Asus Eee PC 1201HAB reviewed: It’s not the Eee PC 1201N

The Asus Eee pC 1201HAB is the cheapest 12.1 inch notebook available from Asus at the moment. It’s kind of like what you would get if you took the guts of an 11.6 inch Asus Eee PC 1101HA and dumped them inside the chassis of an Eee PC 1201N (or an Asus UL20A for that matter, since they have similar but not identical cases).

In other words, the Asus Eee PC 1201HAB has a 12.1 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display, a chiclet-style keyboard, and a matte lid. But while its sibling, the Eee PC 1201N has high performance NVIDIA ION graphics and a dual core Intel Atom 330 CPU, the Eee PC 1201HA has a slower, single core Atom Z520 processor and integrated GMA 500 graphics.

Netbook Reports has posted the first review I’ve seen of the Eee PC 1201HAB, which features an overview, some videos, and an image gallery. Long story short: It’s bigger than a typical Asus Eee PC 10 inch netbook, but it doesn’t weigh much more. The 4400mAh battery is good for up to 6 hours. Video playback is pretty good, including HD video. But overall performance is kind of sluggish due to the slow processor.

So why would anyone choose an Eee PC 1201HAB over the 1201N or UL20A? Because it’s cheaper. Netbook Reports picked one up from Best Buy for $329. The 1201N goes for $499, while the UL20A runs between $500 and $600.

Posted on Sunday, December 20th, 2009, 2:15 am by Brad Linder

Michael

Asus is comig out with too many models and variants and it is becoming as sickening as it was in 2008.

Asus should just concentrate in lowering prices instead with coming out with loads of nonsense, half of which, would end up as failures.
Someguy

I don't think all these models are really costing them much. It's the same body. Most of the internals are the same. You're talking about changing out the motherboard, and if they're all built along the same basic guidelines, I bet that isn't hard to do, which is why you're seeing all these different models. One is a low cost, one is a alternative performance… The 1201t is going to have different tradeoffs, more processor, less video than the 1201n… But there's not a lot of difference here. Even the UL20 seems to have most of the same components. What I think they're trying to do here is figure out what models meet consumer needs so they can further define the 12 inch platform. We'll have to see what wins out. But I wouldn't buy one of these
michael

Despite being the same platform, they still have to launch a new model and market it. All these add to cost.

they should be trying to lower prices instead of launching new models every few days.
http://notebooksunlimited.net/ SKumar

How could this machine handle 1080p video? Many laptops with much better specs struggle in that department.
guest

1201HAB is a slap in the face.
This is clearly a total lack of respect for the buying public so no respect is going to be spared here.
Its time for manufactures to stop selling the JUNK GMA500. Intel knows everything about screwing the public and that chip-set has top honours.
Asus, your company is know for its Quality and Reliability. How can you in your right mind attach any more of these chips to your name?
Your Quality does reflect on the components you use and trying to increase your bottom line with JUNK is not the way to do it. You are no better than HP when it comes to the public. Slap back.
Michael

Intstead of progressing forward, it looks like we are going backwards.

Asus should just stop coming up with countless of models and variants. People are getting sick of it.
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estradam#7

why does 1201N hv a downgraded camera (0.3 instead of 1.3)? my question is, does the lcd's higher resolution result in improved cam resolution despite the cam being 0.3? thnks!
ninetynine

People are getting sick of it? Who's people? The tech heads that follow blogs are growing tired of it, but how many people of those people are even looking to buy a netbook. For the average customer to walk into a Best Buy and see Asus's spectrum of choices and prices, they're impressed.

And market them? I have never seen a single ad for the Eee PC yet it's still widely regarded as one of the best netbooks. There is no marketing, it's just throw it up for display and see who buys it.

Asus also doesn't exactly over produce, if you follow the UL30 there has consistently been a shortage because of its high demand and the fact that Asus only sends small shipments to popular sellers like Amazon.
samus1

you sound like a complete hater of intel. and you should get your facts straight as just becouse the gma 500 drivers are not yet mature means that the chip it self is JUNK. in fact its one of the most powerful graphics chips put into netbooks just slightly traling behind the ion. it just needs better drivers to bring out that power. which tungstion graphics is working on.
Michael

You need to open your eyes. The world is not just the US. Asus markets EeePC a lot in other parts of the world.

UL30 has no shortage globally. Amazon is not the ONLY Asus dealer in the world.

The average cistomer complains that they are just too confused with the wide array of choices. Sometimes, too many choices isn't neccessarily what the consumer wants.
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ninetynine

Yeah actually that's a good point. I think more people are confused from choices than impressed by them.

Also I wasn't saying their was a shortage globally for the UL30, wasn't even particularly focusing on the UL30, just wanted to show an example case of Asus not over producing on any given model they put out.
michael

Yeah, actually, the average consumers get confused big time. Unlike the tech literate, the average Joe out there panics when he sees to many variants and models out there. Most consumers like to have a wide array of brands but within each brand, just a handful of choices. Asus has really over done it. From the 701 to the 901 and to the 1000's.

