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Asus 1225C review – a good EEE PC mini laptop for 2012

Mark — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 09:49:29 +0000

Asus keeps them coming in early 2012 and now it’s time to take a look at their slightly larger 1225C, which is the first entry for 2012 in their ex-12.1 inch series, currently reduced to 11.6 in order to serve the ultraportable credo better. If you had any doubts, the C stands for Cedar Trail, as this mini laptop packs identical hardware with what we had on the recently reviewed 1025C and 1025CE.

The 1225C has its own set of perks and advantages, maybe the most obvious being the larger, HD screen, that will blend right in with the HD capable hardware platform. So let’s see what the 1225C has in store for us and if it’s truly a better and bigger version of 10 inch entries or it’s all muscles and no brains? Stay tuned and find out from our review and don’t forget to check out the lengthy video review Mike from www.netbooklive.com did with a 1225C unit.

Spec sheet

The unit we’re going to talk about here is a pre-release sample, so the final configuration, which will be in stores a short while from now, might be a little different, but not very much so. The hardware platform will clearly be Cedar Trail, and there’s little to no chance Asus will change the processor type. Storage, system memory and other details are all quite standard, so this is quite the finite deal. Full spec list below.

CPU: Intel Atom Cedar Trail N2800 @ 1,86 GHZ
System memory: 2 GB of DDR3 RAM 1066 MHZ
Storage: 500 GB HDD, 5400 rpm
Chipset: Intel NM10
Video: Intel GMA 3650 HD (640 MHZ)
Display: 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 px resolution, glossy
Connectivity: Wireless N, Fast Ethernet, Bluetooth 3.0
Ports: 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0, VGA, HDMI, LAN, card reader, webcam
Battery: 6 cell 5200 mAh 56 Wh
Operating system: Windows 7 Home Premium
Size (mm): 296 x 200 x 35 mm
Weight: 3.2 pounds

Unfortunately, the display comes with a glossy finish, which is a horrid experience outdoors. Also, you have 2 USB 3.0 ports, which is a good, balanced setup (might I say normal?) for 2012, as well as a more accomplished OS, namely Windows 7 Home Premium.

Build and design

The 1225C is made out of plastic, and can come in either a glossy or a matte finish. The glossy finish, while attractive and similar, from a distance, to the high end finishes on ultrabooks, is a definite fingerprint magnet and a problem for those using the netbook on a daily basis and at a high pace. Sure, you won’t have this problem at such an extent with a unit that’s not black. Or, ideally, you could go for one that’s matte, case in which you won’t have the smudge problem to begin with, but you’ll lose some of the glam.

The chi chi exterior will collect more fingerprints that a police station during spring break

On the bottom, the 1225C comes with a memory bay, which is kind of unnecessary, considering the RAM is glued on the motherboard. Alas, maybe Asus will release some versions that let you replace/upgrade the memory. The 1225C is part of Asus’s new Flare line, which means the netbook is slightly slimmer towards the edges, making you believe it’s ultra slim or something. Actually, it’s make believe, as the device weighs around the same as previous 11.6 and 12 inchers from Asus, namely over 3 pounds.

Keyboard and touch pad

Like the one on the 1225B, the keyboard on the 1225C is standard EEE Pc fair. Thanks to the extra leg room, the keys are properly spaced and large enough to avoid typos, although the keys themselves could have been a little more solid. The touch pad is accurate and smooth, although kind of small and short, so be aware of those ample multi touch gestures- you might end up on the space bar.

The click button is good and is not too noisy, although a right/left click setup would have been better, that’s for sure. Overall, the 1225C has a good keyboard and touch pad, but it’s not something we haven’t experienced before- actually, it would be tragic to go beneath this standard.

The keyboard is nothing to get too excited about...but at least is bigger than those on 10 inchers

Display

The display on the 1225C is glossy and doesn’t have an overall quality worth remembering. While the glossy finish, which limits the use to the laptop mostly to indoor environments, is usually tolerated because it’s balanced by good brightness and color quality, it’s not really the case with the display on the 1225C.

