Hands-on with the Asus U1 ultra-portable: 1.78-pounds of Core Duo hotness

Sony's Vaio G -- remember that sweetness? Just a few months back we were all salivating for the G's 12.1-inches of Core Solo action in a slim, 1.98-pound kit. Now steel yourself brother, ASUS has an unannounced U1 under wraps set for global -- yes, global -- release in mid-to-late February. The U1 features an 11.1-inch WXGA (1360x768) LED display, 1.06GHz U2400 Core Duo processor, up to 1.5GB of DDR2 RAM and 80GB disk, Bluetooth (and WiFi we can assume), a webcam in the bezel, external optical multi-drive and even a port replicator. It also delivers some added peace of mind via integrated fingerprint reader, motion sensor and HDD protection. It's not clear what graphics processor the U1 packs but rest assured, the whole kit is Vista compatible. Decent specs all around for kickin' back with a few Office apps or browsing the web on a very slight, 1.78-pound (with 3-cell battery installed) sled. So, we bet you're wondering how it feels, right? Light as hell. So light in fact, that we thought it was an empty shell of a mock-up before ASUS hit the power switch. The keyboard had an unsettling spring to it, however, which will hopefully get sorted before the U1 goes production. Starting price: $2,199. Pics-a-plenty in the gallery below.

Hands on with the Asus U1 ultra-portable: 1.78-pounds of Core Duo hotness

[skagen47 @ Jan 8th 2007 9:52PM]

So Asus is trying to blow our minds by giving us the Sony TX barely changed?

[Fred @ Jan 9th 2007 3:42AM]

"Barely changed"???

If you mean shedding more than 1/3 of its weight (2.76 lbs --> 1.78 lbs) and adding a dual core processor "barely changed," then yes... NOT.

[ark_v2 @ Jan 8th 2007 10:02PM]

Is it just me or the keyboard looks really cheap? It's sexy from the outside but the inside...

[wesrubix @ Jan 8th 2007 10:28PM]

Is that (p)leather around the keyboard?

[Manny @ Jan 8th 2007 11:51PM]

damn shexy leather..me likey!

[JR @ Jan 9th 2007 2:00AM]

Yeah just wondering; why did they stick with the old Intel chip, when clearly it is an expensive lean machine. I mean, why not just the low-end Core 2's?

[kev @ Jan 9th 2007 2:35AM]

The battery life is the most important part of an ultraportable...was that piece of information intentionally left out?

[Craig @ Jan 9th 2007 3:50AM]

External optical drive and a 3-cell battery? No thanks...I'll stick with my Panasonic eLite.

[2fic @ Jan 9th 2007 9:13AM]

what, no is going to mention that Asus is an ODM for Apple??? http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/08/asus-u5-meets-eu-green-standards/

Ultralight Macbook anyone?

[Ian @ Jan 9th 2007 11:47AM]

wow, its nice to see how laptops advance in size and power (towards the small and powerful)

i am still a good year and a half from having to get a notebook for school but i eagerly await the day when an ultra portable will be able to run bf2 at decent specs :)

[Rahul Nirmal @ Jan 9th 2007 6:37PM]

Yeah, that is leather on the palmrest, just like on Asus's 11.1" S6F. I do wish the S6F came with all black like this sexy U1 and the fingerprint reader and webcam on this model as well.
Does anyone please know if Asus will refresh the S6F with a webcam and fingerprint reader for instance?
Also, I assume this uses a 1.8" hard drive instead of the 2.5" in the S6F?

I also assume it has poor battery life as well, as does the S6F have mediocre battery life, though that packs a 1.5 or 1.66 ghz LV Core Duo chip.

[Jelpy @ Jan 9th 2007 9:12PM]

Anyone noticed that it's lighter than their own R2H Origami/UMPC, which is smaller, has a much smaller display and no integrated keyboard 8-|

[LFLappie @ Jan 10th 2007 1:31AM]

No core 2 duo? What is the point?

[dthorpe @ Jan 10th 2007 11:30AM]

How quickly we forget the Sony Vaio X505. 1.7 lbs, 3 hour battery life, 1GHz proc, etc. etc. http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebooks/review/2004/06/03/Sony-VAIO-VGN-X505VP-Ultra-Slim-Notebook/p1

Now three years later, Asus has a clunkier, plastic, cheaper iteration.

I'll keep my X505, thanks. :P

[Rahul Nirmal @ Jan 10th 2007 5:23PM]

I don't think its as bad as you say dthorpe, looks pretty solid to me. I am surprised that the thicker and higher end S6F series also from Asus doesn't have a webcam and fingerprint reader for instance but this does. I wish the S6Fs came in all sexy black like this one. And how does it look cheaper and inferior to the X505?

[psyjoniz @ Jan 11th 2007 11:53AM]

wow. the keyboard has the right-hand shift key to the -right- of the up-arrow key. for that alone i would not even consider this laptop.

i do, however, own an asus laptop that i am very happy with (half gig nvidia cards are hard to come by in lappies..).

[battery @ Oct 27th 2007 10:28PM]

If you need a new laptop battery, I suggest you could puechase one from http://www.batteryfast.com , which would shipping to yu fast and the quality is satisfy satisfied.:)
http://www.batteryfast.com/asus/

[Alessandro I. @ Apr 4th 2009 3:47AM]

I bought it 6 months ago and still satisfied. Does anyone know if the RAM can be upgraded? Some one talked about integrated memory SO-DIMM that can be upgraded.
Where can i find more info about it?

Thanks in advance