Ironically, I think Asus does over produce. In Asia, they are still selling the 1005 XP machines instead of the Windows 7 Starter 1005 machines. There seems to be an abundant supply of XP machines.
http://www.netbookfreaks.com/ Jonas

I'm gonna take the opposite stance here than the other commenters. I am glad to see that Asus is bringing a 12″ netbook to market that is quite affordable. Not everyone uses their netbook for video or gaming, and even though this is clearly underpowered, it might be the right product for someone.
guest

First, I don't hate Intel but I do hate the games they play. Don't tell me Intel's problems of putting a chip on the market with poor drivers before it was ready, tell the Millions of people that hate the seemingly underpowered GMA500 that they think they have wasted $300+ for. That chip was designed to run 2 movie's at once and appears to have drivers that have been choked from the git-go. Oh, I have a GMA950 if you're interested Dual boot.
tron

its a cheap netbook… want something with power and ubber specs? go spend money on a laptop and not a netbook. Gamers, go buy something with a 17″, and stop b!tchin' about it.
jovis

Just purchased it for a simple internet communicator & to do some word documents. It works great! The battery lasts for far longer than I need, over 5 hrs hanging in my back yard cookn on the grill. The screen looks great & is real bright. No need for pic editing or strong computing so this thing really does the job. So I spent my xtra $$$ on goodies. “BEER” lol
scott

I bought the 1201hab tonight and it runs well but i have to turn grafix all the way down on trials 2 to run it so it is not a gamer for sure.
I love the flat black color and the keyboard is nice.
The mouse area is just a bunch of bumps instead of a touch area.
overall it is cool and works for me
billythekidd

i use the 1201hab every day for school,work,and play. its not as bad as they say. i play wow on it to and its smoth most the time it only lages up wen my viruse soft runs and im playing a game. over its a good by if you spend a lot of time away from home
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vaeevictiss

the fact that people buy a netbook to play games on…then are upset when said games don't run worth a crap…truly amazes me.
vaeevictiss

the fact that people buy a netbook to play games on…then are upset when said games don't run worth a crap…truly amazes me.
http://www.t-townphotobooth.com Roadhunter

Available as a refurb on Woot.com today for $239. Shouldn't be ANY complaints about that
http://www.t-townphotobooth.com Roadhunter

Available as a refurb on Woot.com today for $239. Shouldn't be ANY complaints about that
Drake

If you people want to make the asus 1201 hab go faster do this
turn off your computer than press f2 before the when you see the boot line . look in the bios setting use the keyboard arrows it should be on the second page. it will be under this SHE OVERCLOCK go all the way to 30 % On super performance the bus speed go to 532.98 mhz to 693.53 mhz the processer will go to 1.401 ghz to 1.749 ghz . Warning it will make more heat make sure to keep on hard surface. note it will reduce battery life abot an hour give or take an few min.
it will also help if you get another ram card from best buy they cost about 50 bucks . it will help with spped and you will be able to run more heavier apps and games that require more ram. The extra speed in bus will make everything faster too including games. If you want an normal setting put the computer in high performance it will be the same before you over clocked it . if you want the most out of your battery life put the computer in powersaver mode the processer will reach max speed od 1.001 ghz and bus of 470.39 hope this helps enjoy
Drake

no it does not. it might have better visuals like less blur but it will not look as good as the 1.3 mp camera . all in all i would still get the n but the hab is best for me since im not an gamer but i overclocked mine
Drake

asus could of made an better chip set on graphics but they are INTERGRATED meaning wired on the monther board . so if they put an diffrent monther board with better graphics it would cost more like the 1201 n
Drake

look every one wants an laptop that more custom for there needs so asus made many models that suits peoples needs . so they spend less. if you are a gamer you should buy out of the atom processing unit anyway you should be AT LEAST IN THE DUAL CORE hint pentium or core 2 duo or better
HAB user

I was told by the sales rep that “this thing has the same processor as a cell phone”. They were up front about it. I found that, even though it might lag up a LITTLE (and I mean very little with the settings I have with Windows XP) I find it great for browsing the internet. I even watch HULU with little lag. I don’t know what people are complaining about.

The NINE HOUR BATTERY LIFE is FANTASTIC. That’s with the core turned down and the screen dimmed, but still. NINE HOURS. About Six hours going full blast.
Johnny

I am typing on the 1201HAB right now. I just have a few things to chime in about.

First, I’ve got a beast desktop PC to do all my power computing and gaming.

I’ve got this 1201hab to throw in my bag as a walk out the door. For the purpose of typing, web surfing, and watching movies and such, it’s perfect. If anyone complains about performance on demanding tasks, think of it like putting a chimp infront of a calculus equation. Yeah a chimp is pretty smart, but not THAT smart.

Such is the same for the 1201HAB.

THAT being said, it does play most emulators very well, for old school game systems that is. SNES, SEGA, and MAME, etc. Anything above SNES (ie N64) not a chance.

The real reason I bought mine is to do field recording, using a 12-channel USB audio interface running through Cakewalk Sonar, onto an external harddrive.

I can record 8-tracks simultaneously without a hiccup.

Mixing…well that’s another beast. Plugins eat up CPU and RAM. I can do rough mixes on the 1201hab, but I plug in the external harddrive to my main computer and mix to my heart’s content on a dual-core and 6 gigs of RAM.

So, just to sum this 1201hab up, I love it for what it is. I use it for 80% of my everyday computing. Very lightweight, long battery life. It is quite capable if you’re being reasonable with your expectations.
Amarchos

installing SP3 today…

OVER THREE HOURS and still hasnt finish.

AVOID this crap netbook at all costs, its extremely slow.

yes, i bougt it extremely cheap, but it is almost unusable .

Asus Eee PC 1201HAB reviewed: It’s not the Eee PC 1201N

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