Acer Review, Asus Review – Netbook 10

When I first saw the Asus Eee PC T91, I wasn’t very open to tablet netbooks. I feel the same way about it as I do flip phones, they’re fragile, breakable things that I would just find inside my bag already in two or more pieces.

We’ve already given the T91 a cursory look, and while the ones available on Amazon as of now isn’t the impressive model with the optional GPS, TV Tuner, and 3G (HSUPA), let’s see how the T91 looks like.

[Rating:5.5/7]

Features

• The Size – it’s tiny, with a thin and light chassis that weighs two pounds and is no more than an inch thick. The lithium polymer batteries help with the dimensions since it doesn’t make the T91 bulky or heavy. The size alone gives a new meaning to “portable”.

• Great Build – For it’s size and weight, the T91 is durable, with even with the mostly plastic construction, quality is great. It doesn’t flex, with a firm keyboard and the sturdy hinges lessened my concern about finding it in two separate pieces inside my bag.

• Keyboard has larger keys – for a little guy, the keyboard is comfortable to use. The touchpad is also big, although it’s still posible to misjudge where you’re pressing.

• OK Performance – reasonable performance, the way you would expect an Intel Atom-based netbook to perform. It can handle your everyday needs such as web surfing, document editing, email, music, etc., but there’s nothing out-of-the-ordinary. Also, it has issues with playing 1080p videos. There’s a lot of stutter there and annoying dropped frames, and audio that’s out of sync.

• Battery is impressive – Depending on who you’re talking to, the battery life is impressive. Battery can really last for as long as 5 hours as stated. Now there are netbook batts that can last longer than that, but at least the T91 didn’t claim anything it wasn’t able to deliver.

Drawbacks

• The Size – It’s 8.9″. Netbooks nowadays can go to the more comfortable 10 – 11″ without compromising mobility. Bigger netbooks can be a tad heavier, but the screens are better for viewing. Also, it comes with a standard Windows XP which isn’t the best operating system for a tiny machine with a touchscreen. The size will also cause you issues when you’re using the touchscreen. A big finger will mean more instances of you tapping the wrong icon on the screen. It comes with a collapsible stylus, but then that’s a drawback too because it tends to… err, collapse while you’re using it.

Rating – 5.5/7
Value for Money – 1
Speed and Performance – 0.5
Screen – 0.5
Keyboard – 0.5
Portability & Battery Life – 1
Looks and Design – 1
Extensibility & connectivity – 1

Bottomline

The bottom line is that the Asus Eee PC T91 is a low-priced quality touchscreen tablet that delivers on its promise without being expensive, or fussy. It works like a charm, realiable, and very affordable considering that it’s a tablet. You might want to hold out for the model with the added fuss of the GPS, TV Tuner, and 3G though, but if you don’t need them and you have your heart set on getting a T91, then you can head on over to Amazon right now and get one for $499.95.

Related posts:

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3. Great – and I mean Great! -Netbook Deals
4. Asus Eee PC 1000HE Review
5. Asus N10J-A1 Gaming Netbook Review

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