electronics News

The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t is a 10 inch netbook with a touchscreen display that you can fold down over the keyboard for use in tablet mode. It has a capacitive touchscreen display which means you can navigate by pressing your fingertip against the screen. The computer won’t recognize input from a stylus.

Like most netbooks, the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t has a low power Intel Atom N450 processor, and the unit featured in this review runs Windows 7 Starter Edition, and ships with 2GB of RAM, and a 160GB hard drive. The base unit sells for $549, but Lenovo does offer a version with a larger hard drive Windows 7 Home Premium for about $100 more.

As a netbook, the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t performs pretty much as you’d expect. My only real complaint is that it has an incredibly small and difficult to use touchpad. As a tablet, the S10-3t is a bit of a mixed bag.

Windows 7 Starter Edition isn’t really optimized for touch input, and while Lenovo includes some touch-friendly software, the experience of using this machine in tablet mode was a bit unpleasant. I’m sure some of these issues would be addressed by upgrading to Windows 7 Home Premium, but not all of them.

Design

The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t is one of the smallest 10 inch netbooks available. While it’s a bit wide, thanks to some extra space around the display for buttons you can use in tablet mode, the netbook measures just 11″ x 6.9″ x 0.8″. With a 4 cell battery, it weighs about 2.7 pounds.

But overall the netbook just feels smaller and lighter than most, largely due to the fact that the base of the computer is almost entirely taken up by the keyboard.

There’s only a tiny space below the keyboard for the touchpad, which features integrated left and right buttons. I’m thoroughly unimpressed with the touchpad, but the keyboard is nearly full sized and quite easy to type on, although it does have a bit of flex to it.

While most netbooks locate the power button just above the keyboard, the power button for the S10-3t is on the right side of the display, making it easy to turn the computer on whether it’s in tablet or netbook mode.

Just below it there’s a lock button which prevents power button from turning on the computer so it doesn’t accidentally power up if you’re carrying the S10-3t in your bag in tablet mode. Higher up on the right side of the bezel are the webcam and mic.

On the bottom left side of the display you’ll find the status LEDs, and to the left side there are a few more buttons for muting the volume and launching the Lenovo NaturalTouch software.

The speakers are built into the base of the display so that you can hear audio no matter how the computer is configured. Unfortunately what you’ll hear is rather tinny sounding audio with even less bass than I’ve come to expect from a netbook. The speakers also don’t seem to get very loud.

The only button above the keyboard is the button that launches the Lenovo QuickRestore software.

Around the sides of the computer you’ll find 2 USB ports, a VGA port, wireless toggle, Ethernet and audio jacks. There’s an SD card slot at the front of the computer.

There’s one large access panel on the base of the unit which you can open up to get at the RAM and hard drive.

The demo unit I’m reviewing has a 4 cell battery which sits flush with the base of the computer. Lenovo also offers an optional 8 cell battery which adds a noticeable bulge to the back of the laptop.

The lid and screen bezel both feature a glossy black finish with a subtle pattern made of different sized squares. The same pattern shows up on the palm rest area, which is white.

One thing worth mentioning is that the screen doesn’t sit flush with the back of the laptop as it does on most netbooks. There’s almost a centimeter of space behind the display. At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about this, but the more I use the laptop, the less I notice it, and the effect does make the netbook feel smaller.

All things being equal though, I’d prefer to have a little more space in the palm rest/touchpad area.

The display is attached to the keyboard by a nice, solid feeling swivel which you can rotate 180 degrees. In laptop mode the display does wobble a little bit if you poke at it. But if you’re just typing on the keyboard the screen should hold perfectly still.

Tablet Mode

The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t’s defining feature is its capacitive touchscreen display. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to fully take advantage of it because Windows 7 Starter Edition doesn’t support multitouch gestures.

The operating system also doesn’t allow you to scroll through web pages by flicking your finger iPhone-style. And when you place your finger on a text input area the on-screen keyboard doesn’t automatically pop up. But there are ways around these limitations.

There are a few other problems that are much harder to fix. First, the 1024 x 600 pixel display is fine for viewing web pages and opening most applications in landscape mode. But the most comfortable way to hold the computer in tablet mode is in portrait mode — which turns the screen into a 600 x 1024 pixel display.

Most applications and web pages aren’t formatted for that display resolution, which means you’ll end up spending a lot of time with the scrollbar on this netbook — no matter what operating system you’re running.

The image below shows what the New York Times homepage looks like when holding the S10-3t in portrait mode.

