Customer Reviews

Asus Eee PC 1001P-MU17-BU 10.1-Inch Intel Atom Netbook Computer (Royal Blue)

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Ordered this netbook because I was looking for an n450 powered device akin to the 1005 line.

Well let me say that I'm glad I didn't spend the extra 60 bucks. This computer has everything the 1005 line has minus bluetooth (honestly, I don't think I've ever met a person who uses bluetooth) battery life (11 vs 14 hours, real world 8 vs 11 hours), harddrive space (160GB versus 250GB which is a negligible difference), display (matte screen vs glossy screen equal resolution), wireless (g vs n) and finish (matte vs glossy).

Now, that seems like a lot of differences, but all of them, save battery life, are pointless bells and whistles that do nothing to affect the performance of the computer (akin to putting a moon roof and a spoiler on a car and jacking the price up).

Battery life is the only worthwhile difference between the two models (maybe worth 60-80 bucks depending on what your plans are). It would have been nice to have wireless n, but most users probably won't notice a difference.

As far as the screen and finish go, I think matte is actually an advantage. A glossy screen is exhausting to read on in bright light. I'll never understand what the recent obsession with glossy screens is; they are murderous to the eyes. As for a glossy finish, your netbook will look like a piece of well worn packing tape after 15 minutes (big greasy fingerprints everywhere!).

I've heard a lot of people complain that the keyboard of this model feels spongy, but I think they must be typing with mallets, because the 1001p keyboard feels like every other laptop I've ever used. It does not depress in the corners or anywhere for that matter and I'm a fairly hard typist.

The first thing I did when I got this computer was clean install windows 7 ultimate and office 2003 (office 2007 being an unholy abomination; a grievous injustice perpetrated upon all of mankind). So far the netbook has been breezing through applications on 1GB ram with nary a stutter. I would highly recommend upgrading from the absolute garbage windows 7 starter, it doesn't even let you change the wallpaper and is solely intended to annoy you. Furthermore, you might as well get rid of all the asus software (it periodically generates pop-up ads asking if you want to pay for something) and just install the drivers for lan and wireless, you really don't need the others.

In conclusion (ah, high school english where would I be without you) The 1001P is a solid, surprisingly powerful little netbook with excellent design. It is more than adequate for most computing tasks short of video editing. And for 280$? Are you kidding me? How can you complain?

I'm very pleased with this netbook! I'll break my review into different aspects of the device, to try to keep things relatively organized.

AMAZON PACKAGING
No issues here, perfect. I ordered mine overnight, so it came via FedEx. The box was easy to open, and there was sufficient packing material inside.

APPEARANCE
Very attractive case on this. The faux carbon fiber (it's not REAL carbon fiber, wish it were) pattern is very slick looking. I will say that I've only had this one day, and there are a couple of scratches on the surface--nothing serious, and they're only visible at certain angles, but it sort of sucks, and I'd recommend getting a case for this thing, such as the Case Logic PLS-9 Ultraportable Netbook Sleeve for 7-Inch to 10-Inch Netbooks (Black). Again, too bad it's not real carbon fiber casing. :) Otherwise it would be virtually indestructible! The display is a matte backlit LED, with a native resolution of 1024x600. It's crisp and bright, and mine had no dead pixels or any other issues. Very nice screen!

ERGONOMICS
As expected, this thing is small! Not overly small like the older 8" netbooks, but small enough to stash away into a briefcase or attaché case for sure. It also doesn't weigh much, which makes it highly portable. The keyboard is a 92% full size keyboard, and I'd say it's perfect. I can type at nearly full speed without feeling cramped at all. The keyboard "gives" a bit under typing pressure (mostly in the upper left portion), which makes it feel a little cheap, but it's nothing to be concerned about. All the keys themselves are pretty solid. The one thing I DO not like about this netbook is opening it. It's very awkward to open the lid, because there's just a very small lip to put your finger under and lift it up. There are no other decent spots to get a good grip to open the lid, unfortunately, and that's one of the main reasons I only give this netbook four stars. The other thing that's mildly annoying is it's very back-heavy, due to the 6-cell battery, so the laptop tends to tilt backwards. Minor, but again, something that makes this a 4-star product rather than a perfect 5-star.

