If you’re looking at the top end of the netbook sector for an upgrade on your 2-year old netbook and thinking about stepping out of the Intel netbook restrictions for screen res, memory and operating system you’ve probably heard about the AMD Fusion-based EeePCs which we saw and tested at CeBIT last week.
The Eee PC 1015b offers a single or dual-core C-series (C-30 or C-50) processor while the Eee PC 1215b offers the C-50 or the 1.6Ghz 18W TDP version, the E-350 which should blow away all Intel Atom options including the nettop-focused D525 variant. Official weight for the 1015b is a reasonable 1.3KG but we’re estimating the 1215b at a rather heavy 1.5KG with its 6-cell battery.
View the video below for our hands-on at CeBIT
The only thing missing was the price and availability but for US markets, we’ve now got that information through the Asus Campus Life Blog. According to them, the Eee PC 1015B (with C-30, 1GB, 250GB HDD) will be available for just $289.99 and the 1215b with the C-50 (and the same RAM, HDD) for $379.99. The 1215b with the E350 will come with a larger 320GB HDD and 2GB RAM for $449 making it very competitive with other non-Atom solutions.
Look for these Netbooks in April. 10-inch models will be available white, black, blue, and red. 12-inch models will be available in black, silver, and red.
The ASUS 1015pn was already one of the most powerful 10″ Netbooks but here at CEBIT we’ve found it running the dual-core Atom CPU at 1.68Ghz. The Crystalmark test shows better CPU performance than the 1015b (AMD C-50) but worse 2d and 3d rendering performance.
Here’s the full result with optimus enabled and then with the 1015pn locked into Nvidia mode and externally powered. See our previous post for 1015b results.
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Like the Lenovo S10-3T and Viliv S10 , the ASUS T101MT is a 10” convertible netbook with a multitouch screen. The T101H is based on the Pinetrail platform with the N450 CPU and GMA3150 GPU but, like the Lenovo, the base version only comes with Windows 7 Starter and 1GB RAM. The high-end version comes with Windows 7 Home Premium and 2GB of RAM that can be upgraded to 3GB. A 35Wh battery should keep the device going for about 4 hours.
There still doesn’t appear to be any information about availability or price but as I mentioned in the video, now that Windows 7 and Pinetrail is here, there shouldn’t be any major delays now.
The Eee PC T91 is one of the few netbooks we really track closely now at UMPCPortal. Most others have drifted off into the forest of 10”. 1.5KG ‘high-end’ netbook land so it’s nice to see some news on it. This time it’s about the multitouch touchscreen version.
With Win 7, 32GB of SSD (no word on the speed of that yet) and XP Home Premium (I assume that the touchscreen drivers will be tablet-enabled) you’re getting quite the deal at a pre-order price of $549.
I’m a big fan of touchscreen laptops and have really got used to flying around the UI of the Gigabyte Touchnote with a two-handed multi-touch-mousepad and screen approach but I still wonder how much extra the multi-touch would bring me. I guess it depends on the type of gestures that are included.
If you’re following the netbook scene closely you might have seen that an EeePC roadmap has been leaked (full info at the eeeuser forum) showing a range of 1005HA devices and an 1101HA. Minimum screen size – 10”
No 8.9” love. No lightweight love.
Now I know that Eee’s are aimed at the mass market but you’d think that there would at least be a thin-and-light device based on a basic T91 motherboard without the touchscreen and swivel features.
If JKK”s story is anything to go by, the ASUS EeePC T91 is now starting to reach customers. He’s got a retail version in his hands (U.S. version) and has already posted an unboxing video and done a good evenings live testing with the device.
I haven’t had a chance to watch the video through as I’m somewhat off the grid on a campsite in Germany (2.5G if i’m lucky!) but I tuned into the live chat session and have spoken to JKK on the phone today. Here’s what he said:
The good points:
Out of box experience better than expected
Small
Looks more expensive than it is
Solid build
Very light
Good balance mainly due to battery position.
Respectable battery life. Over 4hrs standard use.
Keyboard good
SSD could be faster but still feels faster than an HDD
Good hinge quality
Two SD card slots
The bad points
Mouse Pad is not a true multi-touch (drivers not as good)
Glossy screen
Fingerprint problems
Lower performance than 1.6Ghz Atom-based netbook. (Flash video problems) JKK states that web browsing quality is good.
I also asked JKK about value for money. He said it’s ‘really really cool’ and it has the best battery life compared to other 9″ devices. For ultra mobile users it’s one of the best netbook-style purchases out there but it’s not the best for expandable battery life.
There wasn’t much in the press conference about the Seashell and there’s not much in the press release either.
So we’re looking at a 10″ display obviously and 1.1KG making it a very light 10″er. Notice the news about the docking bar and the inclusion of Draft-N Wifi and 3G. This is clearly going to be an Atom-based device, but which one?
Initial thoughts on this news about an a new ASUS EEE device was that it would be just a keyboard, screen and battery ‘shell’ that you could slot an Eee PC module into. I can’t help thinking about a high-end Android MID/Smartphone that slots into the ‘shell’ to turn it into a netbook but i’m sure my thoughts are 12 months away from reality.
In reality (at least in Digitimes’ world) it’s going to be a thin 10″ netbook. If it’s light light light, I might raise an eyebrow otherwise, this will probably be the last you hear of it from me
If you can’t wait for the Samsung NC10 3G and don’t want the small keyboard of the Eee PC 901 Go then this might be one for you to keep an eye out for. Especially if you’re in Germany. The very popular 1000H (Windows XP, SATA 160GB drive, 1GB, 6-cell) is now available with 3G built-in. (HSDPA/HSUPA) At 503 Euros inclusive of tax, its not the cheapest netbook out there but its a lot cheaper than many other 3G notebook options. Just like the Samsung NC10, it’s got a good keyboard and excellent battery life meaning you’ll have no problems getting those PC-based jobs done when you’re away from the office. If you order today (Cyberport, Germany) it should be with you before Christmas. Sooo tempting!
There’s no doubt that the low-cost netbook trend will affect pro-mobile sales. It’s likely to affect laptop sales too. People in the industry are already hinting to me that they have problems. OEMS can’t price and position pro-mobile devices with confidence and specialist resellers have problems choosing which devices to stock. They don’t want to be left with a shelf full of out-of-fashion netbooks. There are still a few areas where netbooks can’t compete with UMPCs; built-in 3G, size and weight advantages, touchscreens, alternative form factors and rugged builds which can drive some good high-margin sales but when a well known brand comes along and offers a device with reasonable mobility advantages, a known quality-level, huge battery life, built-in 3G and a great price, you have to wonder how customers, OEMs and resellers in the mobile PC market will respond. [More of my thoughts about netbooks causing industry problems in this article.]
JKK knows the Eee PC’s like the back of his hand so if you’re interested in the 901 at all, head on over to his site. He’s got one with him on holiday (!) and plans to start testing and reporting. His first words are:
Battery life is goood.. looks like easy 5 hours on my use. Eee 901 has the best battery life compared to other netbooks
The question is, is it much better than the Eee PC 900 16G that’s going for $399 on Amazon.com?
The only thing missing was the price and availability but for US markets, we’ve now got that information through the Asus Campus Life Blog. According to them, the Eee PC 1015B (with C-30, 1GB, 250GB HDD) will be available for just $289.99 and the 1215b with the C-50 (and the same RAM, HDD) for $379.99. The 1215b with the E350 will come with a larger 320GB HDD and 2GB RAM for $449 making it very competitive with other non-Atom solutions.
