ASUS U3 news

About time some info, but nothing on site yet. No pricing or ETA as usual. Oh wells.

 

This is a real beauty, I think it's one of Asus's best designs yet. The size, weight, and specs are all smack on the money as far as the target market. Too bad I can't afford such luxuries.

 

is it 12.1" ? around the correct weight for 12" maybe even 13" if they have used really light materials - looks very nice!

13" **EDIT** just followed the link

 

Yea, its 13.3" LED screen.

It's a pretty interesting notebook, 13.3" with an LED screen, NO internal Optical Drive, GPS built in, nVidia 8400G/Intel x3100 video card, HDMI, eSata......and probably expensive

 

wow that looks nice. comparable to the m1310 but sexier looking

 

The U3S will be available in two colors, Black or White. As for the ETA and pricing, we are looking at week 5 of August and the MSRP is $1699 USD.

***Edit, the ETA date has been pushed back to mid or late of September.

Some highlighted features:

1. Power Saving Function for the VGA mode - battery benchmarks on power saving mode is about 162 min v.s. 108 min on external graphics chip. ( UMA and Discrete switch, NVIDIA GeForce G8400M, external 128MB DDR 2 )

2. Elegant Design
- Glossy Piano painting LCD Cover (Crystal hardness)
- Stainless steel frame
- Bamboo-joint-like hinge(hot keys for faster operation)
- Leather Palm Rest
- Carbon Fiber bottom case( 1.2 times strength than plastic)
- 3.9 lbs

3. The 2nd Asus Notebook w/ GPS function

Other features: HDMI , e-SATA ports, Biometric fingerprint sensor w/ TPM bundled and bluebooth.

Hope this helps, thanks!

There's a picture for the white one here. and more here.

 

OMG! Are you kidding me? $1699? $1699?!??!?!?

edit: After I regained my composure, I assume that price will not have a few things, like GPS? Cause $1699 is an unbelievable price.

I mean, where do I sign up?

 

$1699 probably for the lowest specs that you'll go bleh over.

 

True, the price of $1699 may not include all the gadgets, such as the external ODD. Not quite certain about the GPS, but it's currently listed as a key feature in the lastest product forecast from Asus. Will keep you posted if we hear anything.

 

Damn, might get this instead of the SZ or XPS M1330.

 

WOW

If I had money (and a need) for a small laptop, holy crap... I'd be all over it in seconds.

 

This is definitely tempting, but I think I'm gonna stick with the V2.

 

My thoughts exactly but no built in DVD? Time is an issu as well.

 

Wow! $1699 is a very low price for what you get. I was expecting it to be comparable to the U1F, something over $2000, definitely.

And nice sweepstakes by the way, I think I will enter

 

if I can get it before September, i'll make it my next lappy

 

LOL Goren, didn't you already buy a notebook?

The U3 is listed on their site, but upon clicking on the link, its a dead end!

 

Yea, he got a Vostro 1400 like Jason.

All of these people getting Vostros, making me wonder if its worth for me to get a Vostro 1500....

 

I can still return it

 

Hmm switchable external video card??
So to use the geforce we need to plug something else externally??

 

External in this case refers to the memory of the 8400GS being dedicated, and not shared by the system.

 

I don't know why laptoping saying like this

from here http://laptoping.com/asus-u3-2.html

 

Just think of it this way:

Internal meaning the graphics card borrows some of the memory from the system, while external means that the graphics card has its own dedicated memory.

 

I think they just reworded it incorrectly for more confusion.

 

It's not in the specs, but wouldn't the VGA switch be like the one on the Sony SZ? In this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=149784 you can see it's "Power Saving" or "Speed" on the VGA switch, which would lead me to guess it's similar to Sony's implementation of switchable integrated/dedicated GPUs (ie: intel X3100 and nvidia 8400M G).

 

Yea, it's a VGA switch between the x3100/8400.

 

Bump for anymore potential news

 

Woo! This is sounding great. I'm a little disappointed that the 8400 is apparently the low end model... I would like to see at least 256mb ram. Excalibur, this is the first I've heard of a white model. Any chance there will be a version just with the Nvidia card, and a better one at that? Or at least, does anyone know if the 8400 128mb can draw from the shared memory? If so, how much?

