ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU27-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook (Up to 14 Hours of Battery Life)

Review by Turtle James for ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU27-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook (Up to 14 Hours of Battery Life)
Rating:
This is the exact same netbook as the ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU17-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook (Up to 14 Hours of Battery Life). The only difference is the cover, which is a matte black slightly rubbery material. There is a slight price premium, but I believe it is worth it as it attracts no finger prints and it appears it would scratch less. The inside, however is still the same glossy plastic as the other models.

Impressions So Far:

Very good tiny computer. Easy to use. Using the specs below, the following run fine: HULU 360p videos (slight stutter depending on computer load and connection speed), Open Office, 700~MB (avi) files, etc. High Def movie files 720p or greater stutter and can’t be played. 480p Hulu videos will play, but it will be choppy. Computer stays cool. Contrast appears washed out if not viewed from a limited angle range. Keyboard and track pad are both very easy to use. 8.5 hours of battery under full load. It is an excellent netbook, but I gave it four stars because I feel the viewing angles could’ve been better and I wish the overclock setting on super performance mode was a little higher. You can overclock even more using third party software, and it will improve video playback, but it’s a hassle. Don’t expect the same processing power as a larger laptop or desktop and you will definitely not be disappointed.

Useful Information:

There are pages of reviews covering most of the technical aspects of this machine, so I will focus on what was the most difficult information for me to find on my own once I decided to purchase. I realize that many of you may not be technically savvy, so I will try to be detailed as possible.

What to Purchase

ASUS 1005PE-PU27 (Obviously)

Kingston ValueRAM 2 GB 800MHz DDR2 CL5 SODIMM Notebook Memory KVR800D2S5/2G (Optional)

SanDisk Extreme III 4 GB Class 6 SDHC Flash Memory Card SDSDRX3-4096-A21 (Optional)

*Edit* A few people commented they had trouble using the previously recommended Transcend 4 GB Class 6 SDHC card for ReadyBoost.

Although I had no problems using this product for Ready Boost, I have changed the recommended card to the above. YMMV. Thank you.

What to Do Once You Receive

1) Insert battery. Charge for 8 hours. Most people say Li-Ion batteries do not require conditioning. This is probably true, but the manual explicitly states to do this. Conditioning means that you will charge the battery to capacity and run it empty a few times. At best this will give the maximum amount of battery charge over the life of the battery. At worst, you won’t be able to play with your new netbook for 8 hours.

Running the battery to 0% once in a while will also help maintain the accuracy of the battery meter. Remember this computer will auto shut off once at about 10%. Turn it back on and use until 0%.

2) Once fully charged, turn the computer on and follow the instructions. It is very straight forward. Select language, time, etc. This will take a few minutes as it finishes installing everything. Be patient.

3) Once you get to your desktop you can proceed to remove bloatware. What is bloatware? The extra programs delivered with the computer that at best take up space, and at worst, slows down your computer. Go to the “start menu” (little windows icon on lower left) and select “control panel”. Under “programs” click the link that says “uninstall a program”. This will bring up a list of all the programs you have installed on your computer.

This is all optional and may be harmful to your computer if done incorrectly. Please proceed with caution. Highlight the program you would like to remove and click on the “uninstall/remove” button on the top bar. Click yes to any menu. Each uninstall will take a few minutes. I removed the Trend Micro Antivirus, anything that says Microsoft Office (like 6 items), and the Chicken game and game client. These are all trialware and not very good. I will tell you what to use instead later.

*Next Steps require internet connection*

4) Go to your Asus docking menu. It’s the menu on the top of the screen. Go to “Eee Tools” (last one) and click. Choose Live Update. Update whatever files it tells you to (it was just Vibe for me).

5) Update your Bios. You would think it would be part of Asus Live Update but it’s not. Go to your “start menu”. Click on “All Programs”. Click on the “Asus” folder. Choose the “AsusUpdate for Eee PC” folder and click on the “ASUSUpdate” icon. A gold and silver menu will appear. Choose update through internet and follow the directions. Choose the latest Bios version and update. Simple.

