ASUS Eee PC 1015PN-PU17 Thoughts/experiences?

Looking at this for it's long battery life/Ability to play World of Warcraft on the go in a tiny package. Any thoughts/comments on this particular model?

 

Hmm long battery life as you said, in fact so long Ive stopped using it in battery saver mode and still average 7 hours instead of about 10 lol

Screen is amazing, great angles, especially outside, to be expected of a matte type.

I did a clean install of Win7HP 64 bit (as well as installed another gig of RAM) so I didnt spend too much time with Win7Starter. As a result I also have optimus, and it works just fine. Havent been able to stress the GPU as much as something as WoW would but its definitely held everything Ive thrown at it thus far, its a great little machine.

I will say however, that most things will actually be bottlenecked by the CPU first, not the ION2; that being said, you can easily overclock it with SetFSB, I can hit a stable 2ghz and it provides a nice little boost.

I dont really know what else to say. I use it everyday for class (as opposed to my G73 that I use only mostly at home now), its a joy to type on, despite the size, more then my G73. Decent little speakers, but of course if your gonna be gaming then id recommend some external speakers or headphones.

Any more specific questions? Not many on this forum seem to have this exact model so I seem to be the one that answers any questions about it lol

 

Hi,

I just got mine today and I have a few of questions.

First, is there any point to installing Win-7 64-bit? Would there be a noticeable difference from the 32-bit with this CPU/RAM?

Next, I've got Windows 7 Ultimate that I want to install. Will this enable me to use Optimus or is that for Windows 7 Premium exclusively?

Finally, what's the best 2GB RAM to use (as in brand name, not type of RAM needed)?

Thanks!

 

I believe Optimus is available in every version of windows 7 except starter, but I'm not 100% sure.








I'm having trouble deciding on 1015b or 1015pn but seeing how I am coming up empty in trying to search the Fusion model, I might go with the pn.

I wanna know if there are any performance difference between the 2 and if the Fusion model as been released outside of America. I can't seem to find it anywhere other then amazon.

Last thing...it appears that there are different models of the PN, I'm not sure if this is a location thing or a typo on their part, but there is a cheaper model that says its got an ION2 and another with an on-board for $300 (40 USD equiv) dollars more...???

Fortress

 

@A10101O: No there is no point in 64bit, I had that installed on it for a while and eventually had nothing but problems with it, I also saw no performance gains so I reinstalled 32bit. Yes Ultimate will enable optimus, shinobe is correct in that all versions except starter can do it. This is because all versions except starter have the ability to maintain two graphics drivers at once (one for the GMA one for the ION) as opposed to starter only being able chose between one, at every reboot. Well there arent many that are even compatible with it; that being said, I put a DDR3-1333 2GB Crucial stick in mine and its been great.

EDIT: This is the one I bought: http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=CD5DB849A5CA7304 if you dont buy this one, make sure which ever you buy has only 4 NAND (nand right?) memory chips on each side, as opposed to 8 on each side, those are the ones reported not to be compatible with the 1015.

@shinobe: Im also not sure if there are any performance differences between the two, and if its available outside of America, but as for your last thing, there are different models of the 1015 and only 2 of the PN that I know of, The different models of the 1015 include no ION2 less RAM ect, the only other difference of PNs Ive read/know of is that one has 2gb of ram and win7 hp preinstalled while as the other as starter and 1gb of ram....otherwise all else is equal, id ask them about that.

 

Thanks a lot, CrappyAlloy, for the good info.

I don't get the part about 4NAND but I want to buy this RAM:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6075368&CatId=4153

The shipping fees are much lower, and the specs seem to be the same (?)

 

If the picture for that is correct, it should work just fine. You see the relativly large black chips on the ram? Those (NAND type I believe, but don't quote me on it) are the actual memory modules. If there are 8 on either side, it won't work for w/e reason with the 1015.

 

Oh that's where they are. Ok. Well, I decided on this RAM because the first person to give a review used it on the 1015PN and it works, so assuming it's not a Tiger Direct drone, it should be ok. Thanks again.

