14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that ASUS doesn't plan to let the netbook market slip out of its grasp any time soon, as made evident by a certain Eee PC, based on a next-generation CPU, that is now on display at Computex
The netbook market may not be the fast-growing segment some would have hoped for, but low-end laptops still make up a fair chunk of the PC market, hence their continued evolution.
Granted, tablets have been eroding their market share and stunting their growth, form a marketing stand point.
Still, they aren't going to go away any time soon, especially not with companies of ASUS's caliber still promoting the laptop type.
More specifically, the company brought the Eee PC 1025C netbook to Computex 2011, essentially a fairly regular configuration, with the exception of the CPU.
Instead of an existing Atom, the newcomer has, instead, a Cedar Trail unit at its heart, N2600 or N2800.
For those that don't know, Cedar Trail chips will be the newest iteration of Atom units and shall be built on the 32nm manufacturing process.
That said, DDR3 memory is present, along with a hard disk drive of 250 GB or 320 GB, leading to a better overall performance than current-generation systems.
The screen size is of 10.1 inches (1,024 x 600 pixels resolution), meaning that ASUS decided not to take advantage of the looser size restrictions just yet.
Either way, the HDMI output, Bluetooth, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, card reader and 0.3 megapixel webcam make sure it doesn't lag behind in the connectivity department, while a 3-cell or 6-cell battery keeps everything running for up to 14 hours straight.
As a testament to how affordable netbooks are getting, the Eee PC 1025C is said to be priced at around $250, or will be once it debuts in white, grey, brown or pink colors and running Windows 7.