Customer Reviews

ASUS Eee PC 901 8.9-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 12 GB Solid State Drive, 20 GB Eee Storage, XP Home, 6 Cell Battery) Pearl White

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I'm a tech by trade and hobby, so apologies ahead of time if I start hitting on tech jargon, but I'll try to keep it to a minimun. :-)

Let's try and keep it to the important and good-to-knows...

The Pros of the 901:
- Uses the Intel Atom processor. Though the Atom doesn't produce significantly more CPU performance vs. the previous 900 model's Celeron M 353, it does use much less power. So you'd be looking at similar CPU performance, but with much better battery life AND runs cooler.
- With the Atom comes also a 2nd generation graphics chip in the GMA950 (vs the 900's GMA900). The 2 big advantages of this are; the GMA950 has a peak pixel fill rate of 1600 megapixels per/second (the GMA900 has a peak of only 1332 megapixels per/second) and more video-decoding is now done in hardware on the GMA950. Combine those together and that means windows will open faster and watching videos will be smoother.
- Uses a Solid State Drive (SSD) for storage. SSD technology means; no moving parts (much less chance of bad things happening and dead silent operation), performance is at least on par with hard drives, and SSD uses less power.
- Has a nice big Trackpad. Unfortunately the default drivers for it leave a LOT to be desired. Luckily though, if you install the manufacturer's drivers instead (search google for "elantech touchpad drivers") then the functionality is INFINITELY better with options like multiple-finger tracking and night-n-day difference in tracking sensitivity.
- 1.3 megapixel Webcam. The 900 has 0.3 and a few competing models also only have 0.3
- Built-in Bluetooth. Nice option if you use BT GPS or use your BT phone as an internet access point. Or whatever you'd like to use BT for.
- Wireless-N (802.11n). If you've got it, you're gonna fly. If not, it's there when you're ready
- Free 20gb online storage provided by Asus.
- 6 cell battery (4-8 hours). Some of the competitors come with only a 3cell
- SD Card reader slot that's flush. Along with SSD getting larger in capacity and cheaper all the time, so is SD Flash memory. 32gb capacity SD cards are already coming out and with the card being flush it's almost like a miniaturized, super-steroided Floppy Drive! :-)
- Has a dedicated button for operating the "Super Hybrid Engine" option. This basically adjust the speed of the CPU up or down to conserve power or gain performance.

The Cons of the 901:
- I've got big hands (I wear XL gloves) so I'm hit the hardest by the petite keyboard. I'm also a typer so it's going to be a bit of a learning curve to adjust to using the 901. Smaller hands will probably adjust much easier.
- No CD/DVD drive (no using it as a portable DVD Player). Not that big a deal for me really, I usually watch DivX videos (which can just easily be copied to an SD card for viewing.

The Good-To-Knows:

- The 901 already comes with a nice neoprene sleeve. I carry a bag with me between work/home and wanted something minimal but protective so I could put the 901 in my bag. The sleeve that comes with it does the job perfectly (kudos Asus).
- Also comes with a nice little cleaning cloth. Being the fingerprint magnet the shiny 901 is, the included cloth is also a nice addition to help keep the smudging to a minimum.
- Being that the SSD that comes with the 901 is so small, anything you can do to lighten the system load will help a lot. If you're "techie" enough, it's worth looking into a free product called "nlite". The utility will chop down the size of the WinXP install considerably.
- The 901 comes with 1gb memory. At some point you'll probably want to upgrade to 2gb. You'll need to buy DDR2 SoDIMM chips. I recommend getting the 667MHz (PC5300) speeds (instead of 800MHz(PC6400)) as it will be less expensive and even if you overclocked your 901 you'd still be running well BELOW the 667MHz speed.
- Speaking of overclocking, previous versions of the 901 Firmware used to set the CPU speed to 1.8GHz in "Super Performance" mode. But newer firmware only bring it up to max speed of the default 1.6GHz. If you want to get back that extra speed, you'll either have to downgrade the Firmware, or use an overclocking utility called "eeectl".
- Accessing the internals of the 901 (for doing upgrades, like extra RAM) is very easy. Just remove a few screws on the panel underneath and you're right at the guts of it. Other netbooks are much harder to get at the internals.