6) If you are upgrading your RAM do so at this point. There are a lot of people complaining about RAM upgrading issues. Follow these instructions and you will be ok. Purchase the RAM mentioned above. It works and Amazon sells it. Why do the Crucial ones have so many problems? It could be they are CL6 and you need a CL5. It could be the older BIOS. It could be a lot of other things. Just buy the Kingston 2GB 800MHZ DDR2 CL5. Why risk the headache? It ships free from Amazon and it’s about the same price.

Restart your computer. As soon as it turns on, click on F2 a couple times. You will get into the “BIOS SETUP UTILITY”. Use your arrow keys to go right until you reach the “Boot” menu. Press down until you reach “Boot Booster”. Press enter. Choose “Disabled” and enter. Click right to “Exit” menu. Choose “Exit & Save Changes”.

Turn off your computer.

Turn it over. Use a phillips head screw driver to unscrew the small rectangular cover on the bottom. Remove the cover. You will see the RAM module with two metal clips on each side. Make sure you have no static charge on your hands. Use your thumbs to gently push the clips outwards to the side. Use your other finger to gently lift the top of the module up towards you. It should pop up so the module is now at a 45 degree angle. Pull the module out carefully. Take the new 2GB module and insert it in the same angle making sure its fully in. Don’t push too hard. Just make sure its in. Then gently push the module down flat. The clips will fall into place automatically. Replace cover and screw.

Turn on the computer and get into the “BIOS SETUP UTILITY” again pressing the F2 key. “Enable” Boot Booster using the same steps as above. Start the computer as usual. You are done. RAM recognized. No shutdown errors corded or battery. Yay.

7) ReadyBoost (Optional) – ReadyBoost is a nifty little feature on Windows Vista and 7 that let’s you use a solid state device like flash drives or sd cards to cache data instead of using your hard drive. Basically it may make your computer faster. 4GB is the most you can allocate, so anymore than this and you will use the rest of the space as extra storage. The ASUS comes with a little slot for SDHC cards so that is what I used.

Insert the SDHC card. Click on the “Computer” icon on your desktop. Right click on the storage drive. Should be “Removable Disk E:”. Choose “format”. “FAT 32″ “Quick Format” “Start”.

Right click again on the “Removable Disk E:” and choose “Properties” (last one). You should see a series of tabs on the top. Choose “ReadyBoost” “Dedicate the device to ReadyBoost”. “OK” Done.

If you ever want to not use the SD card for ReadyBoost, then go to the “ReadyBoost” tab and click on the “Do not use this device” option.

8. How to change your wallpaper. Windows 7 Starter doesn’t let you. But it doesn’t mean you can’t. Go to your ASUS Docking Menu again. The one on top. Choose “Eee Tools” and then select “System Setting”. It will bring you to a wallpaper options page. You can select one image or a slide show.

You don’t have a “System Setting” option? Don’t panic. Apparently some computers do not come with this function installed. Do not install third party wallpaper managers. I don’t think I can post links, but here [...]. Run this and it will put the System Setting option in your dock. If the link didn’t post, you can find it on the ASUS website. It’s called SystemSetting_Setup-1_1_0_8.zip under Utilities. Enjoy!

9. What programs should you replace the Microsoft Office and Trend Micro Anti Virus with? I chose Open Office. It’s free and it does everything MS Office does. Google it. For antivirus, Microsoft offers a free one that is actually very good. It’s called Microsoft Security Essentials. You can search for it too.

Another free program I like to use is Picassa. It’s a photo viewing and editing tool made by Google.

If you like to watch movies and such the following is really important. Search for and install K-Lite Codec Pack. It basically puts in all the various video codecs so you can play most video and audio files.

Finally, I installed Fire Fox as my default browser. I feel IE is very slow.

10. You can now run windows update and update everything you need to. If you still see MS Office updates, that means you didn’t delete all the Office programs.

11. Finally, ASUS comes with the hard drive in two partitions. This means instead of having one 250GB hard drive you have one C: boot drive (100GB) and one partitioned D: drive (120~GB). If you’re fine with this then ok. Leave it alone. If you want to make it into one drive read on.

The following may be dangerous. Don’t do it if you don’t want to risk reinstalling everything from disk.

DON’T USE any third party programs like Partition Wizard. Windows 7 has its own tool.

