Asus has a new ultra portable coming out soon that should fit in nicely between their current Eee PC netbook and Zenbook offerings.  Called the Asus U24E, it features a 1366 x 768 pixel display, An Intel Core i5-2430M processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 750GB hard drive. It will weigh 3.3 pounds and will likely be priced much less than the Asus Zenbook UX21.

The UX21 is what Asus calls an ultrabook, which is a fancy of way of saying it weighs less than 3 pounds and measures less than 0.8 inches thick. Oh yeah, and it has a solid state disk instead of a hard drive.  It also has a starting price of $999. The Asus U24E, on the other hand, is expected to launch in Japan for 59,800 Yen. That’s about $766 US, which will likely translate to $699 or less when it hits the States.

The U24E looks like the successor to the Asus UL20 line of notebooks and should compare to your desktop computer performance wise thanks to its Core I5 processor.

via The Verge

Asus has released its financial results for the third quarter of 2011, and not only did they beat forecast for net profits, they also revealed some interesting figures about product shipments.  Asus shipped 1.3 million Eee PC netbooks in Q3, bringing the total for the year so far to 3.6 million. During the same period, Asus shipped 800,000 Eee Pad tablets.  So, despite the fact that tablets grab more headlines than netbooks these days, that doesn’t mean netbooks aren’t still shipping in high numbers.

via Eee PC.it

ASUS chairman Jonney Shih was just interviewed by Walt Mossberg at AsiaD.  On the topic of netbooks, Shih notes that rather than being buried, netbooks are simply “evolving.”  Even more importantly,  however, whe confirmed  that a new ASUS netbook is en route: “You’ll see on our new netbook, it’ll be very thin.” In fact, he even suggested that the design may follow that of the Zenbook, but just… smaller.

So, that sounds quite promising from the manufacturer that was at the very forefront of the netbook trend.  We, here at NetbookReview couldn’t agree more.  Sure, some people have and will continue to replace their netbooks eith tablets, but for many others, a netbook is the device they prefer.

The Asus Lamborghini is one of Asus’s Lamborghini-inspired designs.  The 12.1 inch Lamborghini VX6 has originally shipped with a 1.8 GHz Intel Atom D525 dual core processor,but will soon get an upgrade to the latest and greatest 2.13 GHz Intel Atom D2700 Cedar Trail chip.  The new Asus Lamborghini VX6 has an AMD Radeon 6470M graphics card and 4GB of DDR3 memory.

Netbook Live has an unboxing video and some photos and benchmark results.

There’s no word on the price or release date for the new model yet.

Asus is introducing a new line of thin and light laptops due to go on sale in the US starting October 12th for $999 and up. The name that Asus is giving the line is ‘Zenbook’ but the individual models will be called the Asus UX21 and Asus UX31.  In total, there will be 5 different models, two with 11.6 inch displays, while there will be three models with 13.3 inch screens.These will be among the first notebooks to launch as part of the Intel ultrabook platform.

All of the models are fitted as standard with solid state disks, 4GB of RAM, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, and 0.3MP webcams. There is 1 USB 2.0 port and a USB 3.0 port, an audio jack, microHDMI port, and xmini VGA port and run Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. All three models will have Intel GMA 3000 HD graphics.

Impressively, Asus says the Zenbooks resume from sleep in 2 seconds, and  automatically backup your data to the solid state disk when battery power reaches 5 percent capacity.  They also features Asus Super Hybrid Engine technology which adjusts the CPU speed and other settings to prioritize battery life or performance depending on what you need. Asus CEO Jerry Shen says the idea is to deliver a smartphone-like, instant-on, ultraportable experience in a notebook-like form factor.

Check out a  run-down of the different models after the break.

Asus UX21E-DH52

• 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display
• Intel Core i5-2467M CPU
• 128GB SSD
• 35Whr battery (5 hours continuous use, 7 days standby)
• 11.7″ x 7.7″ x 0.67″
• 2.43 pounds
• $999

Asus UX21E-DH71

• 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display
• Intel Core i7-2677M
• 128GB SSD
• 35 Whr battery
• 11.7″ x 7.7″ x 0.67″
• 2.43 pounds
• $1199

Asus UX31E-DH52

• 13.3 inch, 1600 x 900 pixel display
• Intel Core i5-2557M CPU
• 128GB SSD
• 50Whr battery
• 12.8″ x 8.8″ x 0.71″
• 2.86 pounds
• $1099

