I know, I know, Intel dual core Atom chips have been around since the first time the processor came out. But the thing is, the dual core Atom processors that came out two years ago weren’t actually made for processors, and I even remember that Intel specifically forbade computer manufacturers from installing the said dual-core chips on our favorite netbooks.
That didn’t stop Asus from making the Asus Eee PC 1201N, though. Even though it is a netbook, they managed to put a desktop Atom 330 dual core processor in it. The said netbook ran a bit faster, but it lost a serious amount of battery life. Plus, let’s not even talk about the heat generated by the Atom 330 chips.
It looks like Intel is working on a dual core Atom chip made specifically for netbooks. Via Liliputing:
Intel may be working on a dual core Atom chip for netbooks. It will reportedly be called something like the Atom N500, which makes sense, since the latest dual core chip for desktops is called the Atom D510 — and most of the company’s netbook-specific chips have started with the letter N, such as the Atom N270, N280, N450, and N470.
But let us not expect these netbooks running the future Atom N500 to run as fast as our Core2Duo laptops. More »
Intel has just officially announced the newest addition to its Intel Atom Pinetrail family: the Atom N470. If you’re wondering what the N470 offers over its other Atom counterparts, well, it actually can provide a higher clock speed of 1.83GHz, with 512k of L2 cache. I know it’s really not much, but for netbooks that are powered just enough for our daily needs with very little processor power to spare, that little bit of extra clock speed is very much appreciated. More »
Written by Ade Magnaye on March 2nd, 2010. 1 Comment »
Filed under Hardware.
Since Eee PC 701s are already practically out of commission, the next best thing to do with these… classic netbooks would be to mod them into something else. Well, better than throwing them away, you can just mod your old Asus Eee PC 701 netbooks into a tablet computer. That’s right folks. The Eee PC 701 may have a minuscule screen, but apparently it works as a pretty decent tablet computer. And Windows XP looks pretty responsive as well.
Done by EeeUse Forum member mxjf, he shares his pretty awesome mod in this thread. According to mxjf:
The touchscreen is the $33 one from DX, and that IS electrical tape holding the thing together. I’m most likely going to sand/smooth the edges down and replace it with some black silicone sealant once I’m completely sure it’s good.
Check out the video below. the quality’s pretty bad, but you can see that Windows XP is pretty responsive and that the mod turned out pretty well:
Macbook air wannabees are probably a dime a dozen. Everytime I visit a computer shop, there seems to be another Macbook air knock-off that promises to be the thinnest and lightest computer I’ll ever use. Okay, then, good for you guys. But they’re all running Windows, so you know, it’s kind of a dealbreaker. I mean, if you’re going for a Macbook air clone, then you just have to go for the full experience, right?
This Chinese computer manufacturer created yet another Macbook air knockoff that not only inherits the original’s good looks, but it also has almost-identical packaging! M.C. Gadget says that the box is indistinguishable from the ones produced in Cupertino. Also, the packaging is really convincing. If it wasn’t made from plastic – instead of aluminum, like the original – it may even fool a lot of people. More »
We’ve all heard about the Asus Eee Box EB1501 before, but now there’s an unboxing video floating all around the net. You see, I’ve been looking for a great desktop computer that can replace my battered 7 year old machine, and it looks like the Eee Box EB1501 is a good contender. It’s got pretty good specs, and to top it off, it’s relatively cheap.
In case you don’t remember, the Asus Eee Box EB1501 is a tiny desktop computer that sports a dual core Atom 330 processor, NVIDIA ION graphics and a slot-loading disc drive. The specs of this nettop are: 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, 6 USB ports, HDMI, eSATA, and S/PDIF ports. The disc drive is a DVD burner. There are versions of the Asus Eee Box EB1501 that actually has a Bluray drive in place of the DVD drive. I’d like to get my hands on one of those.
With that fancy disc drive, NVIDIA Ion under the hood, and considerable aesthetic improvements, the Eee Box EB1501 has seemingly little to do with the Asus Eee Box of yore. So, is it as stunning in person as it is on paper? The folks at Blogeee.net have unwrapped the thing and stood it on its fancy metal stand, and they seem to be digging it — of course, their impressions are written in French, so we can never be entirely sure. Now if only Asus could work in an internal Blu-ray drive we’d be set!
Now you can watch the unboxing video below:
The Asus Eee Box EB1501 comes with Windows 7 Home Premium, and it costs around $479.
