- Intel Atom D525 dual-core processor (1.8 GHz)
- 2GB DDR3, 1 x SODIMM slot (expandable tο 4GB)
- 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM); Nο Optical Drive
- 12.1-inch LED-Backlit WXGA ѕhοw (1366 x 768)
- Windows 7 Home Premium
12.1″/1366×768 (WXGA)/Intel Dual Core ATOM D525 CPU/2GB DDR2/NVIDIA ION2/250GB HDD/Nο ODD/Windows 7 Home Premium/802.11 bgn/10/100 LAN/0.3M Pixel/HDMI out/57W/h battery (up tο 6 Hrs)/Included: +500GB Internet Storage/1 Year Global Warranty, (6 months fοr battery)/BlackHD-enhanced Entertainment wіth NVIDIA Optimus Technology
Wіth more HD content available now thаn еνеr before, уου need a netbook thаt саn keep up wіth thе pace. Thе Eee PC 1215N hаѕ both thе performance аnd mobility tο meet thе call. It facial appearance thе nеw Intel Atom D525 dual-core processor, Next-Generation NVIDIA ION graphics, аnd a stunning 12.1-inch HD ѕhοw tο give уου аll thе power needed fοr οn-thе-gο HD enjoyment. And wіth NVIDIA Optimus Technology, thе Eee PC 1215N intelligently switches between NVIDIA ION graphics аnd embedded graphics tο optimize battery life lacking compromising performance. Add іn thе LED-backlit ѕhοw аnd ASUS Super Hybrid Engine, уου саn stay unplugged up tο 7 hours between ch
ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1215N-PU17-SL 12.1-Inch Netbook (Silver)Intel Atom D525 dual-core processor2GB DDR3, 1 x SODIMM slot (expandable to 4GB)250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM); No Optical Drive12.1-inch LED-Backlit WXGA display (1366 x ...
ASUS 1215N-PU27-SL 12.1-Inch Netbook (Silver)Intel Dual Core Atom D525 (1.8GHz); Nvidia ION 2 graphics with 512mb dedicated video memory12.1" WXGA (1366x768) LED screen; HDMI and VGA Out2GB DDR3 RAM ...
ASUS Eee PC 1015PX-SU17-RD 10.1-Inch Netbook (Red)Intel ATOM N570 CPU; 56W/h Lithium Polymer Battery (Up 11 Hrs)2GB DDR3 1066 1 x SODIMM slot; up to 2G; 320GB HDD; No Optical DriveWindows ...
ASUS Eee PC 1215B-PU17-BK 12.1-Inch Netbook (Black)AMD E350 CPU; 2GB DDR3 RAM (1x2GB), 2 Slots, 4GB Max12.1" WXGA (1366x768) LED screen; ATI HD 6310 graphics; HDMI VGA out320GB SATA Hard Drive ...
ASUS Eee PC 1015PX-MU17-RD 10.1-Inch Netbook (Red)Intel Atom N570 Dual Core Processor 1.66Ghz1 GB DDR3 SODIMM memory, 1 slot, max 2 GB250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM); no optical drive10.1-Inch Matte WSVGA ...
Evolutionary upgrade to the 1201N; still can’t run Crysis, but can play Starcraft 2,
When I first reviewed the Asus 1201N in January 2010 (see my Amazon review for that netbook), I stated that it was the best netbook on the market. A lot of time (in the consumer electronics world) has passed since that review, and Asus has released the upgrade to the 1201N, in the form of the 1215N. Does the 1215N take the crown from the 1201N, and is the 1215N the best netbook available today (September 2010) on the market?
In a word, YES! The major gripe about the 1201N was of course the limited battery life, approximately 3.5 hours on average. Even though I primarily used my 1201N near an electrical outlet, there were times when I had to go portable with it, and the small battery life was painfully insufficient. Asus has upgraded both the processor and the graphics technology for the 1215N. The processor is the desktop grade Intel D525 1.8 GHz dual-core processor, a step-up from the dual core Atom 330s powering the initial 1201N. While I wanted to see Intel’s new N550 dual core Atom processors on the 1215N as a replacement for, the D525s are more than sufficient. I suspect that Asus will release their next version of the 12XXN series with some sort of new lower power dual core processor and graphics technology.
