About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

Feb 17 2011 - If you are looking for a netbook with long battery life and above average performance, the ASUS Eee PC 1015PEM is certainly the netbook to consider. It does come with a higher price tag with street prices of roughly $350 but for just a bit more money, it comes with a dual core processor considerably above average running times and a very attractive design. If you are hoping for some high definition media streaming, you will be disappointed to learn that the extra performance still prevents it from achieving this.



Pros

• Strong Battery Life
• Improved Performance Thanks To Dual-Core Atom Processor
• Attractive Design

Cons

• Daul-Core Processor Still Lacks High Definition Streaming Capabilities
• Still Uses Single Trackpad Button Bar

Description

• Intel Atom N550 Dual Core Mobile Processor
• 1GB PC3-8500 DDR3 Memory
• 250GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
• 10.1" WSVGA (1024x600) LED Backlit Display With VGA Webcam
• Intel GMA 3150 Integrated Graphics
• Fast Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n Wireless
• Three USB 2.0, VGA, 4-in-1 Card Reader
• 10.3" x 7" x 1.4" @ 2.8 lbs.
• Windows 7 Starter, Office Starter

Guide Review - ASUS Eee PC 1015PEM 10.1-inch Netbook PC

Feb 17 2011 - ASUS was one of the first companies to embrace the new dual-core Atom processor from Intel with the Eee PC 1015PEM. Multitasking has always been a limitation of the netbook arena and the additional of a second core is a big step in correcting this. Performance is improved but it is still restricted by the 1GB of DDR3 memory from the Windows 7 netbook licensing. Upgrading to 2GB of memory will provide it with even better performance.

Storage for the ASUS Eee PC 1015PEM uses the standard issue 250GB hard drive that can be found in just about every netbook. This is the limitation that Microsoft has imposed on the Windows 7 netbook licensing agreements. One big change the company did make though was with the USB ports. While there are still only three, now all of them have the ability to charge external devices when the netbook is powered down. This is a great way to get some extra juice to a mobile phone, music player or other portable device if needed.

Netbook screens have generally not been terribly spectacular. Most use glossy coatings and have very limited viewing angles. The Eee PC 1015PEM breaks away from this by using an anti-glare coating that makes it much easier to use outside but also from having a wider viewing angle making sharing the screen with multiple people much better. Unfortunately, the Intel GMA 3150 graphics even with the dual-core processor still has issues with streaming high definition video. It can sometimes view 720p with some minor frame loss but it is often too distracting for any sort of extended viewing.

Running times have always been one of the better features of the ASUS Eee PC product lineups. With the addition of a second processor core, this could be in jeopardy. The Eee PC 1015PEM continues to use a six cell battery pack that is rated at 48WHr capacity. In video playback tests, the netbook was able to achieve roughly six and a half hours before going into standby mode. While this isn't as long as they achieved with their previous 1005PE it is still an impressive achievement and should yield a full eight hours of more typical usage which is well above most netbooks..

ASUS has generally had very good keyboards on the Eee PC netbooks. The 1015PEM uses the same isolated key design that has generally worked well in the past. They have made a few changes to the lower right hand of the keyboard to better fit the arrow keys. The downside is the right shift and slash key are reduced in size that can make typing difficult at times. The trackpad is a nice large size and is very responsive. The same can't be said for the trackpad bar that uses the single rocker style.