Customer Reviews

ASUS Eee PC T101MT-EU17-BK 10.1-Inch Convertible Tablet Netbook (Black)

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

July 13, 2010 - I uploaded multiple videos showing my hands-on review and tutorials on this netvertible.So far, I've done 4 videos: first impressions, OS and RAM upgrade tutorial, Inking & Touchscreen hands-on, and a video showing Plants VS Zombies played on the Touchscreen. Some elements I may not have stated in this review may be shown in the videos. You can find them by searching "t101mt" at mycoretechs*com. Change the * to a .

First Impressions
I am very impressed with this tablet netbook. Right out of the box, my first impressions of its chassis is that it is very sexy. Let me elaborate on that. The casing material is made out of an anti-fingerprint matte material. This includes the palm rest and the keyboard. The screen bezel is still made out of the same glossy material as the previous ASUS netbooks. I like the brushed white strip design on the back of the screen- it certainly adds to the design.

Upgraded
As with many users here, I agree that to enjoy this netbook, as well as to unlock its full potential, one must do a couple of upgrades. I added a Corsair Memory VS1GSDS800D2 1 GB PC2-6400 800Mhz 200-pin DDR2 Laptop Memory Kit. The RAM upgrade really helps with the system's responsiveness (including inking) and multitasking capability. Besides the RAM, I also installed a copy of Windows 7 ultimate. Home Premium and up will unlock the multi-touch capabilities of the touchscreen. As you read this, treat each and every one of my findings as based on this upgraded version.

I'd like to add this to those who are interested in hard drive upgrades. I will make a video of this next month, but for now, here's what I know based tinkering. The hard drive bay is right under the keyboard. The keyboard is removed by inserting a small pin or precision screwdriver into 4 mini holes and lifting the keyboard unit up. There is a small sticker that says it will void warranty if removed. After removing a number of screws, the hard drive is exposed. I will be adding an SSD (or maybe an SSD hybrid) next month and will update you on this. Besides the limitation of the Atom CPU, the stock hard drive is what really provides the slightly slow program loads.

Keyboard
The keys are tremendously pleasant to type on. ASUS used the same keyboard type as the Eee PC 1201N- island chiclet keys. If you are used to keyboards without any space in between, it will take a few hours to get used to this, but as any of my friends who tried it, you will eventually come to like its spacing, as it prevents typo on this limited space. What I personally like is that this time around, ASUS placed a second Function key (one next to the left CTRL key and another under the Enter key on the far right). This allows users to use one hand to set the volume level, as well as reach other keyboard functions that are placed on the right side of the keyboard. Note: I just wanted to throw this out there- out of many netbooks I've used, I still believe the very best, in terms of ergonomics and feel, is the HP Mini 311's.

Touchscreen
The special attraction that makes this netbook unique is its touchscreen feature. The resistive touchscreen has two touch points which gives users the best of both resistive and capacitve worlds. Let me explain this, resistive screen allows users to use a stylus pen or any sharp-pointed object (like a fingernail's tip) to write on and control the smallest details on the screen. So you can literally draw and write, with the system being able to detect your strokes.

Although, this does not compare against a capacitive screen's WACOM digitizer pen, which as the name suggests, uses digital inputting and will not only read each stroke but also the users' pen pressure. But the advantage of resistive over capacitive is that, capacitive requires a special stylus or a digitizer pen to be able to do any inking. iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch all uses capacitive screens. If you have one of these devices, you will notice that it requires your finger to control the screen and will not read any stylus or fingernail strokes.

Now, with the T101MT netbook, the two touch points allow users to switch from Pen mode to Finger mode. Think of the Finger mode as imitating a capacitive screen. It uses two touch points (where Penmode uses one) and allows users to do what capacitive screens can do: multi-touch, pinching, expanding, two finger scroll.

Screen Quality
Some reviewers are claiming that this has a grainy look. I would like to add that although it does have this look (which all touchscreens have), it is quite unnoticeable unless you really put your face on the screen. I'd hate to keep bringing the Apple devices up, but to compare the graininess, the T101MT looks way less grainy than the iTouches.

