IT: Asus Eepc 1005PE

Last week, I followed my friend to go to the IT show at Suntec city to get his netbook/notebook. His requirements are a long battery life and lightweight, most importantly, it must cost less than S$1k. Before the IT show, I think this is like mission impossible since the only netbook will fit his bill. Guess what, his response is he needs it for basic office and small gaming so the netbook is all he is interested in.

So we went about getting squeezed and squeezing people: Singapore people really are IT crazies. The three floors are so packed with people and if ever terrorist set a bomb inside the IT fair, a large no. of Singaporeans will lose someone they know there. My friend was interested in the HP model but after seeing the Ausus 1005PE, he feels it is a better model and we went around 3 different counters selling the same model and look for the best deal.

The Asus Eepc 1005PE is one of the latest Asus netbooks since Asus launch its first netbook back in 2007. The 1005PE uses the latest intel Atom N450. It comes with 1GB Ram (upgradable to 2GB max), chiclet keyboard, webcam, 3 USB ports, VGA-out display port, 250GB hard disk and a 10.1" LCD.

It's basic standard stuff on today's netbook; anything less is over-priced. The raised trackpad is easy to operate and with its bumps design, it makes good tracking. The keyboard is another feature I personally like. It is spaced wide enough for use & comfortable to type on.

The battery was supposed to last 14 hours. Doubt it is possible but even with 7 hours of continuous usage (on wireless n surf web), it is a good buy at S$578 and weighs in at 1.27kg with battery.

The software bundle includes office 2007 home and student edition (60 days trial), trend micro internet security (60 days trial) Adobe Flash player, PDF reader and Asus software. I did not have the chance to play the software but i did remove the trial software and install office XP SBE and Avast 5.0 Anti-virus home edition. The OS is using Windows 7 starter edition and operates fast after the trial software are installed. Think office 2007 is still not suitable for use on netbook regardless of what Microsoft says. The N450 processor did run the installation fast and operate fast enough unlike the N280 which I used to try on earlier.