Remember that brand new Intel Atom N550 dual-core processor? It looks like a whole wave of netbooks sporting Intel’s new processor are about to hit the market. Next in line is Asus, well known for its Eee PC line of netbooks. Asus could be considered in fact the leader of this massive netbook trend as it was the first manufacturer to introduce a small highly portable laptop to the market. With the launch of the latest, more powerful processor Asus is also ready to upgrade its Eee PC and take it to the next level of performance. Reportedly the manufacturer will bring out two versions of the Eee PC, the 1015PEM and 1015PN. According to TechInStyle, the first netbook will be powered by the brand new 1.5Ghz N550 processor, support up to 2GB of DDR3 RAM and sport a price tag of about $440 when it’s released on the market. The 1015PN on the other hand, should add Nvidia’s Ion 2 platform to the mix. The Asus netbook is supposed to start shipping in the US in September.
More info regarding the Asus Eee PC 1015PEM was made available earlier today by Italian site Notebook Italia. The site offered a list of specifications as well as photos. In the meantime it looks like the netbook is also available on the Asus website. This is what its specification sheet includes: 10.1 inch LED backlit display with a native resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, Intel Atom Pineview N550 Dual Core CPU, 1GB DDR3 RAM (maximum 2GB), 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, 0.3 megapixel camera, hard disk drive of up to 320GB and Windows 7 Starter as operating system. ON the connectivity side the netbook features VGA, 3 USB 2.0 or optional 2 USB 3.0 + 1 USB 3.0, headphone and mic audio jacks, memory card reader (MMC and SD).
The netbook will start selling in a multitude of colors to the delight of future customers. It will be available in white, black, blue and red with a matte finish. If you prefer your netbook shiny then you’ll get to choose between white, black and pink. Thanks to Asus’ Super Hybrid Engine it looks like the Eee PC 1015PEM will offer up to 13 hours of battery life (we’re looking forward to see if this netbook can pull it off as soon as it hits the market and gets reviewed).
Asus also understands that its customers want a light and easy to carry around netbook. Thus the PC 1015PEM weighs 1.27Kg and measures 262 x 178 x 23.6 (36.4) mm. While the tablet computer seems to be the most popular type of portable computer nowadays, netbooks like this one with upgraded performance might still be of interest for people looking for a versatile, light computer they can use for travelling. To top it off, netbooks still have a considerably more affordable price than tablets and this might just be the thing that will keep these little computers around in the years to come.
