Asus announces U2 hotness

We're not sure why Asus damned its hot new laptop by announcing it prior to CES (unlike its predecessor, the U1) -- and on a Saturday, no less -- but you can't question the quality: Core Duo ULV or Centrino, 802.11a/b/g, Vista (from Basic to Ultimate), 11.1-inch 1366 x 768 LED-backlit display, 32GB SSD option, up to 4GB RAM in a 2.75 pound 1.1-inch thick footprint. We'll spare you the Bono ref or jokes about the lack of Edge data.

[Thanks, Jimmy]

[Michael @ Dec 22nd 2007 9:51PM]

Where, when and how much?

[Ted Brown @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:00PM]

If I wasn't sure this was $2000 when it finally gets released I'd buy it day one.

[Isaac @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:01PM]

Pfft.
The EEE PC is better.

[jus10 @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:19PM]

Well, I'm typing this on an eee and I'd have to disagree. The U2 is a contender to replace my main laptop; not my ultra-portable. I'd trade in my Macbook for this thing in a heartbeat.

So ... how about a contest engadget :). With the SSD drive :).

[Jon Doe @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:28PM]

Isaac please append your comment with a ;) else I call moron on you.

[Isaac @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:39PM]

yeah, I think you missed my point. I was joking. They are not aimed at the same market. Its like an article coming up about PSP and me saying the PC is way better. One is portable, one is not.

[Fesh @ Dec 23rd 2007 12:10AM]

wait what, the 10" EEE is portable, the 11.1" U2 isn't? OK!

[iofthestorm @ Feb 27th 2008 11:19PM]

... The eeePC's actual diagonal is 11", so it's almost as big as this with a smaller screen.

[Jerome @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:01PM]

if the 7inch EEE PC is 399$ this one could be 599$!

SOLD!

Can't wait to get more info!

[Todd @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:04PM]

Mr. Block may be kind enough to spare you, but I won't...

1 - New Asus laptop default user name: Gloria
2 - Screen supports Edge detection ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge_detection )
3 - While using the laptop, an audio file of the f-bomb will randomly be played, most likely at the most inappropriate, awkward moments

[giantenemycrab @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:30PM]

What?

[ratnikh @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:33PM]

It has some nice features, but I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

[PrimitiveWallflower @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:40PM]

Vorsprung durch Technik, indeed.

[Steve LoBlowJobs @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:09PM]

Shame about the OS, wish it had Mac OS X

[Jon Doe @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:29PM]

It couldn't have a Mac OS....the thing has 2 mouse buttons.

[Jeff Lewis @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:52PM]

Let me correct you...

Shame about the OS, wish Apple didn't tie their OS to their hardware using DRM so that I can't run it a legally purchased copy on the hardware of my choice like this laptop - unlike the OS the laptop actually comes with. But of course, I can't criticise Apple, so it's everyone else's fault.

Wahhh.

[ethana2 @ Dec 28th 2007 12:12AM]

Jeff Lewis NAILED it. ...and that is why I've basically vowed never to buy anything from Apple.
Good job, Jeff. It's called a Trusted Platform Module, it's direct and blatant abuse of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, and I don't see why people stand for it. I don't.

This laptop should come with one more operating system option, but Dell may just turn the heat up, and that's what I'm waiting for.
"we want whatever Linux distribution you use (be it Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, etc.) to "just work" on all of our hardware." ~from direct2dell.com

[Josh @ Jan 5th 2008 8:42PM]

The EEE PC can run OSX (with a lot of twiddling) no reason this can't?

Ever heard of the OSx86 project?

[Jon Doe @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:41PM]

Very nice however nothing on the video card which makes me think integrated which would suck.

[Ethyriel @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:59PM]

Of course it's integrated, it's a true ultraportable. Show me a laptop with < 12" screen that has discrete graphics.

[ethana2 @ Dec 28th 2007 12:23AM]

Whether or not it sucks depends, for me, on brookGPU performance. Integrated also makes it more likely that the hardware is intel or ATi, which saves me from having to install any drivers and means they'll be kept up to date automatically without my messing with them.

[Jeff Lewis @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:44PM]

"11.1-inch 1366 x 768 LED-backlit display"

What the heck is that? 1.78:1 widescreen? The screen in the picture doesn't look that wide.

[Hung @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:56PM]

It's a standard 16:9 aspect ratio; they put it on the U1. Asus chose that because they felt that a small screen would need a lot of horizontal real estate since most people prefer to scroll in only one direction.

