Summary: 1) I would like to get a notebook for mobile computing and on-the-go gaming. 2) 2 netbooks have the Ion chipset: the HP 311 http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF25a/321957-321957-3329742-3832386-3832386-4011345.html and Asus 1201N http://www.netbookreviews.net/asus/eee-pc-1201n/ 3) In favour of the Asus: has dual core Atom 330, more memory (2Gb), Windows 7 4) In favour of the HP: available now (Asus in January), £100 cheaper, can upgrade to 3Gb Memory and Windows 7. The question: is it worth waiting or are the real-world and gaming gains insignificant? The long story: I've recently built my first desktop and I am VERY happy with it. Can game properly for the 1st time in 4 years! But since my laptop died, I've come across a small problem: I can't exactly put my CM Scout in my backpack. I was thinking of getting a cheapish netbook to fill my mobile niche and, with nVidia's Ion, perhaps a bit of light gaming on the go. After a day of extensive research, I've come across 2 contenders: the HP mini 311 and the Asus 1201N. Both have 12in screens and have the Ion chipset. The difference is the 311 uses the Atom 270 (1.6GHz singel core) and the Asus 1201N the Atom 330 (1.6 GHz dual core). The Asus also comes with 2Gb memory but is £100 more and the memory can be added to the HP. I would like the Asus but it will only be coming out in January whereas the HP is available now. So what I'm wondering is if anyone knows if it's worth waiting for the Atom 330 over the Atom N270? Would appreciate any thoughts!
Definitely wait for the Asus, I'd say that the better processor, memory and OS is worth the 100£ premium!
I'd wait for the asus. Bear in mind that you'll nicely void you're warranty by upgrading ram, and spend at least £60 on win7. Also HP have famously bad build quality, wheras asus tend to be pretty solidly built quality. i've got an asus netbook (1005HA) and its rock solid compared to my friends HP netbook (cant remember the model). Finally, the keyboard on that asus looks like its taking after the mac and sony design, which could just make it an amazing netbook keyboard - of course only reviews will tell... It also looks like it could be backlit in games the dual core should give a good boost over the single core cpu, that will be much needed for such an underpowered chip.
Wait for the asus, with the atom330 you will be able to watch youtube HD videos, the 270 lacks the grunt to decode as its all ran on the CPU and not on the ION chipset....adobe have said for about a year they are working on somehow swapping this over.... And as Gryphon says, Asus are unmatched for build quality and longevity!
Cool. That's what I was thinking as well. Was just afraid I'd wait 2 months and end up getting the HP after all I know adobe is developing flash 10.1 which allows flash to off load on the GPU. It's available as a beta now.
Hello. I just joined this forum specifically to jump into this thread. I am in the EXACT same position as the OP, except I'm not really a gamer. The only games I play are WCIII (dota). I think either machine will be able to play WCIII so I'm not really in need of the faster one. I am a media junkie though. I never actually play HD video, but I could definately see myself switching over to HD in the future as I pretty much have unlimited HD space on a remote server. Anyway, down to the meat of my question. Both computers seem pretty awesome and I'm owed a netbook for christmas. How long do you guys think the 1201n's battery life is? The HP seems to get around 5.5 hours of battery life, and I've seen the asus quoted anywhere between 4-8 hours. Also, the HP has DDR3 (as opposed to DDR2) RAM. How much of a difference will that really make? The 1201n has a duo-core processor... is that really a lot better than the single core the HP has? Lastly, is there any chance of Hackintoshing the Asus. People have been hackintoshing the HP's quite a bit and after snooping around it seems that the 311 is just a matter of time. I'm really quite confused at this point, but I'm leaning towards the HP because it (seems) to have better battery life and I could actually get it on christmas. Thoughts?
I've been looking into this a lot and here's what I know (or think I know): 1) the Asus will have a worse battery life 2) both should play DOTA (same game!) 3) Due to graphics card offloading and flash 10.1, both should have no trouble playing video 4) DDR 3 RAM doesn't actually make any difference. Both will eventually be CPU limited but I'm banking on the Asus being slightly faster in everyday tasks and, hopefully, play slightly better games. I would also like to overclock the Asus which you can't do on the HP. As for Hackintoshes, I understand you can turn the HP into one now, but Apple is thinking of removing netbook support in a future undate. The Asus' status is uncertain.
Cheap 13in laptop - HELP! Kinda related to my other thread, but does anyone know of a cheap 13inch laptop? Not looking for it to be amazingly fast, but I would like to be able to play some games on it (older stuff like WarCraft III or NWN) and it needs to be highly portable. Google hasn't been amazingly helpful but I'm hoping the bit community is better? Budget around £400-£500 (more towards the £400)
I was curious what you guys think about these benchmarks http://netbooked.net/blog/asus-eee-pc-1201n-vs-hp-mini-311-benchmarks/ I'm really uncertain to as what these 3D benchmarks mean, but I thought it was quite good that despite the 1201n having a duocore processor the 311 beat it in two benchmarks... What exactly does this mean? Is this pretty much a tie? Is there some tweaking that hasn't been done to the 1201n yet that could be hiding it's potential "betterness"? Really curious what your opinions are...
Well, I'm kind of the same way, except for the 311. I'm feeling that the 311 will have better battery life AND can POSSIBLY have OS X put on it. At this point they can't get the wifi working so basically I don't care at all about an operating system unless it can use wifi. Anyway my trade off is possibility of OS X and better battery life VS better performance... so my question has to become how much better is the battery life of the 311 and how much better is the performance of the 1201n? I think these questions really can't be answered until the 1201n actually hits the stores. Not a big deal for me because I'm still raising the cash to buy one of these puppies.
