Laptop Buyer's Guide: 14-inch and Smaller
by Vivek Gowri on July 19, 2010 12:01 AM ESTNetbook: ASUS Eee 1001P
And now we get to the most technologically stagnant part of the market, in which not much other than the battery life numbers have changed in two years. Ah yes, the wonders of netbooks.
I’m not even exaggerating - just look at the ASUS EEE lineup. The 1000HA came out in October 2008 with the 1.60 GHz Atom N270 processor and was updated 1000HE in February 2009 (1.66 GHz Atom N280 plus an extended battery good for 10 hours of life). That got replaced by the 1005HA in June 2009, part of the new Seashell design language. The 1005HA had identical specs to the 1000HE, but a different chassis design that was sleeker and better looking. Spec-wise, the first (and, to date, only) big change was the switch to Pine Trail processors in December 2009. However, that really didn’t do a whole lot for performance, though it did increase battery life to 14 hours (under ideal conditions). We’re still on Pine Trail and the trusty old N450/GMA 3150 combo, so in just under 2 years, we’ve improved maybe 10% performance-wise and just about doubled battery life. Not that having twice the battery life is a bad thing, just that over 2 years, the lack of any significant performance gains is pretty disappointing for what was already a low performance platform. This is starting to change though, with a much-welcome 10% clock speed boost in the 1.83GHz N470 and the much awaited dual core N550 that is due to ship in Q3.
In the meantime though, we’ll work with what we’ve got. When we reviewed the Eee 1001P, we liked it quite a bit and gave it our Silver Editor’s Choice award. It earned that award on strength of the very good screen, which had matte finish and a superhigh contrast ratio, along with the good styling and build quality. Apart from that, there isn’t much to set it apart from the rest of the netbook pack; the 11 hour battery is on the better side, but still less than the mark set by the 1005PE, and performance is the same across all devices. With not a whole lot to differentiate between netbooks specwise, things like LCD panel and display quality do make a significant difference. With the netbook market not changing much since the last time we evaluated it, our recommendation of the 1001P stands as it was. And now that the street price has gone down to $305, it’s even easier to recommend.
However, there are some interesting choices if you’re looking for something non-standard. The ASUS 1018 comes to mind: it’s made completely of aluminum and is a very svelte 2.26lbs. The new Atom N455 adds support for DDR3 memory, and the battery is slightly smaller than the 1001P’s: 44 Wh and 10 hours of runtime. But it’s pretty pricey, at $429. Different is good, but the same specs for 40% more money? I’d rather get the Dell 11z I mentioned before.
NVIDIA’s ION platform is something that should also be mentioned here. The first generation of ION was never a huge hit in netbooks, coming late in Atom’s release cycle; the only really relevant system that got ION was ASUS’ Eee 1201N, which had a nettop-spec dual-core Atom 330 to go along with ION’s 9400M. Next-Gen ION has thus far been MIA, with one of the two announced devices being canned for unspecified reasons (Acer’s 532g) and the other being delayed until August (the ASUS 1215N, which will replace the 1201N). Given the cost it adds, unless you’re trying to lightly game on a $500 budget, I’d skip ION and go for a cheap CULV machine like the 11z or 1410 for the same price. They are equally capable of HD Flash video and 1080p playback over HDMI, and offer significantly faster processors than the Atom-based ION netbooks.
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neothe0ne - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
I feel like you did the Envy 14 an injustice by not even mentioning switchable graphics. And I don't believe the opening page with "NVIDIA dominates the portable market" - all Dells, most Sonys, all HPs, and then some are using ATI cards now.ExodusC - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
Also, I'd like to note that from the users that have gotten their Envy 14s already, they have stated that it does not get uncomfortably hot (like the Envy 15 was known to). It apparently stays relatively cool, even while gaming (not sure about something super intensive like 3DMark or Furmark).KZ0 - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
In very many of the reviews I've read here, it has been commented on how the screen sucks, as usual. When there finally is an affordable notebook with a great 1600x900 14" screen, it's not even commented on? Why? I know some models (non US-factory, the Amazon model, etc) have a 1366x768 display, but the HD+ screen is even included in the base 1099 USD factory price!When there's no review model available, at least use what info there is (user reviews) instead of speculation! And the i7 quad option isn't even a reasonable upgrade for most people, killing battery life (not having an integrated GPU to use the switchable graphics, and higher power consumption), making more heat / noise, and not providing much of a performance increase for most people.
A review or analysis on Anandtech is generally very good, and I've been following the site for quite some time now (though not posting), but this disappoints me.
JPForums - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
Don't be disappointed. This is Anandtech. They don't claim to be perfect, but they do accept feedback. If you bring up legitimate concerns, they are pretty good about fixing it for future articles. You may even get an update to a current article.That said I'd like to voice my opinion that 1600x900 or better resolution screens in a 14" or smaller notebook is a very compelling feature. Such a screen may be worth the trade off in battery life and/or cost as there are cases where the increased desktop real estate results in a significant increase in productivity. This productivity boost is not easy to measure, but at least warrants a word.
TareX - Friday, March 4, 2011 - link
My Envy 14 has a Radiance 900p screen that simply blows away every other 14" Laptop screen in the market.It is NOT plagued by the older generation Envy laptops' issues with heat.
I am quite perplexed by this Anadtech article. If they didn't review it, they could have at least read the impressions of other sites whose editors actually used the new Envy 14.
VivekGowri - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
By "the portable market" I was meaning laptops smaller than 14" (which this buyer's guide was focusing on) as distinct from the more mainstream and desktop replacement markets.How many 12" and 13" non-AMD laptops can you name with ATI graphics? Off the top of my head, the Sony S series has an optional ATI HD 5470 card, and the Lenovo U450p that had an HD 4330 switched to Nvidia when it got bumped to Arrandale. Other than that, a lot of the really portable notebooks tend to use Nvidia GPUs. Cases in point: the entire Asus portable lineup, the M11x, the VAIO Z, the Lenovo U460, etc etc etc. So I think it was a fair term.
Once you start getting to 14" and larger notebooks, you start seeing a lot of ATI GPUs, yes, but not in notebooks smaller than that.
ExodusC - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
I should have stated I don't necessarily agree with neothe0ne. I replied to his comment as it was related to the Envy 14. I have to agree with you, actually, that NVIDIA has dominance with their mobile parts. From what I understand, AMD is gaining ground, in that market segment though, are they not?I mainly wanted to question the Envy 14 getting hot-- from everything I've read, it really doesn't get that hot (maybe in a lap, if the vents are covered? I figure anyone using the dGPU will be gaming, and therefore plugged into an outlet and on a desk).
Most importantly, Vivek, is AnandTech planning a review? Last I heard it was hard to get a review unit, but I'm really curious if AT has heard anything from HP about it. The Envy 14 seems to be gaining a lot of popularity as a MBP-alternative, as many people have an anti-Apple stigma.
ExodusC - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
Oh, and one last thing, the Envy 14's battery may be sealed in, but it's easily removable by flipping a simple switch. I know it's a minor thing, but when I read the article, it seemed to suggest the battery was non-removable, like the MBP.:)
ExodusC - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
Well, after a second look some users report it getting hot, others say it doesn't get hot. I guess it depends what kind of load it's under.Visual - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
The HP tm2 uses ATI 4550, and it being a tablet convertible has better portability than any of the ones included in this "guide", while not being far in performance too. I'm actually surprised it was not mentioned.