Note, the N550 processors are a new generation of 1.5 GHz low power dual core processors, and suffice it to say, the days of single core N450 type processors are promptly disappearing. Asus has announced a 1215P netbook, which is equipped with the N550 but NO Nvidia ION2 technology, and relies solely on Intel’s GMA3150 integrated graphics key, which is increasingly antiquated when used as a standalone. The 1215P is intended as an upgraded to the previously poorly received 1201PN, and while it will have an superior battery life, it will have difficulty handling games and high classification 1080P media.
CPU wise, the general variety of the dual core powered netbooks on the market presently are as follows; D525, N550, AMD Athlon II Neo K325.
Base on clockspeed only, the general order of CPU status is as follows;
D525 > N550 > K325
The Athlon IIs are powerful adversaries, but according to other online reviews, suffer from poor battery life, on par with that of the original 1201N, ~ 3.5 hours. Such Athlon II Neo equipped platforms include the 11.6″ Dell Inspiron M101z (K325) and the Acer Aspire One (K125). But a Dell M101z with Neo K325, 4GB of RAM, and 320 GB HDD will cost you $579; $100 more than the 1215N, and with its poor battery performance, is really just a quicker 1201N.
The N550s are found on platforms such as the HP Mini 5103 and are excellent low power competitors to the D525s, but are crippled since they appear to be bundled with the Intel GMA 3150s. A comparably optioned Mini 5103 and Crystal Broadcom HD Chip will likely run into the $500-$600 range. And the Mini 5103 only has a 10.1″ screen.
Where does that leave the D525 then? While the desktop/nettop chip is quite powerful, Intel has intentionally embedded some facial appearance which limit the maximum potential of the 1215N. The D525′s embedded memory controller limits usable RAM to 2.8 GB, importance that it is probably NOT advisable to hold the 4 GB version of the 1215N. The RAM runs in single channel mode only, and the D525 is limited to 32-bit addressing, which may render installation of 64-bit Windows 7 moot. But, don’t let these nitpicks drag you down; they are limitations you might want to consider if you’re extremely critical about your netbook, but for the average user like myself, they don’t bother me, since I’m not attracted in using the 1215N as a 64 bit powerhouse.
Asus has paired the D525s with the Nvidia Ion 2 graphics key, which gives the 1215N comparable battery performance to the lower power N550 matched with integrated solutions, an incredible feat. The Ion 2 used in the 1215N comprises the G210 GPU with integrated GMA3150, and when combined with Nvidia’s Optimus switching technology, allows use of the G210 for intensive gaming sessions, while using the low power GMA 3150 for more mundane tasks. The result is a battery life nearly double that of the 1201N. The Ion2 uses all 16 cores of the GT2XX chip and is clocked at 475 MHz. The original Nvidia Ion is comparable to a 9400M, and the Ion 2 is unevenly 60% quicker than the Ion. But, there is a potential holdup, again due to intentional limitations from Intel. The Ion 2′s potential is hindered by Intel refusing to share its DMI interface with Nvidia, forcing the Ion 2 to operate on the PCI-e 1x lane, where it cannot operate at full bandwidth. Again, like the caveats with the D525s, this is a limitation you might want to consider if you’re extremely critical about your netbook, but for the average user like myself, they don’t bother me and the effects aren’t noticeable. Make sure you use the latest Nvidia drivers, if not…
Read more
Was this review helpful to you?
|One of the Best Netbooks You Can Currently Buy For This Price, But Don’t Have High Expectations,
I can tell you that much of my day is spent fixing someone else’s computer or computer problems. So when it comes time to make a computer hold for myself, I spend countless hours going over the specs, prices, and value of different netbooks and ultraportable laptops. I read every comment (especially the negative ones) and poured over reviews and sites providing meticulous information. I delight in playing games, but I know the limitations of this souped-up netbook. My goal was to buy the best netbook that gave me the most bang for the buck. So that means I’m not going to just waste my money and overspend on some Alienware M11x gaming laptop. I did not want to spend much money so after deciding this was the netbook for me, I waited for it to go on sale during Black Friday for $423.54 and was able to pick up the silver version which is better than the black version due to how simple it is to get finger prints and smudges on the black netbook. Also, if it did not go on sale, you wouldn’t be conception this review right now. There are a lot of cons for this netbook (which I will detail later), but at that price point, I was willing to overlook it.
