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Here's everything ASUS unveiled at Computex 2018
It's been a busy start of Computex 2018 for ASUS. The company kicked off the show with its annual launch event, and unveiled a bunch of intriguing new devices. Between the concept dual-screen AI-powered laptop known for now as Project Precog and the ZenBook Pro 15 with its touchscreen trackpad, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the news. Not to worry -- Team Engadget has your back. We've combed all the announcements, even from its gaming sub-brand ROG, to bring you the most interesting of the lot.
ASUS VivoBook S500 / S550 Windows 8 laptops now on sale for $699 and up
With Books, Pads, Tabs, Fones and the intriguing Transformer AiO, we can only wonder what else ASUS has in the stockroom. Recently liberated from the warehouse are the VivoBook S500 and S550 -- they're the biggest of the new VivoBook range, with 15.6-inch, 1,366 x 768 displays supporting multitouch for prodding at Windows 8. The S500 comes in one configuration: 1.7GHz Core i5, 6GB RAM, Intel GMA HD GPU and a 500GB HDD with 24GB SSD for fast-booting Redmond's latest OS. Almost identical is the S550, which has Core i3 / i5 / i7 options, as well as an optical drive for "physical media," whatever that is. You can call an S500 your own for $699 and ASUS has kindly put a slim list of retailers stocking the notebooks on its product page, though we can only find the i5-laden S550 for circa $750. Amazon seems to have had both on sale since March 4th, but ASUS thought it'd leave it a week before issuing a minimalist PR, which you'll find below.
ASUS announces three budget-friendly laptops with touchscreens, the VivoBook Q200, S400 and S500 (update: eyes-on)
Remember when Ultrabook prices dropped to around $700 and everyone cheered? Well, get ready for some one-upping: here at a New York City press event, ASUS just announced a line of lightweight, touchscreen laptops, and let's just say the prices are pretty aggressive. The new family, which will carry the name VivoBook, includes 11-, 14- and 15-inch models, with the 11.6-inch Q200 (aka the X202) starting at $499 with a Core i3 processor. The 14-inch S400, meanwhile, will start at $599, while the 15-inch S500 will go for $649 and up. Across the board, there will be configurations with Core i5 and i7 processors, but again, i3 is the starting spec here. As you can see in the photo above, the design isn't all that different from the current-gen Zenbook Prime family, though they lack some of that line's higher-end features -- namely, 1080p screens and solid-state storage. ASUS so far hasn't said when these laptops will ship here in the US, but we'll be sure to follow up with more specifics as we learn them. Mat Smith contributed to this report.
ASUS TAICHI 21 and VivoBook X202 go up for US pre-orders, spoil the party a bit early (update: VivoTab RT, too)
Just because ASUS has planned a grand October 23rd event to outline its US Windows 8 lineup doesn't mean we can't get an advance peek. Pre-orders have officially kicked off for at least two touchscreen PCs that also give us a very good feeling for the hardware we'll see at our doors. The dual-screened TAICHI 21 is naturally the star of the show, but it will cost you: a base version of the 11.6-inch hybrid with a 1.7GHz Core i5, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD starts at $1,300, while an uprated model with a 1.9GHz Core i7 and a 256GB SSD will set early adopters back by $1,600. We'd say the VivoBook X202 is more likely to get some purchases sight-unseen at $600 for an entry laptop with an 11.6-inch touchscreen, a 1.8GHz Core i3, 4GB of RAM and a conventional 500GB hard drive. Both of the systems should arrive in tandem with Windows 8's October 26th launch and compound the traffic jams for couriers and retailers on what could be a very busy day. [Thanks, Donny] Update: As Computerworld noticed, Newegg also has a pre-order listing for the VivoTab RT, which costs $599 in its lone 32GB configuration. It ships the same day as its bigger cousins.
