Asus Eee PC 1101HA reviewed – hindered by poor performance

The Asus Eee PC 1101HA is the company’s first foray into 11.6-inch netbook territory. We were quite fond of the form-factor when getting hands-on a couple of weeks back. It didn’t feel significantly bigger than the 10-inch models and that space has been put to good use, including a full-sized keyboard and high resolution (1366 x 768) display. Our main concern was that the 1.33GHz Z520 Atom CPU would not do the screen justice, especially as a 1.6GHz Z530 Atom SKU is ruled out for now.

Cnet UK has posted the first review of the Eee PC 1101HA and it seems our fears were well founded. The Acer Aspire One 751 was criticised for not having enough grunt (it also used a Z520 Atom) and the same negative point has been levied at the 1101HA. Whilst Cnet liked the comfortable keyboard, high-res screen and excellent battery life, they felt it had been let down by “rubbish processing power”. They scored it 7.0 overall.

However, it sounds like they didn’t play around in the BIOS too much as we know that the 1101HA can be overclocked by as much as 32 percent. Even boosting this by 25 percent would put the performance on par with a 1.66GHz N280 Atom netbook. Obviously there will be an impact on battery life, but at least the option is there for those who want it. The key Cnet review points are after the jump.

Key review points of the Asus Eee PC 1101HA:

• Glossy finish on lid is impressive. Chassis feels solid. The extra dimensions didn’t put them off, it should still fit in most handbags without a fuss.
• The touchpad has a “mottled” finish, the multi-touch gestures work well.
• The keyboard is comfortable to type on and appears to be identical to the Eee PC 1008HA.
• The extra screen resolution of 1366 x 768, compared to normal netbook screens at 1024 x 600, makes a big difference in navigating Windows.
• The netbook is let down by slow performance due to the 1.33GHz Z520 CPU. It managed a PCMark 2005 score of 891. It also struggled with basic tasks such as video on BBC iPlayer. Even basic multitasking caused the system to crawl.
• Battery life was good with it scoring 6 hours 44 minutes on the intensive BatteryEater test. The idle test gave a battery life of 10 hours and 19 minutes, some of the best battery life seen in a netbook.