Tech News and Reviews
Posts tagged ASUS
ASUS Eee PC 1018P and 1015PE review
Jul 24th
You’d think after running into ASUS’s next generation Eee PC 1018P and 1015PE over five months ago at CeBIT, our excitement may have waned for the stylish netbooks. Oh, but it’s actually the opposite, and when the brand new netbooks arrived last week, we grabbed the X-Acto knife (safely, of course) and eagerly unboxed them to see if the aluminum clad little laptops were as svelte as we’d remembered them. Sure, the $350 1018P and 1015PE have standard netbook internals (an Intel Atom N450 CPU, 1GB of RAM and Windows 7 Starter), but without a doubt they’re some of the best quality netbooks ASUS has made in quite a while. Hit that read more link for an in-depth look at these two, and to see if they’re all we had hoped for and more.
Microsoft confirms Windows Phone 7 manufacturers: ASUS, Dell, HTC, LG, and Samsung all on board
Jul 23rd
Microsoft is no stranger to having partners galore in the phone business, but its lineup of manufacturers for the upcoming, surprisingly promising Windows Phone 7 launch is no less impressive. After plenty of rumoring, Microsoft has confirmed that Dell and HTC will be making Windows Phone 7 phones, in addition to ASUS, LG, and Samsung who had already been confirmed. All of these companies should have their stamp on hardware by the end of the year, with the launch of the OS still vaguely slated for the “holidays.” We have no doubt that all five manufacturers can build some compelling, sexy hardware, but we’re particularly enthused to see Dell really getting into the game after the impressive Streak and that drool-worthy leak a little while back. It’s a good time to be alive if you’re a person who buys or uses phones.
ASUS Eee PC 1005PX looks lovely in your choice of colors
Jul 15th
Another pretty little seashell has washed up on the Eee PC shore, and ASUS is making this one official — sort of. A listing for the 1005PX has appeared on the company’s site, but it’s sadly a broken link for the moment. No worries, as Notebook Italia has all the details about this little chromatic lappy, which is available in white, black, red, blue, and that pastel pink above that has us really craving a tall glass of strawberry milk. Beyond the clean aesthetics there’s nothing particularly exciting here, your typical 1.6GHz Atom N450 CPU, 1 or 2GB of RAM, up to 320GB of storage, and a 10-inch matte 1024 x 600 LED-backlit LCD. Longevity is said to be a healthy 8.5 hours with a six-cell battery, though we don’t know just how much this one will cost ya — nor when ASUS will fix that link.
ASUS Lamborghini VX6 and VX7 peel out with NVIDIA Ion 2 and Core i7, respectively
Jun 2nd
ASUS may have spent most of its Computex press conference talking tablets and pads, but the company is definitely descending on the show with some new laptops. The 11.6-inch Lamborghini VX6 and 15.6-inch VX7 are amongst the most eye catching — ASUS has redesigned the premium systems with new glossy casing, sleek automotive adornments, chiclet keyboards and a Bang & Olfsen ICE power sound system. We’re totally swooning over the smaller VX6, which packs a dual-core Atom D525 processor, USB 3.0 and NVIDIA Ion 2 graphics, though the higher end Core i7 VX7 and its NVIDIA “enthusiast graphics” sound pretty darn good as well. No word on when these bad boys will be going from zero to sixty to a store near you, but given the fact that the systems at the show didn’t boot we’re going to go with a not very soon. We’ll let you know when we hear more, but you’ll certainly want to check out the beauty shots of these puppies below.
ASUS’s 20-inch ET2010 EeeTop models with Ion power detailed
Apr 1st
We’ve been hearing about the ET2010 model since CES, then got another glimpse at CeBIT a few weeks ago, and now the all-in-one machine is making its international debut — and ASUS has more than one to share with us. The five models range from the ET2010AG, with an AMD Athlon II processor, up to the ET2010PNT, with an Atom D510. All models have a 20-inch, 1600 x 900 displays, but only two of them sport multitouch. Storage ranges from 160GB to 500GB, 1 or 2GB of RAM is available, and graphics options include an integrated Intel GMA chipset, ATI’s Radeon HD 5470, or, most interestingly, Ion 2 graphics in the two Atom-powered options. All offer a DVD drive and all sport the same, wall-mountable and 1-inch thick design. What we don’t know is when these will be shipping or how much they’ll cost, but you’ll surely be the first to hear after we do.
