ASUS Eee PC 1201N: Dual-Core Atom + ION FTW?
by Jarred Walton on December 24, 2009 5:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Test Setup
Below are the specifications for the ASUS 1201N we're testing. We'll include performance results from other similarly priced laptops, with a bit of leeway on total cost. The 1201N currently sells for just under $500, putting it in direct competition with entry-level laptops and CULV offerings. We'll include ASUS' own UL80Vt as the high-water mark of what you can get for $800, and we'll toss in results from a Gateway EC5409u CULV notebook that we're currently reviewing.
The EC5409u costs $630 and offers very similar performance and features to what you'll find in most CULV designs: a dual-core 1.3GHz CPU, 4GB RAM, 1366x768 LCD, and Intel's GMA 4500MHD. (Models with 2GB can be found for closer to the $500 mark.) Battery life is competitive with most Atom-based netbooks, so while ION may be the clear winner in performance over a stock Atom, it has a tougher battle going up against CULV.
| ASUS Eee PC 1201N Test System | |
| Processor | Intel Atom 330 (2x1.6GHz + SMT, 45nm, 2x512KB L2, 533FSB, 8W) |
| Memory | 1x2GB DDR2-667 (Max 1x2GB) |
| Graphics | NVIDIA ION (16 SPs) |
| Display | 12.1" LED Glossy 16:9 768p (1366x768) |
| Hard Drive(s) | 250GB 5400RPM HDD |
| Optical Drive | N/A |
| Battery | 6-Cell, 11.25V, 5600mAh, 63Wh |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit |
| Pricing | Available Online starting at $471 |
| Gateway EC5409u Test System | |
| Processor | Intel Pentium SU4100 (2x1.3GHz, 45nm, 2MB L2, 800FSB, 10W) |
| Memory | 2x2GB DDR3-1066 (Max 2x4GB) |
| Graphics | Intel GMA 4500MHD IGP |
| Display | 15.6" LED Glossy 16:9 768p (1366x768) |
| Hard Drive(s) | 320GB 5400RPM HDD |
| Optical Drive | 8x DVDR SuperMulti |
| Battery | 6-Cell, 11.1V, 5600mAh, 62Wh |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit |
| Pricing | Available Online starting at $620 |
We'll include the usual assortment of application benchmarks along with a few gaming tests using minimum detail settings. Battery life is also going to be important, so we've run our usual assortment of battery drain tests.
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bsoft16384 - Saturday, December 26, 2009 - link
Maybe someone can answer this for me - does the Eee PC 1201N support x86-64? The desktop Atom CPUs (Atom 330) do, but the mobile Atom CPUs have it disabled. Since this laptop apparently has a desktop Atom CPU, presumably it supports 64-bit as well?JarredWalton - Saturday, December 26, 2009 - link
Yes, it supports 64-bit, but the default OS is 32-bit. Since it apparently only supports up to 3GB RAM, however, it's probably not important to install a 64-bit OS. There are a few apps where 64-bit code can boost performance by ~5%, but the higher memory requirements would likely decrease performance in other apps.vavutsikarios - Saturday, December 26, 2009 - link
I would like to see how the 1291N compares to Acer Ferrari one.They are same size (the acer has the same 1366x768 on a 11.6 screen), exact same price, have comparable CPUs and graphics capabilities, same HDD and memory size, same OS.
They are, obviously, direct competitors.
vavutsikarios - Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - link
Correction: the Acer comes with the Win 7 Home Premium 64bit version, so it's not the exact same OS.Despite that, I still can't think of any other machine that feels so much similar, hardware-wise, with the 1291N.
I mean, the absence of intel graphics is by itself enough to differentiate those machines from the majority of netbooks out there. And then you add Win7, and they become even more different, and even more similar -with each other.
JarredWalton - Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - link
I've already sent in a request; we'll see if Acer fulfills it.sprockkets - Thursday, December 24, 2009 - link
What is preventing someone from putting out a CULV + an nvidia 9300 chipset???MonkeyPaw - Friday, December 25, 2009 - link
I'm sure something like that may exist, but you couldn't really call it a netbook anymore, but an Ultra-portable. Once you go there, you typically end up paying 4-5 times more than you would for a netbook.JarredWalton - Friday, December 25, 2009 - link
The 9300 and 9400 are essentially the same, but regardless no one has created a CULV with NVIDIA IGP so far. There are discrete GPUs with some CULV laptops, but that's as close as we get. Anyway, 9300M is just 9400M with lower clocks.evident - Thursday, December 24, 2009 - link
This thing is almost pushing $500. If you look around you can find a nice intel pentium dual core 14" laptop for the same price. granted, the netbook is alot smaller and that itself is worth something, but i still feel that the compromise is still too great. IMO, the sweet spot for an ion netbook would be $200.Penti - Thursday, December 31, 2009 - link
Just buy a Intel CULV (Core2 based) if you like a small notebook. Atom is great, (think embedded space), but with ION, large screen etc I don't really get it. But at least netbooks (with Ion or Broadcom Crystal HD) will be more useful when Flash 10.1 hits none beta release. GMA 4500MHD is still a pretty good fit for accelerated flash (video) though, and the faster cpu helps with a lot of things. I think it would be more interesting to shrink the atom devices to the MID size. Finishing up Moblin would also be nice. Maemo has showed you can create a pretty good consumer Linux MID already. But they become pretty pointless as stand alone internet devices though.