I prefer a 16:9. 16:10 tries to mix the movie-viewing pleasure of a wide-screen with the practicality of a 4:3 aspect ratio. I think it fails just as much as the iPhone's 3:2. You still get letter-boxing or cropping and not very many of my documents are in landscape. The 16:9 is great for native resolution movie viewing, and productivity is identical to an 16:10.

[Reader @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:53PM]

That's one awkward resolution.

[Hung @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:57PM]

Check my reply to Jeff Lewis above.

[Wolfticket @ Dec 23rd 2007 5:55AM]

I think you meant "that's one extremely popular standard 720p HD resolution".

[mkhall @ Dec 23rd 2007 10:24AM]

Perhaps, but it's the same resolution as the Sony TX/TZ series. Frankly, it looks pretty close to the same shell, too. Are they the manufacturer for Sony, as well as APple?

[Hung @ Dec 23rd 2007 1:06PM]

Only apple; Sony makes their own.

Cheap and modestly immoral asian labor for the win.

[Jonny @ Dec 24th 2007 2:19PM]

Not quite.

While Sony designs their own, ASUS makes Sonys laptops due to they have the contract.

Same with the PlayStation3.

[paul34 @ Dec 23rd 2007 12:14AM]

It's a beautiful day.

[Superevil @ Dec 23rd 2007 2:49AM]

Unbelievable, you douchebag spammers are everywhere.

[Superevil @ Dec 23rd 2007 11:11AM]

Nice work deleting them Engadget.

[Netsnipe @ Dec 23rd 2007 6:20AM]

Damn it, when I read the headline I thought Asus had somehow managed to drag the band U2 away from Apple for a product endorsement.

[Chris @ Dec 23rd 2007 12:32PM]

That's what I got out of it as well.

[MacroEQ @ Dec 23rd 2007 7:29AM]

This is not good news at all. Asus are less likely to make a 10" Eee PC now they have brought this out. I hope I'll be proved wrong.

[Solidstate @ Dec 23rd 2007 7:38AM]

Asustek make the Macbook - I think we have just seen pretty much what will be in January's new 11.1" Macbook. That's why they are breaking the news now - so that they don't look like they are copying Apple.

[jaalin @ Dec 23rd 2007 1:30PM]

i've always had my eye on the 11" laptops but couldn't ever plunk down the cash needed for one, due to a couple glaring issues:
- battery life: asus provides a 6 cell and a 3 cell, but can you use them both at the same time?
- processor: slooowwww, but if it wasn't ULV it would probably drain battery
- hard drive: 4200 rpm on the u1f i believe
- ram: i think 1.5gb was max on the previous model

i do, however, appreciate that asus does include a slim external dvd drive.

all in all, it seems like power is taking too big of a hit from ultimate portability. if there was an xp option it should be fine, but as u1f reviews, either official or from newegg etc, vista just seems too much for these tiny laptops to handle.

of course, most of these problems aren't really asus-specific, they seem inherent to the 11" widescreen models altogether. the sony one, however, supposedly gets up to 7 or 8 hours of battery life? either way, i expect these issues to be ironed out in the next two years or so, hopefully before i'm in the market for a new laptop again!

[jxt @ Dec 23rd 2007 7:15PM]

this is a nice little preview of what we can expect to see from apple on jan. 15 ....

[ethana2 @ Dec 28th 2007 12:18AM]

I wonder which will have greater attendance: Mac expo or KDE 4 release parties worldwide...
Rather, put it between Santa Clara and Mountain View, California, worldwide isn't fair.

[paul-engadget @ Dec 24th 2007 8:49AM]

this appears to be a thinly disguised alternative to the Sony TX or TZ series. I have the TX2 and it's glorious - light, thin, powerful. The most important thing about ultraportables is that you don't want one where you have to carry around loads of adaptors to make them useable on location - the earlier Sonys were very guilty of this - the TX2 has ethernet, wifi, bluetooth, vga, pcmcia slot, 2 x USB, so with the 5+ hours of battery you can genuinely go off to a business meeting and not carry anything at all!
I would hope that the Asus has taken some valuable lessons from Sony.

[Ivan Hsu @ Dec 26th 2007 2:46PM]

Does it have an optical drive? It is .70 lbs heavier than U1. I guess that means it's equipped with an optical drive.

[ethana2 @ Dec 28th 2007 12:31AM]

I'm making a note to set my avatar to a penguin or ubuntu icon...

[ethana2 @ Dec 28th 2007 12:34AM]

Sorry, that was at John Doe and Ethyriel...
I'll lay off the post edits thing, as it seems they're aware of the need, and working on it.