I’m in the market for a netbook; I’ve pretty much got my choice narrowed down to two quite different Asus models: the 1005PE or 1201N.
For all of last year, a netbook was pretty much defined by the following features: Intel Atom N270 or N280 processor10.1 display, 1024×600 resolution
1 GB RAM
160 GB hard drive
An inability to play streaming HD Flash video
A webcam
Windows XP
6-10 hours of battery life The new year brought a couple small changes: Intel Atom N450 processor
250 GB hard drive
Windows 7 Starter Here’s how the 1005PE and 1201N stack up:
| Feature | Asus 1005PE | Asus 1201N |
| Processor | N450 1.66 GHz | N330 1.6 GHz dual core |
| Memory | 1GB | 2GB |
| Storage | 250GB | 250GB |
| Advertised Battery Life (Real-Life Test Time) |
14 hours (11 hours) |
5 hours (4 hours) |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Starter | Windows 7 Home Premium |
| Display | 10.1 inches, 1024×600 | 12.1 inches, 1366×768 |
| Can Stream HD Flash Video | No | Yes |
| HDMI | No | Yes |
| Price | $390 | $484 |
If you have any experience with either model I’d love to hear it. For me, the main apps for a netbook will be Google Reader, Gmail and Windows Live Writer. An app like Reader definitely benefits from the extra 168 horizontal lines of vertical resolution of the 1201N, and the ability to stream HD Flash video and output it through HDMI is certainly a nice-to-have; but I’m not sure either of those make up for the less-than-half-as-good battery life, the not-as-compact package or the $100 premium.
What do you think?
(Google Reader in Chrome at 1024×600 resolution)