Hands On With the Asus 1201 Ion Netbook

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of the Asus Laptop Battery   First post by: batterystores#ca

First, Hewlett-Packard launched with its Mini 311. Lenovo and Samsung then followed with their own Ion netbooks and official ship dates. Hot on the heels is Asus with yet another Ion netbook, but this one is slightly different.

Like its predecessors, the ASUS EeePC 1201 uses a variant of the Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics chipset, but it differs in that it's the first netbook that bundles a dual core Atom processor — the N330 (1.66GHz). High definition enthusiasts and netbook snobs: This might be the one.

Design

The Asus 1201 is long and slim and takes its design cues from the Asus EeePC 1000HE and 1101HA. Like most of its EeePC predecessors, the 1201 is wrapped in shiny plastics: The black version is a magnet for finger prints and smudges, so you're better off with the silver one. Its 3.1-pound frame is the lightest among other 12-inch netbooks like the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 (3.3 lbs) and Samsung NC20 (21GBK) (3.5 lbs). It's even lighter than the Mini 311 (3.3lbs), which has a smaller 11.6-inch widescreen.

For a netbook, the 12-inch widescreen is a wealth of screen real estate, especially when the typical one averages 10 inches. Its 1,366-by-768 resolution is a lot higher than the one found in a 10-inch netbook, but matches the one found in the HP 311, Lenovo S12, and Samsung NC20. The ASUS 1201 marks the first time an ASUS netbook ships with a full-size keyboard (the previous ones top out at 92 percent), even though many of its competitors are offering full-size experiences on smaller frames.

Features

With an Nvidia chipset, you're guaranteed an HDMI port. With it, you can use the 1201 to stream HD content to an external flat panel that supports the format. The 250GB hard drive, three USB ports, media card reader, Ethernet port, and webcam are all standard netbook features.

I've seen the Intel Atom N330 (1.6GHz) in nettops like the Asus EeeBox; a dual-core Atom processor is a first on a netbook. Two physical cores should improve performance by a considerable margin (I'll verify that with a review unit soon), as the current crop of Atom processors are single-core only. More impressive is that the ASUS 1201 ships with 2GB of RAM off the bat (the Mini 311 comes with 1GB).

The benefits of the Ion platform are two-fold: First, you'll be able to play games like World of Warcraft and Spore without restrictions (3D intensive games should be played with all the eye-candy turned off). Second, nVidia is promising smooth 1080p HD playback — or a lot smoother than what's being offered on an Intel-integrated platform. Though the HP Mini 311 suffered some performance setbacks (1080p video, encoded at high bit rates, was choppy), the 1201 has an extra core in its Atom processor and ships with more RAM. I'm hoping for the best this time.

The ASUS 1201 ships with a removable, 6-cell battery like Asus A42-A3 Battery, Asus A8F Battery, Asus F3T Battery, Asus F3Sc Battery, Asus F3Sv Battery, Asus 90-NI11B1000 Battery, Asus 90-NIA1B1000 Battery, Asus 90-NF51B1000 Battery, Asus 70-NF51B1000 Battery, Asus A32-A8 Battery, Asus Z99J Battery, Asus Z99H Battery, and ASUS is promising up to 5 hours of battery life. The HP Mini 311 scored 5 hours 29 minutes with a similar battery, so its claims are in line with my testing. At $499, the ASUS EeePC 1201 is only $30 more than the HP Mini 311. And with all the hype surrounding the dual-core Atom and Nvidia's Ion platform, I'd say the 1201's prospects are looking pretty good right now.