ASUS Eee PC 701: a sub-notebook priced as a PDA
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Date: 21.09.2007 |
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Components and performance
The low-end make of the novelty affects not only the performance but also the future upgradeability in general. The manufacturer has left no chance to the owner of the 701 to upgrade neither RAM nor flash memory – they are welded onto the motherboard, so there are no bays in the housing.
On opening the Eee PC 701, we found a motherboard with the CPU and the chipset in the upper part.
For tests, we got an engineering sample of different specifications. The most essential difference regards the CPU. The laptop PC which will be shipped to the Russian market, according to the manufacturer, will be equipped with the CPU Intel Celeron M 900 MHz (Dothan 353: 90-nm architecture, L2 cache 512 MB, system bus speed 400 MHz), ultra-low supply voltage (ULV). In the sample, we found the CPU Intel Celeron M 800 MHz, but we were unable to determine its more detailed specifications. Moreover, the CPU runs at 570 MHz clock speed which could not be adjusted by whatever settings (software or BIOS) (this clock speed retains while operating any OS).
 All the above suggests that it is impossible to run a full-fledged test of our Eee PC 701 specimen – the data will anyway not meet the reality. But don't worry – the device is anyway not adapted for use of serious computations or, say, graphics. ASUS Eee PC 701 should above all perform any office tasks, as well as watch films or playback music.
Going on with exploring the components. Near the CPU, there are two large chips - Intel NG82910GMLE/NH82801FBM. That is, Mobile Intel 910GMLE Express with the integrated graphic core is used as the chipset.
Nearby, there is random-access memory (256 MB DDR2 400) assembled of four Qimonda HYB18T512161BF-25 chips, 64 MB each, which makes 256 MB in the total. The chips are of 2.5 ns access time and in theory are able running at 800 MHz. These chips are frequently used on video cards.
Note the other side of the motherboard.
The most interesting part is that the notebook does not have its own hard disk – a 2 GB flash memory is used instead. But that is a test specimen. The one to be shipped to the Russian market will be equipped with 4 GB. Anyway, the figure is not great at all. However, that is a matter of product pricing which we are not yet touching upon. Two HYNIX HY27UG088G5M chips, 1 GB each, are used as the flash memory. Such chips can be found in MP3 players. Nearby, there is a controller by Silicon Motion –the known SM223 chip.
Let's try to estimate the capabilities of the new "toy" by ASUS, for which we'll be using SiSoftware Sandra Lite 2007. The table nearby presents the test results for Acer Aspire 5634WLMi (Intel Core Duo T2500 2.0 GHz 667 MHz, RAM 1 GB DDR2 667 MHz, video - Intel 950). But these results are presented only with the purpose to estimate the capabilities of the novelty, just the demonstrate the huge difference in performance between it and modern platforms.
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SiSoftware Sandra Lite 2007
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ASUS
Eee PC 701
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Acer Aspire 5634WLMi
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CPU ALU test
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Dhrystone ALU, MIPS
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1835
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16629
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Whetstone iSSE3, MFLOPS
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1369
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11591
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CPU Multimedia test
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Integer x8 iSSE2, it/s
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5245
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100652
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Floating-Point x4 iSSE2, it/s
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5930
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53961
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Memory Bandwidth
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RAM Bandwidth Int Buff’d iSEE2, MB/s
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1044
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3284
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RAM Bandwidth Float Buff’d iSEE2, MB/s
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1062
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3289
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Although during the tests we had a somehow weaker CPU than planned for mass models, it is quite evident that ASUS Eee PC 701 is a notebook for office applications. That was stated above – this time we've just confirmed the assumption through tests.
The flash memory that replaces the hard disk did not reveal itself in anything – all the applications start up quickly, the file exchange is also fast enough. The rates for both reading and writing did not almost differ and were both equal to 31.1 Mbit/s. It does not make sense to test the flash disk in detail, since the specimen sold will offer a different memory capacity. But it is easy to assume that the main speed rates which we are presenting will not almost change.
It does not make sense to test the video system of the notebook – no one is likely to purchase this computer as a gaming station. Also, the capabilities of the integrated i910 have been known for quite a long time.
Finishing the talk about the technical side of the novelty, I'd like to add a bit of my personal opinion. It regards the software, more precisely - the operating system, which will power the ASUS Eee PC 701. The specimen to be sold in the Russian market will be shipped with pre-installed Linux - not Windows XP. Such a decision appears to be fair not because Eee PC 701 is a value solution and extra $50 scares hundreds of potential buyers. The resources of the novelty is hardly enough for stable functioning of Windows XP. If this laptop is used for office purposes only, then there is not better light OS than one based on Linux. If the manufacturer offers a kit of free basic software, then what else would be regular user need!
