January 7, 2008 12:53 PM PST

Asus shows off fashion-forward U2E

Posted by Dan Ackerman

The leather-clad Asus U2E.

Ultraportable laptops are usually pretty sharp-looking, but dressing one up in a leather-covered chassis is even better. Taiwanese PC maker Asus has had leather laptops for a couple of years now, but the latest version, called the U2E, packs in plenty of high-end computing features on top of the slick looks.

This 11-inch notebook weighs about 2 pounds and features a 32GB solid state drive, which helps with weight and heat, as well as power consumption. The LED backlit display also consumes less power and allows the screen to be thinner than traditional LCD screens.

The built-in Webcam offers an extra measure of security, thanks to Smart Logon Face Recognition Technology. This reads the user's face, in a way similar to how a fingerprint reader reads your fingerprint and allows access. It sounds a bit sci-fi to us, and we haven't had a chance to try and fool the Face Recognition system yet--but once we do, we'll give you our updated impressions.

Pricing and availability for the Asus U2E are still up in the air.