29 Jan 2009, 15:42

Asus Eee PC S101

The S101 adds a real touch of class to the Eee PC range, albeit at a price
More stylish than most netbooks / Good keyboard and screen / Decent performance
Limited storage / Average battery life

Let there be no doubt: the S101 is about as attractive as netbooks get. The mocha brown lid looks hits just the right notes, with a gloss finish that begs you to shine it.

The classy feel extends inside too, and start typing on those keys and you’ll be equally impressed, thanks to a responsive feedback and deep travel. The stupidly placed right-Shift key is almost worth overlooking.

And though the 10.2in screen has a hint of grain to it, you have to strain to find it – vibrant colours make it a pleasure to gaze upon.

Some people would no doubt prefer more than the 16GB solid state hard disk inside the S101, but at least Asus throws in a 16GB SD drive too. The solid state drive also helped performance, giving it a clear edge over other netbooks with the familiar 1.6GHz Atom / 1GB RAM combination.

With Asus deliberately keep the S101’s chassis sleek and slender, you get a smaller battery than with most Eee PCs. This kept the netbook going for 4hrs 37mins under light use, which is more than respectable – but far from the eight hours we see elsewhere.

Add Gigabit Ethernet, draft-n wireless and Bluetooth, and it’s clear the S101 isn’t solely relying on good looks. While it can’t match other Eee PCs for value, it’s a fine choice if style is one of your key criteria.

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Please enter your homepage in the format http://www.example.com/url/to/page/
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • You can use the [image] tag for placing images.
  • You can use the [sitelink] tag for placing site links.

More information about formatting options

CAPTCHA
This question stops automated spam comments.
14 + 5 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.

Asus Eee PC S101

Recommended Award

Price: £407
Website: http://uk.asus.com

OVERVIEW

  • Netbook
  • 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor
  • 1GB 667MHz DDR2 RAM
  • 16GB SSD hard disk
  • 10.2in 1024 x 600 LCD screen
  • Windows XP Home

SPECIFICATIONS

  • Memory card slots:
    MMC, MS, MS Pro, SD
  • Video ports:
    VGA out
  • Audio ports:
    3.5mm headphone out
  • Data ports:
    Bluetooth
  • Expansion:
    SDIO
  • Network:
    10/100 Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b, 802.11draft-n, 802.11g
  • Webcam:
    0.3-megapixel
  • Battery life:
    4hrs 37mins (approx)
  • Dimensions:
    26.2 x 18.2 x 2.6 cm (WDH)
  • Weight:
    1.09kg