It looks like the Asus Eee PC 12.1″ 1201PN netbook coming soon won’t support Nvidia’s Optimus switching technology, but it will have the next generation of ION graphics. Notebook italia reports that there is another new model coming though, the 1215N, and it will have both a dual core Atom N500 processor as well as Optimus switching graphics.
The ASUS Eee PC 1005PR has recently popped up on the product pages over at Asus, and it’s a very nice upgrade to the now best-selling 1005PE. It keeps all of the specs the same except for an HD 1366 x 768 10.1″ display and a Broadcom crystal HD accelerator card for HD video playback. There’s no word yet on pricing or availability but look for it to come in under $400.
Lars from Mobile and notebook attended an Nvidia launch event in Taiwan that featured the much anticipated Asus Eee PC 1201N.
The 1201N has some impressive features, including a 12.1″ screen and a dual core Atom N330 processor. All of this in combination with the Nvidia Ion chipset makes for one bad netbook.
It has all of the usual goodies including:
Right now the netbook is going to retail at $619 which is a little high for the netbook crowd, but the price should come down over time.
via mobile and notebook.com
I’m sure it will come as no surprise but we’re naming the Asus Eee PC 1005HA the best netbook of the year for 2009. This comes after being at number 1 on the best seller’s list (check the list on your right) for almost half of the year.
The Asus Eee PC 1005HA does just about everything right, from price and performance to value and reliability. A recent study has shown that Asus Eee PC’s are among the most reliable around, so this is another reason to consider the 1005HA if you are in the market for a netbook.
The 1005HA comes in 4 colors; black, blue, white, or pink and prices range from $312 to $383 depending on battery life and OS. We also have a full review that you can read here.
ASUS’ leaked Eee PC 1201N netbook has gained a more definitive release date through a rumor on Friday. The NVIDIA Ion-based portable is now slated by Electricpig as arriving in at least the UK by December. Premature store listings put the price at $756, though the cost is likely to be lower for the as yet unknown North American release.
The 1201N is poised to be ASUS’ first system using Ion and would have a home theater focus as its HDMI video output would let it play HD video at full speed on an external TV. The faster graphics should additionally speed up 3D and the Aero Glass effects in Windows 7, which is making one of its first appearances on an Eee PC.
Using Windows 7 will let ASUS venture beyond usual Microsoft limits on netbook hardware and may see 3GB of RAM and 320GB of hard drive space.
The Asus Eee PC T91MT convertible netbook is available for pre-order from Amazon for $549. This is Asus’ first multitouch pc due to the fact that it runs on Windows 7 and Windows XP doesn’t support multitouch.
It still includes the 32GB SSD drive which we would like to have seen replaced with something more useable, like a 250GB hard drive, but this is a tablet after all. All of the other specs are the same as the original T91, including the 8.9″ screen and 1.33 GHz Z520 processor.
Asus CEO Jerry Shen says that the company will launch a smartbook during the first quarter of 2010. There are no details other than that the device will cost around $184. The company did briefly however demonstrate a Google Android-powered netbook this summer before deciding it wasn’t ready for the world to see and hiding it away.
The prototype was based on a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor which enables long battery life along with integrated GPS, 3G, WiFi, and graphics capabilities. It’s not clear whether the upcoming Asus product will be built on the same platform as the early prototype, but for this price it seems like it is very likely.
You might recall the snapdragon processor as being used in mobile phones, specifically the HTC HD2, which we review on our smartphone review site.
Shen says the new device will run about NT 6,000 which is roughly $184 US.
It looks like Asus has announced a new version of the 1008 that has 3G. Well, they didn’t really announce it but if you zoom in on the only picture posted on the FCC’s web site, you can find some details which indicate that the new Eee PC 1008P will have an Intel Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM, and 160GB hard drive as well as 802.11b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 and a 1.3MP webcam. It’s hard to make out the display details, but I’m pretty sure that like the Eee PC 1008HA, which is currently available, the Eee PC 1008P will have a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel screen.
It will be interesting to see how this baby runs on the new “Pinetrail” N450 processor. Also I’m sure the Windows 7 version will be available with 2GB of RAM and 250GB hard drive as well. Can’t wait to get our hands on one of these for testing.
via Lilliputing
Windows 7 has more tricks up its sleeve than we originally thought. Contrary to earlier reports that Windows XP running on netbooks resulted in longer battery life, it looks like the opposite is true.
At netbook reviews.com they tested an Asus Eee PC 1008HA with Windows 7 and the same setup with Windows XP. After draining the batteries using battery eater, Windows 7 came up the winner with over 6 hours of usage compared to 5 hours with XP.
This could be due to the RC drivers that were in the originally tested version of Windows 7 not being optimized for correct power usage, but either way it’s another reason to pick up a copy of Windows 7 if you haven’t already. Also remember that the $29 student version is only available until Jan 3rd.
Asus Eee PC 1005PE 14hr batt $377.89 Asus Eee PC 1005HA $269.99
Asus Eee PC 1005HA blue $339.97
Toshiba Mini 305 blue $339.95 Asus Eee PC 1005PE blue $353.39
HP Mini 210 $304.98
Asus Eee PC 1005PE white $326.87 Asus Eee PC 1005PE 14hr batt $372.12 Asus Eee PC 1001P $289.99
Dell Mini 10 w/ tv tuner $372.78