HARDWARE & SOFTWARE
This comes with Windows 7 Starter installed. Ignore any comments or product details that state it comes with WinXP - it doesn't. Win7 Starter runs pretty well, just what you'd expect with a netbook: not super fast, but it's not like you're tapping your foot waiting for things to load, either. To be honest, I didn't spend a lot of time in Windows before I reformatted and installed Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10. More on that below. The battery life in Win7 claims 9-11 hours, which is quite impressive. The wi-fi card works without a hitch, and all power-saving capabilities work quite well.

Now, onto some Ubuntu stuff...

This device isn't quite Ubuntu-ready. Or maybe I should say, Ubuntu isn't compliant with 1001P hardware just yet. With a fresh install of Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10, several things do not work: wi-fi, multi-touch, built-in microphone, and brightness controls. The brightness controls do work, but they are unpredictable. With some searching around, though, you can find helpful resources to guide you in the right direction to getting these things working. If anyone has specific questions on Ubuntu, post a comment and I'll do my best to reply.

One important note: if you decide to format this and put some other operating system on it, do NOT wipe out the 10GB and 17MB partitions! The 10GB partition contains the Windows 7 clone source which you can boot on and use to revert the netbook back to using Windows 7 as its operating system. So no matter how bad things get, you can always boot up that partition and reinstall Windows. If you've installed Ubuntu, there might be some extra leg-work to get that recovery partition to properly do its job (you may have to re-create those two extra partitions and make them FAT32 or something). I'm still fuzzy on going back to Windows after having Ubuntu installed.

I may give an update later after using it more. Feel free to post comments on this review.

The ASUS 1001P (white) is truly gorgeous. It just looks and feels impeccably detailed and doesn't feel flimsy. I'll lay out a quick pro/con first before updating it later with more details/observations. Keep in mind, I've only had this netbook to play with for a few hours, yet it expels me to write a review, since there's none for this particular model.

Pros
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+ Battery life! I doubt any other model offers an 11 hour battery life at this price point ($299). If you only surf the net, write reports, or do simple tasks, on a slightly dimmer backlight, you can well get up to 10.5hrs. However, other intensive tasks with a brighter view can cut the battery life in half (~6 hours), which is still good.

+ Keyboard - I like the feel of it, and it doesn't feel as cramped. I have slightly smaller than average hands, but it works well. I prefer non-chiclet style, as this netbook is.

+Trackpad- I'm glad this one didn't come with bumpy surface. I tried it at a local BB, and didn't really like the feel of it. I also don't mind the single bar layout for the left and right clicks.

+LCD- This one comes with the matte LCD style. I thought it would be less sharper or poorer viewing angles, but it seems sharp enough for me.

+Chassis- I love the latticework/non-glossy look. Doesn't attract any fingerprints and it doesn't look plasticy.

Cons
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- Battery Charger - I wasn't going to order ASUS unless I was sure that the problem was fixed, but I decided to just gamble. Unfortunately, I got the worst brand. There seems to be 3 different types of chargers. One from Enertronix (high failure rate due to a overheating problem that shuts off the charger and making it unusable), one from delta (the best one- doesn't seem to have any failure rates)- and one from PI Electronics (not sure about this one). It works for now, but many users have reported it comes DOA or fails within 1-3 months. * More about this down below*

- No N-wireless while the Acer alternative with the same price point has this option

- Windows 7 Starter. Sucks. Amazon needs to fix this; The technical details say that it comes with Win7, but the Specifications says Win XP Home.

Neutral
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- No netbook sleeve, I purchased a separate one from Amazon.

- Comes with crappy outside cardboard box.

