It looks like HP may not be the only company with a $199 laptop in the works. French retailer pc21 has posted a product page for an unannounced Asus device called the Asus F205TA.
It’s priced at about 205 Euros including VAT taxes… which means that if and when it comes to America the Asus F205TA could sell for about the same price as the upcoming HP Stream laptop.
While pc21 doesn’t provide any pictures of the computer (and doesn’t even make it clear if we’re looking at a notebook or a tablet), there are signs suggesting that the Asus F205TA is a cheap laptop computer.
Asus tends to use the F2xx model number to describe notebooks rather than tablets. And the system features 4GB of RAM, which is more than you’ll find in most cheap Windows tablets.
Other specs are very tablet-like though, including the computer’s Intel Atom Z3735F Bay Trail processor and 32GB of storage. The machine has an 11.6 inch display and runs Windows 8.1 with Bing software (which is basically a cheaper version of Windows 8.1 where Bing is set as the default search engine for Internet Explorer and manufacturers agree not to change that setting).
Mobile Geeks spotted the Asus F205TA online, but there’s no word on if or when it will be available for purchase in the US or Europe. Don’t be surprised if Asus has a new small, cheap laptop on display at IFA in Berlin next week though.
It will also be available in the Netherlands from week 51/2014 for a price of 219 euros. It is the same model as the X205TA. Why there is also this F205TA i don’t know, but Google for that designation and you’ll find websites with detailed specs. The Atom 3735F is the simplest (and therefore cheapest) version which only supports USB 2.0 and 2 GB of single channel memory. It enables pc-manufacturers to cut corners everywhere. As the product key is embedded in the BIOS and will be recognizable as a ‘Bing’ version, I suspect you won’t be able to change to a ‘normal’ windows 8.1, but if you don’t use IE you won’t be bothered by Bing at all.
This REALLY makes that Zotac box from earlier today seem overpriced if it pans out. Same chip if memory serves, twice the RAM, plus a keyboard and screen – all for the same money.
Interesting! Is there something unique about this hardware that prevents a ‘normal’ installation of W8 (or, for that matter, Linux as my personal preference)?
Oh happy day! An Atom Z3000-series chip with 4gb of RAM. Maybe some Atom Tablets will get the 4gb treatment sometime soon
The processor in the article “Atom Z3735F” only supports 2 gb of ram