Best Buy has started taking pre-orders for the Asus U43JC and U43F bamboo series notebooks. Asus has been showing off these machines for a while.

The Asus U43JC and U43F feature a chassis built of bamboo. According to Best Buy the notebooks will start shipping by the end of this month.

The U43JC and the U43F both have 14 inch displays. But while the $999 U43JC has a Core i5 processor, GeForce 310M discrete graphics with NVIDIA Optimus and a 640GB hard drive, the $950 U43F has the same Core i5 processor, but uses Intel’s graphics with WiDi instead of the GeForce 310M.

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Asus U43JC overview

Specsheets for upcoming Asus U series notebooks have leaked. Also known as Asus’ eco-friendly Bamboo collection, the U-series notebooks were on display at CES in January. Back then we were told that they would have Core i5 processors and USB 3.0 ports. Now more details have emerged. The Asus U series notebooks will feature NVIDIA’s Optimus technology for automatic switching between integrated and discrete graphics. They will support processors all the way up to the 2.66GHz Core i7-620M. All new models in the series are also equipped with USB 3.0 ports.

Asus U30JC Overview

• Processor: Core i3 / Core i5 / Core i7
• Operating system: Windows 7 Ultimate / Professional / Home Premium 64 Bit
• Memory: Up to 4GB of RAM
• Display: 13.3 inch display with 1366 x 768 pixels
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 310M with 512MB dedicated video memory, Integrated Intel HD GMA
• Storage: 320GB / 500GB / 640GB, 5400 rpm hard drive

Other specifications include DVD Super Multi / Blu-ray combo drive, WiFi b/g/n and optional WiMax.

Asus U33JC

• Processor: Core i3 / Core i5 / Core i7
• Operating system: Windows 7 Ultimate / Professional / Home Premium 64 Bit
• Memory: Up to 8GB of RAM
• Display: 13.3 inch display with 1366 x 768 pixels
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 310M with 1GB dedicated video memory, Integrated Intel HD GMA
• Storage: 250GB / 320GB / 500GB / 640GB, 5400 rpm hard drive or 500GB, 7200 rpm hard drive

The U33JC does not have an optical drive. It weighs just 1.7kg with the 8-cell battery. Other specifications include WiFi b/g/n.

Asus U53F / U53JC

• Processor: Core i3 / Core i5 / Core i7
• Operating system: Windows 7 Ultimate / Professional / Home Premium 64 Bit
• Memory: Up to 4GB of RAM
• Display: 15.6 inch display with 1366 x 768 pixels
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 310M with 1GB dedicated video memory, Integrated Intel HD GMA
• Storage: 320GB / 500GB / 640GB, 5400rpm hard drive or 320GB / 500GB, 7200 rpm hard drive

Other specifications include DVD Super Multi / Blu-ray combo drive and WiFi b/g/n. The notebook weighs 2.76 kg with the 6-cell battery.

Asus U43F / JC

• Processor: Core i3 / Core i5 / Core i7
• Operating system: Windows 7 Ultimate / Professional / Home Premium 64 Bit
• Memory: Up to 4GB of RAM
• Display: 14 inch display with 1366 x 768 pixels
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 310M with 1GB dedicated video memory, Integrated Intel HD GMA
• Storage: 320GB / 500GB / 640GB, 5400 rpm hard drive or 320GB / 500GB, 7200 rpm hard drive

Other specifications include DVD Super Multi drive and WiFi b/g/n.

No word on pricing or availability at the moment.