Asus preps U-Bamboo, other laptops for summer launch

Asus yesterday shared its notebook lineup for the latter half of 2010, with products including the U-Bamboo, NX, N and U series. Due earliest, the U-Bamboo line should arrive sometime next month and features a chassis constructed of bamboo – an unusual material choice, to say the least.

U-Bamboo models will range in size from 13.3, 14.1 to 15.6 inches and the range will feature Intel's Core i5-450M processor, a 1GB Nvidia GeForce 310M graphics card, and USB 3.0 support, with prices starting at the US equivalent of about $1,290, according to DigiTimes.

A month later, the company will introduce its NX90JQ, which Asus jointly developed with Bang and Olufsen ICEpower. That machine will host an Intel Core i7-720QM quad-core processor, Nvidia GeForce 334M 1GB discrete graphics, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, 1TB of storage space, USB 3.0 support, and priced at the equivalent of around $2,670.

Less pricy models are also in the pipeline, with the 13.3-inch U35, 14.4-inch U45, and 15.6-inch N53Jh, which should run along the lines of $1,190, $1,260, and $1,510. Further specs for these models are currently unknown, but at those prices, you can bank on Intel chips and discrete graphics.