Second, the touchscreen just didn’t seem quite as accurate or responsive as I would have liked. When trying to close a program, I sometimes had to attempt to tap on the X three or four times before it actually closed. If you’re not careful you might close an app when you’re trying to minimize it, or vice versa.

While theoretically you can tap and hold on any item to simulate a right-click, I found that sometimes this just didn’t work. And even when it does work, I sometimes right-clicked on the wrong item thanks to the accuracy problem mentioned above. Not to mention that it takes a lot more time to tap, hold, and wait than it does to simply hit the right click button on a mouse.

The third problem is that it seems to take an awfully long time for the screen orientation to adjust when I rotate the display. This is likely due to a combination of things, so it’s hard to say whether the problem is with the accelerometer, software and drivers, or the relatively slow Intel Atom N450 processor.

But while I definitely have a few nits to pick with the touchscreen, it’s not all bad. Lenovo loads the computer with its NaturalTouch software which offers a finger-friendly interface for launching a video player, photo viewer, eBook reader, and note taking application.

You can also launch Internet Explorer, the Control Panel, and several other applications from the NaturalTouch interface.

If you don’t want to use the scrollbars to navigate through web pages, you can install a third party plugin for Firefox such as Grab and Drag, which lets you tap on the screen to scroll. I found that my browser did crash occasionally when using Grab and Drag and the Shoutcast Flash-based music player, so the plugin may be a bit of a resource hog.

And while the on-screen keyboard doesn’t pop up automatically when you select a text input area, you can launch the keyboard manually from the Windows Start Menu. I found that once it was already running, it was quite easy to bring it up any time I needed it by tapping the icon in the Windows taskbar.

You could even pin it to the taskbar if you plan to spend a lot of time writing in tablet mode — although it’s probably easier if you’re typing anything longer than a URL just to twist the screen and use the computer in laptop mode.

There’s no handwriting recognition support in Windows 7 Starter Edition, but there’s also no stylus input, so writing notes is a little tricky. On the bright side, because this particular model only recognizes one touch at a time, you don’t have to worry about smudging the display with your palm if you place your hand on the screen to write a note with your finger.

You can see some of what I’m talking about in this brief video review:

All in all, I was a bit underwhelmed by the touch experience on the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t. But I could see how the tablet could be useful if you plan to use it primarily to read eBooks or perform other tasks in slate mode that don’t require a lot of tapping or text entry.

Netbook Mode

While the tablet mode was a bit disappointing, the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t held its own in netbook mode. I had no problems surfing the web with multiple browser tabs open or editing a document while listening to music.

When I ran a series of benchmarks, the computer scored about the same as other netbooks with Intel Atom processors when it came to opening resource-intensive applications (GIMP and OpenOffice.org), and transcoding audio and video files.

The netbook was also able to handle smooth playback of a 720p HD WMV movie. 1080p HD video playback was choppy, and HD Flash video is pretty much a non-starter.

The Windows Experience Index for this netbook is pretty much par for the course. The weakest link is the CPU, which gets a score of 2.3. But the RAM, graphics, hard drive, and even graphics are all capable of running Windows 7 reasonably well.

Like all Lenovo notebooks, the keyboard locates the Fn key to the left of the Ctrl key rather than vice versa. It always takes me a little while to get used to this on a Lenovo netbook, but once your left pinky is trained, it’s not that hard to get used to. I found the keyboard to be well sized and comfortable to use.

I managed to notch a score of 102 words per minute in an online typing test, which is about the same speed I was able to get using the HP Mini 5102 and Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbooks.

There is a bit of flex in the keyboard, meaning the middle bows inward a bit as you type, but this didn’t really bother me.

The touchpad, on the other hand, is one of the worst I’ve ever used. I’ve tested a number of netbooks that save space by integrating the left and right buttons in the touchpad itself instead of placing them to the sides or below the touchpad. And in general I’m simply not a fan of this layout. But the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t ups the game by integrating the buttons into an incredibly tiny touchpad.

Using the touchpad to navigate was generally an unpleasant experience. I found the laptop much more comfortable to use when I plugged in an external mouse.

Yes, you can also reach up and tap at the touchscreen display, but generally I find it more comfortable to use a mouse or touchpad when sitting at a desk or table, because your hand has further to travel to reach the screen than it does to reach a pointing device resting on the same surface as the keyboard.

