Asus Producing Netbooks in 2012, Starting Eee PC 1225B
The Asus Eee PC 1225B netbook is slated for 2012 despite rumors that the form factor is coming to an end.
Various reports are pointing to an Asus netbook that proves the company still has plans for the allegedly dying form factor in 2012. Simply labeled as the Eee PC 1225B, the upcoming device refreshes the specs listed for the previous Eee PC 1215B and is based on AMD's Brazos chipset.
According to the specs, the Asus Eee PC 1225B will arrive in two flavors: a dual-core AMD E450 APU clocked at 1.65 GHz and a dual-core AMD C60 APU clocked at 1.0 GHz. It will also feature one slot for memory, offering 2 GB or 4 GB of DDR3, depending on your wallet. Graphics will be handled by a Radeon HD 6320 or Radeon HD 6290 discrete core.
"With the embedded ATI Radeon HD 6320/6290 graphics, the Asus 1225B provides users the best portable multimedia enjoyment for its size. DirectX 11 support – exceptional 3D performance allows users to play games and video smoother than ever before," the product description read. "Also, users can enjoy smooth, Full HD 1080p content through the HDMI port to an HD display without any latency. Connect it to a home theater system to enjoy true 7.1 Surround sound playback alongside the Full HD content for the ultimate viewing experience."
As for other features, the new netbook will sport an 11.6-inch LED-backlit WXGA screen (1366 x 768), HDD capacities of 320 GB, 500 GB or 750 GB, 802.11 b/g/n connectivity @ 2.4 GHz, optional Bluetooth 3.0 + HS, a 0.3MP camera, and a 6-cell 56Wh Li-ion battery promising up to 7 hours. Ports include one USB 2.0, two USB 3.0, one Ethernet, one HDMI output, an SD/SDHC/SDXC/MMC card reader, VGA and more.
While the product page is up for viewing, actual availability in 2012 and pricing is unknown, so stay tuned.

how about ultrabooks with amd apus...
The CPU in current AMD APUs are not nearly as powerful as upcoming Ivy Bridge ULV chips. The GPU on the other hand is a different story (AMD is probably better in that regard but I'm not sure about these low end APUs vs IvyB).
Perhaps when AMD's trinity and Piledriver comes along, it'll be better.
think of the use of the netbook though. You're not doing anything CPU intensive on it, however, if you given the opportunity to play a game on it, you could.
AMD APU's were demoed with final fantasy 14, say what you want about the game, the graphics on their a step above most casual games, and it was able play it at a very smooth frame rate.
AMD APU's were demoed with final fantasy 14, say what you want about the game, the graphics on their a step above most casual games, and it was able play it at a very smooth frame rate.
CPU intensive? I'd like to have everything working REALLY fast, because netbook is all about mobile productivity... I don't want to waste time like I do now on my netbook, where I have to wait for 1-2 minutes before Ubuntu boots. So the faster the CPU the better...
if you got the money, an ultrabook-type laptop will fix all of that. vendors won't introduce that kind of speed and responsiveness to an entry level machine.
however, you might be able to find some llano or bobcat laptops with an ssd.. probably will take care of ubuntu's booting time.
edit: afaik ubuntu and amd don't always go well together, in terms of drivers and patches... that's both ubuntu (or any linux) and amd's fault.
Really would love to see one of these with an A8-3500M (4 cores @ 1.5/2.4GHz, Radeon 6620G, 35W), I think I'd buy one even if I don't really need it.
I'd even prefer a trackball over these things.
Good point:
Old news in terms of hardware! Come on ASUS.. Lenovo E325? Rings any bells? AMD 450 APU, priced around €330, were selling in November already..? Had Lenovo S205 AMD 350, AMD 450 is essentially the same performance wise. That means both su%$ at games and most of other tasks. Miles ahead of Atom but other than that complete crawlers.. When will Intel with NVidia finally step up? And hey, give us decent SSD options instead of HDDs in netbooks. Enough of bottlenecks as is.
You can also get a 1215B with a E-450 for quite some time. What the article is mentioning is that ASUS is going to introduce another EEE PC, the 1225B, with a E-450.
In terms of CPU power Intel still has the upper hand with the D2700. Where Intel lags behind considerably is in the GPU department.
The best solutions is like the one ASUS reached with the VX6S. A Intel Atom D2700 paired with a AMD Radeon HD 6470M. Of course this solution puts this netbook among the most expensive.
The VX6S is a horrible solution. It benches higher than the E350 on some tests, but for the price I could do much better. Desktop atom processor and discrete graphics will both be power drains as well. Complete loss of concept since netbooks are supposed to be cheap and low power. I doubt the Atom N2800 can compete without discrete graphics since it's still at the level of a D525.
It already runs better than I expect out of a "netbook," and I regularly hook it up to my television to watch movies, and plug in peripherals to play games.
I don't want Asus to stop rolling these out. They're very portable, have excellent battery life, but are still comfortable to type on. The 12" screen is just fine, and the VGA and HDMI out to other displays anyway.
I'll take continued hardware progression, but other than that, the utility of my little netbook is unequaled.