Asus 12” ION Eee PC on horizon according to leaked roadmap; other SKU revisions

Following on from the lead of Lenovo and Samsung with their upcoming ION netbooks, it is no surprise to learn that Asus is also planning an Nvidia ION-powered netbook according to a leaked Eee PC roadmap. The roadmap was disclosed by EeeUser Forum member, JazzDoc, who claims to be an industry insider.

The new $499 model will have a model number Eee PC 1201 and sport a 12-inch display and be powered by a 1.6GHz N270 Atom, 250GB HDD, 2GB RAM, 6-cell battery, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (Draft-N) and Windows 7 Home Premium. Interestingly, the roadmap suggests that the 11.6-inch 1101HA will reach EOL in October in anticipation of this new model. Read more

Asus’ 3G-enabled Eee PC 1101HGO turns up in Italy

The 3G-enabled version of the Eee PC 1101HA, called the 1101HGO, is now available in Italy. TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile) is the first European carrier to offer the 11.6-inch netbook. TIM is charging €499 for the netbook that includes 5 hours of internet use. It also comes with a €5 pre-paid data card.

The model was first announced at Computex. To compensate for the additional power drain from 3G, it will be fitted with a slightly larger battery (that protrudes out) than the one found in the 1101HA. There’s no word whether when/if this will be released with other European carriers.

Via Netbook Italia.

Asus Eee PC 1101HA netbook review roundup

A number of reviews for Asus’ 11.6-inch Eee PC 1101HA have appeared over the last few days. The 1101HA can be thought of a larger version of the Eee PC 1005HA that we reviewed recently. It shares a very similar design and has a removable 6-cell battery and no port flaps, unlike the thinner 1008HA Seashell.

One of the main differences, apart from that high-resolution 11.6-inch (1366 x 768) display is that it uses a 1.33GHz Z520 Atom processor (the 1005HA uses a 1.6GHz N270 Atom). To compensate for the lack of relative power, however, Asus allows you to overclock the processor by up to 30 percent. Read more

NbC: Asus Eee PC 1005HA Seashell (N270) Review

The Asus Eee PC 1005HA Seashell can be thought of as the spiritual successor to the company’s best-selling Eee PC 1000HE. It is thinner, lighter and sports a nicer design, whilst not compromising on the specifications and battery life. The 1005HA is a worthy update to the 1000HE and in our view, the biggest hurdle Asus’ marketing team will face is communicating the significant differences between the N270 and N280 Atom versions of the Eee PC 10005HA.

We reviewed the N270 Atom model and found it to be a very competent netbook, offering good build quality, a comfortable keyboard and a crisp matte display. However, battery life wasn’t stellar when compared to the standard set by the most recent models and the 1005HA also had heat issues. At its price point though, it offers great value for money compared to its peers. Read on for our thorough review, including some comprehensive performance and battery tests. Read more

Asus Eee PC 1101HA Seashell now out in UK & US

Asus’ first 11.6-inch Eee PC is now available to purchase in both the UK and US. The Eee PC 1101HA is in stock at Laptops Direct for £339.97 and Ebuyer for £365.59 available in both black and white. For those in the US, you can purchase it from
Newegg for $429.99 and BestBuy for $429.00. It’s only available in black in the US for now.

The Eee PC 1101HA comes with an 11.6-inch (1366 x 768) LED backlit display and is powered by the 1.33GHz Z520 Atom processor. It also comes with 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD. Wi-Fi (Draft-N), Bluetooth 2.1, a 1.3MP webcam and a 6-cell battery.

Via Netbooked.

Windows 7 vs. XP – which gives the better netbook performance?

The release of Windows 7 is set to be a milestone for netbooks. Most netbooks run Windows XP, an operating system that is starting to show its age. Against the heavy hardware requirements of Vista, Windows 7 is set to be the next major Windows OS fully embraced by netbook devices. It’s relatively light system requirements and native multi-touch gesture support will ensure its presence on many netbooks from the fourth quarter this year.

However, some of you may be wondering, how much of an overhead Windows 7 uses compared to Windows XP. This is where a good benchmark roundup from Legit Reviews comes into play. They compared the performance of both operating systems and used the same benchmarks across both OSes on an Asus Eee PC 1005HA to determine which gave the better netbook performance. Read more

Asus launches Eee PC Seashell netbook series into India

Asus is looking to make the Eee PC a premium brand in India, by officially launching its Seashell netbook series into the market. This includes the super-slim Eee PC 1008HA, the more mainstream Eee PC 1005HA and 11.6-inch Eee PC 1101HA. Official pricing has not been announced and neither has what colour options will be available. Judging by the press release it seems that only the higher-spec N280 1005HA will be making it to the country.

Mr. Stanley Wu, Country Head for Notebook and Eee PC Business, ASUS (India), said, “Eee PC Seashell is yet another jewel in the crown of ASUS Eee PC family of netbooks. We want to make Eee PCs the premium brand in India. Eee PC Seashell Series is the new benchmark for Netbooks. The 3 new seashell Eee PC models are truly glamorous and offer real time computing pleasure”

Asus Eee PC 1101HA Seashell netbook dissected

Teardown netbook experts, Netbook Italia, are at it again. This time round, they have turned their attention to Asus’ first 11.6-inch Eee PC netbook, the 1101HA. They give a good guide on exactly what is under the ultrathin chassis and how Asus managed to pack it altogether.