Battery

The test unit I received came with a 4 cell battery which provided 4 hours and 4 minutes of run time while surfing the web over WiFi and watching a few YouTube videos. Lenovo also offers an 8 cell battery which should just about double the battery life.

If you’d asked me a few years ago if I’d like a small notebook with a 4 hour battery, I would have jumped at the opportunity. But when you can pick up an Asus Eee PC 1001P with 8 hours of battery life for $300, it’s hard to get excited about the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t’s 4 hours of battery life when the netbook starts at $549.

Verdict

If the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t were simply a netbook, it would be a decent offering. It offers middle-of -the-road performance, a decent keyboard, and a compact, light weight case. I’d be happier with a larger touchpad and a more powerful battery, but I’d also be happier with world peace and a million bucks in my pocket. We can’t always have everything.

But the problem is that the IdeaPad S10-3t isn’t simply a netbook. It’s also a tablet, and it’s not very much fun to use in tablet mode — especially if you have the cheaper model that comes with Windows 7 Starter Edition. And when I say cheaper, I’m still talking about $549, which makes the IdeaPad S10-3t about $200 more expensive than most standard netbooks.

The screen is slow to rotate, the touchscreen isn’t all that accurate, and most web sites aren’t meant to be viewed at 600 x 1024 pixel resolutions. I’m starting to suspect that Apple was on to something when the company decided to give the iPad a 1024 x 768 pixel display.

I’m hopeful that we’ll start to see Windows 7 tablets with faster Intel CULV processors and higher resolution 1366 x 768 pixel displays soon. But if an Atom-powered model like the IdeaPad S10-3t has a starting price of $549, I’m not sure what it will take to make higher resolution, more powerful tablet-style notebooks affordable.

LCD displays are pretty much the de-facto standard for netbooks today, while e-Ink displays dominate the eBook reader space. While LCD screens look great indoors, have fast refresh rates for playing video, and support full color, e-Ink screens use significantly less power, have a high-contrast quality that makes reading text easy, and are easy to read outdoors without a backlight.

There are a few companies working on displays that offer the best features of both display types. Pixel Qi has gotten a lot of attention for its dual-mode LCD screens which offer a high-constrast, nearly black and white view for use in direct sunlight, and a full-color LCD view indoors. But another company called Liquavista is working on its own solution, with the first Liquavist displays due out in 2011.

Liquavista uses a technology called electrowetting, which basically involves using electrical charges to rearrange colored oils. The company’s displays are color screens which can be easily read outdoors without a backlight. Indoors, you switch on the backlight and the screens look more like typical LCD displays.

Tired of netbooks that have too much space around the keyboards? The Aoson R169 from China’s Shenzhen Anson doesn’t have that problem. The netbook’s case is barely any bigger than the keyboard, providing just enough room for two touchpad buttons below the spacebar. Instead of a trackpad, there’s a Thinkpad-esque pointing stick in the middle of the keyboard.

The netbook is bound to draw comparisons to the Sony Vaio P thanks to the fact that it’s a bit longer than it is tall. But while the Sony Vaio P has an 8 inch, 1600 x 768 pixel display, the Aoson R169 has a more traditional 8.9 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display. It also packs a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor, 1GB of RAM, 80GB hard drive, and optional 3G mobile broadband.

The Aoson R169 measures 10.4″ x 5.4″ x 0.9″ and weighs 1.8 pounds. No word on pricing or availability, but I don’t expect to see this model outside of China anytime soon.

Google plans to launch its Chrome Operating System for netbooks later this year. The OS is built around a web browser, and the idea is that you’ll be able to boot your netbook and get online quickly to read news, watch videos, and interact with web-based applications for editing documents or pictures, or even video chat.

We’ve known that much for months. But speaking at an event recently, Google CEO Eric Schmidt let a few more details drop… or rather, a few hopes. Thing is, while there have been rumors about a “Google Netbook” or a “Google Tablet,” the company hasn’t officially committed to building any hardware. Instead, Google will license the operating system to hardware makers who really get to set the prices.

That said, Schmidt says he expects netbooks running Chrome OS to sell for about $300 to $400, which is about the same price as most netbooks currently on the market. While Google will be offering Chrome OS for free, that actually doesn’t provide that much of a cost saving, since Microsoft licenses Windows 7 Starter Edition for netbooks at a pretty low price. The rest of the cost of a netbook comes from components including the CPU, display, memory, storage, and other components… plus some markup of course. Nobody wants to sell netbooks at cost or at a loss.

