Atomic Kitties: Asus Eee PC 1000H, MSI Wind and Acer Aspire One review

By Alexander Villafania INQUIRER.net THEY'RE small, fast and inexpensive. They're also among the first truly ultramo bile PCs that are based on the new Intel Atom processor. We test them side by s ide to see which comes out the best in the litter. Not surprising, they're all made in Taiwan. MSI, Asus and Acer are among the strongest Asian computer brands in the market today. They are also among the least expensive compared to more established Wes tern brands like HP and Dell. When Asus introduced the Eee PC in 2007, it point ed to a new direction that few computer manufacturers dared to go: small form f actors notebook. Among, if not the first, true ultramobile PC (UMPC) is the Toshiba Libretto, wh ich used an Intel Pentium processor, a Microsoft Windows operating system and a hard disk drive. Its small size, equally small keyboard (about 60 percent of a full size keyboard), and less than 1 kilogram weight made it appealing to peop le who wanted mobility. However, it was priced much higher than a full-size lap top. Since then, many manufacturers have attempted to create small form-factor notebooks at less than stellar prices but most opted to go for powerful electro nic personal digital assistants. The archetypal RIM Blackberry also led to a re volution of PC-like mobile devices, which pushed back motivation to create UMPC s. However, Asus's Eee PC generated a huge demand in the market that some manufact urers have started going small. MSI, Redfox, Blue, HP, and Acer took notice and launched their own UMPCs. Via and AMD also got into the fray as it tried to go after Intel's Celeron processor. Intel eventually moved on to develop the Atom . In mid-2008, notebook manufacturers like MSI and Asus took the plunge and imm ediately deployed their first Atom-based "netbooks," as Intel would have wanted to call them. For this review, we test the Asus Eee PC 1000H, the first generation Acer Aspir e One and the MSI Wind, three of the first UMPCs that incorporate the Intel Ato m. However the Acer Aspire One will be given a different set of tests since the unit provided by Acer did not include Microsoft Windows XP and a hard disk. We 'll get to that later. Configuration The Asus Eee PC 1000H is the third generation of Eee PCs but is the second to h ave an Intel Atom-based processor (the first one was the Eee PC 901) at 1.6 Gig ahertz. This UMPC comes with a configuration of 1 Gigabyte RAM module, an 80 Gb 2.5-inch laptop hard disk (the first model to have a hard disk as previous mod els used solid state drives), and Windows XP operating system. This UMPC's scre en is 10.2 inches, which makes it easier to view Windows. The MSI Wind comes with similar hardware and software configuration as the Eee PC: 1.6 GHz Atom processor, 80 Gb hard disk drive partitioned to 40 Gb each, 1 Gb RAM, a 10-inch LCD screen, and Windows XP operating system. The Acer Aspire One, the first UMPC from Acer, is much closer to the original c onfiguration of the Eee PC 701. Other than its 1.6 GHz Atom processor, the Aspi re One uses an 8 Gb SSD, 512 megabyte RAM module, a fairly smaller 8.9-inch mon itor and a Linpus Linux operating system. Acer will be launching a Windows XP v ersion of the Aspire One that will be more competitive with the MSI Wind and Ee e PC 1000H soon. Dimensions, weight Size and weight is a major consideration when it comes to UMPCs. Of the three, the Acer Aspire One is the smallest at 170 millimeter (width) by 249 mm (depth) by 29 mm (height). It also has an 8.9-inch screen. It is lighter at just about 0.900 kilograms. The gleaming plastic surface of the Aspire One also makes it more appealing compared to the three Atom UMPCs, giving it a stur dy look. However, the plastic is also prone to hand smudges, which become obvio us when handled by moist hands. Even the dark screen is prone to smudges so use rs would need soft cloths to constantly wipe clean the entire unit. Meanwhile, the MSI Wind is larger due to its 10-inch screen. It is 180 mm by 26 0 mm by 19 mm, and weighs 1.18 kg. Its entire body is made of plastic although the top cover has a much thicker plastic surface to protect the LCD components. The unit INQUIRER.net tested also comes in pink color! Not surprising, the once small Asus Eee PC 1000H is now noticeably bigger and h eavier. Its "vital statistics" are 265.9 mm by 191.3 mm by 38.1 mm. It weighs 1 .450 kg due to a standard 6-cell battery pack. Keyboard, screen, and webcam Despite the varying dimensions of these three UMPCs, there are minute differenc es in the keyboard sizes of each. The Eee PC and the MSI Wind keyboard have the largest key sizes at about 98 percent ratio to a full-size keyboard. This is f ollowed by the Acer Aspire One at 95 percent keyboard size -- this is despite h aving smaller dimensions, the Aspire One managed to fully utilize the entire le ngth of the lower half of the notebook. Using almost normal-sized keys is a boo n for most users. Keyboard size is often an issue among users, even those used to detachable keyboard for pocket PCs or handheld devices. The LCD screens of each UMPCs differ. The Aspire One had the smallest at 8.9-in ches, but it was the brightest at the highest settings. However, there is a not iceable flicker when we tried it at lower the brightness levels. Acer has alrea dy released a BIOS that can solve this problem but this can be a problem especi ally for ordinary users who do not know how to âflashâ their BIOS. Too bad beca use units like these are supposed to be for people who do no want to do anythin g with little notebooks other