Asus Eee PC 1005PE

Product: Asus Eee PC 1005PE
Website: http://www.asus.com/1005PE
System Specifications: Intel Pine Trail Atom N450 1.66Ghz, 1GB DDR2 RAM, 10.1-inch screen, Windows 7 Starter, 250GB HDD, 0.3 Mega Pixel Video camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, 3.5-inch audio, USB 2.0, VGA, SD, MMC
Price: £290

THE ASUS 1005PE NETBOOK hails from its second generation of Seashell designs that started appearing in the middle of last year. This second generation of Seashell netbooks also has the next generation of Intel Atom processors known as Pine Trail, which coupled with the Tiger Point chipset is said to promise great improvements all around over its predecessors.

From outward appearances alone, nothing appears to have changed from the Intel Atom N270 1.6Ghz 1005HA netbook that we reviewed last year to this N450 1.66Ghz 1005PE netbook that is now replacing it. They both have the same look and weight of 1.27kg with the same dimensions of 262mmx178mmx25.9mm, with a screen height of 36.5mm. The changes are under the hood, with the updated chipset and processor.

The Intel Pine Trail chip is the heart of the Asus netbook and is reported to be 20 per cent faster than the previous generation. The main reason for the faster speed is that the Pine Trail has the memory controller in the processor and an integrated graphics processor in the chip package, which also results in lower power consumption. These are fundamental changes for the Atom chip, although the speed increase is only mildly noticable compared to older netbooks.

The 10.1-inch screen has also seen some improvements. The 1005PE screen is much more distinct, compared side by side with the 1005HA. It is noticeably sharper in terms of colours, text and really everything visible. Netbooks have often been plagued with poor screens, measured against those found in notebooks. Although this screen isn't as sharp as some of the others that Asus has put out lately, it is still an improvement and the company is definitely making ground in screen development. The display still has the 1024x600 resolution of older Asus netbooks. We'd have hoped Asus could have stepped the resolution up to 1366x768 to match its 11-inch screen netbooks.

These more vibrant and vivid colours could have something to do with the updated graphics processor, which also has improvements in video playback and HD. The older 945 express chipset in our 1005HA with the GMA 950 struggled with all types of media in our tests, none more so than with high definition. The new chipset includes the updated GMA 3150 and, as mentioned before, it is in the chip package itself.

As a result Quicktime 720 video plays smoothly, where on the 1005HA it was so badly disjointed it could have easily been believed to have been a slideshow instead of a video. This time around Intel and Asus have got the formula right and high definition video is possible in Quicktime up to a decent margin. 1080p Quicktime or high bitrate WMV media weren't nearly as smooth in playback, but were still watchable, whereas the 1005HA didn't even get a look-in playing this type of media and we were back to watching slideshows again.

It's been rumoured that Intel is switching from its current GMA 3150 integrated graphics chip to a Broadcom Crystal chip, which can handle full HD to a much higher bitrate than the current platform can muster. This could even pave the way for higher screen resolutions and the inclusion of an HDMI port for a much better and more complete all round portable computer.

The keyboard has been redesigned between the two generations of Seashell netbooks, with the new design falling more in line with Asus' other models such as the UV50 we reviewed late last year. The 'chicklet' keyboard format is well laid out with a surprising amount of space between the keys, especially for a netbook. The spacing of the keys is even more crucial in a netbook than a notebook, as the size of the device can be a third of its larger counterpart where often it feels the keys are too small and too close together as a result. We found typing on older netbooks often led to a few of the neighbouring keys being pressed at once, this 'word bleeding' is avoided with the new layout and it's a welcome addition to light laptops.

Storage options have been improved since the last line of netbooks, especially in the area of cloud storage. Included in the 1005PE is a 250GB HDD, the same capacity as featured in the 1005HA although an optional 320GB is also available in the newer netbook. Asus appears to have switched from Hitachi to Seagate hard drives, but this might be whatever supplier is favourable for that batch rather than a dramatic shift of suppliers. What has fundamentally changed is the amount of cloud based storage or Asus Webstorage. In the past only 10GB was included with Windows XP, now 500GB is part of the package with Windows 7. Accessing and using the cloud storage isn't the most user friendly feature of the 1005PE. In the past we've seen the cloud storage mapped as a network drive in the OS, which is now missing and would have been more preferable to see once more. The Asus Webstorage is primarily used and initially configured as a way of backing up files from the netbook, although it could be used for so much more if an easier to use client were adopted. Still, half a terabyte of online storage isn't to be sniffed at even if it is free for only 18 months.

Windows 7 Starter Edition is included as the default operating system, which thankfully doesn't have the three application limit Microsoft initially threatened. This seems to be a good fit as a platform, however it is marginally slower at boot up than the Windows XP was on the N270 1.6ghz 1005HA. The older model booted into a functioning browser within 40 seconds, while the 1005PE took just over two minutes. A significantly slower time, all things considered, but the Splashtop Linux-OS-on-a-ROM booted within a few seconds and we're glad Asus has included that, seeing as how it has been missing on a few models we've seen recently.

The battery life of the 1005PE was supposed to be somewhat better with the Intel Pine Trail, but we saw a mixed set of results in our testing. In continuous use in the highest performance mode of Windows with Asus' own performance enhancing software cranked up the 1005PE battery lasted four hours and 35 minutes. The 1005HA running Windows XP with both similar power hungry settings enabled lasted just four hours on the same 6-cell 4400mAh removable battery.

On the most power conservative power settings of Windows XP with Asus' own power settings in power saving mode plus WiFi, webcam and Bluetooth all disabled the 1005PE survived for six hours of continuous use. On the corresponding setup the 1005HA lasted longer at six hours and twenty minutes.

A good use for netbooks is as a video media playback device. On a continuous video loop the 1005PE lasted for seven hours and forty minutes on the most power conservative settings with the screen at 40 per cent brightness. Under the same conditions while playing the same file the 1005HA lasted for six hours and ten minutes.

In Short
Not a great deal has changed from the 1005HA we reviewed last year to this 1005PE according to initial appearances and first impressions alone. The build looks the same and they perform in much the same way. The underlying technology has been improved, although the improvements are almost negligible in everyday use. Smooth HD video playback is possible now with some other slight improvements here and there, but buying the 1005PE to replace the 1005HA isn't a wise idea. However, the newer technology in the 1005PE makes this netbook a good alternative to the budget laptop.

The Good
Faster Pine Trail Intel Atom processor, better screen and media playback capability, Windows XP, online storage.

The Bad
Battery life hasn't improved all that much, despite promises by Intel and Asus.

The Ugly
Not much has really changed to warrant buying this netbook to replace an older model.

Bartender's Score
8/10