The Asus UL20A is a 12.1 inch notebook with an Intel CULV processor and integrated graphics. It ships with a 47Whr, 4400mAh battery.

The Asus Eee PC 1201N is a 12.1 inch notebook with an Intel Atom 330 dual core CPU and NVIDIA ION graphics. It ships with a 63Whr, 5600mAh battery.

Here’s what I discovered today: Those two batteries are interchangeable. That means if you can get your hands on an Eee PC 1201N battery, you can use it in the Asus UL20A, which is great news for UL20A users.

When I reviewed the UL20A, one of my only complaints with this little laptop is that you don’t get the same kind of 10-hour battery life with it that you get out of the larger, more expensive Asus UL30A. That’s largely because the UL20A comes with a lower capacity battery.Taking an Eee PC 1201N battery and throwing it in a UL20A might help you get closer.

The UL30A that I tested had an 84Whr, 5600mAh battery. So slapping a 63Whr battery in an Asus UL20A probably still won’t give you 10 hours of run time. But it should help you get more than the 6 or so hours that I got in my tests.

I’ve found a few stores that are selling the 63Whr version of the Eee PC 1201N/UL20A battery, including one US site and two UK sites. I haven’t dealt with any of these retailers before, so order at your own risk. It looks like both the 63Whr and 47Whr versions of the battery have the same model number: Asus A32-UL20. If you spot a better way to tell them apart, let us kno win the comments. Prices seem to be ranging from about $72 US to £78 in the UK right now.

I should probably point out that while the two batteries look identical from the bottom (they both have a matte black surface that matches the base of both notebooks), the Asus Eee PC 1201N battery has a glossy section meant to match the glossy back and lid of that laptop while the Asus UL20A battery has a matte finish all around. If you’re a stickler for consistency, this could be a problem. But if you just want to improve the battery life on your UL20A, this seems like a small price to pay.

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9 replies on “Asus UL20A and Eee PC 1201N batteries are interchangeable”

  3. Other than slightly better battery life and larger total ram option, why would one choose the ul20a over the 1201n? Does the dual ULV processor at 1.3ghz beat out the atom 1.6 dual core? THe ul20a runs roughly $100 more…

    1. I haven’t run my benchmarks on the Eee PC 1201N yet, but I have tested other
      machines with dual core Atom 330 processors. And in a nutshell, yes. The
      UL20A has a significantly more powerful processor. The 1201N, on the other
      hand, has a much better graphics processor. So it all depends on what you
      need from a laptop, better overall performance, or better graphics.

      1. so would you say that the ul20a can outperform the 1201n as far as multi-tasking abilities?

    2. trust me, the 1.3 feels like a real core2duo running at 2ghz. You don’t feel the difference.

      Another secret. Format the UL20A and just install Win 7 and the necessary drivers. Asus gives a lot of crap and unnecessary software.

      The machine will then fly.

  4. In Asia, all UL20A come with a 63Whr battery as standard. In the US, you think you are getting the unit cheap but are comprised in other ways. In this scenario, its lower capacity battery.

    My UL20A gives me 8 hours non stop with wifi on and on Quiet Office mode. Not bad for a light Core2Duo machine.

    So, people in other countries, don’t always think US notebooks are the cheapest.

    A good question to ask is the 1.5KG weight comprise of a 63W battery?

    Cause my UL20 sure feel like a 1.8KG machine.

    This is where manufacturers mislead consumers.

    Especially when we buy based on weight and portability, Asus, for instance, don’t make it really clear what is the weight of their products with different batteries.

    The netbooks are even worse. Half the time, manufacturers quote the 3 cell weight.

    When we buy the damn machine, it feels like a brick as it has a 6 cell battery.

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