While we continue to track down information on the ASUS U500 and Transformer Book, Vivo Book or whatever else the new Win 8 laptops might be called on October 23rd, here’s some info on ASUS S-Series S46 and S56. [For info on the S200 Touch, see here.] The four variants cover 14 and 15.6 screens with built-in and discreet graphics options. All variants have the same 1366×768 resolution and an optical drive.
All ASUS ultrabooks and ultrathins are listed here.
- ASUS S46CA – 14”, Intel HD4000 Graphics
- ASUS S46CM – 14”, Nvidia GT635M Graphics
- ASUS S56CA – 15.6”, Intel HD4000 Graphics
- ASUS S56CM – 15.6”. Nvidia GT635M Graphics
Specs appear to be as before with the same models. Only the Operating system is changing. All versions are potentially available with Core i3, i5 and i7 CPUs
We’re seeing the S56 in the German sales channels at a competitive 699 Euro. It’s about 100 Euro above the cheapest Ultrabooks out there) but comes with Core i5, 4BG ram and the Nvidia GT635M and DVD writer included. In the UK we’re seeing early signs of an S56CA (without discreet graphics) for £599.
ASUS USA still have Windows 7 listed on their product pages (although “ASUS recommends Windows 8”) and there’s no indication of any sales channels in the USA yet although we hope that will change after the ASUS event on the 23rd.
Sorry to hijack but would you recommend a core i3 or i5 for the Transformer Book? Only difference it Turbo on the latter, does it make that much difference? Thanks.
With the new Core i3 at 1.8Ghz there’s enough power there for most things but the Core i5/i7’s do Turbo a lot more. Itf the book is being used more for consumption, the i3 might be the better choice. Depends on the price differential. Have you seen model details yet? We haven’t.
Havent seen anything definitive, just going by the various hands on and your info. Is there a big battery life hit with Turbo? I need a good balance between power and battery life, but then depending on weight I could just carry the whole device and use the keyboard battery.
And really, I dont Photoshot or anything like that but dont want issues with using multiple browser tabs or applications at once.
“Havent seen anything definitive, just going by the various hands on and your info. Is there a big battery life hit with Turbo?”
I haven’t seen battery life impact by Turbo Mode. It shouldn’t as the effect should be temporary, and the increase can be mitigated by the fact it can sometimes go to sleep faster.
The power management of modern CPUs are advanced enough that TDP and clocks are a lot less important on battery life for most applications.
Thanks for the info. Hope to get these questions answered by Asus themselves at their event next week.
I for one am quite intrigued by these models. My girlfriend has been eyeing my Zenbook and she’s convinced 11.6″ ultrabook is her cup of tea.
I hope these make it to Finland.
So, ASUS just can’t bring themselves to install a kepler GPU into their latest models?
Still so much old inventory to burn off?
The Kepler GT 640M LE has a TDP of 17Watt, beating anything from the FERMI generation with anywhere near that TDP…
Annoying, ASUS!