Asus may have kick-started the netbook market when the company launched the first Eee PC in 2007. But it’s been more than a year since the company introduced a new laptop with a 10 inch or smaller display.
Now the company is trying to breathe new life into the cheap 10 inch notebook market with the Asus 1015E.
This little laptop features a 1.1 GHz Intel Celeron 847 dual core processor, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and a 10.1 inc, 1366 x 768 pixel display. It ships with Windows 8 and sells for $299. The Asus product page suggests Ubuntu Linux version may also be available at some point.
That gives it a much faster processor and higher resolution display than most netbooks released to date.
Some folks would say those specs mean it’s not a netbook, but it sort of depends on your definition. In my book, a netbook is a notebook with a 10 inch or smaller display and a low price tag.
The Asus 1015E fits squarely into that space. But whatever you call it, you’d be hard pressed to find a computer this small, this cheap, and with this much power.
For $299 you can get a model with a 6 cell battery, but a 3 cell battery is also available if you want a thinner laptop.
The notebook features HDMI and VGA ports, an Ethernet jack, 2 USB 2.0 ports, and 1 USB 3.0 port. It supports up to 4GB of RAM, and weighs 2.4 pounds with a 3 cell battery.
It measures 10.3″ x 7″ x 1.4″ and weighs 2.8 pounds with a 6 cell battery. That makes it both thicker, but also lighter than your average ultrabook with an 11.6 inch or larger screen.
While the Intel Celeron 847 CPU that powers this little notebook isn’t exactly a speed demon, it’s much faster than the Atom chips that have powered most netbooks up until now. It’s the same chip that powers the Acer C7 Chromebook I reviewed a few months ago.
via Notebook Italia
Leave a Reply
34 Comments on "Asus introduces the 1015E notebook for $299: Rebirth of the netbook?"
More power, more RAM and more vertical resolution definitely welcome,but Win8 not so much. My 1005PE cost near $400.00 back a few years ago.
Windows 8 has a bad rep. I’ve been using it for about half a year on my Samsung S9 ultrabook (without a touchscreen), and it’s basically a fast-booting Windows 7 with a Start Screen instead of a Start Menu.
There’s nothing I can do on my Windows 7 desktop that I can’t do at least as well on my Windows 8 notebook.
I don’t really mind the start screen, since it’s not something you actually have to use very often. And if you really hate it, you can install a third party app to add a more traditional start menu.
Suggestions of “third party app to add a more traditional start menu” are welcome. I found at http://www.win8china.com/, but only in Chinese.
Here you go: http://www.classicshell.net/
Wow, nice story Brad. I think this is funny. I think this is a soon-to-be best seller. This is actually kind of crazy. I was suggesting that give consumers a 10-incher with non touch at a good price point and you have a winner. If touchscreen puts the price too high, then this is a real sweet spot. Asus pulled a fast one imo.
Fixable. Just add Start8 or Classic Shell. Linux Mint would be good too. I wish I was in the market for another laptop/netbook because I would buy this in a minute!
Should appeal to Microsoft Office folk.
Acer C7 is better value if you plan to use linux. Still a good deal though.
Why? You can put Linux on this model too, even easier because you don’t need to work with the Developer Mode like you do on a Chromebook!
While they’re using the same processor, Acer C7 is just under clocked to 800MHz… So this Asus will actually give a tad bit more performance!
Besides, Support Page indicates it comes with either Windows 8 or Linux Ubuntu!
Acer C7 is $100 cheaper AND comes with a two year, 100 Gig “Google Cloud Drive”
I used to have an HP Mini 2140 which sported this exact resolution on a 10″ screen. And it was classified as a netbook. Which means it’s not “higer resolution than any netbook released to date”.
Higher resolution options did occur, but they were extremely rare for netbooks!
I’d actually want something smaller like the Vaio P or that Lenovo UMPC concept that was never released.
I’d like a new Vaio P. Something not made by Sony would be preferable mostly because of subjective reasons.
Wow. I was in the market last month for a machine to replace a 1001PX and settled on a Thinkpad X131e with very similar specs. It’s slightly heavier and larger but cost 50% more. If this netbook were available, I would have bought it without hesitation. The 6-cell battery and vertical resolution are absolutely killer features here.
I think it is an excellent deal for a portable computer. I think netbook fits it quite well. I think Windows 7 would be better than Windows 8 (IMO; Win 8 is more for touch screens and tablet computers). I really like the Asus brand.
Brad just thinking of this, it’s put you in a dilly of a pickle. You know I’m a sucker for terminology. Hopefully this one doesn’t keep you up at night. Just curious if you think there is a Microsoft restriction on companies calling similar products as netbooks? Asus is using “mini notebook” but let’s be honest about that. I know you hate terms, but this falls within your own definition. Just wondering what you think about why Asus went in this direction. It’s not just me noticing, there are plenty of Asus Facebook posts about terminology used to describe this. I find the whole thing kind of comical. Do you think people rubbed netbook as being “junk” and it’s avoidance at this point? Seems kind of silly to me.
Thanks for the reply. For sure they are all laptops. I think most consumers are passed the whole netbook means “underpowered machine that’s only good for web surfing” aspect. I think we could agree that this is not powerful and that if you had intensive plans you will be sorely disappointed in it. That’s where more accurate descriptions make sense to the consumer. I respect the fact that you aren’t selling out as it were even though you have the most to gain when it comes to the term “netbook”. I think you know where I’m coming from on that one. Again though, I appreciate the reply. You operate a website and know more than the average consumer how choice of words play on web based content. Heck I’m 100% biased on this and I can admit it.
Eh, it doesn’t really matter to me what people call it. I know you think that Liliputing gets a huge portion of the internet’s search traffic for the word “netbook,” but I don’t think that’s true… and I don’t think many people are searching for the word anyway, so the share would be small. 🙂
How about we call little laptops “lilbooks”?
I have the Acer 1830T Netbook w/ 11″ screen, quad core i7 processor, 8 Gigs of RAM, and a 500 Gig HD. It includes HDMI and VGA outputs and I picked it up several months ago for under $500 as I recall (at Wal-Mart?)
It is excellent, here’s a review: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5903&review=acer+aspire+1830t+timeline+x
I’d call it a netbook, but that’s because it’s so darn small compared to mainstream notebooks.