You’ll have a hard time adjusting the panel in order to get good image and when that happens, the result is nothing too impressive. But this is kind of the usual quality you can get on such a machine, though making the screen anti-glare could have soothed the whole thing a little for me.

Hardware and performance

The 1225C has the exact same hardware platform as the 1025CE, namely the N2800 dual core processor, winged by HD graphics and 2 GB of RAM. So how does the same platform deal with a bigger screen and a tougher OS? Well, sluggishly. Asus decided to think cheap and used the same new, but not very innovative hardware platform, which will not take you to the moon and back in terms of performance.

Actually, it might struggle to go round the corner. What we can hope is that Asus will offer an updated version of the 1225C running on Atom D series processors down the line (or something punchier, anyway), as right now you get slightly mediocre performance on the 1225C, and just because you can run (so and so) HD clips on it won’t cut it for long.

The 1225C doesn't offer anything on top of the performance of the 1025CE

Software

The 1225C comes with Windows 7 Home Premium and all kinds of media, office, internet and security software that’s mostly ineffectual, as they’re only trial versions. Thus, you might want to get rid of it, considering the relatively scarce resources the machine has anyway. On a brighter note, you get Asus Web Storage, which lets you store files securely, on a remote server and Asus’s Instant On!. This technology takes the mini laptop on and off sleep mode in just seconds, while offering around 15 hours of standby time.

Heat, noise, speakers

The 1225C runs on the less noisy and steamy Cedar Trail platform, meaning you won’t have issues with the netbook getting too hot or loud when venting. Still, this doesn’t mean that you won’t hear the airflow at all, but it’s definitely a step forward from the noisy laptops of yesteryear.

As for heat, you’ll be able to keep the netbook on your lap without a problem, even for a longer while, as pushing the 1225C to its limits won’t get the plastic chassis to burn- it will merely get warm.

The speakers are definitely better and louder than the feeble setup on the 1025CE, for example, but you’ll still need more decibel power and sound quality to use this as a fun station.

Battery life

Thanks to the low power platform inside and the 6 cell battery, the 1225C can run on a single charge for up to 6 hours in normal use conditions, including browsing, listening to music, working with text files, using instant messaging software and other simple apps.

Watching HD movies will deplete the battery faster, of course, in around 4-4.5 hours, but if you’ll take the brightness down and turn the WiFi module off, you might get a little more out of it. Of course, if you go minimal on it, you might get towards 10 hours of autonomy, but that means no WiFi, low brightness, no multimedia playback.

The 1225C is a good promise for the future- see you then

Price and availability

There are no confirmed prices out for the 1225C yet, but the N2600 powered version might go, considering the inside info provided by netbooklive.com, for about $420 in the US. If you’ll want the N2800 version, however, you’ll have to pay even more, probably over 450 bucks. If that sounds expensive, that’s because it’s really expensive.

Asus is probably trying to cash in on the fact that not many manufacturers are offering the Cedar Trail option on their netbooks, but as other companies will come forth with solutions, the price should go down, considering you’re not getting that much bang for the buck.

Final thoughts

The hardware on the 1225C and the 1025CE is the same, but the 1225C has to deal with a bigger screen and heftier OS, so the performance is sluggish. Indeed, you get an HD screen and bigger keyboard, but these advantages are not tremendously impressive (especially the screen), while everyday performance is quite modest.

Add to that an (anticipated) hefty price tag and you have the complete picture of a plan gone wrong, at least for now. Asus will probably update this model with a better hardware platform and lower price down the road, so for now you might want to stay away from the “buy” button.

Asus 1225C vs Asus 1225B- fresh of the bus 11.6 inch EEE PCs for 2012

Mark — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:20:54 +0000

It’s a tricky time for the 11.6 inch laptop in early 2012, as it slightly becomes the “larger netbook”, taking over from the 12.1 incher, who is, well, just too big all of a sudden. This doesn’t mean 12 inchers will stop appearing, but that they will be probably marketed as less ultra-portable devices. Either way, we had two interesting 11.6 inchers launched in 2012 already, besides the 10 inch netbooks we already talked about.

