Details of Asus’ upcoming EeePC 1201N have been leaked by a European retailer, and the spec is nothing short of a wet dream for netbook aficionados. It packs a dual-core Atom 330 processor, Nvidia’s HD capable ION chipset, 3GB of memory and a 320GB hard drive.

We’re pretty sure this will be the most powerful netbook around, although it’s still unannounced and the spec isn’t official yet. There’s a good reason for this – Intel doesn’t allow netbook makers to use dual-core Atoms in their designs. They are still reserved for nettops, and we’re not sure how Asus got around this issue.

Also, you might argue that the new Seashell EeePC is not a netbook at all. It features a 12-inch 1366x768 glare screen and it looks more like a proper ultraportable notebook rather than a netbook. It weighs 1.4kg, which isn’t bad for a 12-inch machine, but it’s not spectacular either.

We can only guess that it will launch at the end of the month, along with Windows 7, but we still don’t know the price. We doubt Asus can get preferential pricing from Intel or Microsoft for that matter, and Nvidia’s ION will also add to the cost. Still, it will probably be the best netbook around, if it can be called a netbook to begin with.

Also, a cheaper, ION-less version with a single core CPU will be available.