ASUS Uncovers New Core i7 Notebooks

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ASUS unveiled a trio of attractive new Intel-powered notebooks at the CeBIT trade show in Germany. They all have different screen sizes but can be customized with different processor specs for the customer. The most notable thing about them? Order yours with an NVIDIA graphics card and you can be one of the first people to have an NVIDIA Optimus-enabled notebook.

NVIDIA’s Optimus technology has been pretty notable in the computer hardware community the past few weeks. The new technology will automatically switch the computer’s graphics processing from the integrated (CPU) to the discreet GPU, as needed by the user, in a very discreet manner without any involvement from the user. While there has been similar solutions before, they’ve either required the user to close all their applications or restart the computer.

The beauty of Optimus is that it’s all done on the fly, so the default graphics setting will be the low-power integrated graphics, but if the user fires up a game or opens up an HD flash video, the GPU will automatically engage, without any action from the user. It’s a rather attractive solution.

Buyers order one of these new ASUS notebooks will have a choice between an ATI Radeon HD5730 or a NVIDIA GeForce GT 325M (the NVIDIA card is a more appealing choice because of Optimus, but the ATI card is probably more powerful and Dx-11 ready… choices, choices). Each notebook will feature the buyer’s choice of an Intel i3, i5 or i7 processor. Buyers can order each notebook with up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM and a 640GB HDD. A Blu-Ray player can also be opted in.

The ASUS N61J notebook will come with a 16-inch screen. The ASUS N71J will come with a 17.3-inch screen, and the ASUS N82J will come with a 14-inch screen. Each notebook is apart of ASUS’ SonicMaster series which promises better than average sound for notebook computers.

No word on a release date or pricing, yet.