Other 8.9" netbooks to consider:
- Acer Aspire One
- Everex CloudBook
- Dell Mini Inspiron (Mini 9)
- Asus EEE PC 1000 (10" screen)
- MSI Wind (10" screen)

In the end, I chose the 901 because its' got just the right amount of everything for a "netbook", it's easy to "hack" due to easy access panels (which appeals to the Tech in me) and there's a great user/support community for the Asus EEE line.

** Update (Aug 1, 2008)
I just upgraded the memory to 2gb last night. It took LESS than 5 minutes (literally)!...Here are the steps, just to show how easy it was:
1. Flip the 901 over, remove 2 screws from the cover panel and take it off
-- You now have easy access to the WiFi, SSD and Memory
-- My 901 also has a "ZIF" socket (meaning I could swap the SSD out for a 1.8" IDE Hard Drive instead (using drives meant for an iPod is a good source...Think 80gb capacity on the cheap, but you'd be back to using HD).
2. Using your thumbnails (little tricky for me, as I've got fat fingers, but not too bad at all) pull the arms of the memory mount apart by about a millimeter on each side, at the same time...The memory chip will then spring up for easy removal.
3. Swap the memory module and close up, you're done.

- I also previously misspoke about there being only 1 physical SSD drive. There's actually a physical 4gb SSD (to get access to that one you'd have to actually fully dismantle the 901) and an 8gb SSD (for the 12gb XP version) that's readily accessible for upgrade.
-- Just so happens there's also a space (only seen if you fully dismantle), with solder points with a label of "3GCARD" on it. Definitely not an upgrade for a non-tech, but some enterprising hacker out there just might find a way to install a 3G card in this badboy!

** Update II (Sept 9th, 2008)
- Bought a Microsoft Bluetooth 5000 Laptop mouse for my 901. I LOVE it! It's the perfect compliment to the 901 (in size and smooth functionality). It even comes with its' own black sleeve just like the 901's.
- After doing a whole lot of research on the "perfect" bag to carry my 901 in (and actually buying a more expensive bag that turned out to be too big)...I finally found, what I consider to be, the perfect carrier. The Timbuk2 Classic Messenger XS. The cargo area of the bag is big enough to carry the 901 (in its sleeve) w/power cables, bluetooth mouse and some smaller odds and ends (like ear-canal headphones) and it's got a compartmentalized zip pocket that's also great for smaller odds and ends (keys, pens, ipod, pocket knife, etc). At the same time it's small enough to be very light weight at about 1 lbs. (the bigger bag I had bought, even though it was a "small" size, weighs about as much as the 901 itself!) and also be non-bulky and easy to carry.
- An unexpected benefit of the 901 is watching movies/tv in bed! I make a connection to my main PC via home wireless network (map a drive) and using a headphone splitter, my Wife and I can enjoy watching movies and tv shows in the comfort of bed (the 901's screen does a wonderful job at it to) and at proper volume (since we have our headphones on), without worrying about disturbing our 3yr old Son that's sleeping in the next room.

** Update III (Sept 16th, 2008)
Bought one of those portable USB charger/Backup Laptop Battery extenders...The Xantrex (aka Duracell) Powersource Mobile 100. I used a Kill-A-Watt meter between the 901's AC Adapter and the Xantrex, as well as a Thermometer Gun, here's what I found:
- The 901 (under moderate usage), uses about 32-35watts (~122v/~500mA). The Xantrex advertises as being 100watt capable, but that's peak and for only 5 minutes...It actually provides 80watts continuous, which means it's fine with the 901.
- With the 901 turned off while charging, it was still soaking up about 29watts
- Under moderate load, the hottest spot on the bottom of the 901 registered at 101degrees(F).
- ** WARNING ***: Be careful with the AC Adapter it gets HOT!!! After 30 minutes of running the 901 with the adapter plugged in, I ran the temp gun over all the areas of the adapter and at the hottest point it was 143degrees(F)!!!

Every 5 to 10 years a new gadget comes along and I wonder how I managed without it. For me, the Eee 901 is one of those devices. I've owned it for 3 days and it has already become integral to my daily routine. I spent a week researching the options for a UMPC - In the end, I chose the 901 because it had all the features I needed, portability and the up to 7.5 hour battery life. I thought about waiting for the 1000H, but the deemed the 80GB not enough of a benefit for a larger computer that has essentially the same performance specs. Besides, the 12G 901 has an internal ZIF socket, so I can add an internal 1.8" 80GB drive at a later time if I wanted (i've heard that the linux version lacks this).

