Asus set to launch 12-inch Core i notebook at Computex

First Celeron U3400 notebook from Asus

May 21, 2010 in Microprocessors, Mobile Tweet

by Lars-Göran Nilsson

NOTEBOOKS WITH INTEL’s Core i range of processors appear to be getting shrinking and Asus smallest model should be the 12-inch UL20FT which is set to launch at Computex. The chassis should be similar to the UL20A, but we don’t have the exact details so you’ll have to bear with us until Computex for the final list of features.

What we do know is that Asus will offer the UL20FT with a choice of two different CPU’s, the Celeron U3400 and the Core i3 330UM, both of which are low power mobile processors. The Celeron U3400 should have a clock speed of a mere 1.02GHz and lacks support for Turbo Boost, while the Core i3 330UM is slightly faster at 1.2GHz, although again, this CPU shouldn’t have Turbo Boost support, unlike the Core i5 UM processors. On a brighter note, Asus has implemented its Turbo33 technology which allows both CPU’s to be overclocked by up to 33 percent.

Unlike Asus’ other UL models with Core i processors, the UL20FT will not feature discrete graphics which is a shame. However, the chassis size would involve some kind of restrictions as to what Asus could fit while maintaining reasonable thermals. As such you’ll have to make do with Intel’s HD graphics, although the upside of this should be better battery life. The UL20FT will come with a 6-cell battery, unlike its larger siblings which feature 8-cell batteries. Asus claims up to 8h battery life, although we doubt this figure will hold true.

The UL20FT will come with up to 4GB of DDR3 1066MHz memory, up to 500GB of hard drive space and it will of course also have Wi-Fi and onboard Ethernet. The 12.1-inch screen has a resolution of 1366×768, the same as its larger siblings. At 1.56kg this notebook is competing with netbooks in terms of weight, although we’d expect it to be somewhat more expensive. The final price will of course depend on a combination of the hardware and operating system, as Asus will offer the UL20FT which a choice of various Windows 7 versions. We’ll bring you more details of Asus’ new notebooks from Computex, as the company should launch a wide range of new models at the show.S|A