ASUS Eee Netbooks and Handheld PCs Explored
Netbooks make a great compromise between a powerful laptop PC and a smartphone. ASUS is a well-known manufacturer of netbooks, starting out with its popular Eee PC 700 device. Here, we look at some of the ASUS Eee PC range.
The ASUS Eee PX Range
There are been a number of netbooks and handhelds released by ASUS since 2007. Here at FileSaveAs, we've owned a few, and have been very impressed with what they have to offer:
ASUS 1000 RangePictured here is the ASUS 1011PX - This sports a 10.1" screen and comes loaded with Windows 7 Starter. Here are the specs:
We have a review of this model here: ASUS Eee 1011PX UK Review |
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ASUS Eee 900 RangeThe second range of ASUS netbook machines started to appear in 2008. Pictired here is the first of the range, the Eee PC 900, followed by the 901. The Asus 900 range improved on the 700 range by offering a larger 8.9" screen, storage up to 20 gigs, and a built-in 1.3 megapixel webcam. The 900 was still just a little less than 1 kilogram, and a lot cheaper than a comparable laptop. One of our team is still using his Asus Eee 901 PC, running Windows XP, and he continues to be very happy with both the size and the battery life. |
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Asus 700 RangeThe first in the range was the Asus Eee PC 701. Launching in late 2007, this was a tiny, lightweight PC that has onboard wi-fi, three USB ports, 512Meg of RAM, and a huge amount of potential. It's about half the size of a traditional laptop, and at under £200 at launch. The one key difference - it's not powered by Windows, it's powered by Linux (although you can install XP if you're more comfy with Microsoft) The 700 PCs sported a 7" colour screen, between 2 and 8 gigs of onboard flash storage, up to 1 Meg of RAM and a battery life of 2.8 hours. We reviewed this model just after launch. See our Asus Eee PC 701 Review |
Our views on the Eee Range
Here at FileSaveAs, two of our team use Asus netbooks. One of our podcast presenters is still using the first version, the Asus 701 (running an odd mobile version of the Linux platform).
Competition in this market is now heavy, with Acer and Samsung being big players. We've tried both, and with today's Atom processors, the specs do begin to blur together a little.
The advantage of carrying around a netbook are obvious: size and battery life. We've always had a very positive experience of ASUS netbooks, and they have performed very well for us. We've compared them to some of the newer Samsung netbooks, and found that you can get slightly more for your money, as you're not paying for the Samsung name - the machines also don't come pre-loaded with quite as much tat as you'll find on a new Samsung Netbook - We're purists here, and tend not to appreciate a hard drive full of free manufacturer-branded applications.
You'll find a review of our current ASUS netbook here: ASUS Eee 1011PX Reviewed
Buying an ASUS Eee PC Netbook
You can get ASUS Eee PC Netbooks cheaply online from: |