Netbooks, particularly the Eee PC (duh), are great. You can take them everywhere, they’re relatively fast, and they’re good enough to allow you to finish your tasks without crashes. However, I’m not a big fan of their storage options. Either you get a really fast SSD that contains only around 32 GB of storage, or a hard drive that has 250 GB of storage, but only has 5400RPMs. Now if you’d like to have a hard drive with 320GB and 7200RPMs, check out this video posted by Netbook Reports.
What are the advantages of upgrading your hard drive other than the obvious storage gains, you ask? Netbook Reports answers that:
In addition to being faster over the stock hard drive, it also offers a 16MB cache to help load larger files faster, and also includes:
Low power consumption – With technologies like IntelliSeek, which calculates optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption and SecurePark, which reduces power by parking the heads during low power idle mode, this drive delivers 5400 RPM-equivalent power consumption in a 7200 RPM drive.
Quiet – In a notebook drive, silence is golden. WD’s exclusive WhisperDrive combines state-of-the-art seeking algorithms to yield one of the quietest 2.5-inch hard drives on the market.
Reliable – ShockGuard technology protects the drive mechanics and platter surfaces from shocks during shipping and handling and in daily operation.
What do you guys think? Is the tutorial sufficient enough or do you think there’s more info or facts you can share with us? Tell us about it by leaving a comment!
Asus apparently has no plans yet to make a Google Chrome OS or even an Android smartbook. Back at CES, a lot of devices by different computer manufacturers were running Google Android, and somehow Asus isn’t one of them.
Were they burned with the Xandros OS experience and now they’re not even attempting to create a smartbook that doesn’t run any Windows flavor at all? Remember, smartbooks are running on an ARM chipset, which makes installing Windows on it impossible. More »
I may have reduced my Eee to the status of secondary computer already, but it doesn’t mean I no longer give a damn about Eee products. On the contrary, I’m pretty still interested in the different products they’re making. Also, I seriously want to see how bad they’re fragmenting the Eee brand. But that’s going to be a post for another day.
What you’re seeing is the much-awaited Eee PC tablet, the one where we talked about it running an NVIDIA Tegra processor. It is running a Tegra – most likely the recently-announced Tegra 2 – and this tablet here is called the Asus Eee PC Touch Series. More »
I’ve been waiting for Asus to come out with its own Pine trail-powered netbook for the longest time, and since the advent of Intel Atom, the Asus Eee PC 1005PE is probably the first significantly different Asus Eee PC. It’s the first one in a long time to not have the first-generation Atom 1.6 processor. Again, we know that we’re not supposed to expect any difference off the new chip, but everyone is obviously curious as to how the new processor stacks up.
The Asus Eee PC 1105PE is actually a slightly updated version of the Asus Eee CP 1005HA, and since there isn’t that big a difference from the previous iteration, we’re expecting the reviews to focus more on the new processor over the laptop itself. Now let’s see if the hype surrounding the Asus Eee PC 1005PE is indeed worth it.
So, what kind of difference does the new single-core 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 make? Coupled with 1GB of RAM and a 5,400rpm 250GB hard drive that boots Windows 7 Starter, the 1005PE felt slightly snappier than netbooks with Atom N270 or N280 chips, but not by much. We didn’t wait around for programs to launch or have any problems running Firefox 3, TweetDeck, and iTunes simultaneously. It’s possible to run Photoshop, but editing a batch of photos still requires the patience of a grade-school teacher — just like on N270 or N280 machines. The benchmarks say the same: On Geekbench the 1005PE notched 942, while the 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 powered 1008HA scored a lower 756. Either way, the performance gain isn’t going to blow you away, and keeps netbooks in line with their original purpose — light productivity and web tasks.
Okay, so do you think getting a pine trail netbook a great idea or would you rather stick to your current netbook? Tell me about it!
Asus’s Eee PC T101MT passed the FCC a few days back, and it’s left everyone rather curious. You see, the “MT” part of the product name reveals it to be a multi-touch netbook.
We don’t have much details as of yet, but we’re assuming it has 802.11b/g/n WiFi, bluetooth and a 10″ capacitive touchscreen. It will probably also rock the Intel Atom N450 Pine Trail processor. This looks like a replacement for the smaller Eee PC T91MT netbook.
I know, I know, Intel dual core Atom chips have been around since the first time the processor came out. But the thing is, the dual core Atom processors that came out two years ago weren’t actually made for processors, and I even remember that Intel specifically forbade computer manufacturers from installing the said dual-core chips on our favorite netbooks.