Asus UX31E-DH53

• 13.3 inch, 1600 x 900 pixel display
• Intel Core i5-2557M
• 256GB SSD
• 50Whr battery
• 12.8″ x 8.8″ x 0.71″
• 2.86 pounds
• $1349

Asus UX31E-DH72

• 13.3 inch, 1600 x 900 pixel display
• Intel Core i7-2677M
• 256GB SSD
• 50Whr battery
• 12.8″ x 8.8″ x 0.71″
• 2.86 pounds
• $1449

The Eee PC X101 is the only 10 inch netbook with an Intel Atom processor to launch for just $200 (in the US) and if tis was still 2007, it’s be an instant winner.  However, now that tablets have hit the scene, it’s not uncommon for netbooks to dip as low as $180 on sale in the States.  And while those deals are on netbooks at least six months old, and some a year or two old. But these cheap netbooks often have Windows 7 Starter Edition and 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processors that in my experience at least feel a little faster than the 1.33 GHz Atom N435 chip in the Eee PC X101.

With that kind of competion it’s hard to recommend the Eee PC X101 although there are some benefits to this new netbook from Asus:

• At less than 1kg, it’s one of the lightest netbooks available.
• It’s one of the thinnest, at just 0.7 inches thick.
• The solid state disk isn’t necessarily any faster than a hard drive, but it does offer sturdier storage. If you drop the netbook you’re not as likely to lose data.
• The access panel on the base of the laptop also makes RAM and SSD upgrades easy.

You can check out the full review here, at Liliputing.

We saw the Asus Eee PC 1025C netbook at the FCC just a few days ago, and now it’s followed by the Eee PC 1025CE.

As the same implies, the two netbooks are virtually identical. They have the same case design, the same keyboard and 10 inch screen. But there are a few subtle differences which suggest that the Eee PC 1025CE will be the more expensive model.

The Eee PC 1025CE has 2 USB 2.0 ports and a USB 3.0 port, while the cheaper model just has 3 USB 2.0 ports. The Eee PC 1025CE also has Bluetooth and a there may even be a 4G WiMAX option, while the Eee PC 1025C is WiFi-only. The Eee PC 1025CE also has a matte screen while its sibling appears to have a glossy display.

Asus hasn’t released UK pricing or release date details yet.

The Eee PC 1025C from Asus is expected to be the first netbooks with the new Intel Atom Cedar Trail processor. It’s due to launch any day now, so it’s not surprising that the tablet popped up at the FCC this week.

Not only did the fine folks at the FCC provide us with a series of photographs, but also a user manual.   There aren’t any big surprises in the manual though.  Like most netbooks, the Eee PC 1025C will have a 10″ screen, touchpad and keyboardThe photos include a few shots of the Eee PC 1025C without its cover, so you can take a look at the wireless card, motherboard, and other components.O

One nice suprise is that Asus seems to have  done away with the bulky power brick and separate adapter cable for this model. Instead you have a single-piece power adapter, which should save weight and space in your bag.

A new Asus Eee PC 1015BX has shown up for order at Amazon Germany for 206 Euros. The netbook is typical in terms of its 10 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display but it is powered AMD’s latest low power processor.

AMD’s C-60 dual core chip is a small upgrade to the 1 GHz C-50 dual core processor which launched earlier this year. it should offer a bit of a performance boost,  but while neither of these AMD chips is in the same class as an Intel Core i-series chip (or AMD E-series chip, for that matter). But they do offer much better graphics performance than Atom chips, with support for HD video playback and DirectX 11 graphics.

via nDevil

The Asus Eee PC X101 is staying true to it’s budget expectations by having the lowest starting price of any netbook in recent memory.  While most netbooks in the US market start at $300, the X101 is a brand new machine that Asus promised would cost just $199.99 at launch.

In the US,  ExcaliberPC has the Eee PC X101 for $199, but CDW is taking orders for $209.99.  Of course,  the Asus Eee PC X101 keeps the cost down with a 3 cell, 28Whr battery, just 8GB of flash storage, and a 1.33 GHz Intel Atom N435 single core processor. It also runs MeeGo, a Linux-based operating system designed for netbooks, smartphones, and other mobile devices.

The mini-laptop has a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, 1GB of memory (upgradeable to 2GB), 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and a VGA camera. It measures 10.3″ x 7.1″ x 0.7″ and weighs about 2 pounds.