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Asus' Eee Top review: budget all-in-one unique in form, function

Review of the Asus Eee Top budget all-in-one.

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Rich Brown Former Senior Editorial Director - Home and Wellness
Rich was the editorial lead for CNET's Home and Wellness sections, based in Louisville, Kentucky. Before moving to Louisville in 2013, Rich ran CNET's desktop computer review section for 10 years in New York City. He has worked as a tech journalist since 1994, covering everything from 3D printing to Z-Wave smart locks.
Expertise Smart home, Windows PCs, cooking (sometimes), woodworking tools (getting there...)
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Rich Brown

We finally got our hands on Asus' new Eee Top ET1602 $599 touch-screen all-in-one PC long enough to write a full review. We can't say we completely love it, but it does offer some unique usage scenarios.

The Asus Eee Top, with wireless mouse and keyboard (options still unconfirmed for the U.S.). Asus

What we like most about the Eee Top is that it's small enough and light enough to move from room to room, but with an even smaller footprint than a laptop. It achieves that space savings because the touch screen lets you go without a keyboard entirely. We can imagine someone placing the Eee Top on a countertop or a shelf without it completely dominating the space.

As it's powered by a 1.6GHz Atom processor, the Eee Top is not a serious computer for work or play, even for a budget PC. It will get on the Web, play music, and perform all the basic tasks you might expect it to, but even opening a browser can feel slow. We also don't find Asus' custom touch software as polished as that of HP's TouchSmart line. Then again, this system will only cost $599 when it hits the U.S. retail market on March 9. TouchSmarts start at $1,050.

Read the full review of the Asus Eee Top ET1602.