I just upgraded to this laptop is a 8.9 “netbook Atom-powered (Asus EeePC 900HA one). Here are my thoughts after using the UL20A for a few days
Advantages
1. Compact and light weight. The footprint of the laptop is like a 8.5 “x11″ sheet of paper (slightly narrower and a little more), and 3.3 pounds, it is in your briefcase or backpack does not exceed an extra book or binder.
2. EXCELLENT keyboard. The relatively large “chiclet” keyboard allows typing experience effortless.
3. PERFECT size of the screen. With a 12.1 “1366×768 screen, you get the resolution of a 13.3″ laptop in a smaller package. At 130 pixels per inch, the text on the screen 12 “is often quite low, but still acceptable. But I would advise against smaller displays (eg 11.6) on the resolution.
4. Exceptional performance. Despite the low frequency, the Core 2 Duo UL20A is much faster than the Intel Atom. HD YouTube videos play smoothly at ~ 67% CPU utilization and overall performance seems smoother than on my old netbook. In particular, I notice the difference when you scroll through the PDF files, which was often very slow and choppy on my EeePC.
5. Excellent battery life. After 4.5 hours mixed light web browsing, e-mail and viewing of PDF, I still had 40% charge left. If the battery still exhausted at this rate, you end up with – the law – specifically quoted 7.5 hours! I used Windows 7′s “diet power” (or modes Power4Gear Asus). After several attempts, I can confirm that the processor will increase the frequency of the maximum in heavy use in this mode, so there’s no reason not too late to “balanced” all the time.
6. Very quiet. Although its use in a quiet room, it is almost impossible to hear any sound.
7. additional warranty. The UL20A comes with one year of “accidental injury” coverage.
8. LITTLE PARTIES bloatware. The only (non-ASUS) bloatware was a test of anti-virus software and a few silly games. I removed a few minutes (and replace the AV experiment with free software from Microsoft Security Essentials).
9. 7 Windows Home Premium. Unlike most netbooks, the old ship with Windows XP or Microsoft Windows 7 Starter Edition or maimed, this notebook comes with the full “premium” version of the brand new Microsoft OS.
Cons :
1. Annoying touchpad. The texture of the touchpad causes too much friction, which irritates the finger. The cursor also freezes regularly, the award of a strange gray circle around the cursor (which is probably a function Synaptics stupid that I have not yet found how to disable).
2. bright screen. This causes annoying reflections, but in all fairness, most laptops have now.
3. Tangle ASUS Utilities absurd. Asus includes nearly a dozen different tools for different functions. Most have weird names, and it is not clear what they are until you click. They seem also to each of their own specific user interface (amateur). At the very least, Asus included the number of programs cut in half (either through consolidation and elimination of unnecessary functions and redundant).
4. LCD quality very disappointing. As was the case with my EeePC screen, the contrast is too high, and there is a large blue-dyed by default. I do not recommend this notebook for serious photo editing (not professional). It must be adapted to most users well.
Abstract:
This laptop seems to hit a sweet spot between netbook and laptop size: You have an almost full-size keyboard gets adequate screen resolution, spirited performance and Windows 7 Home Premium, while retaining the portability, low cost, and the battery life on a netbook.