According to many analysts in the computing industry, ASUS likes to roll out a lot of laptop models and normally they launch variations in the same version of a laptop. However, many times the divergence among the models of ASUS like the highly popular PNs, PEs and UFs series are not much. The consumer electronics giant latest version of laptop, that has hit the consumer market with name 1015PN and price tag of almost $430, is from a different league altogether as compared to its other compatriots like 1015 and 1215 series that have been around in the consumer electronics universe from quite some time. Although, 1015PN has almost the same chassis as its previous version 1015PE, but from inside it’s a totally different thing as it is the first Netbook that is powered by Intel’s latest and brand new Dual-Core N550 processor and a NVIDIA Graphics card called as NVIDIA Ion graphics. By far, it is the most powerful 10-inch Atom Netbook that has hit the market since the Netbook’s scene dominated the laptop market.
Hardware Features of ASUS Eee PC
The latest ASUS Netbooks apparently have the same looks and overall persona, and analysts have tagged them as “Seashells” Netbooks. ASUS Eee PC 1015PN also is very much similar to Seashell type Netbooks. The Netbook has also got almost the same soft-to-the touch lid just like 1015PE and the chassis design apparently is also similar. ASUS has also worked out to remove the traces of glossy plastic around the corners and edges in the exterior of the system.
The Netbook has a total of three USB ports along with a dedicated Ethernet and a HDMI port coupled with the VGA jacks on all the surrounding sides. The right side holds the 4-in-1 card reader, a dedicated headphone and mic jack. So overall build quality is almost what you will find in a standard plastic ASUS system but in comparison to Macbook Air latest version, it feels like a Toy.
Keyboard & Screen
The trendy looking keyboard on 1015PN is almost identical to what you will find on 1015PE. As a matter of fact, the keyboard is almost same to what you will find on a huge range of ASUS Netbooks that have been released in the recent times. The dull keys are nice and snug to the feel, although some of the customers have said that the shrunken Right Shift Key is a bit irritating.
The broad sized Touch Pad is covered with the same plastic coat as the lid and the palmrest. The Multi-Touch gestures work amazingly with the option of pinch-to-zoom and two-finger based scrolling. The mouse button is solitary solid and is a bit mushy as well. When put together, the only difference between 1015PN and 1015PE is of the matte display. The ASUS Eee PC 1015PN has 10.1 inch screen with a resolution of 1024×600 where LCD is not layered with an amusing sleek layer. This thing actually improves the view ability of the screen from wide range of angles. It also has a camera on the top with a dedicated camera cover as well. The speakers are not of very high quality but they provide good sound for personal listening.
Hardware Performance
Well for many customers, the true cause to purchase this latest 1015PN model above the other brands available is its processor and graphics: it is equipped with the latest 1.5GHz Atom N550 Chip and has a combo of NVIDIA Ion Graphics combination. The system contains 1GB Ram that enables users to use WordPad and listening to music at the same time with option of enjoying multi-tasking. The present model 1015PN has a total of 250GB hard drive and a staggering 500GB of WebStorage on ASUS. Moreover, the CPU does not have to take it all own, because the combo NVIDIA Graphics Ion helps with the graphics intensive stuff enabling the streaming of HD Flash videos on the full screen. So with discrete GPU turned fully ON, the amazing little machine has no considerable problems in playing 1080p video and when it is hooked up with an Auxiliary source like HDTV it provides amazing playback.
Software Features
So with all GPU available, the benefits of the longer battery vanish and this is a pretty big issue for people on-the-go. The Netbook has a six-cell 56Wh battery that lasts for almost 4 hours, and if you are a multimedia freak then battery time will further cut down and the system will heat up because of multimedia operations being carried out in excess. Amazingly ASUS loads up the machine with standard software like CyberLink’s YouCam and the different Bingo Wi-Fi services. The machine also comes equipped with the photo editing software and GamePark suite of downloaded games. Moreover, there is an ASUS Express Gate Cloud instant-switching ON that enables you to boot the system with the click of button on the Top.
Overall Rating
It is pretty much true that 1015PN varies from other 1015 models available in the market, but it would have been more awesome if it would be similar to its big brother 1215N. Moreover, 1015PN has a pretty smaller footprint and a considerably longer battery life as compared to the other models. The processor of 1015PN is not as powerful, and rebooting requires swapping among graphics card. So, if you want to have a 10.1 inch Netbook with some pretty solid graphics, 1015PN is your best bet out there.