 

I got the 1015PN about a month ago.
Happy with it.
Upgraded to 2gb (Crucial) and Home Premium. (anytime)

I didn't see a huge jump from Starter.

I would however like some precise direction on speeding up power on/start up.
I don't see many programs I'm sure I want to delete forever-- however I would like to unpin All unnecessaries form start menus to do so.
Even after my desktop appears the hourglass flashes 4 separate times and can't do anything for another 20 secs.

thx

 

I keep a 16gb class 10 sd card in the card reader, have it dedicated towards readyboost, helps.

 

Thanks above.
A little better Boot up speed with Patriot LX 8GB Class-10 card.
I'm pretty spoiled with Intel X25's on 14" and Desktop computers.

Now being prompted and emailed to make my 30 day trial of Trend Micro a yearly subscription.
Seems OK except 29.95.

Not sure Which version I have despite Icon and 'properties' which just says 'Titanium'.
($10 on ebay) No mention of 'netbook' version on properties or Icon.
Tho email from TrendM to make it yearly says I have "Security for netbook". And next page 'Titanium for netbook'.
Apparently an easier on processor/memory version. Good idea But 29.95 for mini-Trend is a rip.
Trend 'netbook' Not sold by third parties or on ebay except for CDW multi-licenses.

Go with free AVG, avast etc, etc?
What's best for speed but still protects against virus/trojans?
I have another Kaspersky License but that may be too ponderous for netbook?

 

I use MSE, Microsoft Security Essentials, fast, light, and hasnt let me down yet.

 

I use Avira and Commodo - both are small, quick and reliable.

Installed the 2GB RAM upgrade and there is a noticeable improvement - smoother, faster.

After charging the battery before the first use, I used the netbook twice, for a total of about half an hour. I used it again four days later, and the battery life was HALF of when I last used it. I'm sure the netbook was turned off, not just in sleep mode, etc. Has anyone experienced this? Is it normal (and if so, what can be done??) or is this a lemon battery?

Thanks

 

A10101O: have you let it go through a couple of charge cycles? I havent experienced that. Sure the battery will lose a certain amount of its charge over a period of time, but 50% in four days seems like a lot. Id run the battery through a few charge cycles first and see if that improves.

 

Hi, no just one charge cycle so far. I'll try going through a couple and then we'll see. Thanks

 

I just got one in yesterday. Updated to Home. SD Card today and Memory should be in tomorrow.
Any reason why I couldn't just use Migrate Easy to move the active partition to a new Hard Drive and then swap? I have a new 320 GB 7200 RPM drive in stock for the swap...

 

Ummm cloning/swapping of active partitions/hdds isnt really my forte, but from what I know, should be just fine, as long as you copy everything over (including the recovery partition if you want it). Its just getting at the HDD in the 1015PN in and of itself is a bit more difficult then its 12xx counterparts

 

Interesting. That would be a bit of an oversight, as the Memory and then Hard Drive are probably the parts that would be serviced or replaced most often. AlanP

Patriot Signature Memory chip came into today fro Amazon. 2 GB PC#-10600 DDR3 1333Mhz #PSD32G13332S. Nice price at $24.99, but It Doesn't Work.

Unfortunately there wasn't an image available on the Site Page, but this was the 8-chip style... so it seems reasonable that it didn't work, I guess. How do you design a Netbook that doesn't take the current memory chips?

Ow, well. Save yourself some grief and avoid the Patriot chip. alanP

 

That's too bad, sometimes BIOS updates will have better RAM compatibility. Are you on the latest?

 

AlanP/ALLurGroceries: It wasnt on this forum if I remember correctly, but me, among many others can confirm that even the newest bios does nothing to resolve this 4 NAND vs 8 NAND memory chips problem, my guess would be due to the chipset/motherboard/atom, something hardware related (as the 1215 doesnt suffer from this), but thats just a shot in the dark.

AlanP: Agreed. Even though they provide one little door to get at the RAM with, its still a PIA. And no access to the HDD whatsoever, unless you take the case apart, is definitely not something favored among many

 

It will cost their service department a fortune. But then again, designed in obsolescence?