The 1225C and 1225B, both released by Asus, one showing off Intel’s new Cedar Trail platform- the 1225C and one relying on an improved (but not revolutionary) AMD Fusion chip- the 1225B. Both mini laptops also feature Asus’s new design, Flare, which replaces the Seashell design that was used on Asus’s budget netbooks last year. So which one should you choose or, simpler, which one is better right now in terms of the features offered in comparison with the asking price?

Well, you’ll find answers to those questions via the short post bellow.

The two netbooks will strive to cash in before the competition wakes up

Design

The 1225C comes with either a glossy or matte finish, while the chassis and palm rest are all plastic, but succeeds to feel quite good. Of course, it’s a fingerprints magnet, especially if you get the black and glossy version, but at least it looks very good and some people with less knowledge of the gadget market might actually think you have an ultrabook Overall, the 1225C looks and feels good, although it would have been nice to be able to upgrade the memory yourself, but maybe a variant with a workable memory bay will appear.

The 1225B can come in a silver, plastic coating

The 1225B has the exact same design as the 1225C, namely Flare. Also, the palm rest on the 1225B has a metal finish, which makes it feel a little sturdier, without actually being more of a tank in comparison with the 1225C. Overall, the two machines feel solid in their plastic suits and you won’t have to worry about them getting scratched or broken easily.

Keyboard and touch pad

The two netbooks come with a standard EEE PC keyboard, the same we’ve had on previous mini laptops, like the 1215B. Still, Asus apparently worked a little on the sturdiness of the keys, as the keyboard is not very wobbly at all and the typing experience is quite accomplished. The track pad on the 1225B is responsive and smooth, but quite small and the integrated mouse button a little stiff. In theory, there would have been space to make it a little bigger, but you’ll have to settle for it as it is and a little exercise will help you get the hang of it. The 1225C has basically the same keyboard, but benefits from a track pad that’s ampler and a click button that is more responsive, so the input experience might be better o the 1225C.

Display

The 1225B comes with a glossy, HD display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. That might sound decent for most, but the display is actually quite unaccomplished, having poor viewing angles and contrast, while the glossy finish will make it fairly unusable in strong light and especially outdoors.

The 1225C uses the ultrabook impersonating Flare design

The situation is fairly identical when we talk about the 1225C, which comes with the same display, but there’s talk that a matte version of the 1225C might come our way later in the year- and maybe there’s even hope for the 1225B, who knows?

Hardware

The 1225B can be equipped with either an AMD E-450 or AMD C-60 APU. These two APUs are updated versions of the E-350 and C-50 versions of the APU launched last year and they come with improved power management and graphics, meaning the GPU can be boosted for a short while and get a 10-20% performance increase. The E-450 thus comes with a dual core processor running at 1.66 GHZ and integrated Radeon HD 6320 graphics, which can be temporarily pumped from 580 MHZ to 600 MHZ.

In real life terms, this means that you can play HD content, both streamed and local, without a problem, and you can also play older games at full details, while newer titles will require taking details and resolution down a notch.

The 1225B can take you places in terms of multimedia playback

The 1225C, on the other hand, comes with Intel’s new Cedar Trail platform on board, namely the N2800 dual core processor paired with Intel HD 3650 graphics. The setup is just decent enough for some HD playback and moderate day to day use, but the lack of proper drivers makes it, for now, a rather troublesome picking.

Either system can support up to 4 GB of RAM, but awkwardly enough, each of the machines comes with only 2 GB by default, that’s, sadly, soldered to the mother board, which means you can’t add an additional module. I don’t quite know why this happens, but hopefully some updated models of both netbooks will give you the chance to add RAM when you want to.

Battery life

In terms of battery life, the 1225C gets better estimated results, as the netbook can go on a single charge for about 6-7 hours in normal use, including browsing, editing, music and instant messaging. If you intend to run a HD movie fest, expect a maximum of 4 hours of battery life, which is still pretty good, but to get this make sure you have unnecessary programs switched off, in order to save as much juice as possible. If endurance is your thing, you can get almost 10 hours of autonomy out if it, but for that you’ll have to turn off the WiFi module, take the brightness down and settle for a power light program, like a PDF reader or text editor.

