ASUS Announces Eco-Friendlier Bamboo Laptop

It's pretty tough to be a relevant PC maker these days. There are so many options. By the time you've come up with a creative design, it's already been leaked on Gizmodo to your competitors. Or, your story gets bumped by the latest Apple tablet rumor (which turns out to be false).

But one niche that no manufacture has really tapped is green electronics. Enter the ASUS bamboo laptop!

Sure, green electronics are an oxymoron. How can they be green when they clog up the landfills with 50 million tons of e-waste each year? Well, they can't, but this bamboo laptop sure makes me think some day they will.

By using industrial-strength bamboo, the laptop reduces e-waste bamboo can of course be recycled - even the trackpad is made out of bamboo! Interestingly enough, part of the manufacturing process includes screening the bamboo for parasites.

"We spent the last couple of years perfecting and working with bamboo," said Jonney Shih, Chairmen of ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated (ASUS). "It is trendy yet responsible."

It's rumored the notebooks will cost around $999. Much friendlier to the pocketbook than the $2000 price tag which was leaked back in June when the device was called the U6.

The notebooks are powered by Intel's Core i3, i5, and i7 processors, they run Windows 7, and have USB 3.0 connectivity. They have up to 500GB of storage space and Blu-ray drives. They're optimized to save battery life using ASUS's Super Hybrid Engine. It reduces CO2 emissions by 12.3kg per notebook annually. With the 6 million notebooks ASUS sells each year, this equates to about 73.8M kg of CO2 (or about 36 million trees).

Of course, this isn't the first bamboo device we have seen. There have been external USB drives, Dell's tiny eco computer, and a whole other line of ASUS bamboo products. And we cannot wait until more come out.

“We are looking forward to leading the PC industry into a new era of thought,” Shih says. And we are looking forward to it too.   

ASUS Bamboo U Series Specifications: ASUS U33Jt:

• Processor - Intel Core i7-640UM (1,2 GHz) or Intel Core i7-620UM (1,06 GHz)

• Operating System - Windows 7

• Up to 4 GB of RAM DDR3 (1066 MHz)

• 13.3-inch display with a resolution of 1366x768 pixels

• Graphics - NVIDIA GeForce 310M and Intel GMA HD (switchable)

• Winchester - 250/320/500/640 GB

• 0,3 / 2-megapixel web camera

• 8-cell battery

• Dimension - 328x232x14 ,8-27 mm

• Weight - 1.7 kg

ASUS U83Jc:

• Processor - Intel Core i5-540M (2,53 GHz), i5-520M (2,4 GHz), i5-430M (2,26 GHz), i3-350M (2,26 GHz), i3-330M (2 , 13 GHz)

• Operating System - Windows 7

• Up to 4 GB of RAM DDR3 (1066 MHz)

• 14-inch display with a resolution of 1366x768 pixels

• Graphics - NVIDIA GeForce 310M and Intel GMA HD (switchable)

• Winchester - 320/500/640 GB

• Optical Drive DVD Super-Multi

• 0,3 / 2-megapixel web camera

• Dimension - 344x241x28-31, 8 mm

• Weight - 2.2 kg

ASUS U53F/U53Jc:

• Processor - Intel Core i5-540M (2,53 GHz), i5-520M (2,4 GHz), i5-430M (2,26 GHz), i3-350M (2,26 GHz), i3-330M (2 , 13 GHz)

• Operating System - Windows 7

• Up to 4 GB of RAM DDR3 (1066 MHz)

• 15.6-inch display with a resolution of 1366x768 pixels

• Graphics - Intel GMA HD (U53F), switchable NVIDIA GeForce 310M and Intel GMA HD (U53Jc)

• Winchester - 320/500/640 GB

• Optical Drive DVD Super-Multi/Blu-Ray Combo

• 1,3 / 2-megapixel web camera

• Dimensions - 386x259, 4x33 ,91-34, 67 mm

• Weight - 2.6 kg

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