Here it is, the Eee PC 901. A minor refresh from the Eee PC 900, but a vital one – this is the first laptop to arrive in the PC Pro Labs with one of Intel’s Atom processors.

It uses the 1.6GHz Atom N270, with its 512KB L2 cache and 533MHz front side bus. Whether this will prove to be faster than the previous 900MHz Celeron remains to be seen; from our tests with the desktop Atom 230, we reckon it’ll prove to be similar, or perhaps slightly slower.

But the trade-off will hopefully be longer battery life, thanks to the Atom’s marvellous 2.5W thermal design power (TDP). The old 900 used a 4,400mAh battery and gave us a slightly disappointing 3hrs, 20mins light use in Windows XP; the 901 has made the sensible step up to a 6,600mAh battery (which does make it a little larger), so we’re keen to see how many hours it’ll give us.

The 901 also brings a few other changes. Bluetooth and 802.11n wireless have now been added; the Asus logo has been removed in favour of the Eee PC branding alone; and the slightly iffy touchpad and buttons have been rejigged with a full silver surround that works a little less stiffly. There’s a new hinge for added stability and a few more curves, and the only change to the keyboard is the addition of a shortcut button strip.

The changes are minor but necessary, and the price tag will be a little lower, too – £319 rather than the £329 of the Eee PC 900. The 901 will be available from July 1, and Asus reckons there won’t be a repeat of the shortages that have blighted previous Eee launches.

We’re currently installing XP and our benchmark suite, so check back for the full results.

UPDATE: Click here for the full review.