Asus Eee PC 1201N

Netbook or Laptop?

You decide.

The ASUS Eee PC 1201N blatantly flaunts the conventional netbook format but it is one of the increasing number of crossover machines which seeks to blur the line between the pile em high, sell em cheap ethos of the netbook and the more mainstream laptop market.

We gave house room to the Samsung NC20 last year so we are feeling comfortable inviting the 1201N into the fold.

Bigger is better

So firstly, lets take a look at what separates the 1201N from the minstream netbook crowd.

The first obvious thing is it’s size. The 1201N sports a 12.1 inch TFT display with WXGA resolution (thats 1366×768 to you and me). The extra real estate means a weight penalty over a 10 inch netbook but it is not really much extra at a skinny 1.5Kg.

Having broken free of the dimensional restrictions it opens up the way for an all round specification improvement.

The hard drive is 250Gb spinning at 4200RPM, 2Gb of DDR2 RAM finds its way under the bonnet and the operating system is windows 7  home premium.

Another nice touch includes an HDMI out.

All the netbook usuals are present:

3 USB 2.0 Ports

802.11n Wifi

0.3 Megapixel webcam

Bluetooth

10/100 ethernet

VGA out

Any old Ion

The biggest departure from the netbook spec is in the inclusion of a Dual Core 1.6Ghz Atom 330 processor. This is coupled with NVIDIA Ion technology for superior graphics performance.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Ion platform it incorporates the NVIDIA GeForce 9400 graphics chipset so you can expect a much improved graphics performance and acceptable 1080p video playback.

If glossy screens aren’t for you then watch out, this one is as reflective as they come and the available brightness will cause issues outside in bright sunlight.

The little Ion does have its limits though so don’t expect to blazing your way through Crysis any time soon. Likewise save serious video editing for the big boys, Ion won’t cut it.

The dual core Atom processor provides broadly double the performance of the old Atom chips and coupled with a double helping of RAM everything runs very smoothly and Windows 7 Home Premium runs like a dream.

All this extra performance of course requires power but the Asus 1201N manages a respectable four and a half hours battery life.

Asus have always been keen on making their machines as stylish as possible and the 1201N is no exception. The lid has a deep gloss shine with slightly less glossy but still shiny plastic inside. The keyboard borrows design cues from the Macbook where the keys protrude through holes cut in the chassis. This has the dual benefit of placing the keys further apart and reducing the amount of dust, rubbish and general detrius that can find its way inside the machine.

Asus Eee PC 1201N Conclusions

Overall this machine is a hit with us.  From the netbook spec looking up it does everything better and whilst it is considerably more expensive you can still spend almost as much on a 10 inch model.  We like the extra hard disk space, windows 7 premium and the extra performance that the Dual Core Atom and Ion chips provide.  We don’t much like the reduction in battery life (the Asus Seashell 1005p can soldier on for upto 11 hours!!) or the increase in weight. One of the main benefits of a netbook is the ability to carry it around almost anywhere and not think about it. Bigger means more awkward.

If on the other hand you are looking for an ultraportable laptop and are considering the 1201N then you might be disappointed about the overall performance of the package compared to other ultraportables. It does however compete very favourably on price.

So depending on you standpoint it is either a super netbook or a cut down ultraportable. It is certainly a worthy addition to the market but its failure to put a foot firmly in either camp may limit its appeal to the masses.