Now Asus has finally started production on the EcoBook, the laptop that first made tech junkies sit up and take notice of the pleasant aftermath of Bamboo's run-in with technology.

EcoBools will ship with 1,280 x 768, 11.1" or 12.1" screens and a choice of Intel Core 2 processors, hybrid drives (spindles + flash), various Vista flavors (though Vista only) and even WiMAX (check out the EcoBook product matrix here). One of the most interesting features to emerge is Asus' real-time power management, called Super Hybrid Engine.

...Super Hybrid Engine can extend battery life between 35% and 70% as compared to notebooks with the same specifications but without the technology, and yet enable users to boost their systems' performance by up to 23%. It achieves this by intelligently monitoring the power requirements of the notebook's components and automatically adjusting the power levels in real-time to match the current consumption needs, thus optimizing both system performance and power efficiency.

No word on pricing yet, but if Dell's nature-loving "sleeve" for the Studio Hybrid is any indication, expect to pay a premium.

[via Engadget]