The 1225B will choke and ask for a power plug after well over 4 hours of moderate use, meaning browsing, music, text editing and the works. Of course, you can get over 5 hours of battery life if you settle for light use and Wireless OFF, while playing HD video will drain the battery after just under 4 hours.

Pricing

The 1225B should hit stores in March for around $479 for the E-450 version, while the cheaper, C-60 powered version will probably sell for $399, with some online stores taking pre orders for the E-450 version for $439, but it comes with only 2 GB of RAM and a 320 GB HDD.

The 1225C's poor driver support adds to its lacklustre overall feel

The 1225C doesn’t have an attached price just yet, but sources claim it might go for around 420 bucks for the N2600 equipped version, while the faster N2800 variant will go for more, of course.

Conclusions

The 1225C and 1225B are in a way the two flips of the same coin, the first having a better battery life, while the second comes with enhanced (for this category) multimedia support. The 1225C still suffers from driver issues and a rather unimpressive hardware platform, but we hope that it will get a much welcomed update in the months to come. As it is now, equipped with an N2600/N2800 Cedar Trail chip, the 1225C is an oversized 10 inch netbook in terms of performance and running any app that’s a little more resource intensive will choke the sweetheart pretty fast.

The 1225B is a little more versatile in terms of work-fun usability, although the platform is not very fast as well. The netbook can play HD and full HD content without the glitches you will get on the 1225C and you’ll be able to enjoy some games as well. Sure, the battery stats of the 1225C are better, but not much better, and the multimedia flexibility it brings can’t be questioned.

For now, maybe it’s better to wait and see what the competition has in store for the next interval and avoid buying right now, as both the 1225C and 1225B could be better machines than they are now.

Asus 1225B EEEPC review – we like it a lot (with video)

Mark — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:58:11 +0000

You might remember the 1225B, the mini laptop Asus announced a while back, as part of their new line of budget laptops. The Flares, as they’re called, are here to replace Seashell laptops, which were sidelined as the Cedar Trail platform emerged. Asus showed their Flares during CES, and recently our friends from netbooklive.com got the chance to play with a review unit.

You might be very interested in this review, if you’re hunting for a new ultraportable laptop, that’s not as flashy or expensive as an ultrabook, but it’s significantly better than a regular netbook. Basically, the 1225B fits right in the middle of the consumer spectrum, where most buyers eventually decide to venture.

The 1225B comes with a new AMD Fusion APU, namely the E-450, which incorporates a dual core processor clocked at 1.65 GHZ and built in HD graphics, namely Radeon HD 6320 with Turbo Core. You also get 4 GB of RAM, a 320 GB HDD and an 11.6 inch display with an HD resolution of 1366 x 768 px. To sum it up fairly quickly, Mike from netbooklive.com observed that the new design has slimmer edges than the middle, so kind of mimicking a flare, while the Seashell design was thicker towards the end and slimmer towards the edge.

Moving on, the display on the 1225B is quite a problem, as it has bad viewing angles and reflects light, being on par, negatively, with the 1215B, which had a similarly problematic display. On a more positive note, if you find a good angle, in a rather dark room, the display is very bright and lively, offering vivid colors, particularly pleasing when watching HD content.

The 1225 comes with a brand new design and hardware platform

As for performance, the 1225B does well what it was designed to do: basic tasks with a seasoning of HD playback and mild gaming. The dual core processor and slightly pumped up graphics will offer an experience that’s better than the one on the 1215B, but it’s nowhere near what an ultrabook can do. The laptop will be able to deal with HD playback, both streamed and directly from the HDD, and can run older games at good frame rates and detail levels, but newer titles will see you play them with minimum detail and even lower resolution.

Anyway, for an entry level machine, the 1225B seems to do just fine on this front. As for pricing, the 1225B starts at $399, but that will buy the base model, powered by a slower C-60 APU, while the model packing the E-450 goes for 479 bucks. Stay tuned for the detailed video review below or hit the source link for the written review.

