Asus Eee PC 1015PN-PU17 user reviews (black)

Pros -performance is good considering it's a netbook computer
-it's Windows XP compatible
-although Windows Se7en Starter doesn't support automatic graphics switching, by upgrading to Ultimate you can use that feature
-has the large version of the Enter key(no

Cons -battery life not great but you get (much) better performance than almost every single netbook on the market
-the white version has glossy lip(the only one like this - the other version available are all matte)
-some controls on the keyboard don't always

Summary The 1015PN is a netbook that delivers good performance and the fact that it supports XP is great. I got mine configured with 3 partitions: 1st: XP, 2nd:My Data, 3rd: Se7en.XP still feels a lot faster than Se7en. The automatic graphics switching capability is not available under Windows 7 Starter - you need to upgrade to 7 Home Premium or Ultimate in order to use it, otherwise you will have to make the switch manually via the ASUS Graphics Switch software.A problem is that under XP it isn't possible to automatically switch from the Intel chip to the ION one.You can't even switch between the chips. You can use both graphics chips under XP by installing Se7en on a different partition after installing XP.After switching to the other graphics chip under 7 you can easily boot XP and it detects the graphics chip you activated under 7. But for this you'd have to have XP and Se7en installed on the same HDD. I did it with 3 partitions(XP,Data&7) and everything runs properly - with a 250GB HDD you can afford to do it although I would love to upgrade to 750GB one. If you plan to listen to music via the dedicated headphones jack I should tell you the volume you can achieve isn't great but WILL definitely suffice for most users - I had to repair some netbooks and I also tested them - regarding volume power the 1015PN is somewhere in between an Acer Aspire(which had incredibly low headphones volume) and an HP Mini(which had incredibly high headphones volume compared to other netbooks).I like the fact that the mic and headphones connect to different jacks - like this you can make use of both a microphone and headphones without a 3.5mm jack multiplier..Something I would like to add is that sometimes some commands simply don't work under 7 - I'm talking about the dedicated buttons for switching WiFi and BT states and the one for lowering/increasing the CPU frequency - sometimes they just don't work under 7 but after restarting the PC and entering 7 again they work properly - I noticed this since I first bought the computer.I should add that under XP I never had this strange problem and I've had the netbook in a dual-OS configuration for some time now.
I tried to install XP from both a memory stick and a CD(using external USB-interface DVD-RW) and the computer gave some problems by displaying the Blue Screen of Death. I had to switch the hard disk drive mode to IDE under BIOS and everything worked flawlessly. Take into account that neither the Acer Aspire nor the HP Mini had this option under BIOS, so in order to install XP you would need to first load some drivers(the IDE ones) from the internet and then run the XP Setup Program.Thanks to ASUS I didn't have to go through all that but just enter the BIOS and change a setting. You can also overclock this guy, but I don't think it's worth it. I increased the CPU clock speed from 1.5GHz to 1.6GHz so I now have an N550 performing like an N570. I really love the shape of the Enter key, which is designed in the complete version, unlike some versions that come with it shaped like the shift key. The USB ports are quite separated so you can use two wide memory sticks one next to another although I would've separated the ports a bit more. A "problem" might be the fact that the arrow keys are quite small - you can always set the controls under the game menu and substitute the arrow keys with the W-A-S-D combination, given that the rest of the keys are bigger than the arrow keys.I haven't tested the HDMI-out yet because I haven't bought an HDMI cable yet but the VGA-out works flawlessly. Another thing to add would be that with the Intel graphics chip active you can reach screen resolutions higher than 1024x600 so you can have more things displayed on the 10" display. Talking about the display, thank God it's not reflective and you can use it outside on a sunny day without having to struggle to read. The screen's margin is glossy and I don't see why ASUS chose to go this way - anyway, at least the screen is matte.The battery life isn't great, actually it's more or less like the battery life of a much slower Acer with a 3-cell batt.I think the battery drains out quite fast sometimes, e.g. when you play a game or even navigate on the internet with the processor clocked at it's top speed and the nVidia ION graphics chip enabled.The speakers it packs produce a crisp and clear sound but there's absolutely no bass coming from them - at least they sound clear. The speaker power is quite good,unlike some Acer Aspire netbooks that don't provide enough sound power even the volume is turned up at the maximum level.The white version of the 1015PN comes with a glossy lid - it's the only one with glossy lid - the other versions all come with matte finishing.I own the white version and it collects some fingerprints but since it's white they're not that visible - I would've like a matte white version though,I'm quite tired of shiny looks. Having a white netbook is having something that's different from what they usually sell : black&blue(especially black) netbooks.
If you want to upgrade the RAM you can easily do it by taking off the tap under the netbook -you will need a screwdriver, but you won't have to take out the whole keyboard part(like I had to do with the HP Mini, in order to just upgrade the RAM to 2GB). Now, if you need to upgrade the HDD to a higher capacity one, be prepared: THERE ARE NO SCREWS -you need a straight screwdriver and a lot of care and patience to take out the whole keyboard part,including the touch pad part - do it carefully to maintain the good looks of this ASUS.It uses that "click" system without screws. The HDD used inside my netbook is a SATA Western Digital(5.4K RPM). What can I say, games run much better in XP than under 7 - I tested a lot of games from Vice City, Age of Empires, San Andreas, Brothers In Arms,Call of Duty - Black Ops is quite slow on this PC, reaching only 15-20FPS with the processor running at 1.6GHz(overclocked),the ION graphics chip activated and no other program opened. I guess it's quite CPU limited for Black Ops. Surprisingly, video playback in Black Ops was incredibly smooth. Modern Warfare runs at 20-25FPS and is playable but it uses 1.1GB of RAM alone, so upgrading to 2GB should improve performance considerably.Underground 2, Most Wanted and Carbon run just fine. I forgot to mention that the keyboard layout is very good and I really like the fact that by using the Fn button you can bring up the Task Manager - very useful in that crappy OS called Win7, in which you need to get through a screen of options just to bring up the task manager. Other functions would be: Enter Hibernate/Standby mode,Disable Touch Pad,Switch WiFi/BT state(although they provide a dedicated button for it), change screen resolution, increase/decrease screen brightness, switch off screen, mute on/off, decrease/increase speaker volume, activate Num Lock and Scroll Lock. I would've like a dedicated space for the so-called mouse wheel. In order to scroll a page up/down you need to use 2 fingers and slowly move them across the touchpad.Although the pad uses a just a button to cover left/right click buttons I never failed to click the the button I needed so this isn't a problem - also, they can be pressed silently, unlike some touchpad buttons on some Aspires, that create that click sound every single time you press the touchpad buttons. The webcam image is fine and it even has a shutter which I like to call " The Privacy Switch". They integrated a small blue LED near the camera lens to show when the camera is used.I don't like the charger connector since it's way smaller than any connectors I can use with my universal laptop charger but there are universal netbook chargers that should include a connector like the one used by this ASUS model.
I saw there are Acer netbooks that don't have a cover or any kind of protection for the card reader. This ASUS comes with an SD card-shaped plastic that fits perfectly inside the card reader so you can protect it from dust. In a successful intent to maintain the design, ASUS covered the LAN connector with a piece of plastic that continues the shape of the computer - you just have to lower that switch and the connector becomes a standard RJ45 for Internet cables.I've had this computer for some time now and I never regretted buying it.