Asustek adds to high end of its netbook range

Asustek Computer has added the N10 at the top end of its range of netbooks.

The mini-laptop is aimed at people willing to pay more and could replace a regular laptop for some people.

[ For more on products in the hot mini-notebook category, check out our hands-on looks at Asus' Eee PC 901 and 1000, the Cloudbook Max netbook, Elitegroup's G10IL mini-laptop, MSI's Wind low-cost laptop, Giga-byte's M912X mini-laptop, HP's Mini-Note netbook and Acer's Aspire one. ]

Designed around Intel's Atom microprocessor, the Asus N10 sports a 10.2-inch screen and comes with any of several Microsoft OSes, including Windows XP, Vista Home Basic, Vista Home Premium, Vista Business, and Vista Ultimate.

It also includes several expensive extras, including a 1.3-megapixel on-board camera, high-end graphics via a GeForce 9300M graphics card by Nvidia, and an external super-multi-optical drive for recording and playing DVDs and CDs. Most netbooks come with low-end Webcams, standard graphics, and no optical drives.

Asustek added its embedded Express Gate OS to the N10 so that people can boot up to a screen with some of their favorite applications in just 8 seconds.

For increased login security, the device comes with facial recognition capabilities.

Asustek representatives said the N10 will be launched in the U.S., Europe, and Asia later in October, but they declined to say how much the netbook will cost.

The N10 can hold up to 2GB of DRAM, and it will come with a choice of hard disk drives (160GB, 250GB, or 320GB) and a three- or six-cell battery.

The device will be able to connect wirelessly to other gadgets via Bluetooth 2.0 and to the Internet through Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n.

Netbooks are among the hottest new products this year because they offer people a mobile, easy way to wirelessly access the Web.