Offline operation time
The notebook comes bundled with a compact enough power supply unit which resemble more a charging device for a mobile phone rather than a notebook. So it won't be a nuisance carrying such a charger around.
In fact, you won't have to carry it around all the time because Eee PC 701 is economical enough at operation. The minimum battery operation time was calculated with the Battery Eater ’05 Pro 2.70 suite and amounted to 2 hrs 30 min! So, with the middle load the battery charge is enough to keep the notebook running for a whole working day. By the way, the Li-Ion battery of the novelty is of 5200 mA*hr capacity, which is not bad at all for such a compact notebook.
Noise and heat emission
Since the CPU installed in our specimen does not meet the declared specifications, the heat emission specifications may be substantially different from those available to the future user of Eee PC 701. But we'd also like to note regarding that as well.
First, regarding the ventilation… There is quite a lot of vent holes on the housing – part of them is located on the side, with the other part traditionally on the bottom part of the housing. Eee PC 701 assumes mobile use, therefore placing it on your laps you will certainly block part of the vent holes. In fact, it's really difficult to block all the holes, so in this case we can state some safety against overheating.
During operation, the housing of the notebook produces medium heating even without any load. It heats up uniformly. It is hard to say how things will be at that if the declared ULV processor is installed, but we can assume that the heating will not go up.
On opening the housing, we found a fastened fan on the bottom. Interestingly, during all the time of operation this fan did not produce a single sound. It is also interesting that the fan does not cool the CPU itself but the motherboard underneath, nor it suck the air from below, the way it is in done in most notebooks. The vent system of Eee PC 701 can't be called perfect, but even that available is more than enough for this little kid.
At the noise characteristics, the ASUS' novelty is an undisputable leader among modern whistling and noisy mobile computers. The sound comes only from the speakers.
Some impressions
You can easily throw this notebook to a backpack or a shoulder bag and carry it around with you all day long! Yes, its weight is not a burden at all. Interestingly, despite these dimensions and weight, it is comfortable enough to use this notebook. Of course, that is not a full-featured keyboard but after a one day training your fingers will not miss the keys while typing fast.
What the ASUS Eee PC 701 lacks at work is the hard disk. It does not necessarily need to be a hard disk - a Flash would be fine, but only not 2 GB like on the specimen and not 4 GB as declared, but at least 16 GB. Windows XP takes up about 1 GB, so no space is left to install software. What to say here about the free space to store your personal data…
Anyway, this issue is easy enough to solve. To the laptop, we plugged in an external hard disk via the USB port and then it worked trouble-free even without additional power supply. Anyway, if Eee PC 701 had not only a card reader for SD cards, but the second one for CF cards, it would be possible to arrange some sort of a high-capacity removable disk.
Of special mention is the integrated Wi-Fi module. Without it, all the mobility of the computer would lose its sense. The way it is allows you not only to carry the novelty around but surf over the Internet.
Operation under XP is not very fast, of course. It does not take long to boot the OS – about 30 seconds. But with a number of office programs opened, the computer will be more difficult to handle. At the same time, unless you overload the system with too many opened windows, you won't have anything to complain about.
Target audience, price. Final Words
So, we have got the first impressions of ASUS Eee PC 701! Albeit a sample specimen with not all the specifications meeting the declared, we got a definite impression of that notebook (everybody got his own view). It's a pity that the cheerful rumors of "two hundred dollars" have not come true… Nevertheless, $450 for an ultra-compact device is adequate enough. Those who disagree with that should better think why people buy communicators at $600-800 which by their functionality and performance are much weaker than this notebook… Unless the doubts have gone – look for the same compact analogs to Eee PC 701 and you will find that has no competitors!
ASUS Eee PC 701 is a gift for those who buy a PDA to get a true mobility, without compromise to functionality and convenience of work. Eee PC 701 is a full-featured notebook, and that is its major advantage. It is not difficult to find any minor faults to complain about (a small display, small capacity of the flash memory, etc.), but solution to any of these issues will certainly add substantially to the design, which can't be allowed. Even without that, it is pleasant to see that the developers have not sacrificed neither the design nor capabilities.
The novelty produced a pleasant impression, so we'll be impatiently looking forward to deliveries of this computer at our retail stores, with the specifications meeting those declared, with compete package bundle and with a software kit.
- Discuss the material in a conference
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