ASUS' bamboo laptops ditch the Pandas, bring the WiMax as they go production

Whether counting its 23 Eee PCs or 50 plus models of traditional laptops, ASUS isn't exactly known for its frugality. So seeing yet another press release touting the launch of its bamboo -- a renewable material with immense tensile strength rivaling that of many metal alloys -- laptops shouldn't be a surprise. What's new here, perhaps, is the detail. Now in mass production, these partially biodegradable laptops come with either 11.1- or 12.1-inch, 1,280 x 768 pixel displays, your choice of 3/6/9-cell batteries, and ASUS' Super Hybrid Engine allowing you to dial down the power when the wails of the Antarctic penguins become too much to bear. The 12.1-incher is the relative powerhouse of the pair offering Vista a ride atop your choice of Intel T9400/P8600/P8400 Core 2 Duo processors, 256MB of NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS graphics, a 320GB hybrid hard drive sporting 256MB of flash, and Intel's WiMAX / WiFi Link 5100 chipset. Pricing? Sorry, we'll likely have to wait for another press release for that detail.

[Via The Inquirer]

[Down @ Sep 4th 2008 9:10PM]

Snake skin would be better. In fact snake skin would be absolutely awesome.

[Pumping_Iron @ Sep 1st 2008 6:49AM]

Looks nice....wouldn't mind having one...if the price is below 1000 us dollars ofcourse...

[tom @ Sep 1st 2008 9:33AM]

IMO, it looks ugly! It reminds me of my ex-neighbor's Jeep Wagoneer (with wood exterior along its side)

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/pictures/VEHICLE/1990/Jeep/3529/1990.jeep.wagoneer.5965-396x249.jpg

[eiki @ Sep 1st 2008 9:53AM]

not with that chipset, or boobam!

[Jons @ Sep 1st 2008 6:50AM]

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/funny-pictures-panda-will-let-you-take-the-bamboo.jpg

[Kris Quigley @ Sep 1st 2008 6:53AM]

want, but im betting i cant afford :(

[Juxtah @ Sep 1st 2008 6:53AM]

Won't somebody think of the Pandas! We're stealing their food and turning it into laptops!

[Richard Lai @ Sep 1st 2008 7:06AM]

Bamboo grows like grass, very easy to plant so no worries.

[Chuck @ Sep 1st 2008 7:10AM]

@Richard

Trees grow too, but people still rant about using paper towels.

[John Bailey @ Sep 1st 2008 8:45AM]

So plant a tree, and plant a square foot of ground with bamboo, and see which one is harvested first. The tree, or the field of bamboo that has spread out from your square foot planting. Trees take decades to be of use as a raw material. Bamboo is seasonal. Stopping the stuff growing is more difficult.

[phrozunsun @ Sep 1st 2008 9:51PM]

easy then: let find a way to make toilet paper from bamboo!

[Abuzar Baloach @ Sep 1st 2008 6:58AM]

More and more laptops should use bamboo as much as they can instead of plastics. That stuff grows so fast that it's much better for the environment than using plastic.

[r3loaded @ Sep 1st 2008 6:58AM]

Arctic penguins? Never knew there were penguins in the arctic....

[Eldiablo @ Sep 1st 2008 7:07AM]

Only in Zoo's north of the circle, i would have thought?

[chi22ko @ Sep 1st 2008 7:02AM]

penguins are from antarctica...


unless you count those ugly animals that can fly...

[Ogo @ Sep 1st 2008 7:07AM]

Finally a computer that will match my station wagon!

[Freakin Ijit @ Sep 1st 2008 7:08AM]

Pretty, but if you carry it around (closed) like a book within a very short period of time you're going to have a permanent palm-shaped stain at the middle edge.

Then the fungus sets in.

Wood is very nice looking but plastics have their reasons. Maybe there should be non-bamboo where frequent/longterm touch occurs.

[Twitchy @ Sep 1st 2008 7:19AM]

Ever heard of urethane coatings?

[erndub @ Sep 1st 2008 12:33PM]

Bamboo is a type of grass, besides it would be coated with a lacquer or similar to stop it from staining or being absorbent. They make chopping boards out of bamboo too so its tight grain must have some water resistant merits. I think all laptops and other products should be made from the same biodegradable material, you wouldn't even notice what they were made from if painted or stained.

[Jason @ Sep 1st 2008 7:16AM]

is it mee or did wood styling on other products (car, electronics) then went out of style long time ago?

[TareX @ Sep 1st 2008 7:16AM]

I LOVE it. It sounds like a risky purchase but I'd go for it... IF it was in the sub-$1000 range.

[Kelmon @ Sep 1st 2008 7:42AM]

I bet if you slapped an IKEA logo on the front of this laptop, no one would bat an eyelid.

[Beau @ Sep 1st 2008 8:24AM]

Oh wow, me likes. Now, if Apple would make their plastic (pfft) MacBooks, uh, like this, I'd probably upgrade :)

[roach @ Sep 1st 2008 10:35AM]

Apple hates the environment

[avester @ Sep 1st 2008 9:01AM]

In the old days, laptops were made out of metal, and the coders were made out of wood...

[Nate @ Sep 1st 2008 12:25PM]

The bamboo looks great but they should of made the touch pad the same color as the keyboard.

[digitalmethod @ Sep 1st 2008 1:29PM]

I think they should have made the keyboard match the keypad. Either all bamboo or all plastic, I don't like it mixed. Plox.

[black @ Sep 1st 2008 1:20PM]

I like , how thin is it? It would be nice if there was a netbook that I can play a game on without it taking a dump.

[Mark @ Sep 2nd 2008 6:49AM]

Bamboo is an awesome material and cheap too. I have no issue with laptops being made from it but I take serious issue with the ridiculous premium that is slapped on it. How much would a bamboo casing cost to make?

It probably nothing for the environment either. The bamboo is probably a thin veneer over an inner plastic frame and slathered with glue and resin too.

[DQKennard @ Sep 2nd 2008 10:51AM]

My initial reactions: (a) 1970s basement panelling, (b) one step closer to the IKEA robot they had on Futurama, (c) I kind of like it, or at least the idea of it, despite (a) and (b), and (d) I'd have to see it in person, because in the picture it looks a bit too much like cheap, plasticy veneer.