***More about the battery charger. As I've mentioned, I got the crappy one. It's specific model is Enertronix #EXA0901XH. If ASUS readily replaced this, it wouldn't be much of a concern. But, users in various forums have reported that ASUS's crappy customer service and lack of, as well as weeks or months of backordered chargers prevented them from getting a new one. In addition, ASUS doesn't pay for shipping back the failed battery charger. However, if you get lucky and get any of the other two charger models, there seems to be no problem.

However, it seems that most people found a temporary solution. I'll try to relay the knowledge I've gained about these solutions. First, it seems that the faulty charger lies within an overheating problem and a mechanism for turning the charger off (but not back on). So you can alleviate this problem by temporarily allowing your charger to cool down after each use and if that doesn't work, putting it in the refrigerator for ~10-20 minutes. Other users have also mentioned that the charger will fail quicker, if multiple input locations are used. So if you keep plugging in and out the charger at different outlets, it often fails.

Despite the problem with the charger, the netbook itself is great, and even with its shortcomings, I decided to take a plunge. Whether it turns out to be a problem or not, time will tell.

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Update as of 2-13-2010/about 2 weeks into purchase

- My charger still works fine, although it runs pretty hot. I've attached an heatsink from an old video card (not sure if this helps any), and I haven't really been using the charger anywhere else except in my bedroom.
- The matte screen, although great for outside, I am starting to see the lack in brightness compared to a glossy at a bright setting. The viewing angle is also pretty limited but most of the times you'll be look straight ahead.
- I've also noticed that the battery is very heavy so that the weight of the whole netbook is not equally distributed, but slightly heavier towards the battery, but its not a concern on flat surfaces.
- I have used coreAVC to try resolutions of 720p on .mkv and .avi and they worked fine. However, the cpu will run at 95-100%. Also, it has much difficulty running multiple flash embedded sites (for example, trying to run youtube and omgpop or hulu at the same time).
- Battery life is still good, and I haven't seen any noticeable decreases. One thing I've noticed is that it takes a while for the system to estimate your battery life depending on your usage style.
- I will be using this netbook more extensively, so more updates will be posted. So far so good.

This small light netbook exceeds my expectations. I did not imagine it would have such a user friendly keyboard; I use it for word processing of short items such as this review. This product is so easy to lift, manipulate and carry. Battery life seems to be as advertised. I thought pink would be distracting; it isn't. This has quickly become my favorite computer. It's my first ASUS, and it has sold me on the company. As always, kudos to Amazon for sensible packaging and speed of delivery.

I have had the Asus 1001p for a little under a week now and I am really enjoying it. Here are a few things that I took into account while choosing which netbook to purchase that may help you:

1) If you want something to do any gaming other than FreeCell, or image manipulation other than paint, you shouldn't get a netbook.

2) If you are expecting an aluminium machine with extremely high build quality that, with upgrades, can last you five years with no problems or cosmetic flaws... you should spend more than 300 bucks.

3) If you want the internet (May I recommend Chrome as a web browser, it is quicker than IE 8), note taking in class, and light office use then you should get a netbook (not an iPad).

4) I purchased the 1001p as a supplement to my MacBookPro. It is 15in and fairly annoying to lug around. I also wanted a Windows Machine for my business classes. The netbook fits well in any of my bags, including my extremely small CamelBak.

5)The 92% keyboard is fantastic, I have adapted to it completely already and am typing at full speed with a very minor hit to accuracy because i have large fingers. (Like some other reviews around the internet say, they keyboard has a little bit of give, it comes across as a little flimsy, but that doesn't really matter all that much.)

6) After a fair amount of research I had decided on either this or the Asus 1201n. If you want to watch a lot of videos (Any HD videos) I would go with the 1201n or a netbook/ultra portable with similar specs. The 1001p is just a little slow for extensive videos. Hulu seems to drag a bit, Netflix has worked well, and YouTube in SD runs perfectly fine. Again though, all of this is to be expected... it is a netbook.

7) Why I only gave it 4 stars: The track pad is kind of odd to me. I am used to the MacBookPro's multi touch pad so I may be spoiled, but the pad on here is a little unresponsive. I have messed with the settings abit and that helped a lot. Also, I do find the buttons pretty difficult to click. Not devastatingly so, but still difficult.

