Somewhere between the first EeePC and their awesome media-center-in-a-keyboard, ASUS became the Chuck Bukowksi of the gadget world: Drunk, unpredictable, prolific and occasionally brilliant. Then what of the Eee PC D200 touchscreen NAS-cum-router?
I'd say it falls under the drunk/brilliant category. According to Einfach Eee website (Varning! German!) the box will include an Atom processor, 2GB of RAM, a 1-4TB HDD, and 802.11n MIMO, and slot-loading DVD burner, a router and a touchscreen.
The intent of including the touchscreen is simple: it negates the need to either pipe into the NAS over the network or connection an external display, mouse and keyboard. Simple tasks, such as configuring the access point, moving files, setting permissions and burning DVDs (and hopefully direct media playback and torrent controls—with its DVI port, this could make a pretty amazing media PC) should all be manageable through the touchscreen.
To top it off, the $600 reported price is surprisingly low. ASUS says the D200 will ship in Q1 '09. For more pics and specs, head over to [Einfach Eee.—Thanks, Johannes]