ASUS Eee PC 1001PX has a thing for carbon-fiber, starts at $279
Apr 1st
We won’t detail our murderous wrath for glossy netbooks, but we will tell you that ASUS is on our good side today by striking the shiny lid on its newest 10-inch Eee PC 1001PX in exchange for a carbon fiber-like replacement. The little guy boasts the same specs as the budget Eee PC 1001P — an Intel Atom N450 CPU, 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive — and will be available in the US in May. And if you had any doubt that ASUS is after Acer’s throat in pricing, we’re told that the Windows 7 Starter model will be priced at an aggressive $299, while the XP version will only set you back a cool $279. In typical ASUS form, we’re hearing word of an Eee PC 1001PG that will fall into this same line, but will be equipped with 4G in most markets and possibly 3G and 4G stateside. Now, if only we had as much information about those brewing Eee Pads…
ASUS Cine5 is ‘world’s most compact’ five-channel speaker, doesn’t forget the blue LEDs
Mar 12th
Seriously, who told manufacturers that we’re in love with garish LED status lights?ASUS has strapped a glowing orb of unnecessariness around the volume knob of the Cine5 — an otherwise perfectly acceptable and appreciably diminutive PC soundbar. With an array of speaker drivers integrated into that curvy body, ASUS claims the Cine5 produces realistic multidirectional surround sound, but does admit it’s mostly intended for smaller spaces such as study rooms. The announcement also includes a nod to FPS gamers, with claims that the improved positional audio on offer will benefit both gameplay immersion and accuracy when identifying a sound source, though we reckon the biggest boon will still be the elimination of the extra cables and speakers one usually needs to get one’s surround sound on. Price and availability have not yet been made public, but knowing ASUS both should be in the reasonable range of the market.
ASUS introduces O!Play HD2, first networked media player with USB 3.0
Mar 4th
Chances are you’re not a part of the SuperSpeed revolution yet, and that’s okay. It’s early days yet, but ASUS is doing its part to make that transition to USB 3.0 a little more appealing with its O!Play HD2. A follow-up to the earlier O!Play models, the HD2 offers what looks to be plenty of connectivity options (we’re seeing USB, memory cards, and eSATA) and promises a “wealth of cloud infotainment.” ASUS isn’t sharing any more details than that right now, but we’re going to try to track this guy down on the CeBIT show floor and, when we find, it you can be sure we won’t spare the hard questions.
ASUS makes DR-900 e-reader official
Mar 3rd
We’ve spent all our time hearing about a DR-950, but today at CeBIT ASUS has trotted out a DR-900 as its first 9-inch ebook reader. It doesn’t appear manifestly different from what we’ve heard and seen already, with WiFi connectivity augmented with a 3G option, and a battery life rated to last a pretty radical 10,000 pages on a single charge. The interface on show clearly invites touch interaction, and we can fill in a few gaps with what we know of the DR-950, namely a 1024 x 768 resolution on a Sipix panel, 4GB of integrated storage, 3.5mm headphone jack, and support for PDF, TXT, MP3 and ePUB files. We’ll be tracking down an official price and release date shortly, as well as smudging a few fingerprints on these before the day is through.
ASUS debuts Bang & Olufsen ICEpowered N-series laptops and 3D gamer displays
Mar 3rd
It’s CeBIT time again kids; a chance for the world’s vendors to show off much of what was already unveiled at CES in Las Vegas to Europeans for the first time publicly (what, the internet’s not good enough?). Just announced in Germany is a trio of N-series laptops — N43, N63 and N73 pictured above — with USB 3.0, Intel Core processors, and Bang & Olufsen ICEpower audio that seems to contradict itself by offering affordable, yet “unflinching” audio quality.ASUS also unveiled its VG236H and PG276H Full HD 3D displays to augment its 3D laptops. No details were provided but we’ll guess that we’re looking at roughly 24-inch and 27-inch displays based on those model numbers. No pics of the displays but we’ve got a backside shot of the N63 after the break.