Now, there were a few ultraportable laptops that were better suited for playing the latest games, but they were either a few hundred dollars more than the ASUS 1215N, weighed a few more pounds, had less battery life, and/or had a smaller screen. What I really liked about the ASUS 1215N (besides the price I got it for
) was that it had a large screen compared to the other netbooks, it still weighed less than the ultraportable laptops, and has a better CPU and GPU than most of the other netbooks that are also priced.
Now for the Cons, starting with what scares me the most:
The horrible power plug design. There is a small pin in the power port that can easily break off and render your netbook useless due to not being able to charge it. This is a huge turn off and my heart goes out to all those people who had this happen to them and had to take advantage of the warranty, but had to deal with the terrible customer benefit at ASUS and the ~1 month wait to get their laptop repaired and shipped back for them. Just dredge up, you have to pay for the shipping when sending your broken netbook back to ASUS to get it repaired. I have no thought why ASUS just didn’t fix the poor power plug design by implementing the ordinary power plug design that other laptops and netbooks use that don’t share this problem!
Intel place a lot of limitations on the ASUS 1215N netbook that didn’t have to be there, but they did it since they’re greedy. Intel makes higher profit margins when consumers hold the more pricey laptops rather than the cheaper netbooks. So since of this, Intel refused to share the DMI interface with the Nvidia’s Ion 2 GPU, forcing the Ion 2 to operate on the PCI-e 1x lane. Not only that but, the 64-bit Intel Atom D525 CPU is only capable of 32-bit addressing. So forget about installing Windows 7 64-bit due to the 32-bit addressing making that pointless. Oh yeah, the RAM runs in single channel mode only. And if you do choose to buy more RAM, there are countless posts where the RAM people are buying is not well-matched with the ASUS 1215N (even though it may have worked for someone else) so the netbook is extremely finicky. If you do get the netbook to boot up with the new RAM, you will only see ~2.74GB of RAM in Windows due to the limitations of 32-bit.
Others mention there is some flex in the center of the keyboard and that the mouse button on the netbook is not that fantastic. I’m not too apprehensive about the mouse since I bought a Logitech Trackman Marble Mouse and also got a Logitech V220 Cordless Optical Mouse for free at the time of hold. I also went with the larger Case Logic Slimline Case 12.1″ (10.6″ – 13.3″) to store my netbook in.
One thing I would recommend if you are going to hold this netbook is to also hold a Transcend 16GB Class 10 SDHC Card (TS16GSDHC10) and leave that in your netbook’s SDHC flash card slot and configure it for ReadyBoost. It’s not that pricey, one of the fastest / best SDHC Cards for that price, and you may notice a performance increase due to the memory limitations on this netbook (a few more FPS in games).
Don’t expect this netbook to have fantastic performance in the latest games or to play these games at high settings due to the limitations I listed, but for what I will be using this netbook for and for the margin of games I play, I can see myself being very satisfied and pleased with this hold. Especially since I got it on sale.
Oh yeah, I didn’t forget about the no USB 3.0 capability, no BlueTooth, or the 0.3 megapixel cam. I’ll admit, BlueTooth would’ve been nice, but I guess I can live lacking that. The cheap cam doesn’t matter to me (I do like the security lens cover though) and the USB 3.0 is…
Read more
Was this review helpful to you?
|Fantastic Second Computer/Netbook,
First let me preface that I DO own this product and I will in fact place forth my review after this paragraph.
