14 DAY TRIAL // After it has been spotted all over the Internet for quite some time now, the new N-series of portable systems from Taiwanese manufacturer ASUS has been officially unveiled for the entire world. These are the company's new notebooks, initially believed to become part of the new high-end netbook lineup, but which, as you will see from the provided specifications, are by far no Eee PCs.
The company recently announced its new series of portable systems, which are now offered in four new distinct models, the highly anticipated N10 along with the N20, N80 and N50. All four of them have been designed to accommodate Intel's latest processors, including the Atom N270 featured on most of the company's Eee PCs.
As you might have expected, the N10 is an Atom-powered notebook that comes in a 10.2-inch form factor and, unlike all those Eee PC netbooks, can run a Windows Vista operating system. It is built on an Intel 945GSE Express chipset and can provide its users with a maximum of 2GB of memory, which will go very well with that Vista OS. In addition, the N10 comes with 320GB of storage space, has external optical drive support and features some very important connectivity options, like built-in Bluetooth and wireless 802.11 a/b/g/n. It weighs just 1.4kg and comes with a 3-cell battery.
On the other side, we have the new N20, N80 and N50 notebooks, which are powered by some of the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, run on Windows Vista and come in 12.1-inch, 14.1-inch and 15.4-inch, respectively. While the 12.1-inch N20 is built on Intel's GM45 chipset, the other two feature the PM45 Express chipset. All of these notebooks can provide a maximum of 4GB of DDR2 system memory and have built-in webcams, Bluetooth and a maximum storage capacity of 500GB (for the N50 model). The N20 is the only one of the three to boast a 3-cell battery, while the other two will be offered with higher 6-cell batteries.
Speaking of weight, the N20 is the lightest of the three with 1.85 kg, while the other two come at 2.69kg and 2.95kg. Unfortunately, for the time being, we can't provide you with any details regarding pricing and availability of the new N-series notebooks from ASUS.
