14 DAY TRIAL // Following yesterday's abundance of Eee PC S101 news, it looks like the Taiwanese manufacturer ASUS has finally decided to officially introduce the stylish 10-inch netbook. As expected, the S101 comes as yet another Atom-powered system that, unlike all the previous Eee PC models, looks more as a netbook should. In addition to being officially launched, the S101 has already been reviewed by the guys over at MobileComputer.
The overall sensation with the new S101 is that it is basically a better-looking, overpriced Eee PC 1000, that is, if you seriously take in consideration the specs on both systems. There is also a certain sense of disappointment in that ASUS has not taken the concept of a high-end netbook any further, by equipping the S101 with almost the same hardware as most of the other netbooks on market.
As mentioned in our previous articles, the S101 features a LED-backlit 10-inch display with a maximum resolution of 1024 by 600, the Atom N270 processor and Intel's 945GSE+ICH7-M chipset. It comes to deliver 1GB of DDR2 memory, wireless 802.11n and Bluetooth connectivity, 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of storage space with an additional 20GB of Eee Storage, 0.3MP camera, 4-in-1 card reader, VGA port, three USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet and 2 audio jacks with support for HD Audio. The netbook itself weighs just 1kg, and is available in brown, champagne and graphite color options. The operating system can be either Windows XP (for the 16GB model) or Linux (for the 32GB/64GB versions).
According to the review, what you would get is a lighter and slimmer version of the Eee PC 1000, which adds a few design features like a glossy finish, a narrow silver strip running around the perimeter and tiny Swarovsky crystals placed at the end of each hinge. Unfortunately, once you turn the netbook upside down, you will immediately get a taste of reality, as the S101 makes use of black plastic and has been featured with air vents, much like the “standard” netbooks on the market. Furthermore, battery life is almost the same as with most other Eee PCs, which also goes for the performance level.