Probably won't be any CPU upgrade How-To Threads posted on this Netbook any time soon, or at all... AlanP

 

Ordered a 2 gb stick directly from Crucial. Worked perfectly. Now dumping bloatware... That does speed things up! AlanP

Note on Bluetooth Mouse, for those with memory rust like me... When trying to connect, remember to push and hold the connect button on the bottom of your Mouse... AlanP

 

Thx AlanP.
My 1015PN is humming now with 2gb/W7/Readyboost Cl-10

Can I ask which programs you are dumping
Not sure which I may need in future.

Would love to dump especially anything that loads on start-up.
Get 3 or 4 separate hour-glasses even after my now faster boot up/desktop appears.

 

I downloaded older Setfsb. My CPU is unstable at 1.9 setting. Currently I have it a 1.83 and its runs without issue. The command line setting is -s122 for 1.83 [Turbo], and -s102 [Stock] is slightly higher than stock speed. The true Stock speed works out to 101.7, a non-integer value. -s128 was the highest value that I tried, and it locked up while running the Win7 performance test. I also had some lockup issue at -s127 setting.

I plan to increment the value +1 from time to time until the max stable for my Laptop is reached. I did run into a strange problem in testing. If I ran SetFSB prior to the Wireless connecting, it then fails to make a connection. So obvious solution is to wait until the wireless connection is made first.... AlanP

 

Regarding dumping bloatware. There is a posting on Asus bloatware that is somewhat current to this Netbook. I installed Windows Security Essentials, which allowed me to get rid of that annoying to purchase Trend Micro. I dumped boingo. ebay and that connect software that jumps to the top of the Screen. Look through the stuff that wants to autoboot and dump if you aren't going to use it. Not sure if it makes much difference, but I did upgrade to the Home version for OS.... AlanP

 

Anyone mind downloading GPU-Z and going to the sensors tab and letting me know what your Core/memory/shader are running at? I've tried and tried but can't get it to run faster than 405/405/810.

Btw, mine is using a 2GB DDR3 1333 CL9 stick that I put in that has 8 chips on each side, seems to work fine, also upgraded the HDD to a 500GB a few days ago.

 

Thx AlanP above.

OK. The final frontier.
Anyone put an SSD on a 1015PN?
Not sure how much faster than my ReadyBoost it will be but maybe someone here has tried.
Not an easy back job.

I found nice instructions with pix tho:
Download Asus 1015PN/1015PEM/1015PED/1015PE hard-disk upgrade to SSD - Greatly increase the speed of your netbook with SSD upgrade
-

 

Wow. Now I thought that working on a Dell 15" Vostro and Latitude for cpu replacement were ugly jobs. They are a walk in the park compared to getting into the 1015PN. I am really not sure that it would be worth the effort... AlanP

 

Hello,

So I've upgraded to a 2GB RAM, then installed WIN7 Ultimate and it's running beautifully. Very fast and smooth. Noticeably faster than WIN 7 Starter.

The only issue now is getting the network controller driver (Code 28). I went to the Asus site and dl'd drivers for LAN and WIRELESS but I still cannot get it to work. Any advice for the newbie? Thanks

 

hi!

could you make a screenshot of setfsb to see which settings to use to reach 2ghz please?

thank you very much!

 

Sorry man, I just sold my 1015 a week or so ago, to get the Transformer. But I believe the PLL was between 560-580.

 

i use this clock generator ICS9LPR427AGLF
i can't get more than 1700mhz...
so i use the wrong clock generator?

thank you

 

Are you trying to use the freeware version?

 

Still the network controller problem after installing WIN7 ultimate. Can't find solution on ASUS website. No net access without it. Any suggestions, please? Thanks.

 

yes i use the free version
setfsb_2_2_134_98

i have to use another version?

 

Their are several different WLAN downloads, on ASUSs page, have you tried all of them? Took me a few tries too, to get it right.

Hmm well I donated to the guy, and he unlocked all of its features, perhaps thats why you cant go higher.

 

I tried all of them. One of them finally worked. Thanks a lot (again).

