Most helpful client reviews
141 of 146 humans found the following review helpful.
Fantastic!
By Matthew A. Keas
I just got my 1015PEM on Friday. I invented a USB install of Ubuntu and installed a 2GB DDR3 stick of RAM I had.
I’m running the latest Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick 64 bit beta, and it’s fantastic! Everything works buttery smooth and is working right off (for those of you likewise using Ubuntu/Linux, the wireless drivers use the Broadcom STA drivers, just install by way of ethernet connection at first)
The keys and palmrests of smooth, not shiny, and extra comfortable to type on. I transitioned from a full-sized Mac keyboard to this little guy and had no difficulties adjusting.
The speakers are LOUD at full volume, for such a little thing. Far outshine my Acer 3810t with ‘Dolby Experience’.
The power supply is superbly small.
I’ve been capable to watch hulu, etc, just fine.
Last but not least, youtube 720p flash is a little jittery, but a good deal of updates in the future may fix this (this is after all, linux. Flash runs MUCH more quickly in Windows). Given that, there’s genuinely no need for 720p as the screen’s solution maxes out at 1024 by 600, so 480p looks (and works) just fine.
Finally, the battery life is great 
No regrets!
74 of 77 people found the following review helpful.
4.5 stars – solid little machine
By level
I’ve been in the market for a netbook, decisive to bite the bullet when these became available with the N550 dual core processor. This is my basi netbook and only experience with one, so take my review for what it’s worth. Had it a few days before I upgraded to 2gb (no questions asked, sheer must) and without delay upgraded the BIOS after setup and running.
Nice little compact size. Relatively thin and not too heavy. The black matte has a rather odd hue, it seems closely having a blueish tint, which I thought was rather peculiar. It attracts finger prints more than I thought it would, possibly not as much as a gloss finish, but they do show up.
Screen seems alright, didn’t detect any dead pixels. There is a lot of bloatware, but not an exuberant amount. I got rid of the majority of it including most of the asus add-ons. The key board takes a little getting applied to as I’m accustom to a full size frequent board and this lay out has a few dissimilar things regarding it. Overall it dosen’t seem difficult to use. Mine appears to have a little flex around the G and H keys. With that is a tap-tap-tap-tap-thud-tap-tap when striking the H key. I find this to be a little annoying, along with distracting, consequently demotion from a perfective 5 — possibly I’m a little harsh, but I was disappointed in the fact.
Haven’t in truth put the battery to test as this sits on my couch and AC power is always within reach. Have had no wireless issues, holds signal well and haven’t dropped a connection from my linksys router. It does seem to get pretty warm after a lot of use while on your lap, and the fan is a little louder than I expected it to be when spooled up. The heat and fan noise are side notes, and not sufficient to dock any overall points. Maybe it’s actually cool and quiet for it is class, like I said, this is my firstborn netbook.
The touch pad responds well and feels pretty intuitive. I don’t care for touch pads, but find this one is easy enough. The mouse button click could be a little softer to use but I prefer tapping the mouse pad for clicking anyway. Apparently there is suppose to be some “pinch” type zooming with the touch pad. It doesn’t appear to work, or perchance I unistalled the software that supports it, or possibly I just don’t genuinely know how to make it work. For a heap of reason, the thought of it actually working, doesn’t motivate me sufficient to figure it out.
Webcam works fine, gets the occupation done. Picture is clear from the other side, so I’ve been told, and the mic picks up well enough. The speakers are pretty decent for what they are. Its not gonna throw your party, but if three’s a crowd, it may provide plenteous background music.
Overall the more I use it the more I in truth like it. Super handy for internet conveniences and very portable. My only let downs are: the keyboard issue, windows 7 is gorgeous limited, but in truth it does everything these machines are intended to do. I feel at this price point it ought to come with 2 gb installed. +$400 after the ram upgrade and throw another +$80 bucks for real Windows 7 upgrade and you’re approaching full size laptop pricing.
Really I am satisfied with it being a netbook, and would commend it to any person buying goods around for one. It was numerous adjustment going from my desktop (i7 920/6gb ram/win 7 pro 64) and then jumping into this little guy. When I remind myself that it is only a netbook, I’m finelooking happy with it.
42 of 44 humans found the following review helpful.
Bad luck?
By jeremiath
I’m guessing I fell within a little part of buyers, and happened to have a bad luck streak with this netbook. All the reviews were very great, but my experience was not.
First Netbook:
The firstborn netbook I ordered, upon opening, the entire keyboard panel (the panel that attaches to the base of the netbook) was dislocated from the base. Luckily it just snapped in place, so I dismissed it as a rather little deal. After using the netbook for a half hour or so, I realized that the left mouse clicker on the netbook had to be clicked actually hard, or clicked in the very center of the button in order to work. I figured I had a defect, so I sent it in, hoping for a better replacement.
Replacement:
I was happy to see that the clicker for the left mouse function was working on this one. Also, the keyboard panel was decently attached to the base, so no “snapping” required. Everything seemed perfective with this model and I was happy. However… When I started browsing the internet, I noticed the ‘H’ key was rather sticky. Not just sticky but practically unusable. I thought perchance there was a good deal of manufacturers glue or a heap of other compound that was causing the stickiness, so I gently lifted the ‘H’ key from the left side (it will come out and then ‘click’ back in place, but be careful when pulling it up), and used rubbing alcohol to clean the area. This moderately helped, but resumed the same conduct upon next use. Needless to say, I will be sending this one back as well, this time, for a refund!
Conclusion:
I believe if you are not un-lucky like I have been, you may end up with a neat little dual-core netbook that works flawlessly and has aweinspiring battery life (at least 7-8 hrs on single charge). However, after my experience, I will stay away from this netbook (and, perchance Asus), as it doesn’t seem to have sufficient attention towards the build quality / process, and that is an necessary element for me. If I’m paying ~$400 for a netbook, I want it to last for a while, and I’m glad I got out while I did, because I could only see more troubles arise in the future. For now, I’ll stick with HP, as their build quality always amazes me. Worth the extra $50 – $100. So perhaps they will get these two netbooks back, have Asus do the work in the right way this time on them, and then trade them as refurbs to a happy buyer. Good luck!
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