Another quality I like is that this netvertible has a matte screen. It will still attract skin oil but it resists finger prints. The included stylus has a rounded tip which glides on the screen- it will not scratch your screen at all. I won't be the only one using this netvertible so I decided to protect it anyway. I placed a AG2 Anti-Glare Screen Protector for 10.1" Widescreen Netbooks on the screen. This screen protector will NOT alter the screen's quality, brightness, or touch sensitivity. It also comes with a microfiber cloth to clean the screen, really useful.

Speakers
The speakers are placed under the palm rests, on the front of the netbook. The sound is acceptable for such a small unit. It is not tinny at all. It's loud but not booming.

Battery
I get about 4-5 hours of use per battery charge, always on Windows 7 High Performance mode (not to be confused with ASUS Super Hybrid Engine). My tasks, though, are pretty inconsistent- sometimes I'm writing on my blog, or watching videos, or web browsing, or playing 2D games, but these numbers are the average amount of hours I get. Balanced mode will surely add an hour or two, depending on the tasks.

I'd also like to add that doing some CPU-taxing tasks, like streaming videos and playing games, will require me to use the Super Performance Mode of the ASUS Super Hybrid Engine, which brings me to CPU usage.

CPU Capability
This is a netbook. Once you accept its capabilities, you will like it. If you require more computing and graphics power on a tablet notebook, look into the HP TM2T series which uses CULV/Core i UM CPUs and optional discrete graphics, but at double the costs. There are certainly more "higher-end" netbooks around, like the ones with the Nvidia ION GPU and even the Alienware M11X, but these have a different focus and lack touchscreen features. You are getting the T101MT for its touchscreen feature in a netbook size, that's the bottom line.

Having said all that, the T101MT's Atom N450 runs at 1.6Ghz and is snappy for a netbook, but watching videos, it helps to run it on 1.85Ghz by using the Super Performance Mode of the ASUS S.H.E. To match the screen's resolution of 1024x600 and to alleviate the CPU's capability, it is best to watch lower resolution videos and switching it to full screen. I streamed a Simpsons episode on Hulu using 288p and running it at full screen without any lag. It will lag on 360p. But on Youtube, fullscreen 360p will not lag, anything higher will. As for videos on your hard drive, it is best to convert them to widescreen 480p. That's 720 pixels horizontal and 480 pixels vertical. Since the physical size of the screen isn't that big to begin with, you will not notice much quality difference from a 480p video to an hd video. It's also worth adding that it cannot decode 720p videos, it will stutter and chug.

Gaming
Getting this netbook brought me back some nostalgic moments. By this, I mean I dug up old copies of 2D and less intensive 3D games in storage. I installed some point and click games to take advantage of the touchscreen. This includes a bunch of Dash games for my girlfriend. We both enjoy Plants VS Zombies. I also installed games for casual gaming, like classic strategy games such as Warcraft III, Age of Empire, and even my dilapidated copy of StarCraft. Adventure games like Space Quest series, Syberia, The Longest Journey, Tales/Secret of Monkey Island and the Broken Sword series are also installed and run flawlessly. Some 2D casual, mystery, clue-finder games made by PopCap Games are fun on-the-go. There are still some gaming gems in the late 90s and early 2Ks that will run on this system. Like I said, once you accept and understand its full capabilities, this goes for any netbook, you can proceed to install the right software and have some fun.

ExpressGate
This is a nice addition for emergency internet use, in my opinion. Although it is a fast Splashtop, I generally do not use it, because Windows 7's loadtime does not bother me.

If you found this review helpful, please mark as Helpful. Leave a comment if you have any questions or if you did not find this helpful. Please do not mark as unhelpful until I answer your concerns or corrections. Visit my blog to watch the video reviews and tutorials. You can find them by searching "t101mt" at mycoretechs*com. Change the * to a .

Hello all. I want to confirm what others have been saying about the T101MT.
I will describe the computer by listing its features, and try to be thorough to help u guys out.