I use it almost exclusively for checking my e-mail, checking various web sites, IM, and writing documents for work. Typing takes some getting used to on the small keyboard, but after a couple days I'm typing almost as fast and as comfortably as on a full size keyboard. This computer is very portable - Its easy to flip it out in a cafe or coffee house and start working, unlike a full size laptop where setting up seems to be a chore. The 901 is about the same size as the old paper organizer binders, so it is easy to carry around when out and about and no one seems to really notice you carrying it.

The performance of XP on this computer is surprisingly good. It is even better if XP is reinstalled with a utility like nLite to reduce size and remove unnecessary programs - my XP boot time is down to about 15 seconds. The computer has a 4GB main SSD drive and a secondary 8GB SSD. The 4GB SSD is slightly faster than the 8GB drive and is used as the main OS drive. With my reduced install of XP I have about 2.8 GB free on the 4GB drive. I haven't yet noticed the small size of the SSDs being a limitation so far. Besides, I keep a majority of my files on an external USB hard drive or thumb drive anyway. The built-in MMC/SDHC slot is also a nice thing to have since my digital cameras all use SD cards - then there is the ZIF socket where I can install an 80GB ipod hard drive if needed.

This computer does not have a CD/DVD drive, so I had to buy an external USB slim DVD drive - you don't really need this unless you plan to watch movies, burn DVDs, or load a new operating system.

The case is shiny and very prone to picking up finger prints. The touchpad is also terrible - but that can largely be fixed by installing a driver update. The 1024x600 display size can confuse some applications - but it can easily be switched to 800x600 or a scrollable 1024x768 mode.

For internet access, I usually just hop on a wifi hotspot or use bluetooth to access EVDO from my Sprint cell phone - which basically means I have internet access anywhere I go.

I have been using my company-issued HP laptop (very heavy and bulky), and although I have to take it with me when I have to access my company VPN, half the time I travel, I don't even need all that computing power, I just need a light little laptop for web surfing and VOIP application. I found EEE PC901 on Amazon, and I thought I found the perfect solution to my problem. So I ordered it immediately (not knowing that it had just came out to the market... I paid full $599, without discount...). When it arrived, I was totally amazed by how small this laptop was, and it was so, so light! My next business trip was a few days after I received my EEE PC, so I took my little EEE laptop with me.

I absolutely had no problem with anything. I found the keyboard to be almost too small, but after a few hours learned to type on this keyboard fairly well (the trick is not to let your thumb touch the touchpad... Of course you don't realize your thumb or palm is touching the touchpad, so your cursor seems to go jumping all over the place). Initially touchpad felt too sensitive and erratic, but the EEEuser forum pointed me to download the touchpad manufacturer's driver (called "smartpad") (http://www.elantech.com.tw/download.aspx), I've managed to download the touchpad driver from the site, and it is now working like a dream (with tons of multi-finger tricks), the battery life was much longer (I got average of 6-7 hours) than my HP (it only really lasts less than 3 hours, but rated 6 hrs), the machine didn't heat up as hot as my HP, bluetooth is working like a charm (with my mouse), and so is wireless network (never dropped a signal), the built-in webcam and microphone is fantastic for skype, the speakers are little cheap sounding but enough to hear the beep so who cares, and the processor it's gotten is fairly quick and it almost seems faster than the processor in my HP laptop... I guess the speed has a lot to do with the SSD...

But then... the problem started about two weeks ago, after I started to load a lot of crap. The "fast" SSD is 4GB on this thing, and slower SSD has 8GB. The fast SSD is assigned as the main disk "C" so all Windows files and a lot of the programs are in "C" drive. 4GB is barely enough to retain the configuration as it came from the factory, and not enough for adding something like MS Office even after OpenOffice and MS Works and all the other software that I don't use have been deleted. I had to install most of my programs to "D" and reassigned "My Document" folder to "D", and compress "C" drive to get about 1GB of free space. However, the precious free space on C drive is slowly but surely been eaten and now I see my free space on "C" as 700MB. I've upgraded my memory to 2GB (it was very, very easy I must say) and I don't have my swap file in C or system restore, and I don't keep trashed file, and my browser cache is minimal. But a lot of applets have been installed and a lot of application data are in "C", and that eats up HD space little by little. It's working fine so far, but the amount of free space on "C" is a constant worry when I use this little laptop.

