ASUS announces R1E and more

Today I was lucky enough to spend time with one of the Australian ASUS Sales and Marketing Staff. Nice guy and really open and willing to share information. The first thing he decided to cover off with me was the new ASUS R1E Tablet PC. In keeping with awkward naming conventions plaguing Tablets at present, it seems as though ASUS has taken one step backward in order to take one forward, R1F has now become the R1E. 

ASUS R1E Specifications:

• Intel Centrino Pro Processor Technology
  • Intel Core 2 Duo Processors T7500/T7300/T7100
  • Mobile Intel GM965 Express Chipset
  • Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 4965AGN
• Genuine Windows Vista
  • Home Premium/Business/Ultimate
• DDR2 667 MHz up to 4GB
• 13.3″ wide active matrix TFT, WXGA
• SATA 120/160GB (5400rpm)
• 10/100/1000, 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth V2.0 + EDR
• 3x USB(1x e-SATA combo port), 2x Audio Jacks, 1x LAN RJ45, 1x Phone RJ-11 jack
• 1x TV-out, 1x VGA port
• 31.7 x 23.2 x 3.5 cm, 1.98kg (sorry about the metric specs)

The first thing you will note when you look at the machine is that it is the same ASUS R1F we met last year but sporting the now almost ubiquitous Santa Rosa platform by Intel. This can only mean one thing! The R2H UMPC will become Santa Rosa-fied soon too!

While the ASUS R2H has not been given the Santa Rosa treatment just yet it has been given a bunch of great improvements. I will describe them below but before I do I managed to pry a scoop from my new found ASUS friend, i.e. that the R2H will have embedded HSDPA come Quarter 4 this year! Now before you flood little ol’ ASUS with emails wanting to place your orders you might want to remember that Fujitsu, Lenovo and many others have been touting HSDPA inside for quite some time but have yet to come to the party on many models.

ASUS R2Hv Specifications:

• Intel Pentium M ULV723 Processor, 1.0 GHz
• Genuine Windows Vista
  • Home Premium/Business/Ultimate
• On board 256MB, DDR2 667 MHz, up to 1280MB
• 7″ WXGA LCD, ASUS Splendid Video Intelligent Engine
• PATA 1.8″ HDD 4200RPM 30/40/60/80GB
• Bluetooth V2.0 + EDR, 3x USB, 1x SD Card Reader, 1x GPS, 1x Finger Print
• 23.4 x 13.3 x 2.8 cm, 830g

While information on the R2Hv is not hard to find I thought I would take the time to mention one of the neat new features I found interesting. In the new version you can now attach an external antenna onto the GPS. While this may sound menial to some of you,a lot of you may recognize this is as a great improvement especially if you use the R2Hv in trucks or caravans (campervans).

Oh! Before the ASUS dude left the building he confirmed one more thing…SSD R2H is on the road map and it might be available sooner than we all think!