Casing.
the laptop is very solid and lighweight. screen and keyboard does not feel "flimsy and cheap" as other netbooks i've come accross at stores. namely the Acer netbook models. Cooling fan is very quiet; the hard disk little clicking noises are actually a louder than the fan itself.

Touchscreen.
Its a very useful feature. Being able to navigate through windows with your index finger is very liberating. takes some practice to get accurate with index finger, but overall fun.

Multitouch.
I didnt expect T101 to compare to ipad, but in my opinion, the computer is still "high tech" enough to impress people, if thats what youre aiming for.

Keyboard.
comfortable, solid, key size and spacing comparable to that of a full size laptop. right shift button was shrunk to half size to make room for up arrow and Fn key

Pen
The writing experience is the only weak point of the T101MT. i own a toshiba M400 laptop (more than 2x price of T101MT) so I am comparing it to a high end tablet. T101MT's responsiveness is bad (no exaggeration). E.g. writing at
normal speeds and normal text size, the computer will not recognize some of your characters. It is especially difficult to write the letter "O". Hand gets a little tired after writing with pen for few minutes. To my dismay, Windows 7 does not come with Windows Journal program installed. I do not recommend T101MT if you want to take lots of notes with it in meetings or in school.

Screen.
the T101MT is big enough to work MS office programs, watch youtube videos, and read long texts comfortably without squinting.

Video card.
I do not plan to install any high end graphics games, but as others have mentioned, you cannot expect to play high end graphics games on T101MT. I have one comment: under display properties, resolution is 1024x600 and 800x600 only. Other than that, no complaints

Performance
With windows 7 starter (and 1gig ram), computer is sluggish. E.g. after removing all original junkware, and running no programs, right clicking on an file to display its properties will still take about .5-1.0 second, a good sign that youre running with very little available RAM.

RAM
When i looked under properties, I noticed that windows 7 alone took up about 65% of the RAM space. 10% was taken by other internal processes. Windows 7 starter only recognizes up to 2GB ram max. Also, the T101MT is very picky about which ram it will recognize.
I tried the following:
- PNY DDR2 5300 1GB: not recognized, blank screen when turned on (many card reseatings, and bios updates did not solve the issue)
- Kingston DDR2 5300 2GB: not recognized, blank screen when turned on.
- Kingston DDR2 5300 1GB: RECOGNIZED!!!

On the plus side, after installing the only RAM stick that was recognized, most of the slugishness issues went away!

Conclusion: This netbook will give you good performance for your money. If you're only going to use it for navigating internet, typing in word and checking email, the T101MT is ideal. For the experienced pc users: If you are expecting to run 2 to 4 programs at a time regularly, get the RAM upgrade. That way you will get the computer to wait for your command, and not you wait on the computer when giving commands.

Others give it low ratings because it does not come out of the box with everything they want, but to me this is not important. Who cares whether you need to spend some extra money getting the unit up to spec versus paying more initially for the same specs. I think it is better to give a cheaper option and then give customers the option of whether they want to upgrade or not. In terms of the upgrades, I've put on Windows 7 Home Premium (I liked how the computer comes with Windows 7 Starter as I already had a Home Premium licence, so getting it without Home Premium meant I didn't have to pay as much), and a Corsair Nova 64GB SSD drive (although the computer did not seem too bad without the standard hard drive - the SSD drive is certainly faster, lighter, consumes less battery, produces less heat, and is more robust). I have also ordered a 1GB memory module as it looks like you need this (and not a 2GB module) to upgrade the ram to 2GB.

With these upgrades, the tablet is everything I've been looking for. Build quality is fantastic (although heavier than I was expecting, but the SSD does lighten it), looks very sleek, keyboard is very good. You can run the Asus Super Hybrid Engine to overclock the processor to 1.83GHz. Everything is very snappy.

But what I most love is the pen for the touchscreen that has its own holder in the case. I find the accuracy of the resistive screen to be quite good using a finger, and only the slightest touch is needed to detect a click. However, with the pen, accuracy is fantastic, and I find I can skip through menus and dialogs even faster than I can on my desktop using a normal mouse!

