Asus announces two updated K-series notebooks

TAIWANESE PC MAKER Asus announced its updated K-series notebooks today, the K73E and K73SV, featuring Intel chips and Nvidia graphics.

The range of notebooks will feature Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 Sandy Bridge processors with a choice of 1GB or 2GB of DDR3 RAM, will use the Intel HM65 Express chipset and will support DirectX 11. The K73E will only come with an integrated Intel GPU but the K73SV model will have Nvidia GeForce GT540M graphics.

According to Asus the notebooks will also come with a choice of four versions of Windows 7. Both will have huge 17.3-inch screens with 1600x900 resolution. The 16:9 display aspect ratio puts these notebooks squarely in the consumer category, as working people will prefer a 16:10 aspect ratio.

It appears that the two notebooks are identical in the remainder of their specifications. A range of SATA hard drive capacities will be available to choose from along with a choice between Super-multi or Blu-ray optical drives. Both will have a measly 0.3MP webcam, a 3-in-1 card reader, Bluetooth, WiFi and the usual array of I/O ports but strangely there is no mention of USB 3.0.

Palmproof and Icecool are two of the features of the Asus K-series notebooks. Palmproof is a system that allegedly detects unintentional touchpad input from the palm of the hand, preventing unwanted movements of the cursor. Asus claims that Icecool will ensure that the palm rests on the notebook will always be cool to the touch. This technology is essentially just a rearrangement of internal components to move them away from areas of the laptop that you touch regularly.

Potential buyers will have to wait to find out when they will be able to get hold of these notebooks and how much one will set them back because Asus has provided no information about pricing and availability. µ