than work or play with it and not bother with its configuration. The Asus Eee PC 1000H and the MSI Wind share nearly the same screen size. The E ee PC has a slightly bigger screen size at 10.2-inches, while the MSI Wind uses a 10-inch LCD screen. Both handle resolutions at 1024x600 pixels but the Eee P C has a better brightness control scheme than the Wind. All three units come with webcams but with different resolutions. Both Eee PC a nd MSI Wind use a 1.3 megapixel webcam, while the Acer Aspire One only uses a 0 .3 megapixel webcam. While this does not pose any problems for users especially those using it for Yahoo! chat or other similar applications, some users might want to use bigger webcam screen sizes that does not compromise quality of res olution. Graphics and sound The Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950 is the primary graphics processo r for the MSI Wind, Asus Eee PC 1000H, and Acer Aspire One. The GMA 950 is laud able for being equally power-efficient as the Intel Atom processor. However, li ke all components intended for low-power consumption, this graphics processor h as its shortcomings. This is not a graphics accelerator meant for gaming. The o nly games that would run here are casual online Flash games. Then again, few wo uld want to play any MMORPGs on a small screen, right? The three UMPCs do not have major differences when it comes to the quality of t heir graphics but they show distinction in sound quality. Of the three, the Eee PC uses a Dolby Digital logo. However, this does not mean that the Eee PCâs so und is any better than the Wind or the Aspire One. All three can execute left-a nd-right stereo sound. Unless you're a big fan of audio hardware and applicatio ns, there is little distinction among the three units. Surprisingly, the MSI Wi nd had the loudest sound without the crackling noise common among small form factor devices. Nevertheless, they all have respectable audio output. Connectivity In terms of connectivity, the most complete is the Eee PC 1000 H. It has the st andard 10/100 megabit LAN port, Bluetooth and the latest 802.11N wireless fidel ity (WiFi) support, otherwise known as Wireless N. This is not a WiFi standard yet but can already be integrated into existing wireless local area devices. Th e Wireless N has a maximum bitrate of 248 megabits per second. Compare this to the Wifi A, B and G, which have maximum bitrates of 54 Mbits, 11 Mbits, and 54 , Mbits, respectively, the Wireless N can allow more users to access a single W iFi base station (if integrated with Wireless N) and download or upload more da ta from Internet at faster speeds. On the other hand, the MSI Wind and Acer Aspire One support 802.11 B/G WiFi con nectivity. The Aspire One does not have any Bluetooth connectivity but the Wind only features Bluetooth in the Windows XP version. Battery life The challenge of most UMPCs is battery life. They should last longer than their bigger notebook cousins. Asus, Acer and MSI use 6-cell battery variants for th eir UMPC models. Most notebooks today only use 3-cell batteries. Having a 6-cel l battery doubles the time you can use a notebook without plugging into a power outlet. When put in a UMPC that uses low-power processors, 6-cell batteries ca n ideally run much longer. The MSI Wind and Asus Eee PC 1000H 1000 were tested with all their wireless con nectivity switched on while running video files on continuous loop. The hiberna te modes were also set to off and LCD screens were also set to active during th is test. The Wind ran for about 1 hour and 48 minutes while the Eee PC 1000H ra n for a slightly shorter period of 1 hour and 35 minutes. Some might scoff at t he shorter running time but remember that both Wind and Eee PC have hard disks, which are moving parts that drain your batteries. Having a UMPC that allows us ers to work without the need for wires and power cables is a plus. On the other hand, the Aspire One's running time is slightly longer than the tw o; as it operated for approximately 2 hours with WiFi active and the unit conne cted to the Internet while a video file plays in continuous loop. The hibernate mode was also turned off. The running time for Aspire One proved longer becaus e it uses a solid state drive instead of the regular hard drives. Solid state d rives do not have moving parts and thus consume lower energy, giving the Aspire One longer operating time. The Aspire One is only using a 3-cell battery. Verdict The MSI Wind and Asus Eeee PC 1000H clearly have an advantage over the Acer Asp ire One in terms of additional features. The MSI Wind and Eee PC 1000 are neari ng the functionalities of traditional 12-inch or 13-inch notebooks. However, th ey have gone beyond the principle of the UMPCs when they integrated hard disks and bigger screens. These features have made them bulkier now since they have g one beyond the 1 kilogram threshold. The Aspire One has that advantage (NOTE: A cer is also releasing a hard disk based variant of the Aspire One with a 6-cell battery pack) but it does not have Windows XP, which is familiar to most users . With that in mind, it will be harder to predict which one of the three Intel At om-based UMPCs will dominate the market. In fact, it seems that it's better now for the UMPC consumer since they have a wider choice based on their needs. The bout for the best UMPC in the market won't end yet until the next group of UMP C manufacturers, especially Dell and Lenovo, come into play. For now, it will b e dependent on the user's preferences that will decide which of the three is co nsidered the best UMPC available in the local market.