Most importantly, the limitations with how the computer comes are not things you have to live with, but can be eliminated just by upgrading. Also be aware that the US version do not come with bluetooth (but again, there is a connector so it could be added later if you want to) and you need to void the warranty to install the SSD drive and it is a difficult job - you might want to take it to a professional. However, once upgraded, I think this computer is by far the best tablet available in the price range (or really any tablet for this size).

Have had this for about a week and it is so difficult to put it down. This is one of the best NeTablet you will see for this price that has everything to make your computing life both simple and interesting.

If you need something for both work and play, THIS IS IT.
Thank God I did not go the route of the IPAD, this is simply incomparable.

To get the most of it, simply do the following:
-Upgrade to 2GB (additional $30)
-Upgrade to windows 7 home premium (lucky to get one from staple for $49, check [...]).

It may cost about $80 more, but worth every bit of it.

NOTE ON THE 2GB upgrade.
I tried a couple of cards, and they all worked perfectly.
All you have to do is make sure you disable boot booster before inserting the memory card.
All the techy guys will say that but may not tell you how to do that, simply put, this is how to get that done (it may be somewhere in the manual though).
-turn the computer on
-press F2 repeatedly until it enters set up
-go and select boot booster under boot, and change to disable status
-then you can insert your memory, start your computer again and check system under control panel to confirm that the upgrade went successfully.
-remember to enable boot booster back going through the first three steps.
Then you are done.

I hope this is helpful.

Enjoy the ASUS 101MT.

This PC is almost there....but its missing some crutial items. Windows 7 starts will work but you are missing the multi touch capability to match the hardware. To get this you need to upgrade to at least Home Premium for an additional 80.00 at this time. This will then make it necessary to upgrade the ram to the maximum of the netbook : 2GB. I am having trouble with the suggested upgrade: Crucial 2GB 256Mx64PC2-5300 CT25664AC667 DDR2 200-Pin SODIMM. When I installed it, the machine wouldn't boot. Suggestions from the ASUStek forum point to this ram module: Kingston 1GB DDR2-5300 which is reported to have worked and added up to its 2Gb max. Others who tried the Crucial reported that it worked until a reboot make it not work anymore.

My BIOS at this time is 404 date 2/3/2010. I see an older version of the BIOS on the Asus update (401) but someone in the forum reports the machine won't downgrade.

The ASUS website and manual have almost no information on this unit at this time. It comes with bloatware that has been reported to be difficult to remove from the machine and registry.

Aside from a rather small right shift key, the keyboard is better than I expected. I will report more as I keep messing with this machine.

If you are considering this netbook, just go ahead and upgrade to Win 7 Home Premium or above, and add 1GB of memory. THESE UPGRADES WILL MAKE THIS NETVERTIBLE ALL YOU COULD HOPE FOR AND THEN SOME.

Asus documentation is not very clear, but my machine recognized a Kingston 1GB PC2-6400 800MZ. It would NOT recognize any PC2-5300 667mz memory. The motherboard can only handle a total of 2GB, and 1GB comes with it, so do not purchase the 2GB chip as recommended by Amazon.com

I actually bought this the first day it was available. I am an undergrad junior Electrical Engineering major at UT Austin and so far the T101MT + OneNote is actually quite awesome! Sure it takes FOREVER to delete all the extra programs, upgrade to a better version of windows, etc. But once you do... oooh baby it's been a blast. Asus includes software that takes care of the whole I'm-trying-to-write-but-my-hand-smudges-the-screen problem. For the T91MT I think I read that it only worked with two programs, but it is totally universal on the T101MT with the Finger Mode/Pen Mode app located conveniently in the taskbar.

Basically this machine is for college students. It is cheaper than any other tablet convertible I've seen, it's incredibly light compared to a regular laptop (yes, that includes my Macbook Pro), and it WORKS. I agree with the annoyances highlighted in other reviews, but these mistakes don't offset all the advantages the come with owning a tablet netbook. Everything is incredibly responsive and I feel that this is the true form factor for boosting productivity.

Another cool thing - the other day I actually annotated a PDF of my lease and emailed it straight back to my property manager without having to print/scan anything... cool!

