11.6-Inch ASUS Q200E Notebook Debuts

The Q200E is the sort of product that we would like to see being used as an example by makers of ultrabooks and tablets running Windows 8.

Sure, the ASUS laptop is neither of those things, but at least it has a reasonable price: $549.99 / 422.54 – 549.99 Euro. No analysts will complain about that cost any time soon.

That said, the notebook, measuring only 11.6 inches in diagonal, has a 1.4 GHz Core i3 CPU, 4 GB of RAM, a hard drive of 500 GB, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0 (one port), USB 2.0 (two ports) and even HDMI.

In other words, it has all the basics covered, and there is even a touch panel over the LCD, so Windows 8 special user interface will be usable to its fullest.

All the hardware is packed in an aluminum case of 0.9-inch thickness / 22.86 mm.

Online retailers are only accepting pre-orders though. Shipments won't begin before October 26, when Microsoft releases the OS.