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ASUS' W5Fe SideShow laptop and U1F ultra-portable shipping this month (in Japan)
Man, that didn't take long. ASUS' W5Fe SideShow-enabled laptop and 2.2-pound U1F with LED backlit display -- both unveiled as prototypes during January's CES -- are hitting Japan (at least) mid-March. An estimated ¥224,800 (or about $1,915) should take home the 12-inch W5Fe preloaded with Vista, a 1.86GHz Core Duo T2350 proc, 1GB memory, 80GB of disk, and standard 1.5-hour battery. If ultra-portability is more your game then you'll need roughly ¥269,800 (about $2,298) to bring the 11.1-inch U1F home equipped with a 1.06GHz Core Duo U2400 CPU, 1GB memory, 80GB disk, and standard 3-hour battery. But you'll want to dig a little deeper for the optional 6-hour extended battery eh road warrior? We expect to hear of a broader release sometime before CeBIT next week. Read -- W5Fe Read -- U1F
ASUS W5fe SideShow Notebook reviewed
You've seen it being announced, you've browsed the hands-on photos, and you've even checked out our video feature (right?). Now it's time for the in-depth review of the first laptop to take full advantage of Vista's SideShow feature: ASUS's W5fe SideShow Notebook. PC Magazine is the first to get a chance to sit down with the machine, and their overall impression of SideShow is a good one, although there are a fair number of niggles with this particular implementation. There's no questioning the value of having a small screen to quickly check up on information like email and stock tickers without booting or waking the machine: unfortunately, because Vista is fresh off the block, there aren't a lot of other "gadgets" kicking around. The 1GB of integrated flash memory is a nice touch, but it's not a substitute for the complete inabilty to access the laptop's hard drive when the unit is off or in sleep mode. On top of that, the included battery could only manage to keep the system and its two screens going for 47 minutes when playing a DVD. Because of these hardware limitations and the current dearth of gadgets, the W5fe isn't a particularly appealing package if your main motivation for buying is to get SideShow. That's not to say that SideShow is doomed, because whilst this particular model may not meet the initial vision of SideShow, it shouldn't be long before developers start churning out more widgets gadgets and hardware manufacturers start putting together better packages. Which one will come first, only time will tell.[Via SlashGear]
Asus W5Fe SideShow laptop hands-on
We heard about the official announcement just a couple of hours ago, but we already got our hands on that new Asus W5Fe laptop that features SideShow. The first thing we went in for was (obviously) the SideShow auxiliary display, and we are happy to report it's a lot lower profile than we thought it'd be. That said, we've seen Sideshow units embedded into laptop lids without any raised plastics whatsoever, so any humpbacked growths are kind of unacceptable. It's light, but not quite as light as we'd have hoped for a 12-inch laptop -- it's certainly got some bulk -- but it's a solid feeling machine that will go nicely with your Vista install and the SideShow's a nice bonus. The jury may be out on what kinds of apps this particular install has going for it (it only had widgets for a media player, stripped down email reader, and battery gauge), but that'll undoubtedly change with time. Asus W5Fe SideShow laptop hands-on
Asus W5Fe with SideShow announced
We knew Asus was coming out with a SideShow-enabled laptop, we knew it was happening at CES alongside Vista's coming-out, and now we've got it: the W5Fe has a fat, ugly auxiliary display to accompany its 12-inch widescreen display. It also features Core 2 Duo processors, Intel 802.11a/b/g, up to 1.5GB RAM and 160GB of drive space, an integrated 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, ExpressCard port, VGA and TV-out, and so on. But we know the SideShow novelty is what's most important: that will give you a 2.8-inch QVGA display with 1GB of independent flash memory for installing widgets and even media.