Asus 1225C 12-incher unveiled at CES, set to hit the market soon with a solid body and a high-res screen

Adrian — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:21:46 +0000

The CES technology tradeshow has always been a great event to unveil new, innovative and special computer devices and that’s exactly what Asus has done in Las Vegas during the past couple of days.

The Asus 1225C is one of the most interesting ultraportable laptops we have seen in probably a while and is set to hit the market soon with a solid build and a more than decent display.

The design is one of this laptop’s strongest points and the aluminum case makes this 12-incher look nice and solid. The keyboard/trackpad combo is another thing the 1225C has going for it, providing comfort while looking stylish and fashionable.

In terms of hardware and performance, you should expect a pretty snappy overall computing machine, giving the fact that the Asus Eee PC 1225C will be powered by a dual-core 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Cedar Trail processor. There’s also 2 GB of RAM, integrated HD graphics and an HDD with either 250 GB or 500 GB of storage, depending on your needs and the exact model you will go for.

The Asus 1225C features a very nice design, as well as an elegant and functional keyboard.

The 12-inch screen sported by the 1225C should be pretty capable too, featuring a 1366 x 768 pixels display. While it’s not ideal for playing full HD 1080p clips, you should easily run 720p clips, which I would expect to be enough for the target customers of such a netbook.

As for the ports and connectivity, Asus hasn’t disappointed us, coming with all the basics, including HDMI, USB 3.0, an SD card reader, Bluetooth 3.0 and WiFi. The operating system of choice is of course Windows 7 Home Premium and there’s also a low-res 0.3 MPx webcam on the device’s front.

Pretty aerodynamic and slim, isn't it?

No pricing details have been announced just yet, but we should find out something sooner or later, because the Asus 1225C is set to be made available in the US, as in other markets, in the second quarter of 2012, according to official statements.

Here’s a short hands-on video of the 12-incher as well, brought to you straight from Las Vegas by the guys at Netbooklive.com:

Asus U24E laptop to be released soon, not an ultrabook, but stil sleek and way cheaper

Adrian — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:22:38 +0000

Asus is clearly one of the busiest computer manufacturers at the moment and this can be easily noticed looking at some of the most important releases in the technology market lately.

And after hitting the fresh ultrabook market with not one, but two exciting products and preparing to enrich the tablet market as well, the Taiwanese-based electronics giant has turned its attention towards the regular mini-laptops too.

The U24E is supposed to hit the market as soon as next week and, after quickly looking at its features and tech specs, we kind of regret calling this notebook ‘’regular’’. In the following lines we will summarize the known information about the latest 11-incher from Asus, as well as the still unconfirmed rumors, in order to find out exactly what we are dealing with here.

Design and build

While it is not an ultrabook per se, the U24E is not very far away from the UX 21 or 31 in terms of design or dimensions. The 11-incher will weigh around 3.3 pounds (1.5 kg) and will measure just over an inch in depth.

As far as we can tell from the first official photos (or more exactly photo), Asus’s new mini-laptop should look pretty reliable and sturdy and its casing seems to be made out of a pretty strong material (maybe aluminum?). The straight lines make the 11-incher look elegant and classy, while the few curves add to the overall fashionable look.

Screen, hardware and performance

The U24E is set to sport an 11.6-inch LCD screen with 1366 x 768 pixels resolution. While we don’t have many details about the display, we have every reason to believe that it will be glossy, but as it is the case of the UX 21, we expect pretty crisp colors, as well as high levels of brightness and contrast and above average viewing angles.

This promotional poster is practically the only official image we have with the Asus U24E.

As far as performance goes, the new Asus mini-laptop should be pretty satisfactory, featuring a low-voltage and snappy Intel Core i5-2430M processor, as well as an integrated Intel HD graphics card and 4 GB of RAM.

The hardware configuration should therefore be almost identical to that of the UX21, which comes with an Intel i5-2467M chipset, and, as we could notice from the ultrabook’s first tests and reviews, the gaming experience is pretty smooth, as it is the running of HD content and the overall web browsing experience.

