Asus 1005PR EEE PC – HD capable 10 inch netbook

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Netbooks these days are known for their portability and huge battery life, but not so much for performance. Standard versions will do fine with your daily applications and will be en0ugh for listening to music, surfing the web, chatting with friends, writing texts, etc . Bot won’t be able to face HD content.

HD capable Asus 1005PR

And here’s where the Asus EEE PC 1005PR comes into the scene, a device very much similar to the most popular Asus series of the moment, the 1005PE, but with some extra goodies, including a HD display and HD content playing abilities, with the help of a Broadcom accelerator card. This is an extension chip connected on the mini PCI-e slot and is able to enhance the graphic performances of the standard PineTrail platform.

However, improvements are only visible in terms of video playing and not on games, as the chip provides H.264 decoding capabilities. As a result, the Asus EEE PC 1005PR can play up to 1080p self-stored clips and 720p flash videos. 1080p Flash might work or not, according to the bitrate of each individual clip.

Playing HD content on a 10 inch 1024 x 600 px display wouldn’t have been much of an improvement, thus Asus equipped the 1005PR EEE PC with a HD ready 10 inch 1366 x 768 px screen. On the bright side, this translates in a bigger working area. But, having a bigger resolution will also translate in a bigger weight on the shoulders of the PineTrail hardware, which we already know ain’t the best in terms of performances. Thus, the 1005PR might be somewhat more sluggish than a standard Asus 10 incher in everyday tasks.

Also, everything will be smaller on a 10 inch HD display and you might have problems using it for a longer period of time, as it might cause pain to your eyes, not to mention headaches (just because reading smaller texts is uncomfortable). So, you’d better have this in mind when looking for such a device.

All in all though, the Asus EEE PC 1005PR is an improvement. Although not a complete fan of the HD screen, the HD abilities are definitely welcomed and make it more versatile as a multimedia travel companion. The textured carbon-like exterior, like the one on the Asus EEE PC 1001P, also helps, allowing better grip and protecting it from scratches and smudges. Too bad for the glossy display and palm rest are though.

The good part is that the gadget is not that expensive. It is available for $399 in the states, with Free Shipping included. And that’s quite fair in my eyes.

Asus EEE PC 1005PR - all the goodies, plus HD display and HD playing abilities

Pros:

classic Seashell looks and solid build quality
standard hardware: N450 + GMA 3150 + 1 GB of RAM + 250 GB hard-drive
Broadcom Crystal accelerator included, making it able to run almost all kind of HD content, both Flash or self-stored
10.1 inch LED back-lit HD ready display, 1366 x 768 px resolution
6 Cell battery – up to 11 hours of life on paper, more like 8 in practice
Wi-Fi N connectivity + Bluetooth
casing comes with a matte carbon-fiber-like finish, less prone to fingerprints and smudges
ergonomic chiclet keyboard + multi-touch trackpad
price is very good for the features

Cons:

screen and palm-rest area are glossy, thus you will have to deal with scratches and smudges, plus you won’t be able to easily use it in strong light conditions
HD display on such a small screen is a plus, but also a con, making it difficult to read content and possibly causing you headaches (this happened to me but not to others, so I guess it’s a pretty subjective observation). Also, because the Atom hardware is not very powerful, the computer might get more sluggish than a standard 10 incher sometimes, because it has to display more content on the screen.

All in one the Asus EEE PC 1005PR is definitely a good pick if you want a 10 inch netbook with better multimedia performances and a HD display. In fact, it’s one of your best choices right now in the 10 inch class, at least until we’ll see Nvidia ION 10 inchers on the market, but that won’t happen sooner than a couple of months.