ASUS Bamboo Collection laptops: now with Taiwanese pricing, more bamboo (update)

ASUS has been attaching bamboo to its laptops for some time now, but it was only ever really for show -- though the wood itself was certainly biodegradable, adding veneer isn't exactly the greenest statement in the world. This year, however, the company's Bamboo Collection will be completely slightly more recyclable. With Core i5-450M processors, they should be reasonably good performers as well, and NVIDIA Optimus switchable graphics technology gives them a factory-estimated (read: unlikely) 11 hours of battery life. The panda fodder cases will be found in Taiwan for around $40,000 NTD (approximately $1,300) next month, though US availability is yet to be announced. Check out the gigantic ASUS PDF for additional specs while you wait, and feel free to blow Ma Earth kisses all the while.

Update: Our friends at Engadget Chinese inform us the new U series laptops aren't 100 percent recyclable after all; they still have a sizable plastic substrate underneath those thicker bamboo panels. It seems ASUS still hasn't managed to shake its wooden façade. Get specs and first-hand pics from the event at our more coverage link.

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HP adds EliteBook 2540p and 2740p to the lineup, brings the power and the touch

Thought HP was done unleashing its new line of semi-rugged EliteBooks at CES? So did we, but apparently it needed just a little bit more time to pull the 12.1-inch 2540p and 2740p out of the oven. An update to the 2530p, the 3.8-pound 2540p still has the same magnesium alloy chassis that's met all those super-tough MIL-STD 810G military standard tests, but its innards have been freshened up with the alluring scent of Intel's 2010 Core processors. Prices start at $1,099, but in typical HP fashion it will be configurable online with tons of juicy options, including standard and low voltage Core i5 and i7 processors and a range of 7,200RPM and SSD drives.

Up next is the 2740p which packs much of the same internal spec options as the 2540p (sans the low-voltage CPUs), but puts them into a convertible tablet form factor. Starting at $1,599, its capacitive multitouch 12.1-inch display now supports both pen and finger input and thus pits it head-to-head with Lenovo's ThinkPad X201t, though from our hands-on we found the 3.8-pound 2740p to be much slimmer and lighter. A lot of that has to do with its flush battery, but if adding some juice (and thickness) is your thing, you can add a slate battery (or two!) to the bottom of the system. Both the 2540p and 2740p will be available later this month, but hit the hands-on gallery below to get a look at these magnesium puppies up close.

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HP EliteBook 8740w pumped up with Intel Core 2010 CPUs, ATI / NVIDIA graphics

Fear not mobile workstation lovers, it may have taken HP a bit more time to refresh its 17-inch EliteBook 8740w, but it's officially here now and ready to champ at the bit with a combo of cutting edge features / specs. We'll start with the externals first -- the 7.8-pound, magnesium-alloy chassis is covered in the same gunmetal finish as the other recently-announced Elitebooks, and the 17-inch HP Dreamcolor screen is nothing short of stunning. It has 64 times the colors of other displays and can be ordered with HP's Mobile Display Assistant color calibrator. Inside the workstation is rather frightful -- it can be configured with a choice of Intel Core i5 or i7 processors and [either] ATI 's newest FirePro M7820 or NVIDIA Quadro FX GPUs. While the 8740w starts at $1,999, the $3,899 spec'd version happens to be HP's most powerful mobile workstation ever with a quad-core Core i7 processor, 7,200rpm 320GB hard drive, and NVIDIA Quadtro FX 3800M graphics with 1GB of DDR3 RAM. We were told that the 8740w would be shipping in early April, but it appears that you can order them up right now at the source link.

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