So the question is… if a Chrome OS netbook is going to run about the same price as a Windows netbook, is there any reason why you’d prefer a netbook that basically runs a browser-based OS over one that runs a desktop operating system and gives you the option of running the Google Chrome browser on top of it?

It’s no secret that Dell plans to launch a 5 inch tablet powered by Google Android soon. And we’ve even gotten a few hints that Dell would have a whole “family” of tablets in different sizes soon. So it looks like the leaked photos that Engadget received showing 7 and 10 inch Dell tablets today might be the real deal.

If the information is correct, the Dell Streak 5 tablet will be the first to hit the streets, sometime this summer. It will sport a 3G mobile broadband modem built for A&T’s network.

A 7 inch Dell Streak tablet is due out in late 2010, while the 10 inch model should be available in early 2011.

There’s no word on the specs for the new tablets. But the Dell Streak 5 is basically the same 5 inch tablet that’s been making the rounds for the last few months, under the Dell Mini 5 name. It has a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon ARM-based processor and a 4.8 inch, 800 x 480 pixel multitouch display. The pre-release version of the Streak 5 runs Google Android 1.6, but it’s possible that by the time it launches this summer it will be available with a newer version of the operating system.

It’s not clear if the larger tablets will use the same processor or operating system. But they’ll definitely have bigger screens — which hopefully means higher resolution displays as well.

I swear, I’m not trying to turn the tablet news roundup into a daily feature here on Liliputing. But there’s just so much tablet news going around and I’d rather not write 3-4 separate posts to cover it all today, so here you go:

WePad demo video

When the folks at Neofonie introduced the WePad tablet this week, it was pretty tough for any journalists or bloggers to get serious hands-on time with the tablet. That’s probably because there was only one prototype on hand and Nefonie didn’t want anyone breaking it or getting their grubby little fingerprints all over the screen. OK, it probably has more to do with the breaking thing.

Anyway, if you’ve been waiting to see how the tablet actually works, the wait is over(ish). Neofonie has put out a short video showing the tablet in action, complete with the custom Linux user interface designed for the WePad — and support for USB peripherals including a mouse.

The web browser seems quite responsive, as does tab switching. The on-screen keyboard looks reasonably useful, if not quite as finger-friendly as the iPad keyboard.

Will the WePad UI tempt anyone to shell out the cash for a WePad instead of an iPad? Probably not… unless Neofonie can attract third party developers en masse. But if you’re looking for USB peripherals, a webcam, or a high resolution display with a 16:9 aspect ratio — and you happen to live in Germany — then you might want to check out the video after the break.

Hanvon Touchpad

PC maker Hanvon has renamed the Hanvon BC10C tablet as the Hanvon Touchpad. I have to say, the new name is a big more catchy. Along with the new name, Hanvon is officially launching the tablet — although it doesn’t appear to be on sale in the US yet.

The Hanvon Touchpad has a 10.1 inch, 1024  x 600 pixel capacitive multitouch display and a 1.3GHz Intel Celerson ULV743 processor. It has 2Gb of RAM and a 2.5 inch hard drive (250GB or 320G). The touchscreen tablet has 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, 2 USB ports, and a 4800mAh battery. There’s also a flash card reader, mini HDMI port, and a webcam. The tablet runs Windos 7 Home Premium.

via GottaBeMobile

ODROID

This tablet appears to be in the early prototype stages. But a Korean company named Hard Kernel is working on a tablet running Google Android 2.1 with a 1GHz Samsung S5PC110 processor.

The ODROID has a 10.1 inch, 1366 x 768 capacitive touchscreen, and if the demo video below is anything to go by, it can comfortably surf the Engadget web site. That’s about all we know about it, because the demo video doesn’t show much of anything else — and to be honest, things get a bit jerky when trying to scroll through the web site. But it’s a work in progress. And it’s a tablet with Android 2.1 and a HD display, which is pretty nifty.

Live wallpapers and a 10 inch version of the Android keyboard look interesting — although the keyboard was clearly not built for ten-finger touch typing.

Lenovo had planned to launch its first smartbook in April. The company showed off the 10 inch Lenovo Skylight at CES in January, and has been tweaking the thin and light machine with a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, 3G mobile broadband, and a custom Linux user interface preparing for launch. But a few days ago we learned that the Skylight won’t actually hit the streets until July.

The folks at Digitimes say that’s because Lenovo wanted to work on the device a bit more to make it more competitive with Apple’s recently launched iPad.