8) The matte finish and screen are nice. I have always preferred matte screens to glossy screens. The faux-carbon-fiber pattern on the case is aesthetically pleasing (I was scared it would be ugly, it is far from it and doesn't attract every fingerprint like most Eee PCs.)

Overall, I like this netbook a lot. It is a great portable note taker and casual internet browser. I will still revert to the larger 15in for most video, and any media manipulation. The 1001p does everything I wanted it to, with good battery life (I have been getting about 7 hours to the charge while doing the initial tasks of installing chrome and Open Office and uninstalling bloatware)

As netbooks have more or less standard hardware under the hood, netbooks can really only be distinguished by the parts that you the user interact with, namely, the screen, keyboard, and touchpad. I don't really have any complaints about the former and the latter. The screen has good contrast, but perhaps could be a little brighter. And, of course, it's matte, which is probably what drew you to this netbook in the first place (if you're anything like me). The touchpad is fine, no complaints.

Where the unit goes wrong is the keyboard. It is spongy. I very much dislike spongy, loud keyboards, but that is precisely what the 1001p has. Is it enough for me to put it on Ebay? No, but I am tempted to remove the case and see if I can add some reinforcements to make the tray more stable.

Cosmetically, it's basically what you expect. Looks decent, the seashell design is aesthetically pleasing, the pattern isn't garish. My only complaint on this end is the glossy bezel. I have no idea why it was necessary to put a fingerprint and dust magnet on an otherwise all matte netbook. But this is a quibble. The keyboard is the main fault.

I bought this little gem for my daughter for college. First of all let me say I'm not a novice with PC's. I own a computer repair shop and have been repairing PC's for over 20 years. Out of the box this cute little netbook had a problem with randomly freezing up for no apparent reason. I removed all the bloat ware and ran a registry scan/fix and it still had the problem. I thought maybe it needed more RAM so I upgraded it to 2GB. When I first installed the 2GB of RAM, the PC only recognized it as 1GB. I removed it and reinstalled it, making sure it was firmly seated in the slot, but still just 1GB. I tried wiggling it up and down as I firmly pushed it in the slot and then it recognized it properly as 2GB. Now this thing is seriously quick! However, it still had the freezing problem. My next step was to replace the Windows 7 Starter with Windows 7 Home Premium. Bingo!! That did the trick! Now it runs almost as good as my full size laptops with dual-core processors! The Intel N450 seems to be a very capable processor and its mere 5.5 watts of power consumption keeps it from getting hot and makes for some outrageous battery run time. Running 7 Premium and Office 2007 is very smooth and fast. This was my first experience with Windows 7 Starter Edition and I must say I'm not very impressed. However, the other versions of Windows 7 seem to be the best thing since sliced bread! Once I overcame the problems of the poorly designed memory slot and the inferior Windows 7 Starter Edition, this turned out to be a very nice PC and a great value at that! If it weren't for my experience with PC repair, I doubt that this would've been such a happy ending story. I hope this helps someone else get past these minor annoyances. Just remember that the Windows upgrade is a pricey upgrade that puts your final cost up there with a full size laptop. But, if you want the size and weight advantages of a netbook, you won't be sorry.

I did a lot of research before deciding to purchase the Asus Eee PC. The only detail that was a must for me was that my mini was white. I purchased this mini because my main laptop needed to get serviced, which was going to take a few days. I am unable to be without a computer for more than a day, so I decided to purchase a mini as a back up, and something to use while I travel.

The Asus Eee PC was my second choice. My first was a Toshiba, and that came defective and was returned.

I am certainly glad because in terms of price, visual appeal, and functionality, this mini has others whipped!!!

So, where do I start? The laptop is absolutely adorable and very lightweight. The keyboard is well built and easy to adjust to. I was concerned about the matte screen because I was used to using glossy, but this is not a concern. I almost like the matte screen better because it seems to get less dirty.

I like how this laptop allows users to do a quick boot. There are two on buttons. The one on the left side allows users to load only the necessary applications and the load time is incredibly fast. When booting up the entire OS, the system is still pretty quick with minimal lag.

