GREEN THROUGHOUT: The bamboo notebook launched by ASUS Technology.

CHENNAI: Bamboo remains one of the most versatile grasses. It has increasingly been replacing plastics and wood products. It has also entered the world of computers. Here is an end-to-end eco-friendly bamboo notebook or laptop, an innovation in green computing. It is green throughout its life cycle — from conception and production, to recycling and disposal.

These notebooks, launched by ASUS Technology (India), are exquisitely designed with real bamboo to give a personalised and exclusive feel. It complies with RoHS (restriction of hazardous substances) and WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) standards.

Stanley Wu, country manager (notebook business), ASUS India, says the gadgets have been made through a green procurement process. It has restricted the use of 37 hazardous substances which are opposed by the RoHS directive. Also, the notebooks use super hybrid engine that can extend the battery life by 35 to 70 per cent compared to other notebooks. This saving is achieved by intelligent monitoring of the power requirements of the components and automatically adjusting power levels.

Mr. Wu says the notebook is made from the Moso species of bamboo. With the advantage of eco friendliness, the notebook offers great performance with its premium configuration. It is light at just 1.57 kg. ASUS offers a two-year global warranty for the product.

The track pad is also made of bamboo. Each touch of the bamboo laptop brings you closer to nature. The entire panelling of the ASUS U6V and the mouse bundled along with it are made of bamboo. Every piece can be further enhanced with treatments that yield different colours, or by laser-etching distinctive designs on the bamboo-clad cover.

The notebook uses super hybrid engine that reduces the yearly carbon dioxide emission by 12.3 kg a piece. The company has so far shipped approximately six million notebooks a year. This works out to a massive reduction of 73.8 million kg of CO2 emission per year, equal to saving 36 million trees annually.

The ASUS U6V bamboo is priced at Rs. 1,10,000 in India. The company offers a 2-year global warranty for the product. Mr. Wu is confident that the notebook will usher in a new era of green computing.