Pros: Small size; build quality; tablet with stylus; light weight for a computer; 3 USB ports; monitor port; SD card slot; built-in camera and mic; headset and mic plugs; windows 7 was able to hook to my home win 7 network for easy file transfer.

Cons: Screen a little fuzzy (probably due to the tablet touch capabilities); off-the-shelf configuration not good enough; may be a little heavy as an ebook reader; some flex at the top of the keyboard at about keys 3 to 5.

There were several reasons I wanted to try the new Asus t101mt. First, I needed a netbook to take with me while traveling, and a major Asian trip was coming up soon. Schlepping my full size laptop is getting to be too much trouble on the long trips and I don't need that much power while travelling. I mostly check email, do some web surfing and do some writing. This is my first netbook.

Second, the tablet concept intrigued me because, as a professor, I make presentations at conferences and this smaller unit can do the presentation and is easy to carry. Also, I often need to write notes on a monitor and have it projected onto the big classroom screen during class presentation. Hoping the stylus would allow that. Haven't tried yet.

Here is how my basic setup went and some preliminary observations.
The unit booted up nicely, initialized and captured my home g network login without any difficulty. A little sluggish with about 6 explorer tabs open but this is with the original 1 GB of RAM.
The popup ad to activate the internet security software is getting annoying. Pops up every half hour or so. I need to remove the extra bloatware.
Went to the crucial website to see what they suggest for RAM upgrade, and their recommendation is the 800 mhz PC2-6400. Based on the conflicting reports in reviews of what type of memory has worked, I purchased both the 667 mhz and the 800 mhz varietiesm 1 GB.
Easy to access the bottom door to get to the slot for the RAM. All you can do is insert 1 GB into this slot to get 2 GB total.
It didn't like the 1 GB inserted until I went into BIOS and set the boot booster to disabled. It says to do that in the little manual, but I forgot to do it. Did that, put in the memory, and rebooted, went into BIOS and there it is showing 2 gig installed. So it looks like the 800 mhz PC2-6400 is the way to go, at least on my unit. Didn't try the 667 mhz, I'll send it back.

The BIOS shows a 667 mhz FSB, so maybe the 667 would work. Should have tried it but didn't.
Defintely faster with the second gig of RAM. I used Kingston 1 GB PC2-6400 800 mhz 200 pin SO DIMM.
As noted in other reviews, this unit can only take a 1GB module as the first gig is on the motherboard.

Still using the windows 7 starter. Next up, install the windows 7 upgrade to home premium.
Upgraded smoothly, and this is really needed to get this unit up to speed. Now I can rotate the desktop when in tablet mode, and have a little on-screen keyboard when needed. Haven't really tried all the capabilities yet.
Stylus works pretty well. Haven't tried using my fingers much. Win 7 has the nice feature that it will recognize your palm when writing and not go crazy.

Now. I'm used to a big HP laptop, so anything this small and light seems like a dream, but that could change with time and usage.

My wife just borrowed it to take notes at a meeting. She didn't want to carry her notebook to the meeting, so she took my netwook. Worked well for her. She liked it, and she's a major power user on her notebook. She is not sure if it would fill the bill for her, but she will experiment.

Touch screen in tablet arrangement using the stylus works well. Writng recognition is good. Haven't given it a significant workout yet, just playing at this stage.

So first impressions very good to excellent. I will followup after using this for while. Perhaps after giving it a workout on my Asian trip later this summer.

What do you really need? Is rapid access to your files and the internet important? Is portability a need? Are you tired of shlepping around that notebook?

Even if you didn't use the touch screen, the T101 is a great device. And I say that based on an assessment after removing bloatware, adding another 1 GB of RAM (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H83X4U/ref=oss_product), upgrading to Win 7 Home Premium and installing McAfee Total Protection.

We all carry biases - so here are mine. Windows drives me crazy. I keep needing to buy more powerful computers just to run the basic programs. And each time, performance drops - in terms of my needs - consistent with the corporate need to assure backwards compatibility. Just look at the number of lines of code for the OS, from under 10 million in Win95 to over 70 million in Win 7. This is the first time I've had a machine that was more responsive than the one I used under the prior OS.