While I do love this little guy and I really wanted to give this 5 stars in this review, the main drive is just too small for use with XP, and because of this reason, I cannot honestly say it's worth 5 stars... The EEEuser forum has a lot of recommendations about reducing the XP installation down to minimal using nLite (to something like 1.5GB), but that's not really what I want to do. Though I love this laptop, I don't want to spend too much time or effort trying to work this thing to optimum... I would have paid $100 or $200 more if the main SSD had one large-capacity SSD instead of cumbersome two physical volumes... Oh well, the laptop itself is cheap enough so I could buy another one when ASUS comes out with a laptop with one large capacity SSD (and I don't want an HDD. If I did, I'd buy PC1000H or Acer/MSI/HP and those are all bigger than 901)... Oh, and even though 1024x600 resolution does not cause any problem surfing the net, it would have been nice if the display actually had 1024x768pixels... If ASUS could fix these problems, then I will give it a five star and really, really love this thing. I've been recommending this little laptop to a lot of people, but I do tell them to wait, if they can. I think the idea of this super small laptop is so excellent, and I hope ASUS and other manufacturers would come out with more exciting and capable models (and keeping the same form factor and weight... The portability is the key here!!) in the future. Once those problems are solved (then non-computer-savvy people can use them without any problem), I think this product category will kill low-end large/bulky laptop market... but PC901 is not quite there yet for primetime...

I've only had this Eee901 for a four days and I absolutely adore it. Amazing size, speed, battery life. But she's breaking my heart. The partitioned drive setup and the way the pc comes pre-installed means that I get low disk space warnings all the time...doing mundane things like reading mail or writing this review. I've uninstalled lots of the programs that came preinstalled but this C drive is just too darn small. This is my only pc and perfect for my needs. I don't run alot of programs or store files so I didn't expect the space to be an issue. Forget trying to stream a video. I don't know if the Eee 1000 solves this problem, but I have real buyer's remorse right now, especially because everything else about this Eee is great. I'm waiting for Tech Support to respond to my questions about how to repartition or some other solution.

I bought this the other day and have had the whole weekend to mess around with it. Here is what you have to know:

The 12 gigabytes of SSD are actually a fast 4 gigabyte SSD and a slower 8 gigabyte SSD. This is important because if you are going to put windows Vista on it you should reconsider your options. The keyboard is tiny! I find typing with three fingers on each hand is easiest. Don't expect 60 words per minute unless you have serious skills. It indeed does come with MS Works and another free office suite.. I removed all the bloatware and put firefox on. This baby cranks when you jack it up to high performance mode (1.8 GHz overclock).

Battery life is awesome even with an upgrade to 2 gigs of ram.

Pros: Small, great Battery life, easy to use, plays SD video great(AVI, DIVX) screen looks great ... Got it last Friday and had it all going within an hour and painlessly patched OS and BIOS updates in 3 hours

Cons : keyboard is cramped, no PCMCIA = No real problem

Thoughts: got this for the train and for travel, it meets the requirements very well - a little smaller than I expected (a good thing) - sits very neatly on my lap, overall very very happy (ps am getting about 6 - 6 1/2 of battery time on this puppy (Nice)

We just got our ASUS 901 XP. I won't repeat much of what everybody else has said. It's a small PC that's slow and cute and well-built. If that's what you want, then it's perfect!

Two things to note. You *will* have to deal with the small C-drive. Minimally this means:
-- Change the TMP and TEMP environment variables to point to a directory on the D-drive
-- Change Internet Explorer to use the D-drive for its temporary files.
-- Change your email program to store email on the D-drive (unless you just use webmail).
-- Download any tool that lets you analyze disk space on a drive and shows you where it's used up. One easy free one is Treesize Free at [...]. You *will* need this.

Second, there's been some confusion about what resolution is supported by the external VGA port. We have a Dell 24" monitor. I plugged it in, and the ASUS EEE 901 immediately, automatically started running it at 1920x1200. And it looks beautiful. So, external resolution is not a problem.

