The next generation of Asus' Eee Box units won't be featuring an Atom processor, with the company now making a switch to Celerons. Starting with the Celeron 220, Asus' next lineup of Eee Box desktop units will feature the more traditional desktop CPU in an attempt to increase sales, on top of a reduction in sticker price.

Celeron may not be as power-friendly as the Atom, but definitely has a performance advantage, even when dealing with slower clock speeds. As the Eee Box is a desktop box, power consumption may not be as big of an issue – but then again, you lose the “cool” factor of using an Atom in a desktop with this switch. With Asus expecting to sell over a million of the devices next year, though, a small drop in price and a boost in performance may be much more important than other factors.