Although we already had some details of the 12.1″ Asus S121 (think high-end netbook), Asustek has officially announced and displayed the Atom-powered device at CES 2009 (technically at a pre-CES event, tied to CES).
The S121 is similar to the 10.2″ Asus Eee PC S101, with one very huge (and expensive) difference: It comes with a 512GB Solid State Drive (SSD). That’s right, a 512GB SSD. In addition, Asustek claims a 20% performance boost, and 2x faster data transfer rate over other SSDs – whether that means this is an SLC drive or some MLC SSD drive remains to be seen. Given the larger size of the S121, a 512GB MLC SSD drive is certainly feasible. The SSD helps with the claimed battery life of up to 8 hours (along with the Intel Atom Z520 and the ASUS Super Hybrid Engine).
Dimensions:
Width: 11.7 inches / 297.2 mm
Depth: 8.3 inches / 210.8 mm
Height: 0.9 – 1 inches / 22.9 – 25.4 mm
Weight: 3 pounds / 1.4 kg
Even though it shares much in common with the Eee PC line, Asustek has made it clear that they consider it a notebook, by dropping the Eee PC moniker, and by the 512GB SSD (which surely will drive the price well over $1000 USD).
Read: liliputing