Before I get started, if you’re looking at this computer make sure you’re getting it for the right reasons. This is NOT a replacement/main computer. Whether netbooks can be or not isn’t the point. The current built-in limitations from Intel make it so that their way of life is essentially the rule. They are the companionship at “fault” and when looking at what Asus has done with what Intel has allowable, this really is a fantastic computer. A lot of the more critical reviews seem to expect a bit more out of this than what it’s advertised for. That said, it’s very hard to not judge this as a normal laptop. The combination of the potential power of the machine, along with its form factor, have it walk the line between netbook and ultra portable. And if you know this going in, I feel like you’ll be more than satisfied.
My reason for buying this netbook was to find something to use in class for basic typing, with at least a 12″ screen (but not larger than 13.3″), decent battery life, the potential to play 720p movies, and maybe some extra power left over. As a PC gamer, I bought another Asus laptop (the really huge one) for gaming, but as a student that laptop proved too unwieldy for class/convey. Ultraportables are frankly too pricey for students as a back up computer, the iPad was overpriced for the hard ware (or conversely under spec’d for the price, since 500 was my limit). Here’s a break down of the pro’s and con’s from my viewpoint, after having used it for about a week.
Pro’s
Battery life – about 6 hours is in fact right, with wireless on and the show at about 50% I get around 5:30 to 5:00 hours. Six would be simple to squeeze out if you turned off the wireless and dimmed to about 30%.
Processing Power – In comparison to my HP mini 210 (my original key to my problem), the thing is a beast. It’s not i7, but the D525 pulls its own for what I use it for (notes, light gaming).
Ion 2 – There’s a few reviews out there that show what this thing is capable of, but I’m able to play games like Left 4 Dead and Half Life 2 at native res with medium details. More modern games will require either a performance loss or tuning down the visuals, but for a NETBOOK this thing has some oomf. It plays 720p and 1080p just fine (make sure you’re using a program that uses graphics decoding, since the atom still sucks for 1080p and also make sure you update to flash 10.1). Update the drivers to the beta ones as well, you’ll see a noticeable increase. It won’t play crysis, but it will play many of the more “consolized” games that have come out recently. If the game pushes a gaming computer then it won’t run on this netbook. It is, after all, a netbook.
Screen – This has by far the best screen I’ve seen on a netbook. Not only the resolution (which is miles about the normal 10.1), but just the sharpness and brightness is fantastic. At max brightness, it can in fact strain the eyes a bit. I stay around 50-70% depending on ambient light. There’s some backlight bleed, which is kind of sad at this size, but it’s not noticeable unless you’re looking for it and you’ve got a dark movie/game going.
Gigabit ethernet – I’ve read mixed things, before I bought it, on whether or not the netbook has gigabit. My model does indeed have it. i.e. 10/100/1000 ethernet. Amazon lists only 10/100, this may be incorrect but I bought mine elsewhere…so I don’t know what theirs comes with. I’d assume they’re all the same. This is huge, since it allows for a high speed file conveying. Lacking a disc drive for installs, file transfers become critical and the added speed is very welcome.
Cons:
While I do like this machine, it’s not lacking its flaws.
Keyboard – I read someone saying it was kind of like typing on a trampoline, while maybe not that terrible there is some flex to it. It’s not horrible, certainly not a deal breaker, but it’s there. More of a ‘meh thing for me, but I could see it being a con for some.
Bloatware – I have never worked with a computer with so much bloatware pre loaded on it. This thing had crapware out the wazzoo. Took me three runs of PC Decrapifyer to finally get everything off. Since it took me nearly half an hour to get everything off the computer, after the initial 25 synopsis of it starting to go, I docked the product one star. If Asus had left off the bloatware, or included discs for a clean, crapware-free install, I would have given the product 5 stars.
Finger Prints – This thing can be a finger print magnet. Just wiping it down doesn’t help, so find some of those PC cleaning wipes that evaporate, or use something else electronics safe, and keep her clean. A microfiber camera cleaning cloth also works. But PLEASE don’t use the…
Read more
Was this review helpful to you?
|