The U24E, on the other hand, doesn’t come with an SSD, like the UX21, but with a more classical 750 GB HDD. This should translate into slower booting speeds, but should be more than enough for storing everything you could need on your laptop.

Battery life, connectivity, ports and others

If we are to believe Asus’s claims, we should expect a battery life of around seven hours between charges. However, as we know most of the marketing gimmicks and tricks used by the computer giants, we would predict a real autonomy of about five hours. That should be pretty good however and should put the U24E yet again next to some of the ultrabooks available on the market.

In terms of connectivity and ports, you pretty much get all you could need and more, including two USB 3.0 ports, a USB 2.0 port, HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet, a card reader, as well as Wireless and Bluetooth 3.0 compatibility.

Other features should include a pretty poor 0.3 MPx webcam, but also a couple of really nice Altec Lansing stereo speakers.

Finally, as far as we could understand from Asus’s official statement (it was after all in Japanese), the U24E should also come with the Asus power4 Gear Hybrid and Instant On features. The first one is a power-saving software that allows the user to speed up or slow down the processor, while the second one should ensure the waking of the laptop from sleep mode in just a couple of seconds.

Pricing and availability

As we already mentioned at the beginning of the article, the 11-inch ultraportable laptop will be made available next week. However, it will only be released in Japan for the time being. We have no official news about a US or European launch right now, but we are almost sure that the U24E will eventually come to these markets as well, so stay tuned for more news about this.

While it's not exactly an ultrabook, the U24E has very many things in common with the UX21.

As for the pricing, Asus’s mini-laptop will go for 59,800 yen in Japan, which would convert into around 750 US dollars. When and if this ultraportable will come to the US, however, it should cost less than that and if we were to speculate, we would point towards a 550-600 bucks price tag.

Wrap-up

The Asus U24E has practically come out of nowhere, being unveiled today and set to hit the market in just a few short days. However, the 11-incher could become very popular extremely soon, being almost as powerful and snappy as Asus’s ultrabooks, as well as pretty light and slim, but also consistently more affordable.

On the other hand, we wouldn’t get too excited so soon, because after all the laptop is not yet available in Japan, let alone in the rest of the world… For more details about the Asus U24E, please come back to our website in the following days and weeks!

Asus Zenbook UX21 reviewed: hard to find anything wrong with this ultrabook

Adrian — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:12:44 +0000

The Asus UX21 is one of the first ever ultrabooks to hit the market, in an attempt to overthrow the MacBook Airs’ supremacy and to pretty much change the computer market as we know it right now.

And even though Asus’ s beautiful 11-incher has gone for sale for just a few days, we have the first product reviews already available, including two very comprehensive ones, from Anandtech and Cnet.co.uk.

In the following lines we will try to quickly summarize the reviews already available and to find out the UX21’ s strong points, but also its weak points. Furthermore, we will try to determine if Asus’ s first attempt at this kind of revolutionary product can meet the standards of its pretty pretentious price tag and also how it can compare with its strongest direct competitor, the 11-inch Apple MacBook Air.

Design and build

Like all ultrabooks released or scheduled for a release in the following weeks, the UX21 is supposed to be slim, light and thin. Unlike some of the ultrabooks, however, Asus’ s 11-incher is also pretty original in terms of design and manages to not just be another cheap MacBook Air copy.

The UX21 is light, slim and portable.

The aluminum unibody is sturdy and robust, yet elegant and smooth, while the chassis itself is pretty rigid. However, that is not a problem, because it helps the overall image of the ultrabook to be even stronger than it was supposed to.

In terms of weight, the UX21 is a winner, going for only 2.4 pounds, which is almost identical with MacBook Air’s weight, while the product dimensions are themselves pretty impressive. Asus’ s 11-incher is therefore only 0.7 inches thick and measures 11.7 and 7.7 inches in height and width.

Keyboard and touchpad

Probably the only small weak point of the Asus UX21 refers to the keyboard and touchpad, which are decent, but can’t compare with the ones featured on the MacBook Air.

