This new super-cheap Asus laptop comes with a unique feature

At first, we thought there had been some sort of mistake, but the new Asus ImagineBook really is available for $299.99 from BestBuy (about £245/AU$480), in what looks to be a global exclusive.

This new piece of kit from Asus hasn't even been announced at the time of writing, and we're excited about it for a number of reasons. Chief among them, the presence of the Intel Core M3-8100Y CPU.

This processor is usually reserved for much more expensive, premium laptops. Intel itself says the CPU has a suggested retail price of $355, far higher than the price of the whole ImagineBook.

Asus has also adopted a design philosophy that reminds us of the netbook era; textured lid, a pure white minimalist finish, fine-mesh-texturing around the keyboard and an abundance of plastic (and not the tacky type).

International customers

Unfortunately, BestBuy does not deliver globally, so international customers may have to use a specialist parcel forwarding service if they want to take advantage of the deal.

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The device features two cores, a power dissipation of only 5W and a maximum Turbo frequency of 3.4GHz (up from 1.1GHz). Such a low TDP means the system can forgo the fan and rely solely on the heatsink, making for a beautifully quiet experience.

The hardware components are admittedly unspectacular (4GB RAM and 128GB SSD), but with a 14-inch TN full HD matte panel, 802.11ac and a decent array of ports (audio jack, three USB ports, an HDMI connector and a microSD slot), the ImagineBook should cater to most use cases.

Found a better deal?

Have you managed to get hold of a cheaper product with equivalent specifications, in stock and brand new? Let us know and we'll tip our hat to you.

It's bigger and heavier than we’d expect and there are reports the memory is soldered (so you won’t be able to upgrade it), but the SSD and the Wi-Fi card can be swapped out.

We have a hunch stocks won't last, so pick it up while you can!

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Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled in website builders and web hosting when DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.

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