14 DAY TRIAL // Asus has tried hard to compensate the absence of the promised 10-inch Eee PC. The Taiwanese PC manufacturer brought a whole lot of goodies to be showcased at this year's Consumers Electronics Show, including laptops, compact personal navigation devices and LCD displays.
The ASUS Nova P22 is a small desktop system designed especially for users that cannot stand more than the noise of a portable computer fan. The small-form desktop system is propelled by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor that is cooled both passively (through an aluminum heatsink) and actively (thanks to a heat dissipation module, heat pipes and fans).
The Nova is factory equipped with an 802.11n wireless networking card that allows transmission rates up to 300 Mbps. Live tests have shown that the computer can download a 30-minute HD video in just 44 seconds, which is quite a performance as compared to the other 802.11 specifications.
The audio output is managed by a pair of built-in speakers situated on the front size of the notebook, but it also supports 5.1 speaker configurations with Dolby Digital Live or DTS connect technology. The notebook system will be sold through Asus' authorized sales partners, starting at the end of the month, for as much as $799.
Another star product at Asus' booth was the 11-inch ASUS U2E ultra-mobile PC that weighs less than a kilogram. The notebook comes with 32 GB of SSD storage. The LCD-panel integrated webcam is built with one of industry's smallest lens available on the market. However, it provides sharp images at a resolution of 2 Megapixel. The camera also acts as an authentication device when paired with the exclusive ASUS SmartLogon software to intelligently recognize the notebook's rightful owner.
We are moving in the high-end notebook sector, dominated by Asustek's G70 laptop that comes with a 17-inch LCD widescreen display to support a native resolution of 1920x1200. The video signal is sent by a pair of Nvidia GeForce 8700M GT graphics processing units (GPUs) with 1GB of dedicated memory.
The G70 includes Altec Lansing's stereo speakers array, a subwoofer, a built-in TV tuner, a remote control, and an integrated high-resolution webcam. The company did not provide a retail price for G70 notebook yet.