ASUS Eee PC 1005PR packs Broadcom Crystal HD and high-res screen
By Joanna Stern 
posted March 8th 2010 5:05PM
posted March 8th 2010 5:05PM
posted March 8th 2010 5:05PM
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Broadcom Crystal HD (particle) accelerator, just NO!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdhnV4d-a0Y
@qlimax Asus eee series laptops proves to have high-res screens and has a good battery life, but their name is somewhat entangling to memorize. Updates: http://bit.ly/asus-3e-series
so, how many models are there now? 500?
1000A, 1000HA, ...
just tell me which one I should get.
@blland "Asus needs to take a class in branding.
Serious Eee PC, if that doesn't say cheap I don't know what does."
Mm, you know that's what they do, hein? The trend of their triple e notebooks is a proof. http://bit.ly/asus-3e-series
it's about time to increase the screen resolution, why dont they use ion2?
@htd
simple... battery life. this model allows for smooth hd playback and still holds a choice of a 6 cell 48Wh battery, or a 6 cell, 63Wh battery. They give nine and eleven hours of battery life, respectively.
with that big border, I bet it's the same size as acer 751h 11.6" laptop.
Anyone else remember when Eee PCs were flash-based?
@Lando Calrissian
And the 7" screen?
The edge-to-edge keyboard and 1366x768 resolution are nice, but the touchpad and mouse buttons don't impress me, nor does the Broadcom Crystal HD. The 1GB RAM and N450 are the same we've seen a thousand times now. There's nothing innovative or worth getting excited about here.
What we REALLY need is a netbook with:
Atom N475
2GB or more DDR3 RAM
1366x768 resolution non-glossy display 10.1-11.6in
ION 2 graphics
Either 7200 RPM drive or 120GB+ SSD.
Full-size keyboard
A nice multi-touch touchpad
Mouse buttons below the pad extend to the edge of the case so you can tap right at the edge
6-cell flush battery
A price tag of ~$500
That would be something to get excited about.
@Kyzgar
Right ... and it should cure cancer, too.
@Pizzicato
Well, other than the Atom N475, all the other components exist on the market today. The problem is just that no one's put them together yet. Substitute the N470 and DDR2 and you could come really close. :)
@Kyzgar
Why would you want a 7200rpm hard drive in a netbook - they are still only used in larger high performance laptops where the extra heat, power and noise can be tolerated for the performance. Even if you put one in, its unlikely that the hard drive is the bottleneck in a netbook.
@Kyzgar
Especially the 120+ GB SSD and the 500 $ pricetag seem very reasonable. ;)
Quite reasonable in a year or two, probably. Enjoy waiting.
@fg
I swapped the 5400 RPM in my Dell laptop for a 7200 and the performance difference was easily noticeable. This is a user-upgradable option anyway, so it doesn't need to come from the manufacturer. The same goes for the amount of RAM.
@Pizzicato
I know... There's no way you'd get a machine with a 120GB SSD for around $500. That's why I threw in the other option. Maybe next year, but definitely not right now. (I got a 64GB Crucial SSD a couple months ago and it was $235, and they're going for $189 now - 20% less. It's just simple price gouging at the moment.)
In any case, the components we can swap out ourselves aren't really the issue. What I'd like to see from the manufacturer is the right combination of the other components. They just haven't put the right pieces together yet. :)
@fg HDD is a HUGE bottleneck in a netbook. You can cut your boot times in 1/2 and hugely boost application responsiveness by going with a faster HDD / SSD.
@Kyzgar
That's called a laptop.
@Kyzgar I'm with you on the better specs, but right now you'll be spending a lot more for that, as well as the extra toll on battery life. ION2 would especially be a drain, if used in a netbook configuration. The way forward seems to me to be integrated chipsets, as size, power use and heat are such issues in a netbook (issues they were designed to primarily solve). Whether you will still be able to run Windows with such devices is doubtful though.
This configuration seems about as good as possible in a 10 inch form factor. I've compared that to the 12-inchers (which the Ion 2 equipped Eee PC is) and with the latter, the size really does go up- almost into the light laptop territory, where you can get a 'real' CPU.
It seems to me this addresses some essentials pretty well-
- HD screen; all programs, videos, websites viewable natively on it (no 1074x600 silliness)
- Low power draw N450 CPU
- HD video playback (though still with limitations)
- All this without losing the most attractive Netbook feature, size and portability.
How many Eee PCs does Asus have???? I can't keep them straight and from the model names only the screen size is easy to figure out! Every posting for a new Eee PC is missing a release date and price and that is a thing that would be nice for them to include in a press release every once in a while. I'm all for having options, but at some point it is getting to be overkill.
@runforfun7
It’s easy. You just have to figure out, what all the Numbers and letters mean.
1000 - 10 inch
P - Pinetrail
R? That’s a bit tricky as it is new. I guess it’s high RRRRRRRRRRResolution.
@Pizzicato
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDGE RACER!
@Pizzicato
SNAAKKKKKKEEEEEEE
I still wish HDMI-out was standard. I guess without Ion there isn't much point to it, but I'd still like to be able to throw YouTube videos up on my VGA-less HDTV.
BCM970012 or BCM970015?
@keplenk "The Eee PC™ 1005 PR embedded HD Decoder Broadcom BCM 70015..." (on product website)
How does ASUS expect the customer to make a decision when they're overloading them with so much choice? I like Dell's clear product line. Vostros are for business, Inspiron and Studios are for mainstream consumers and Studio XPS' are for higher-end users. At least that way the consumer knows what he/she's getting. Most would not be able to differentiate between the huge amounts of model numbers ASUS laptops have.
@finnith the worst thing is their webpage. They actually expect you to browse it by obscure model numbers and evocative but meaningless names. I certainly, am confused.
I think I'd prefer this over the ION2 netbooks. I'd only get the ion2 for gaming, and if I wanted to do gaming, I'd get a real notebook. ion2 netbooks will get measly battery life, whereas these broadcom crystal HD netbooks will probably get about the same battery life, and keep the netbooks at a reasonable price range [the cheapest ION netbook was like $450? sheesh.] And thank you ASUS, for putting a 1366x768 screen on there. Thats one big reason I avoided 10 inch netbooks, was that unusable 1024x600 resolution.
@Luffy There have been 1366x768 resolution 10 inch notebooks for a long time... and ION2 is generally better because you have the OPTION to use apps/games that can leverage the GPU without the need to use proprietary applications to take advantage of HD video.
The Crystal HD decoder doesn't make HD video decoding "free"... it still takes power to decode that video through the HW and I've yet to see any evidence that it does it any more efficiently than ION2.
@skylr616 errr... netbooks. It is nice to see one from Asus, but there have been other fish in the sea for a long time now.
Asus needs to take a class in branding.
Serious Eee PC, if that doesn't say cheap I don't know what does.
That logo is hideous and they could use a good marketing campaign.
Branding is essential in America.
It's sexy :)
One of the best
If this goes under $400, I'm buying this over an acer Aspire One 532h with XP Home. Maybe.
PLEASE let it be a matte screen. Without that watching any kind of video (HD or not) would be a struggle. If it has a matte screen I would buy it in a heart beat.
When is this coming out ?