Received the Eee 901 last week and was estatic till I learned that you could not use a Verizon USB card/modem for internet connection. I am not a pro here, but how did I miss this info before buying????

I've had my Eee PC 901 12G for about two weeks now and it's the best notebook PC I've ever had. I decided two years ago that the next notebook I bought would have an SSD, be cheap and be very small, so this was really the only option.

My only quip is that ASUS put the WinXP OS on the 4GB C: drive with too many other things and that leaves too little room for updates and the like that the OS wants to install there. I made the initial mistake of putting Outlook 2003, Office 2000 and Firefox 3 on C: and finally scrapped them, uninstalled and reinstalled to D: where there was almost 8 GB of unused space (thus the 12GB total).

Since they are the three primary apps I'm using the system is rock solid and I can't comment on its use for games and so on. I don't miss the DVD drive as I can install software from a share on my desktop and the light weight and long battery life mean it's become just as primary a PC as my desktop was.

I think, if the battery lasts or a replacement is cheap enough, I'll be using this little box for years on the road and elsewhere. It's inexpensive enough that, even if I'm not, I'll have felt as though I got my value out of it.

I'm not sure I can call this a "notebook" so my title says "Portable Computer" instead. I have built and configured computers & laptops/notebooks for many family members of the years as well as my own. I have quite a bit of experience and knowledge when it comes to parts:performance and price:value.

This computer is SMALL. So amazingly small that my mother in law (who I bought and configured it for) can EASILY slip it into her purse and take it with her anywhere she goes. She's never without her laptop or internet now. This may sound a bit "addict-like" but it's really not. You see she uses this computer now to make Skype video calls to her new grand daughter (our child) on a whims notice. It's so cool when grandma video calls in and has a conversation/session with us while she's out and about.

The performance of the computer is not that great once you start updating windows with all the crap & security patches they push. My recommendation is to get ONLY the security patches, skip the "malicious software removal tool" (because it really is worthless for what it does considering the performance hit you take having it installed), and DON'T get any non-priority updates (I think they call these "optional" updates). You won't get ANY of these options if you don't select the "CUSTOM" update. If you choose "EXPRESS" you will get EVERYTHING.

This computer has very limited C:\ space when it arrives. The first thing I did was change the default installation directory to a new 16GB SD card I bought and put in the computer. You have to make this change in the registry but it's rather easy to do. The reason you do this is because not ALL programs allow you to select the destination installation folder when you install them. Changing this in the registry defaults them to the installation place of your choice even if they don't give you the option. Go here on how to do that: http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/how-to-change-the-default-location-for-installing-applications-in-windows/

This will allow you to keep what little precious C:\ space you have. Don't even bother changing it to D:\ though, as you'll quickly out grow the 5GB that is left on that as well.

I'm a little annoyed by the "Auto-Performance Engine" that always self-selects what mode to run the processor in, but if this is how they're achieving the incredible battery life I can live with it I guess - after all my mother in law is using the computer and has far more patience than I do since she doesn't know any better. If my normal desktop performed like this I would literally smash it with a mallet and toss it out the window into our pool. It can be frustrating at times.

Overall I personally would own and use this computer. When I was configuring it for my mother in law I carried it with me for about 7 days and used it every where I went (I have the computer tethered to my bluetooth Sprint phone by Bluetooth so it can use my EVDO from my phone for the internet capability - it's essentially using my phone as a modem). This works out great when I'm somewhere that doesn't have WiFi - I even made a Skype video call over my cell phone with this computer and it was pretty darn impressive considering I didn't think it would even work!

The computer is extremely portable and great for someone who needs access to web, email, Skype, office documents, etc. My mother in law also uses it to watch my Tivo I have here at my house via a Slingbox I have. I installed the Slingplayer application (it's free) on the computer before I sent it to her. She loves this. TV anywhere she goes in case she needs some entertainment - but not just any TV - Tivo like she was here at my house watching & controlling it.

The computer is NOT good for someone who wants to do hardcore graphics gaming, video or audio editing, etc.

***UPDATE*** Price dropped from $574 to $483 and Amazon customer support gave me a $90 price adjustment!!!! (I just bought the computer a few days ago). I am so happy with them right now, I just purchased another $300 worth of merchandise I've been needing (well, sort of needing! :o) )