ASUS Eee PC 701SD photos show revived design

ASUS' Eee PC 701SD will not only upgrade the internal specs of the 7-inch notebook but improve on the mini notebook design itself, say a new set of photos and leaked details. The entry-level Eee PC notebook will now resemble a sharper-edged version of the 8.9-inch Eee PC 901 with refined trackpad buttons and the stylized Eee PC logo. At least one version is now known to contain a 30GB hard drive in place of the solid-state flash drive that has been the only option for past 7-inch models.

Most other details are still unknown, though the 701 name points to the likely use of a 1.6GHz, single-core Atom as a speed upgrade over the 700's Celeron M. A 701SD-4G also hints at a model with the same 4GB of flash memory as the most common 7-inch variants in shops today.

ASUS hasn't said when the 701SD or its siblings will appear, though the naming scheme and photos suggest a release within the next few weeks or months with black and white color schemes. [via LAPTOP]