While both devices are designed as mobile gadgets that let you surf the web on a 10 inch screen over WiFi or 3G connections, the iPad can run thousands of third party apps, features a touchscreen, and a rather polished user interface that has effectively been field-tested by millions of iPhone and iPod touch users over the last few years. DigiTimes suggests Lenovo wants to make sure it gets things right before pushing out the Skylight, which makes sense when you consider that Lenovo had initially suggested that an unsubsidized Skylight smartbook would run $499 — the same price as an unsubsidized iPad.

The difference is that I suspect the Skylight will actually be available at a cheaper up front cost when you purchase the smartbook along with a mobile broadband service contract from AT&T or other partners. The iPad actually costs about $100 more if you tack on a 3G modem

The Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator is a media coprocessor that lets you watch 1080p HD video even on netbooks with small screens and slow processors. The upside is that you can watch high quality videos without transcoding them. The downside is that not a lot of computers actually ship with the HD video decoder preinstalled. We’ve already seen plenty of people open up Intel Atom-based netbooks and pop an off-the-shelf Broadcom chip inside. Now SammyNetbook forum member La Shred has posted details on how to do the same thing with a Samsung NC20 notebook with a VIA Nano processor.

In order to make room for the Broadcom Crystal HD accelerator, he had to remove the integrated PCI-E wireless card. But he hacked a USB WiFi adpater onto one of the internal USB ports instead.

The end result is a Samsung NC20 12.1″ notebook that can handle 720p video playback with ease — although La Shred says he’s seeing some frame skipping when he tries 1080p HD video.

Unfortunately, while you could pick up a Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator for about $25 on eBay a few months ago, they’re no going for closer to $100.

The Eee PC 1001P is a budget netbook from Asus. At first glance, it looks a lot like the company’s flagship Eee PC 1005PE netbook. But there are a few minor differences. The Eee PC 1001P doesn’t have 802.11n  and it has a lower capacity battery than the Eee PC 1005PE.

But thee Eee PC 1001P also has a few things going for it. First, it’s cheap, with a starting price of under $300. And second, it has a matte display and lid, which means it won’t attract fingerprints as easily as some models, and it’s much easier to use in direct sunlight than a netbook with a glossy screen.

Specs vary by model, but the demo unit Asus sent me to review has a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel matte display, a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, and runs Windows 7 Starter Edition. The Asus Eee PC 1005PE-PU17  has a 250GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, and a 6 cell, 48Whr battery. There’s also a cheaper model with a 160GB hard drive and no Bluetooth.

Design

The Asus Eee PC 1001P has the same Seashell-inspired design as the last few netbooks from Asus including the Eee PC 1005PE. That means it’s wider near the back where the battery is, and thinner in the front, with rounded edges and corners. But while the overall case design is much the same as Asus netbooks past, there are a few subtle differences between the Eee PC 1001P and earlier models.

First, Asus has replaced the usual glossy lid with a matte finish with a textured pattern. Depending on what angle you’re at, the lid looks a bit like a subtle checkerboard or a series of dots. But the important thing to note here is that it won’t show smudges and fingerprints as easily as most other Eee PC netbook lids.

The textured pattern also covers the palm rest area of the netbook, while the battery, bottom, and areas around the sides of the keyboard are just plain matte plastic.

Asus has also dropped the glossy display on this model in favor of a matte finish. Not only does this mean the display doesn’t show smudges as easily, but it also mean that the screen is much easier to read in direct sunlight than it would be if it were a glossy display. That’s because it doesn’t reflect glare. You can use most netbooks with glossy displays as mirrors when you cut the power and gaze into the blank screen. That’s not the case with the Eee PC 1001P thanks to the matte display.

The matte display also makes the netbook easier to use outdoors. The matte display doesn’t look as good as a Pixel Qi screen outdoors. But on a cloudy day you could probably sit outside with this netbook and get a little bit of work done without the screen serving double duty as a mirror.

Despite the fact that the netbook has a matte lid and a matte screen, Asus stuck with shiny black plastic for the bezel. So if you miss being able to see your reflection in a netbook display, all you have to do is glance at the area around the screen.

Around the sides of the Eee PC 1001P you’ll find a VGA port, 3 USB ports, mic and headphone jacks, an Ethernet jack and an SDHC card slot.

The bottom of the computer has a single access panel which you can remove to get at the single memory slot. Replacing the hard drive or other components requires opening up the computer’s chassis.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The Asus Eee PC 1001P has the exact same keyboard as the Eee PC 1008HA which I reviewed late last year. It’s not quite the same chiclet-style keyboard found on other netbooks, but the keys are large and flat and offer a decent amount of surface area, making typing comfortable.

