ASUS rolls out U2 luxury ultraportable

Preempting the large volume of computers expected next month, ASUS has provided an early look at its U2 subnotebook. The 11-inch ultraportable is built for the same audience as the Sony VAIO TZ and uses exotic materials to add a sense of luxury: the U2 has a leather-bound shell as well as copper etching and a stainless steel frame, according to ASUS. The system is nonetheless as light as 2.8 pounds thanks to a thin, LED-lit LCD and the option of a 32GB solid-state drive that simultaneously improves load times and guards against shock damage.

A stock U2 is driven by a 1.06GHz ultra-low voltage Core 2 Duo and will come with at least an 80GB conventional hard disk, 802.11a/b/g wireless, and a variant of Windows Vista. Two memory slots in the small space allow as much as 4GB of memory. Pricing and availability are unknown but should include US customers as well as Europe and southeast Asia.