Asus Mini Laptops
When we refer to Asus Mini laptop, what we actually mean are those netbooks which are smaller and less powerful. In Asus’ case, they would be represented by those small and cute Eee PC’s.
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Being Acer Aspire One’s most powerful competitor, the Asus Eee PC has to bring us something really good so we can choose it instead of the competition. Like every other netbook available on the market, the Asus Eee PC is ideal for document work and surfing the internet. It weighs only 1.1 kg which is still more that the Acer Aspire One available at 995g. The difference is causes by the Aspire One’s battery which is lighter but less powerful. Linux has never been easier to use as the interface is very user-friendly. The top of the screen has all the features to choose from (work, play, internet, favorite and settings tabs) and by clicking on one of these tabs you will be given another sub-menu with different links and sets of applications. You can use the minimize, maximize and close buttons to help you switch between Eee Linux and the regular Windows operating system. The web feature uses Firefox as the default browser.
This netbook had to be small and cheap for people to buy it and Asus has to makes some compromises and sacrifices in order to produce such a machine. The screen and touchpad could have been bigger but then this would have been a laptop instead of a netbook. The Asus Eee PC 901 is probably one of the best netbooks that money can buy as it is cheap and portable, even if the components are not that powerful. The Asus Eee PC 901 may look like it’s made from cheap plastic but it is actually quite durable. The keyboard is smaller than we thought at first but it have quite a nice touch and you will get used to the size of the keys eventually (it may take longer to get used to if you have big hands). If you should buy this netbook and use at as a main computer, we recommend that you invest in a regular-sized keyboard and mouse. Better yet, we suggest you buy a laptop or desktop computer as these netbook are made for travelers and do not have the speed nor the power to replace a good PC. The touchpad is easy to use and the size of the left and right mouse button are quite ok for the size of this machine.
Even if most Eee PC’s had Linux operating system installed, the Asus Eee PC 901 comes with Windows XP pre-installed and this is excellent because this operating system does not have huge system requirements and it will help your netbook to run smoothly. The 8.9 inch display comes with 1024 x 600 resolution and since it may not be that impressive, it’s an improvement from the previous versions of the Eee PC. The Eee PC 901 has its speakers located at the bottom of the netbook and the sound they produce is pretty good but due to their location, if you use the netbook from your lap, the sound will not be very clear. As expected, Asus has chosen the Intel Atom processor which was a normal choice considering that powerful components stored in such a small machine could have causes problems with cooling and would have led to serious hardware damaged after a few months of usage. Let’s just say that it’s enough horse power to let you browse the internet and read a good e-book or write some documents.
You will find good usage possibilities with this netbook, especially if you are a frequent traveler or you spend a lot of time out of the house and into other places where you have a wireless hot spot. This netbook is excellent to help you pass the time on that long airplane flight and it may even keep you busy during that boring history class (you didn’t get that from me). Even of the fan does not produce noise, this netbook gets kind of hot considering the low-power components which are inside. It tends to overheat even during normal usage. The wireless device is ok and you will get good reception. This is great if you have a big house with several levels and big garden, you are sure to have good signal wherever you are inside you home (if you have a wireless router of course).
The battery life is quite satisfactory. It will last an average of 4 hours and 15 minutes if you use it surf the internet and write a text document. The main reason why this netbook was such a huge success is because it was a Asus mini laptop that was cheap, very portable and of relatively good performance. However, we recommend that you look into the specs and reviews of the Asus Eee PC 1000H which can offer better features for its price. That model has a larger screen and keyboard plus some other extra free space which might come in handy if you are away from your main computer for too long. The positive aspects of this Asus mini laptop is the portability of this small and light laptop plus the very good battery life which we be of service in times of need. The thing is that this Asus netbook competes with other Asus netbooks. The keyboard is too small if you have got big hands but since this netbook is meant mostly for travelling usage, we expect you won’t be in need of using it every day. For $549 you get good quality Asus material but we think the price is going to drop even more due to the competition that started manufacturing better netbook, with a greater balance between price and features. We thank Asus for all the improvement that were made on this netbook compared with the previous model and we also thank them for selling the Asus Eee PC 901 at the same price as the other one.
