Asus reportedly plans to update its 12.1 inch Asus UL20a notebook by swapping out the Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor for Intel’s latest ULV chipset. Details are a bit scarce at the moment, but SemiAccurate reports that the new model will be dubbed the Asus UL20FT and that it will be available with a choice of processors.
The first option will be a 1.02GHz Intel Celeron U3400 chip, while the second will be a 1.2GHz Intel Core i3-330UM processor. Neither chip supports Turbo Boost, but Asus will use bundle its Turbo33 platform which will allow users to overclock either processor by up to 33 percent.
SemiAccurate also suggests that the notebook will ship integrated graphics. There won’t be an option for a dedicated graphics card — something that Asus offers onmany of its larger thin and light notebooks.
Like the Asus UL20A, the UL20FT will reportedly have a 12.1 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display. The laptop should support up to 4GB of DDR3 memory and up to 500GBof hard drive space and weigh about 3.5 pounds. Asus apparently expects the laptop to run for about 8 hours with a 6 cell battery.
There’s no word on pricing or availability — or whether the computer will look any different than the UL20A. But Asus is expected to show off the new model at Computex next week, so we should have more information soon.
Last I’d heard Asus was planning on launching a new model called the UL20AT with a Core 2 Duo processor and DDR3 memory. If SemiAccurate is correct, it looks like that model may have been shoved aside to make way for a new model with a more powerful processor.
Update: My contact at Asus has confirmed that the leaked specs are pretty accurate.
Update 2: The Asus UL20FT is now shipping.
+1 for putting HDMI in it. No HDMI is the biggest drawback of the ul20a
Brad, the old UL20A did not have Turbo33 too. Is there anyway to install Turbo33 in the old UL20A?
Will they put HDMI and bluetooth in it, or lose out to Acer (1830T) all over again like they did last year?
This is not a rumor, it is truth. A person Notebookreview posted the monthly Asus catalog and this was in it. It needs a better processor than the Core i3-330UM though, a Core i7-680UM would be nice. 😉
Huh, well at least that’s a graphics upgrade, and more CPU power is always welcome… It’s a good product refresh one way or the other. Too bad they won’t put discrete switchable graphics on it.