I know Windows 7 Starter pretty much sucks, but Asus offers a bunch of decent built-in functions to combat this mess of an OS. They allow you to change your wallpaper and make personalizations.

Overall this computer is A+ for the money, size, and ease of use. I would most definitely make more purchases from Asus, as they stand up to their giant reputation.

I am a teacher and I use this computer inside my classroom. Here is a quick pro and con list:

Pros:
1) No fingerprints. Seriously, the finish on this thing attracts very few fingerprints. The finish is a lot better than the gloss finish on most netbooks. I really like design of this netbook.
2) Fast. When it comes to netbooks, they all have similar specs. This laptop comes with minimal bloatware and windows 7 starter runs great. I don't see the need to upgrade it. There was some concern about changing the background and I can say that asus includes software to allow you to customize it.
3) Long battery life. I can use it for presenting powerpoint and playing some movies for an entire school day without plugging it in. I know this because I forgot to plug it in one day and didn't realize I was running on only batteries until the end of the day.
4) Quiet. Even on high performance the fan is really quiet.
5) Single touch power profile adjustment. There is a button opposite the power button that you can use to adjust the power profiles.
6) full size card reader. You can leave the SD in the computer without it protruding out at all.

Cons:
1) Gestures on touch pad can be spotty (works well in some programs with not so well in others). The multi-touch does not work properly all the time. I know that this could be due to human error, but I really think that it's just spotty.
2) Heavy. It's not like it's a brick, but it's pretty back heavy (standard to many netbooks though). Let's just say it's heavier than it looks.
3) Bulky plug. I picked up one of these (Notebook Power Cord, C7 Figure-Eight Plug, 1FT.) and it will cut down on bulk. I just ordered this and I will confirm it works when it arrives.
4) Bright led. The one that is really bright is the one on the power block. It's nothing major, but I could see this being an issue for a college student who uses a laptop in a dark lecture room. I would put some electric tapeGE 50958 Electrical Tape on the power block if I were still in college.
5) Fn numeric keys are hard to use. If you are going to be entering a lot of numbers you may want something like this:Toshiba PA1390U-1NKP Slim USB Numeric Keypad with 2-Port USB Hub
6) No optical drive. I bought this ASUS USB 2.0 8x DVD Writer External Optical Drive SDRW-08D1S-U (Black) so that I could install software.

Overall I really like this netbook and will probably buy another one for my dad who has been looking for a netbook to use for work.

Best notebook BANG FOR YOUR BUCK. We just bought a travel trailer to start cruising the highways and byways. I wanted a small computer to take along to check emails and check out camping sites as we go and make reservations. The size is just right and I have no trouble seeing the screen (I'm 60 and use my reading glasses)and for now I am just peck typing as I am very fast on my desktop and will practice to get used to the slightly smaller keyboard. I took it to our small local town and got right on the internet in the parking lot of a cafe. I can also get internet at home as my son has a router for this laptop. I downloaded AVAST security (free) and am happy with just the Microsoft Works as I don't expect to be doing documents. I see no reason to upgrade to more Ram or full Windows 7. I run XP on my desktop and the transition was easy.
Be aware that the Blue netbook is NOT textured like the Black as described in most reviews. It is smooth and a lovely color. I can deal with the fingerprints. I find the mousepad a bit difficult scrolling. It is not that responsive to the two/three fingers they talk about. I just use the up and down arrows.
My son leaves his laptop plugged in and just closes the lid to put it to sleep. I did this after my netbook was fully charged and also when I unplugged it. WRONG!
When my techy friend came to help me set up some things the unit shut down and completely reloaded everything. It took forever and there was nothing I could do.
He said it was because I didn't properly SHUT DOWN each time. He has since put a shut down widget, clock and calandar on my desktop. When my desktop slugs out (times when it is SO slow) I now go to the netbook and find it is faster loading and on the internet. I find no need for "n" network. For under $300 it is the PERFECT netbook.