 

This will definitely be my next notebook IF the price is less than $2000 (and not for the base model).

 

I find that $1699 price too good to be true. I think it'll come out closer to $1999 when you configure it with some necessary add-ons, like 2GB RAM and the external ODD among others.

 

Read the full content of this Article: http://www.dev.notebookreview.com/news/sandisk-connect-streams-movies-and-music-to-tvs-pcs-iphones-more/

 

Wow... I wonder if there will be any difference in configuration between white and black versions? Will they both still be an LED backlit screens? I don't see it listed on the asus promo.

Thanks Cori!

 

Unfortunately, that much I do not know. Whether or not the stock 'lowest' U3 will have LED backlight or not. If assuming the U3s's MSRP is indeed $1799, then perhaps it does not include LED backlight. However, no more details have been released.

 

162 min battery life... this is for the 6 cell battery right? And the 3.9 lbs weight is with a 3 cell battery?

 

Give me about a day and I'll find out for you, thanks!

 

Battery mark was based on a 6-cell battery. ( Intel T7100 was used). The 3.9 lbs weight is with the 3 cell battery.

 

quickest day ever! It is great to have the resellers on here, really helpful.

So do you know when we should expect final specs, pricing, etc?

 

MSRP is still at $1699, it may seem low, and I did ask them twice about that. The final spec will be submitted to Asus USA as soon as the unit is on final production line. Remember the U3 is now scheduled to be released by mid to end of September. We'll keep everyone posted. Thanks!

 

Excellent news!

Though 160 minutes on a 6 cell(which I assume is flush with chassis) is a bit low, coming from a 15" with a x700 and a 4 hour battery life. Hope it may change, perhaps with a 9 or 12 cell option.

 

Somebody knows if the launching is all over the world? Or only for US?

 

I got word from a friend who builds computers with Asus that it is coming out Sept 15th.

 

Interesting, hope that's true, but I would expect a late September early October release, but hey

 

160 minutes on a 6-cell battery with the integrated graphics???

YUCK!!

My Z33 gets 160 minutes on the 3-cell, weighs *less*, and it has an optical drive.

What is the point in having an ultra portable ultra sleek sexy 13.3" laptop if it only gets 4 hours of battery life on a 9-cell battery?!?!?

 

Yah I agree, battery life has been going DOWN in all models recently which is quite unfortunate.

 

Well, the faster a computer is, the more energy it uses. Comparing CPU and GPUs from today til a few years back, there is a huge difference. Compare the battery, it's still using the same type of Lithium Ion types.

 

I read through this thread but nobody is talking about the build... what kind of materials Asus using for U3? cheers Kenny

 

I'm not talking about a few years back; I'm talking about two platforms ago.

Thinkpad X60/X60s gets excellent battery life, as good if not better then the X30 and X40s they replaced. Even with the higher end CPUs. Lenovo understands that battery life is not an acceptable feature regression for laptops < 14.1" - anything in the portable-ultraportable range. The have consistently put out models with more features, faster CPUs, etc and as good or better battery life from the previous generation.

I chose Asus and my Z33 because of some very specific issue at the time - the X40 was extremely expensive, an UltraBase + Optical Drive would have cost an extra $300-500 depending on the Sale of the Week, and the 1.8" HDDs were pretty anemic.

Now Asus has pissed away all that goodwill by eliminating my favorite features - they charge you $150 extra for a USB optical drive, and the battery life is anemic.

Intel has done an excellent job making new platforms with lower and lower power erformance ratios. Other manufacturers have ultraportables with perfectly good battery life compared to the Pentium M models. Asus just can't seem to get it together. Every model they release has worse and worse battery life. It's terrible.

 

It officially has its own page now:

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=5&l2=75&l3=565&l4=0&model=1809&modelmenu=1

Mehhhh....*shrugs*

 

Another soldered on RAM DIMM? ~_~

 

Yes, and I don't get it why in 2007 they would still solder a 512MB instead of a 1GB. For a 10USD price reduction in the low-end models? Come on...

 

Wow, this notebook is impresionant! I desire that it arribe to spain early!