Asus first went for the bamboo look back in 2008, so it's by no means a new gimmick, but if you're looking for a fairly decent notebook with an eco-edge over similar spec models on the market then you could do worse than considering the latest Asus Bamboo series machines - the U33 and the U53.

Starting with the differences, the U53 has a 15.6-inch screen whereas the U33 has a 13-inch one. Both have a resolution of 1366 x 768. The other difference is that the U53 has a bigger HDD - 640GB compared to 500GB.

Apart from those you're looking at two identical models - i5-430M processors with 3MB of cache and a speed of 2.26GHz, Nvidia GeForce 310M DDR3 1GB graphics, 4GB of RAM, a 2-megapixel webcam, a HDMI port and, most excitingly, a USB 3.0 port (to go with the two USB 2.0 ports).

Asus is claiming the USB as an eco selling point (as it's quicker), which we think is stretching it a bit, but it does have super hybrid engine technology which deals with power consumption by giving a high performance when it's needed - think games and HD video, but it knows when to go easy - like when you're just doing a bit of emailing or playing about with pivot tables on Excel.

Asus claims that "the U53 can reduce emissions by 18.43Kg whilst the U33 by 22.24Kg as compared with that stipulated by the ErP standard".

The bamboo exterior apparently saves around 15 per cent plastic used and it even comes in a recyclable bamboo box.

If you need a new notebook and you fancy doing your bit for mother nature, the Bamboo series goes on sale soon and will cost you £849 for the U33 or £899 for the U53.