14 DAY TRIAL // ASUS ended last year as the second greatest supplier of netbooks and, recently, a report emerged stating that the PC supplier planned to reach a 20% market share by the end of the ongoing year. The company would achieve this by unveiling ultraportables with higher than average specifications. The Eee PC 1201PN that was just launched is likely to play a significant role in this endeavor, given that it has processing, graphics, memory, storage and connectivity capabilities above those of its peers.
The Eee PC 1201PN is somewhat larger than regular entry-level mobile computers (296(W) x 208 (D) x 33.3 (H) mm). Instead of measuring 10.1 inches, the laptop features a 12.1-inch, LED-backlit LCD with an impressive maximum resolution of 1366 x 768 (16:9). The configuration itself is centered around a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 central processing unit, but also includes 2GB of RAM and a hard disk drive of 250GB.
One of the greatest assets of ASUS' new Eee PC is its ability to play videos in Full-HD 1080p resolution. This is possible thanks to the NVIDIA next-generation ION graphics. Combined with the high-resolution screen and, most importantly, the battery life of up to six hours, this GPU turns the netbook into an excellent traveling companion. Not only that, but, at home, the HDMI output and the virtual 5.1 channel SRS Premium Sound will let it act as a media center when hooked up to an HDTV.
Other specifications include a chiclet keyboard, 500GB of cloud storage, 10/100 LAN, a 0.3-megapixel webcam, Bluetooth 2.1 and a 6-cell battery. This Pine Trail-based mobile computer is not yet available, but should start selling before the week is over, at a price of 499 Europe. Its hardware allows it to meet the resource requirements of the Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium operating system.