Asus launches head turning Eee PC T91

Swivelling T91 notebook/tablet will ship in the UK in July for around £449

The touch-screen Eee PC T91 can be used as a notebook or tablet PC

Asus has announced UK pricing and availability information for its swivelling Eee PC T91 touch-screen computer.

First demonstrated at CeBit in March, the Eee PC T91 will start shipping in early July at a cost of around £449.

The T91's screen can be flipped around on a pivot so that it can be used as a notebook or as a tablet PC with stylus. The device also boasts touch-screen tools, which substitute mouse clicks and moves with gestures and finger strokes.

"Users can easily remember important notes and tasks by jotting handwritten notes which can be 'stuck' onto the desktop," the firm said. "Users can use finger or stylus input to easily scroll documents and key in text, as well as to control a range of specially designed touch-screen applications pre-loaded onto the T91."

In order to use the touch-screen features, users can switch between three operating systems: Windows XP, Asus TouchSuite and a widget mode. The last two give access to a range of gesture-controlled tools and applications, including photo editing and viewing systems, and an Internet Explorer toolbar that gives touch control over browsing.

The T91 has an 8.9in display, measures 225x164mm and is under 1Kg in weight. Packed into its shell is a 16GB solid state drive, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and an Intel Atom chipset. Asus claims a battery life of five hours.

To increase its use as a media viewer, the company also offers 20GB of web storage space, while some models come with an additional 30GB portable hard disk drive.