So why is the S101 so darn hard to upgrade, asks Laptopmag.

While there is a small latch for getting to the RAM, that is about all you can access. We had no problem unscrewing that latch and replacing the default 1GB SODIMM with a 2GB stick of DDR2 RAM; in fact that is the easy part. However, when we popped in the RAM the Windows XP operating system didn’t recognize the extra 1GB, still showing only 0.99GB. Is it possible the BIOS itself won’t recognize more than 1GB? We haven’t gotten an official answer from ASUS about this, but it looks like that’s the case.

Ok so we didn’t really think the Eee PC S101 needed more RAM any way. But a new SSD would be pretty sweet, considering we weren’t all that impressed with the one that came standard on the system. We have a new Eee PC SSD upgrade chip from SuperTalent. However, there is no easy way to access the SSD from the back of the system. Even after we pulled off all the screws we couldn’t get to the internals. We assume you have to pry the keyboard off.

Again, this makes the S101 a no in my next netbook choice.

User TenaciousDre from the Eee User forums posted a guide on how to make a 12 cell 701 battery. Charging time can last up to 12 hours, but the charge can give you 8 hours of juice.

The Intel Atom processors have been pretty neat, enabling us to have a whole generation of netbooks like the Asus Eee PC that are relatively fast and light on power. The’re pretty good for surfing the net, watching a couple of videos, and for finishing that stupid spreadsheet, but we all know that the Atom can do better.

Intel just revealed its plans for the next-generation CULV chips for the ultra-thin laptop space. From Liliputing:

At the bottom of the line, there will be a 1GHz Celeron U3400 chip and 1.2GHz Pentium U5400 processor. These will have a total power draw of 17 watts, which includes the graphics processor, which is built onto the same chip as the CPU.

As expected, there will also be new ULV Core i-series chips, including the Core i3-330UM, Core 5-430UM, Core i5-540UM, and Core i7-660UM.

These new chips will be rocking a 32-nanometer design which leads to a 12 percent power reduction compared to earlier CULV chips. And you don’t get only power reduction, these chips, according to Intel, also offers a performance boos of more than 30 percent.

CULVs aren’t exactly found in cheap netbooks. You’d be more likely to see these processors on ultra-thin netbooks, which are just as expensive as a mid-range full-sized laptop. Think of these ultra-thins as a high-end netbook where you can do so much more with it and for a longer battery life. The funny thing though, is that some ultra-thins still don’t have disk drives despite the fact that it’s almost full-sized.

For those willing to give their aging Eee PC 901s another lease at life, you can upgrade your favorite netbooks with a new SSD. Runcore Pro IV Light mini-SATA SSDs have 16GB, 32GB and 64GB iterations.

From EeeUser:

Two videos have been uploaded on YouTube by user 1walkgirl showing the Runcore Pro IV Light miniSATA SSD successfully working on the Eee PC 901. The first video gives a general idea of the speed, and the second video shows a Crystal diskmark test and the results.

Here’s what PC World says about USB 3.0:

The theoretical throughput improvement offered by USB 3.0 is dramatic — a theoretical 10X jump over existing USB 2.0 hardware. USB 2.0 maxed out at a theoretical 480Mbps, while USB 3.0 can theoretically handle up to 5Gbps. Mind you, applications like storage will still be limited by the type of drive inside; so, for example, you can expect better performance from RAIDed hard drives or fast solid-state drives (SSDs) than from, say, a standalone single drive connected to the computer via USB 3.0.

One of the things to look for in the coming months is the certified SuperSpeed USB 3.0 logo. Products are currently filling the queues at the official certification testing labs, but presence of that certification logo will give you some peace of mind that the product you’re buying truly does live up to the USB 3.0 spec.

EeePC.net is wary of having a computer with a USB 3.0 port but with no USB 3.0 devices to use it with. Well, at least we have the interfaces to plug the devices ready, right? And when the devices that have 3.0 ready, we don’t have to worry about reduced speeds.

What do you think?

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. An Atom chip still is an Atom chip. They’re made for netbooks – a low cost, low power alternative for the huge laptops we struggle to lug around. Expect to see small speed boosts probably, and nothing more.

Besides, netbooks are usually just enough for our needs, right? Why should we expect it to run the latest 3D games when it’s not made for that?

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.

All in, it’s the exact same chip as the N450 Pinetrail Atom, with an Integrated graphics chip, and the only significant difference (if you can call it that) is the faster clock. This will surely benefit in some applications, although it could possibly result in a higher power draw as well. Now that’s a major draw for some people already used to an 8-hour battery life with some Asus Eee PC models, but if you ask me, I don’t mind losing a bit of battery life, to be honest.

What about you guys? Do you think the higher clock speed is worth sacrificing a bit of the battery life?

[via]

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:

[via]

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.

Thing is that Macbook air knock-off still runs Windows. I guess skinning XP, running Windows 7 (especially with the large icons on the Superbar, which I love so much) or installing one of the many dock applications can fool some people at a distance. But if you really want to go for the ultimate Mac OS X experience, you better hackintosh your Macbook air knockoff.

From Eee PC.net:

One guy purchased one in the Philippines for around $400. Once he got it home, he turned it into a more real Macbook. He installed OS X Snow Leopard on the device. The WiFi card wouldn’t work, so it was replaced with a compatible model. Also the touch pad doesn’t work quite as it should on a real Macbook.

If you”re not convinced, you can check out the video below:

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.

More from Engadget:

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.