ASUS officially introduced their latest Eee PC today – the new ultra-slim Eee PC S101. The S101 measures a mere 1.8 cm thick, weighs around 1kg and comes in three colors  – Brown, Champagne, and Graphite, will have a weight of around 1kg and will be a mere 1.8cm thick. Spec wise, it’s really not all that different from other competing netbooks. You’ve got:

• Intel Atom processor
• Intel 945GSE / ICH7-M chipset
• 10.2 inch wide-screen LED backlit TFT with 1024 x 600, 252K color display
• 10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet Controller
• 802.11n Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth 2.0
• 1GB DDR2 memory
• 16GB/32GB/64GB SSD
• 20GB Eee Online Storage
• 1 VGA port
• 3 USB 2.0 ports
• 1 RJ-45 port
• 2 audio jacks – headphone/microphone in
• 0.3 megapixel webcam
• 4 in 1 media card reader with support for MMC, SD, Memory Stick, and Memory Stick PRO
• Multi-touch touchpad
• HD Audio
• Stereo Speakers
• Digital Array Microphone
• Polymer battery 36 W/hr
• Measures 264 x 180.5 x 18 ~ 25 mm
• Weighs 1kg

Thus what differentiates the S101 from other netbooks is the look and feel of the netbook – it’s slim form factor and sexy design. BUT it does come with a price. The S101 will be available in three versions:

• 16 GB SSD, Windows XP, inclusive of an additional 16 GB SD card: USD $699
• 32 GB SSD, Linux operating system: USD $699
• 64 GB SSD, Linux operating system: USD $799

This is certainly not a cheap netbook by any means. For me, it crosses that magical $500 dollar line that I’m pretty much not willing to cross for an Atom based system. Once you go into the high $600/700 dollar range, I’m expecting an Intel Core 2 Duo processor – forget the size and weight – I want performance for that money. BUT… ASUS is betting on the fact that there are some of you out there who will be willing to spend a pretty buck or two on this sexy system.

Do me a favor ASUS? Please remove the “Eee” logo from the top next time?

[Check it out via NetbookTech, Electronista]

[Additional pics at Eee PC News]

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