Just turning it on proves it. If I'm waiting for 10 minutes and want to jot down some notes, I get to use almost all those 10 minutes to work. It used to seem that I would need to keep half the time to boot up and shut down. And I am referring to the full Windows start up, not even the "rapid" one that is touted by Asus (that's even faster).

Some reviews are critical about the limited screen display. That's not really an issue for all settings. When I get home, I plug in a second monitor (22") which I set to 1600x1000. It looks great as a second monitor with the desktop set to extend across the two. I'm typing on the keyboard, though on my desk I have a powered USB hub which connects to a scanner, printer and the transmitter for a full sized, wireless keyboard and mouse.

I use google docs a lot, though I am starting to use Windows journal more and more in the pen mode to take notes at work. I do not take notes writing down every word, typically capturing phrases or drawing schematics/figures to put the information I'm hearing into context. Journal seems to perform quite adequately for these purposes, and I'm learning the nuances of tablet/pen use, so it should get better. I love the ability to shift easily to portrait mode.

Technically, the machine is light enough and feels solidly built. Perhaps because it is a tablet, the screen "half" of the computer is heavier than I'm used to, with more weight distributed there. So far the hinge seems to work fine, but as an engineer, I see that as the one component that I'd worry about, if there were any. If they skimped there, I expect it would be the first thing to require attention.

And to give you further insight into my background, here's a list of some of the computers I've used over the years...

PDP-8
Kaypro II and 10
Compaq 286
IBM 386
Gateway 486 (bunch of these)
Dell 486
Gateway Solo and then 200ARC
Sony Vaio Z520, TX-750P
HP Dual Core Desktop
Lenovo Dual Core laptop
Asus T101

This is the most pleased I've been since my Kaypro 10 and Sony laptops. Asus delivers more than they promoted.

I have owned my fair share of tablets including three different HP models, an iPad, and the Asus TM101MT. The TM101MT has offered me the best experience of any of them. It offers a balance of usability, affordability, and portability that the other devices cannot beat.

PROS:

The device is light, and is well balanced in a hand when in tablet mode. Granted, it is not as light as my iPad was, but unlike the iPad, the Asus T101MT is built for more than just content consumption. You can actually create on this device. It is much lighter than the HP TX2 and TM2 series, and because of the 10" screen, it is much more portable.

The Asus Computer is much more affordable than an iPad or HP series tablet. At just under $500, you can get a full use keyboard, operating system, and enough software to get you running out of the box. Yes, it will need an upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium (this is a must), but if you shop right, you can get that pretty cheaply. I recommend looking into a Microsoft TechNet subscription. You can pick up Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010 for a steal.

After the Asus middle ware (with the exception of the PenWrite application which gives you system-wide palm rejections) has been removed, and the extra RAM has been upgraded, this machine is just as fast as the iPad, and generates virtually no heat. The battery of a well-tuned machine will last you over five hours.

Resistive multi-touch touchscreen allows you to ink in any number of programs including OneNote, Evernote, and Windows Journal.

CONS:

Only upgradable to 2GB of RAM. This is a function of the chipset, not of ASUS.

Does require a OS upgrade, but after using the iPad - it does too (it pales in comparison to an iPhone with IOS4).

Because it is so portable, I live in fear that I might drop it - the same with any portable device.

Resistive touchscreen is less responsive than capacative touch.

It does require some attention out of the box, but there are plenty of guides on how to tweak this machine and Windows 7 online. The EEE User forums and Associated Content both have great guides for this. If you don't spend an hour or two customizing it, you will be disappointed.

General Comments:

Tweaking of a Windows 7 machine (the Asus or not) is a must. Some people feel that is why Apple products are better - they just work, but sometimes I like to get in and customize and tweak without having to have extensive programming and terminal experience. The Asus T101MT is like a customizable car kit - you can work on it; it will run pretty well; but you can do what you want to it. The iPad is like an import hybrid - it is a bit sexier; it will do what it is supposed to do perfectly; you will never fully own it, work on it, or understand it.