Asus Eee PC 1201N netbook sleek, powerful and cheap

Asus Eee PC 1201N netbook will be shipping in the US and the UK market sometime in December 2009 and January 2010 respectively. It is also expected to hit the Indian market early next year and despite the launch date still far away, it is generating immense interest worldwide. But why? Because of one simple reason - Eee PC 1201N, like other latest netbooks and nettops launched by Asus, will sport discrete Nvidia Ion graphics which promises stunning multimedia performance and supports HD video playback. According to Asus, thanks to the discrete graphics, the netbook can "deliver an outstanding HD experience that isn't possible with today's basic integrated graphic." Besides promising to deliver up to 10x faster graphics performance than comparable systems with Intel integrated graphics, ION graphics also supports new features of the latest Flash Player 10.1 and, thanks to an HDMI port, it can hook up to an external display with resolutions up to 1080 pixels. But that's not all. Eee PC 1201N also sports a 12.1-inch LED-backlit display capable of supporting up to 1366x768 pixel resolution, 250GB HDD (Asus is also offering 500GB online storage space for free), 2GB DDR2 RAM, WiFi, Bluetooth, full-size chicklet-style keyboard, 3 USB ports, VGA port, Ethernet port, SD card slot, audio jack sockets, 0.3-megapixel webcam (with digital zoom function) and Li-Ion battery capable of keeping the netbook powered up to 5 hours without needing a recharge. The netbook also promises blazing fast speed, thanks to its Intel Atom 330 1.6GHz dual core processor (the first netbook perhaps to incorporate a dual core processor – a desktop chip, to be precise – under its hood) and Windows 7 OS. And, if you're still feeling underpowered, you can bump up its HDD to 320GB and RAM to 3GB. The netbook will sport a price tag of $500 in the US and £399 in the UK market. In India, the netbook should ship for around Rs.30,000. Unfortunately, Eee PC 1201N, which measures 296x208x27.3mm, weighs 1.46kg and comes in black and silver colours, will not have any optical drive, nor will it support 3G or GPS like the costlier Nokia Booklet 3G. Also it will only sport Windows 7 Starter Edition so don't go ga-ga over it. But then, at this price tag, you're getting a powerful processor, discrete graphics and the world famous Asus customer support. And, that's saying a lot. -- International Business Times