Asus Introduce Designer Netbook and Core i7 Gaming Laptop

LAS VEGAS—Rather than ride the coat tails of Intel and merely announce laptops with new parts, Asus, at CES 2010, is placing design and innovation at the top of its to-do list. In addition to the Asus EeeKeyboard PC and the NX90 Bang & Olufsen Laptop, the company partnered up with a well-known designer—Karim Rashid—to add some flavor to its EeePC netbook line. Not to be outdone, its Republic Of Gamers Gaming laptop line gets a makeover as well.

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The Asus EeePC 1008P Seashell (Karim Rashid Collection) is not an entirely new concept, as the underlying chassis is based on the EeePC 1008HA, which I reviewed last year. It inherits the 10-inch widescreen and the drab 1,024-by-600 resolution, and weighs as much as its predecessor (2.8 lbs).

The selling point, this time around, centers on the work of Karim Rashid, a New York-based designer known for his use of new materials such as foams, plastics, and synthetic fabrics. His Seashell collection will come in two colors: Hot Pink and Coffee Brown. Both designs have intersecting lines that form boxes, and when light reflects off of the plastics, some 3D depth can be perceived as well. The materials Karim used in the Coffee Brown configuration are soft to the touch—almost foam-like. The same colors can be detected along the edges and on the hinge area of the 1008P Seashell.

The keyboard is isolated like its predecessor, though its pitch looks like 92 percent of full size, which falls short of the full size keyboards found in the Toshiba mini NB205 and the Samsung N120 (21GBK). Like every other netbook announced at CES 2010, the 1008P Seashell will run on new Intel Atom parts, which include the N450 (1.6GHz) processor, Intel NM10 graphics, and up to 2GB of DDR2 memory (1GB standard). Unlike its predecessor, this Seashell ships with Windows 7 Home Premium, and a removable 3-cell Lithium Polymer battery (~6 hours).

The Asus ROG G73Jh is focused more on components than looks, although its matted black design is inspired by the Lockheed F117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter. At the heart of this beast lies an Intel Core i7-720QM (1.6GHz) Quad core processor, 8GB of DDR3 memory, and a Direct X 11-capable, ATI Mobility Radeon HD5870 graphics card (1GB VRAM). It's loaded with two speedy hard drives (7200rpms), for a total of 1 Terabyte, and includes high-end features such as a Blu-Ray reader, 8-channel HD audio, and over-clocking on the fly through its proprietary software.

PCMAG