They already stripped down the Eee PC 1008HA, but apart form the bigger display, the 1101HA differs by having access to the RAM memory module as well as having a removable battery.

To get to the motherboard, you need to remove eight batteries on the bottom and then lift out the keyboard. It looks like the motherboard is made up of three distinct PCBs. This technique is used to avoid having any conflict fitting the motherboard and 5400RPM hard disk drive. The insides don’t look as jam-packed as they did with the 1008HA, which should allow you to upgrade components comfortably. Check out a few pictures after the jump, but for the full guide head over to Netbook Italia. Read more

NbC: Asus Eee PC 1005HA Seashell netbook unboxed

The Asus Eee PC 1005HA was officially announced for the UK today and Asus were kind enough to send over the netbook for testing. The Eee PC 1005HA looks very similar to the first 1008HA Seashell model, but is slightly thicker and heavier due it having a removable battery (the 1008HA has a sealed battery). You also don’t get the flaps over the port doors that you get in the slimmer 1008HA. The 1005HA also has a full-sized VGA port.

As we reported earlier, there are two (quite different) UK SKUs for the Eee PC 1005HA. The model that we were sent is the Eee PC 1005HA-WHI064X. This particular version is the white 1005HA powered by a 1.6GHz N270 Atom CPU. Compared to the more expensive N280 Atom model, this model has a lower capacity 6-cell battery, no Bluetooth, no netbook sleeve, a matte screen (N280 SKU has a glossy screen) and a 0.3MP webcam (N280 SKU has a 1.3MP webcam). Read more

Asus Eee PC 1005HA and 1101HA officially announced for UK

Whilst we already know lots about the Eee PC 1005HA and 1101HA Seashell netbooks, both models have officially been announced for the UK market today. The 10-inch 1005HA will come in two different SKUs and launch at the end of the month. We would suggest that consumers pay special attention to both model numbers as there are significant differences between both SKUs.

The cheaper 1.6GHz N270 Atom netbook will cost £329 and is available in black (1005HA-BLK083X) and white (1005HA-WHI064X). This model comes with a lower-rated 6-cell battery (4400 mAh) that should be good for 8.5 hours according to the company. You will not find Bluetooth on this model and it only has a 0.3MP webcam. The N270 SKU also has a matte (1024 x 600) display. Asus also does not include a netbook sleeve with this version. Read more

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. Read more

Asus Eee PC 1101HA unboxing video + manual overclocking tested

We have already seen some unboxing pictures of the Asus Eee PC 1101HA Seashell, but now a video unboxing has emerged of the 11.6-inch Eee PC netbook courtesy of Notebook Italia. The styling is very similar to other netbooks in the Seashell line-up and Asus could be onto a winner given its 11.6-inch high-resolution (1366 x 768) display and power efficient 1.33GHz Z520 Atom CPU and Poulsbo (US15W) chipset. The 1101HA is packaged like any other Asus Eee PC netbook. It also comes with the usual accessories including 6-cell 4400mAh battery. The video is attached below.

Notebook Italia also had a close look at the manual overclocking tool that we reported on recently. As a quick recap, Asus provides an automatic clocking tool in the form of its Super Hybrid Engine (SHE). Using this you can under/overclock depending on your usage but the clock speeds are predefined. The Eee PC 1101HA is the first netbook that Asus has allowed users to manually overclock the CPU themselves through the BIOS. Read more

NbC: Ruby Red Eee PC Seashell hands-on + other colours announced

It was going to happen at some point or the other, Asus has announced various colours for its Seashell range of Eee PC netbooks. Along with the standard black and white colours, the Eee PC 1008HA will also appear in Blue, Pink, Ruby Red and Sapphire Blue. The last two colours will come with an iridescent finish. The Eee PC 1005HA netbook will get just two new colours, Pink and Blue.

We went hands-on with a Ruby Red 1008HA Seashell last week and it looked very nice in the flesh. It also seemed less fingerprint prone to compared to the black version. From what we were told, these versions will come with no extra premium and the specifications will remain the same. You can check out to see how the Ruby Red Seashell looks in the pictures below. Read more

Asus Eee PC 1005HA Seashell now shipping in US

The latest line-up in Asus’ Seashell series, the Eee PC 1005HA netbook is now shipping in the United States through Amazon.com. There are two main SKUs being sold and it is important to recognise the difference between both series as there is quite a difference between them.

The more expensive Eee PC 1005HA-P at $389.99 comes with the 1.66GHz N280 Atom processor, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 1.3MP webcam, a higher capacity 6-cell battery (5600 mAh) good for 10.5 hours and a netbook sleeve. This version also comes with a glossy screen. Read more

NbC: Asus Eee PC 1101HA video hands-on

At yesterday’s Asus press event, we also managed to spend some time with the company’s first 11.6-inch Eee PC. The Eee PC 1101HA is certainly a very attractive device. I had always imagined that the move to a larger display size would mean a bulkier and compromised netbook. However, that wasn’t the case, the 1101HA felt only marginally bigger than current 10-inch netbooks.

In fact playing around with the model left me convinced that this particular size could become a sweet-spot for netbook manufacturers. You get a full-sized keyboard and high resolution display in a package that is not that much bigger than current 10-inchers. The keyboard came with flat keys and felt very responsive with the right amount of feedback. I was disappointed that it only had a small right shift key, especially considering the amount of space available. Read more

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