 480 display, along with 1GB of RAM, a 40GB hard drive (very slim), and the LinPus Linux distro as the standard OS. Surprisingly, there’s a variant with Windows XP available as an option. I don’t recommend XP though. It’s soooo slow and takes 3x as long as LinPus to load and accomplish stuff like office work.

The Blue comes in basic black at the moment and retails at $400. I already bought one- and boy am I enjoying it more than my Presario 2.0Ghz Core2Duo. The Blue with its LinPus runs rings aroud my Presario with its bloatware Vista.

For the tech head, here’s the lowdown:

Deep Blue H1 (Mobile PC)  
Processor:   VIA Esther 1.0 GHz  
Memory: 1GB DDR2  
Video: 7.0-inch Wide TFT, WXGA (800×480)  
Harddisk: 40GB Mobile  
Audio: Built-in speakers  
Ports: 2 x USB 2.0  
LAN 10/100Mbps  
Wi-Fi: 802.11b/g Wireless LAN  
Weight: 1.20 kg.  
Bundled OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home  
Features:   Card reader Web camera Touch pad with left & right buttons
Up to 4½ hours battery life

Ready to buy one?