The keyboard, therefore, while being pretty comfortable and well-sized, is not as accurate as you might want. Furthermore, the plastic keys feel a bit wobbly at times. Also, you can’t help but feel bad because Asus hasn’t made an effort and hasn’t made the keyboard backlit, as it is the case with the MacBook Air.

The keyboard and touchpad are not extraordinary, but they are decent nevertheless.

The touchpad is extremely large, sturdy, robust, but at the same time comfortable and smooth. The glass surface looks and feels great, but unfortunately there are a few quirks. For instance, you may encounter a few responsiveness issues, as well as a couple of problems with gesture recognition.

Screen, hardware and performance

The UX21 sports an 11.6-inch screen which is, in a word, perfect. The 1366 x 768 pixels resolution is high enough for great overall image quality, the colors are sharp, the brightness levels are great and the contrast is also more than decent.

In terms of performance, while it couldn’t be actually called a great gaming machine, Asus’ s ultrabook is fairly snappy and strong. The 1.8 GHz Intel Core i7 processor and the 4 GB of RAM make for a better system than that of the MacBook Air and you will probably notice a slight advantage in gaming, but also in surfing the web or running video content.

Whether you look at it from the front or from the back, the UX21 is a great piece of computer equipment.

In terms of storage space, the UX21 is once again great, featuring a solid state disk with a 128 GB capacity. And aside from providing all the internal memory you will probably need, this will importantly increase your booting speeds, as well as boost your battery life.

Battery life, connectivity, ports and others

According to the Cnet test, the Asus UX 21’ s battery managed to go for only two hours and a half on a single charge. However, that is a very demanding test and you are going to be faced in reality with probably around four or five hours of autonomy based on regular use. That is above average and is around what the MacBook Air can do these days.

In terms of connectivity and ports, things are more than satisfactory yet again, with the UX21 featuring a USB 2.0 port, a USB 3.0 port, a micro HDMI connector, as well as Wireless and Bluetooth 4.0 compatibility.

It pretty much can't get any thinner than that...

Let’s not forget to mention the stereo speakers as well, which are extremely competitive and offer an audio quality and clarity that is pretty rare at notebooks nowadays.

Pricing and availability

As we already mentioned, the UX21 has recently gone up for sale.

The base UX21 boosting a Core i5 processor, 4 GB of memory and a 128 GB SSD drive goes for $999, with shipping included inside the US.

If you need more power or extra storage space, the top version goes for $400 extra and offers a Cire i7 processor and 256 GB SSD, with the same amount of memory.

Both versions are pricey, but they are withing the limits imposed by the competition, including the Lenovo and Acer ultrabooks, but also the 11.6 inch MacBook Air. However, expect prices to drop in the next weeks or months as we get closer to Black Friday and the winter sales period, so better check the links above for the up-to-date price tags.

Final words

The Asus UX21 is clearly a great asset for the ultrabook niche, as well as for the entire current computer market. The 11-incher is extremely slim and lightweight, but also solid enough to look reliable.

The pricing could probably put you off, but all in all you get what you pay for.

The screen is great, the performance is well above average for an ultraportable of its kind and the battery life is more than satisfactory. There are a couple of problems with the keyboard and touchpad, but these aren’t that important and they are clearly not deal breakers.

All in all, the UX21 is undeniably great and Apple’s 11-inch MacBook Air should fear for its current leadership position.

Acer Aspire One 722 quick review- a well-balanced budget netbook

Adrian — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 10:36:55 +0000

For a netbook to become popular nowadays and to attract large audiences, it has to fulfill a number of conditions. It has to be light and portable, it has to come at a decent and affordable price, but it also has to offer a performance level at least close to that of a notebook. Unfortunately, there are very few devices on the market today that can offer all that in one package. Fortunately, we are going to present you in the following lines one of these netbooks, the Acer AO722.

The latest 11.6-inch netbook from Acer manages to keep it simple and uncomplicated, but also to satisfy the basic needs of a computer user. The price tag is more than decent, the performance is pretty speedy for a mini-laptop and it also runs HD content pretty well.

