Asus Eee PC 1001P signals end of an era

Stan Beer
Monday, 26 July 2010 12:23

Your IT - Mobility

The Asus Eee PC 1001P is more than just a very cheap netbook computer. It very much signals the end of an era of portable PC computing that Asus single-handedly revolutionised in 2007.

When relatively small player Asus released its Linux based Eee PC 701 three years ago, it created a sensation that had rival PC makers scurrying back to their electronic drawing boards.

Despite its shortcomings - a tiny 7-inch screen, an undersized barely usable keyboard, and the limitations of its operating system - the Eee PC 701 had obviously caught a wave of public sentiment. Consumers wanted a light, portable, easy to use and very cheap internet computer and Asus delivered just that.

Eyeing the success of Asus enviously, competitors churned out the copies quick and fast - Acer, Dell, HP and others did their best to undercut the upstart. Acer in particular did a pretty fair job at that, although the Asus market share has been maintained at a respectable 30% plus.

Now, after a succession of interations, with price drops, bigger screens, more usable keyboards, the Intel Atom processor and the move to Windows XP (yes still XP), we arrive at the $333 Asus Eee PC 1001P.

There is absolutely nothing revolutionary about this machine at all. It’s certainly cheap enough and, at 1.27kg, it’s light enough. With 1GB RAM, the Atom N450, the power and battery life are pretty good under normal net browsing and computing tasks. The 160GB hard drive is more than enough for any netbook.

Then of course there is Windows XP, which Microsoft keeps telling us it will no longer support. Yet, for a netbook - unless you want to get into the Linux thing - it’s really the only Windows operating system worth using.