Asus unveils M50 multimedia notebook PC

ASUS recently unveiled the M50 notebook, a multimedia-styled computer that blends a Blu-Ray player with Altec Lansing speakers and Dolby Home Theatre. The embedded touchpad doubles as a multimedia control panel, giving users control over both music and video without moving the cursor. The M50 also features an HDMI port to connect to home theatre setups. ASUS has not given pricing or availability, but the M50 is expected to ship next week.

The M50 features a 15.4-inch monitor, with an option of an nVidia GeForce 9500M GS with 512MB of texture memory, as well as an ATI Mobile Radeon HD3470 or HD3650, with 256MB and 1GB of texture memory, respectively. A range of Intel processors are available, from the T7100 Core 2 Duo to the Penryn T9500, in addition to 802.11b/g/n connectivity – 802.11a is available as an option.

Other features are an advanced fingerprint scanner, Windows Vista Basic through to Ultimate, and a hard drive ranging from 200GB to 500GB.