 

Hello CrappyAlloy. I've heard that when people install ultimate or home premium, they lose their fn+key function and have problems with the video controllers in their device managers (they see just one instead of two). Is there any truth to this? If so, how should I go about it? I'm about to receive my 1015pn in 2-3 days Thanks a lot.

P.S. I also ordered a 2gb ram from crucial.

 

There is, but only by those who dont reinstall all of whats necessary

Once youve completed the fresh install, reinstall everything related to the keyboard off of ASUS's support page (that will take care of the fn+key); also the graphics switch program, once installed set it to optimus and reboot, once rebooted Windows will see both GPU's and install both sets of drivers as such

Id also recommend using the Super Hybrid Engine, and other WLAN/Bluetooth drivers off of the support page. MSE from Microsoft too if you're looking for a good light weight anti virus.

Should be good from there

 

That would be great! Is it ok if you give me a link to the ASUS drivers for 1015pn? Also, would the battery life increase with all the changes I'm about to do?

One more thing, if ever I have optimus on, how will I know? I mean, how will I know if ION is on when I need it and off when I don't?

Sorry, I'm not very computer literate. This is my first ever netbook and I wanna make it nice.

You're helping me a lot. Thank you!

Please standby for more questions this week. hahaha

 

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Drivers and Download Eee PC 1015PN
I am not sure which version you are installing (32bit vs 64bit) so just select which one you are going with on their and it will bring you to all of the downloads (note: you dont need every one of them)

Well, if you get it set up all nicely, optimus, super hybrid engine etc, yes, but only just, because you are removing a lot of the bloatware that would otherwise be running in the background.

If you are upgrading from Starter I would recommend always having it on (except for perhaps long gaming sessions, if you are going to do that with it) as it can help quite a bit. The point of optimus is for seamless switching, so normally you wont know if its working lol but if High Definition videos and games are running smoothly youll know its on, as well as the netbook running a bit hotter and the fan a bit louder. Youll know its off if the netbook is running exceptionally cooler (because even if the ION2 isnt doing anything, if it is on, it will increase the temp of near every component in the netbook), and if tools like HwInfo32 only show the Intel GMA.

Its all good; and I am here most every day

 

So, in other words, when I successfully install win7 ultimate and all of the necessary things for optimus, it will always get as hot as when ion is on all the time? Also, will the battery life increase because of the optimus technology?

P.S. My laptop will arrive tomorrow. My uncle said that he'll try to find a legit win7 ultimate and probably send it next time. So for now, I'll be sticking with starter. I don't think it's too bad

 

What? Lol no; if you get all of that installed correctly, it should almost always be cool and quiet, as if the ION were never on and yes it will, its purpose is to increase performance when needed, and battery life at all other times.

I used starter for a little while too, its bearable

 

sounds great and I am convinced. I will be posting future (a far future) problems here when I install my win7 ultimate. I have full confidence that you can answer all of my questions.

Thanks a lot!!!!

 

Hey! I got the netbook already! I think I'm happy with the starter, but I'll still install the ultimate next time. The laptop is working very well! I love it so far. I have another question. When the light turns green after charging, how long should I leave it till I can unplug it? Also, can I start charging once the battery is at 15% or less? As much as possible, I want to prolong this battery. Thanks a lot!

 

You can unplug it as soon as it turns green, even if it isnt at 100%, it stops at green to stop overcharging.

Yes you can start charging even lower then that if you wanted, but a few things to remember about this tech battery;
1. Heat is your worse enemy, which means optimus would help, or just leaving the ION off when you dont need it.
2. The battery will actually last longer (its life span) if kept at 40% or higher charge at all times.
3. If you want to go the extreme route, take the battery out and put it into a ziplock baggy, then into the fridge (also around 40% charge or higher), when your not planning on using the battery for long periods of time.

Glad your enjoying it

 

thank you very much, again. it's nice to have someone answering your questions

What I do is that whenever I don't use the battery (full charge, mid charge, or no charge at all), I take it out of the laptop and put it aside. I hope I'm not doing anything wrong.