David Flynn28 January 2010, 8:10 AM
It’s go a dual-core Atom 330 processor, Nvidia ION graphics, and 12.1 inch screen – but a price tag of just $699. Is the Eee PC 1201N Australia’s best ‘bang for buck’ netbook?
Asus has been long toyed with the idea of cramming a dual-core Atom into the skinny shell of its Eee PC netbook series. This week it wheeled the Eee PC 1201N out of the workshop and into the Australian market, and it shows just how far the netbook concept has travelled.
The 1201N is nothing like the original Eee PC 701 series. About all this $699 beastie has in common with its pint-sized predecessor is the lack of an optical drive. But just over two years on from the Eee PC’s debut, look at how much more your money can buy.
This is not your father's netbook, or even the one you bought two years ago...
Asus is touting the Eee PC 1201N as a ‘multimedia netbook’ and it’s pumped up the specs to suit. First up is Intel’s dual-core Atom 330 processor, which is essentially a double-die version of the Atom 230 with both engines clocked at 1.6GHz.
Oodles
of power lurk under the 1201N's black bonnet, thanks to the dual-core
Atom 330
processor and NVIDIA Ion graphics
This isn’t the fresh-baked Pineview-class Atom D510 with processor-based graphics and memory controller, however – the 330 belongs to Intel’s previous generation of netbook chips.
This is paired with Nvidia’s GeForce 9400M-based Ion graphics chipset for punching the pixels onto a 12.1 inch HD (1366 x 768) screen – another huge step from the 7.1 inch panel of the first-gen Eee PC.
The Nvidia chipset delivers full support for DirectX 10 and Windows 7’s Aero effects (the netbook comes with Windows 7 Home Premium) as well as upscaling of standard definition video to HD.
Want to pump the video out onto a larger HD monitor or even a flat-panel TV screen? The 1201N sports an HDMI port for full 1080p HD output.
The rest of the specs are up to par including 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive and 802.11n wireless.
The only caveat is that the 1201N’s multimedia muscle takes its toll on battery life. The battery is the same six-cell slabette as the Eec PC ‘Seashell’ 1005HA and the new Pinetrail-class 1005PE, which on those rigs delivers 10 hours between drinks.
Early tests indicate the 1201N will top out around four hours in real-world use – but that’s the price of power and, at least in terms of a dual-core netbook, the price of progress.