About to buy an ASUS Eee PC 1215N-PU17, have some questions!

I finally decided to replace my Acer Aspire One 10.1 inch Netbook. Good little netbook but I want to be able to run Photoshop and some other programs with a little less load time.

I was looking at some of the different 10.1 inch Dual Core models on the market and then I stumbled upon the 12.1 inch ASUS Eee PC 1215N-PU17. I'm not sure that ASUS would have been my first choice but spec wise, it seems to be the only 12 inch model on the market running Dual Core Atoms AND the Ion. At least its the only one I could find. I know Toshiba is suppose to be releasing one but I don't know "when".

Anyway I find the 1.80Ghz Dual Core, the Invidia Ion and being able to run 4.0GB of ram very appealing so I'm pretty sure this the model I'm going to buy. The added screen size is a plus too. It's a little bigger then the 10.1 inch Netbooks but not so much bigger that it's too much of a pain in the butt or anything.

Anyway I have a couple general questions!

I see it includes 2.0GB of DDR3 right out of the box. Is this one or two sticks? I want to order enough ram to make it 4.0GB but I don't know if I need to order one stick or two.

Also does anyone know the speed of the ram included? I see they make a 1333 and a 1066. Not that it matters I guess, if I buy a stick of 1333, it would just default to 1066 if the included stick was 1066 right? That's if it already includes one 2.0GB stick and not two 1GB sticks anyway. From the specs though, it sounds like it comes with one 2.0GB stick though.

Moving on to the OS, I intend to run Windows 7 Ultimate X64 to utilize the full 4.0GB of ram because I'm already running 64-bit W7 on my home PC and all my programs and apps are already gears around a 64-bit system anyway. That said, I are there any certain drivers I need to be made aware of to keep all the features of this Netbook working like they should?

Battery... I want as much life as I can get as I'll be using this for collage. Are they any extended batteries available for this unit? If so what kind of life do they have? I hear the included battery runs about 6 hours, so says ASUS... What can I really expect out of it though?

Car chargers. Are they any?

ASUS products over all. I've ALWAYS bought ASUS brand motherboards my whole life. I've had GOOD luck with them, I've never had one die on me, I've always retired them for a newer model and I normally leave my desktops on 24/7 and get 5+ years of usage out of them. That said, this will be my FIRST ASUS purchase that is not just a motherboard, but a whole computer. How are there Eee PC Netbooks holding up over all?

Ummm, I think that about covers my main set of questions. Is there anything else I should know?

Thanks guys/gals!

 

Regarding ram, as far as i know even with 64bit os, only around 3.2 is visible due to chip limitations. pretty soon 1215b (update of 1215n) will be available, its a better machine, with amd brazos cpu. I saw video review of 1215b, and if i recall correctly 3.64 of ram was visible. I think you should go with 1215b.

 

Will the 1215 run the software effectively? Yes.

Would anyone want to use a 12" system as their main editing program for things like PS? Probably not, it's still a bit small for things like this (just like the 10" screens).

You can find compatible aftermarket car chargers on eBay. Asus doesn't make any directly.

I would suggest you seriously consider looking at Asus' line of 13" ultraportables instead - much better performance on PS etc, bigger screen with minimal increase in chassis size compared to 1215, better battery runtime, not greatly more expensive and still low weight.

 

Everything is good except the fact that ASUS produced them air-tight. In order to upgrade even the HDD, you need to tear apart the entire machine voiding the warranties.

I was planning to buy one too but after learning this fact I changed my mind. The very first thing that I do to a laptop is the HDD upgrade.


--

 

Well that sucks about the HDD. I already have an SSD sitting here I planned to install.

HRM...

 

Wait for Asus 1215b Zacate Fusion if you like Asus. But if you can't wait any longer you can pick up a thinkpad x120e or dm1z with Fusion Zacate also.

Don't get Asus 1215n, that is old technology and it still uses an Atom eventhough it is dual core, it felt very anemic in day to day task. The ion 2 on it is also hindered so you won't be able to use its full power because 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 thus lowering the gpu performance.

Amd Fusion E-350 is the one that you need and it destroys single cored atom netbooks and even the d525 dual core atoms butt.

 

How does it rank for video performance as far as games?

 

video performance part 1 YouTube - Asus 1215B review - performances - part 1
video performance part 2 YouTube - Asus 1215B review - performances - part 2

 

The 1215b is a better choice over the 1215n - it has better overall performance and battery life.
The 1215n is a good machine and i get a fair bit of use out of mine but theres no reason to get one anymore since the 1215b is a better, cheaper model that should be out soon.

With regards to the hdd swap there are a couple of tutorials on how to safely open the case with a credit card so its not impossible or hard... it's just rather fragile and you need to be careful.