The Asus Eee PC 1005PE is the first netbook from Asus to have a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 Pine Trail processor. It will be available for purchase sometime in January, but the folks at Asus were kind enough to send me one to review in advance.
On the outside, the netbook looks almost identical to the Eee PC 1005HA which has been available for the past few months. The only cosmetic change is that the new model has a chiclet-style keyboard. It has the same glossy lid and display and the same “seashell” styling as the earlier model.
On the inside, the Eee PC 1005PE has a new Pine Trail processor with GMA 3150 graphics. It uses less power than the Atom N280 chip used in the 1005HA, and that should lead to better battery life. I’ve read a number of reviews stating that the Eee PC 1005PE can run for up to 10 hours with a 6 cell, 63Whr battery. Of course, I’ll be testing the battery and overall performance myself over the next few days as well.
You can check out my unboxing video after the break.
This is a good balance between power and battery life in my opinion. This netbook seems to last about 8-10 hours with moderate cpu load under ubuntu. In windows 7 starter I was seeing about the same battery time. It is never going to replace my main home or work computers. However, when traveling, it is perfect for checking email and doing some light remote administration for work.
hi brad,
I was wondering which portable pc are you using on a daily basis?
Prices are still high. Having evolved 2 years now, the netbook should be somewhere $199 to $249.
Then after a year, the N470 will be introduced and again, prices would go up.
Dun dun dun enter the smartbook (maybe).
Netbooks should never drop below $250-$300 price point. If so then they will just become poorly made and probably unreliable. Right now most manufactures take a little pride in how they design these little computers. Utilizing durable materials and new age design making them not only functional but appealing to the eye. If the prices where to drop as low as you would like them I am afraid netbooks would no longer be reliable nor made out of quality materials and would become as obsolete as the scientific calculator . This is just my opinion.