My only real complaint with the keyboard is that the arrow keys are awkwardly crammed into the lower right corner so that you have full size left and right arrow keys and tiny up and down arrow keys sandwiched between them. That’s four keys crammed into a space barely large enough for three normal keys — although the problem is really just that the Up/Down buttons are too small. I have no problem with the left and right arrows which double up as Home and End keys.

While the touchpads on most Eee PC Seashell-style netbooks feature bumpy, textured surfaces, the touchpad on the Eee PC 1001 has a flat surface. I wouldn’t describe it as smooth plastic, since you can detect a bit of a texture as you draw your finger across the surface, but it’s definitely a far cry from the dimples and bumps found on other recent Asus netbooks.

The texture of the touchpad is different than that of the palm rest area surrounding it. That means that it’s easy to detect the edges of the touch area with your finger without looking down. It also gives the palm rest/touchpad are a funny, somewhat inconsistent look.

Below the touchpad there’s a single mouse button which can register both right and left clicks depending on which side you press.

Performance

There doesn’t tend to be a lot of variation in the performance of 10 inch netbooks with 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 Pine Trail processors. The Eee PC 1001P notched almost identical scores in my benchmarks to the Dell Inspiron Mini 10, Samsung N210, and Asus Eee PC 1005PE. These tests involved transcoding audio and video files, zipping a large folder of files, and copying the same folder.

That is to say, the Eee PC 1001P is capable of performing all of these tests, but I wouldn’t really recommend using any netbook as your primary machine if you plan to spend a lot of time on CPU-intensive tasks such as editing or transcoding video files. A notebook with an Intel CULV processor can do the same transcoding job in half the time.

That said, the netbook was reasonably responsive when I used it to surf the web with multiple browser tabs open and a few other apps running in the background. Overall, the performance is comparable to what you’d get from the pricier Asus Eee PC 1005PE. You just don’t get a few bells such as the optional 63Whr battery and the faster 802.11n WiFi.

Windows 7 gives the Eee PC 1001P a 2.4 in the Windows Experience Index, with the CPU snagging the lowest score and the highest score going to the hard drive — which is about par for the course for most netbooks.

Battery

The Eee PC 1001P-PU17 comes with a 6 cell, 4400mAh, 48Whr battery. It sits almost flush with the base of the laptop, but it does provide a little extra bump in the back of the notebook which is why the Eee PC 1001P is thicker in the back than the front.

But it’s not the aesthetics that you care about so much as the performance. Asus describes this an 11 hour battery, and many retailers tack that battery life claim onto the product description.  While I didn’t get anywhere near 11 hours of run time, I did get a respectable 8 hours and 23 minutes of battery life while surfing the web with the backlight at its medium setting.

I suppose if you turned off the wireless and dimmed the screen all the way, you might be able to get closer to 10 hours. But to be honest, once you pass the 8 hour mark, you’ve got a computer that’s pretty much good for a whole day the office. Just don’t expect to use this netbook watch movies non-stop for 10 hours on an international flight unless you pack a spare battery.

Verdict

There are good reasons the Asus Eee PC 1001P is cheaper than the Eee PC 1005PE. The battery life isn’t as good and it doesn’t have 802.11n WiFi. But honestly. That’s about it. If those features don’t matter to you, the Eee PC 1001P is a very good netbook for the money. And if you prefer matte displays over glossy, then the decision between these two models is almost a no brainer.

Unfortunately while the textured pattern looks fine on the lid, it looks a little silly on the palm rest area, especially with the plain white touchpad stuck in the middle. And I’m a bit baffled by the decision to pair a glossy bezel with a matte display.
under
In a perfect world, you would be able to pick and choose the features you wanted and select a matte display with a plain, non-textured matte lid and a 63Whr, 10+ hour battery. But that’s not an option at the moment.

The demo model I tested is the Asus Eee PC 1001P-PU17. This model is available for about $330 at Amazon. The Eee PC 101P-MU17 sells for under $300 and ships with a smaller hard drive and without Bluetooth.

VGP-BPS8 VGP-BPS8A VGP-BPS8B VGP-BPS9 VGP-BPS9/B VGP-BPS9/S
VGP-BPS9A VGP-BPS9A/B VGP-BPL8 VGP-BPL8A VGP-BPL9 VGP-BPS10