Good news, netbook fans: we've got our greasy mitts on the Asus Eee PC 1101HA -- the company's first venture into 11-inch netbook territory.
When we first got wind of it, we worried its extra size might cause other netbooks to laugh at it. But, now that we've got one in our hands, we can tell you it's not too lardy at all. In fact, its 1.4kg, 286 by 36 by 196mm chassis isn't too far off the 1.1kg, 262 by 26 by 178 chassis on the 10-inch Eee PC 1008HA Seashell.
There are several benefits to its comparatively elephantine anatomy. The keyboard feels almost spot-on, rivalling those of full-size laptops for comfort and accuracy, the mouse has multitouch gesture support, and the 11.6-inch screen has a 1,366x768-pixel resolution, which is more than the 1,024x600-pixel displays you get on standard 10-inchers.
The only drawback is that Asus has equipped the 1101HA with an Intel Atom Z530 CPU. It's not slow as such, but, if it were a child, it'd be getting extra lessons after school. It should be fine for most tasks, though, as it has 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive (plus 10GB of online Eee Storage), 802.11n Wi-Fi, and the promise of 9.5 hours of battery life.
The 1101HA goes on sale in early July and should cost around £350. Have a look at the pics in our photo gallery and watch out for a full review soon.