Enough chitchat though and let’s get down to our business of quickly reviewing this netbook’s design, keyboard, screen, performance and autonomy. We would also like to determine the target audience of this netbook, as well as point out some of its inherent weak points aside of insisting on its advantages and strong points.

Exterior and design

If there’s one thing that sets Acer laptops apart from other computers on the market today is the coloring of their devices. The AO722 is not an exception from that rule, being available in two different color schemes, ‘’aquamarine’’ and ‘’espresso black’’.

The design is one of the things that you will either love or hate at Acer's new netbook.

Both of these could be considered pretty tacky by business users, but students and youngsters in general might find this netbook’s design pretty hip. The aquamarine model is our favorite, the distinctive ripple design on the lid making the computer resemble water coming to life.

The AO722 is solid and sturdy, but manages to be pretty lightweight also. It is highly portable, weighing in at 3.2 pounds and measuring 1 x 11.2 x 7.9 inches.

Keyboard and touchpad

One of the biggest problems of netbooks nowadays is the lack of comfort offered by keyboards. Unfortunately, Acer’s new machine fails to solve this inconvenience, even though it features a full-sized keyboard.

This feels pretty cramped and uncomfortable, but on the other hand is extremely accurate and precise. The touchpad is well-sized for a netbook and accepts multi-finger gesture input. Also, it blends very well into the overall design of the mini-laptop, which is pretty nice.

Screen, hardware and performance

The 11.6-inch LCD LED-backlit screen is very nice, offering a more than satisfying 1366×768 native resolution. Even though we are not impressed by the glossy black bezel of the display, the colors are bright and the images are extremely crisp.

The Acer AO722 is probably one of the best budget mini-laptops of the moment.

In terms of hardware and performance, Acer’s new netbook is powered by a 1 GHz AMD C-Series C-50 processor with 2 GB of DDR3 memory. While the chipset itself is far from impressive, being less powerful than the AMD Zacate E-350, for example, the ATI Radeon HD 6250 graphics card with 256 MB of dedicated system memory manages to compensate a little and makes for an overall pretty snappy system.

You can’t hope to play new and demanding video games on this machine, but the HD video playback is smooth and satisfying. On the other hand, talking about multimedia content, the speakers are pretty poor, with flat sound quality and low volume.

In terms of internal storage space, the AO722 features a 250 GB SATA hard drive, which is pretty standard for a netbook with an affordable price tag.

Battery life and others

The 6-cell standard Li-ion battery featured by Acer’s 11.6-inch netbook should go for seven hours between charges, if we are to believe the producers’ claims. However, according to the Battery-Rundown test conducted by the folks at computershopper.com, the battery only lasted a few minutes over four hours, which is decent, but is under what other similar computers can do. On the other hand, based on average use, you should in fact get over six hours of autonomy, which should be satisfying.

In terms of connectivity and ports, the AO722 features three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA-out connector, a Kensington cable-locking slot, Ethernet, headphone and microphone jacks, a flash-card reader, but also full-size HDMI. This is more than you could hope to find on most mini-laptops right now.

The AO722 could be your perfect travel companion, with its lightweight and portability.

Pricing

As we already stated, a netbook’s popularity depends very much on its price and affordability. And while the AO722 has its weak points in other areas, when it comes to pricing things are almost ideal.

Acer’s netbook is available right now on Amazon for 279.99 dollars, which is a couple of bucks under the price of other similar mini-laptops on the market.

Wrap-up

Is this netbook light and portable? It definitely is. Is it affordable? Pretty much so. Is it snappy and fast? Well, the processor is not great, but it does run full HD content and that is certainly a plus. Aside from that, it features a decent battery and a large number of ports.

Overall, the Acer AO722 could well be considered the perfect device for students, both in terms of design and capabilities, and is also targeted on people who are on a tight budget and want to have a decent traveling companion.

For a more detailed review of the netbook and a closer look at what it can do, you can check out this following video review from netbooknews.com: