Asus S101: slim and light for less

Been staring longingly at Apple's MacBook Air but haven't quite got the dosh to spare? Then Asus might just have the answer - and it isn't an Eee PC. No, it's the new S101 netbook. It's light at under a kilogram, slim at 18mm to 25mm thick and doesn't skimp on the hardware.

Having been been prematurely unveiled by Asus CEO, Jerry Shen, two months ago it's now been officially launched.

As expected for this "successful melding of fashion and functionality" (Asus's words) it eschews the Air's squeezed down Core 2 Duo for a more modest Intel Atom processor but it does have three times as many USB ports as the Air, which is to say, three.

The screen's truly netbook-sized at 10.2in, making it smaller than the Air, and there's no option of a traditional hard drive. Instead the base SSD option starts at 16GB and rises to an Air-matching 64GB.

Like the Eee PC, it gets a multitouch pad for zooming in on photos and other tricks. Oh, and will come with a choice of XP or Linux.

Engadget's managed to have a hands-on with one in China and concluded that it was 'mighty fine' but didn't think much of the lashings of brown on the case (what's up? Never seen a Zune before?). Thankfully it comes in graphite and champagne too.

Word is it'll be out in the Far East from tomorrow and here within a fortnight - or early November if you ask others. The price tag is £449, which makes it a pricey netbook but still leaves a whopping £750 change from a MacBook Air. Kerching.

[ Asus]