Go to “Control Panel” > “System and Security” > “Administrative Tools” > “Create and format hard disk partitions”

Click on your “(D:)” drive and select the “X” (delete) on top. You now have one C: 100GB drive. Don’t panic. *Make sure you don’t have any data on D: first*

Click on your “(C:)” drive. Right click and choose “Extend Volume”. It will bring you to another menu telling you the amount you can expand. Just press OK. You should now have one drive C: with 222.87GB.

12. OK that’s it for now. I hope this helps any of you. If you find any mistakes or suggestions, I will edit. Thanks.

One last thing. Probably most of you know this, but just in case. The F keys have different functions such brightening or dimming your screen, controlling volume, etc. To use these you must press a Fn key in addition to the above. The Fn keys are located on either side of the keyboard.

Review by David Wolf for ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU27-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook (Up to 14 Hours of Battery Life)
Rating:
A few days ago, I received this netbook, and was fairly impressed with it. At the beginning of my review, let me recommend the review by “Turtle James,” which is currently the top review for this product. He includes much helpful information about the setup of this netbook, and I find his information to be quite flawless, though I’m not sure it is necessary to combine the partitions of the hard drive. The computer itself seemed to run well, and was not nearly as slow as some people make it out to be, but it is with regret that I must tell the tale of the defective charger, which turned the computer into an expensive paperweight.

I followed the instructions in the manual (which matches Turtle James’s review well) regarding the charging of this netbook, and I think I would have discovered a quite long battery life as a result, if I would have kept it long enough to evaluate that part. However, I encountered a problem with a small defect that made the netbook unusable.

The charger, the AC adapter that plugs into the power outlet was unusual from the beginning. After the first charge, I noticed that the blue light that lights up on the charger would stay lit for a while after unplugging from any power source. Not having any experience with this particular adapter before, I was not sure if that was normal, and in fact am still not sure.

After going through two cycles of charging and depleting the battery, as instructed, I attempted to charge the netbook for the third time, and behold, the charger did not work at all. When this happens, one cannot charge the netbook, and therefore cannot use it until one obtains a new charger. Buying a new charger after only two charges is in my opinion ridiculous, and to be avoided on principle.

So, I set about to rectify the situation, first calling the manufacturer, ASUS (pronounced ay-soos’ by the service personnel). After messing about for some time trying different things with the technician, it became apparent that the charger must be defective. They said I could begin the process for an RMA, if I like, and I did like that idea, until I got further into the details.

It came as a surprise to me that ASUS would require me to send the defective part back to them first, upon receipt of which, they would begin the process to send me a new part that functioned correctly. I was informed that the RMA process at that point would take 10 – 14 business days. I asked what shipping method would be used to send the new part to me, and was informed it would be Fed-Ex…Ground.

The entire process, therefore, would take about a month to get what was rightfully mine in the first place for having purchased the device, after which I would not be able to return the device.

So, I chose to return the device to Amazon instead, because I learned the valuable lesson of what it is like to deal with the ASUS service department. I cannot thank ASUS enough for clarifying to me what type of company I was dealing with when purchasing this magnificent piece of . . . gadgetry.

I also made the mistake of ordering RAM and a case for the netbook at the same time, accessories I have no further need of, so I returned those as well. We shall see if I get a complete refund or not (I did, as Amazon has integrity). This has also been a valuable lesson on the folly of purchasing accessories before being certain the main product is stable.

Review by RockyMtnShamrock for ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU27-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook (Up to 14 Hours of Battery Life)
Rating:
Purchased this computer for my wife before we travelled to europe so she could stay in touch with her 92 year old father thru Skype. It works fine except for the inevitable MS upgrades that you have to buy seperately. But that’s the MS curse we are all familiar with.

Did decide and would strongly recommend the upgrade to 2GB RAM. Since I’m a clueless, wannabe techie I did figure out how to install the RAM. It’s quite simple. However, getting MS Windows 7 to recognize it is another trick no one told me about. But I finally “fingered” it out.

I bought the Kingston 2GB upgrade from Amazon and the install went without a hitch. When I turned the netbook on and went into the properties of the computer it didn’t recognize the new RAM and only showed the original 1GB. Finally found some online help that talked about accessing BIOS on startup, which I did. But then what do you do? Finally discovered that once BIOS accessed (through F2 key at start up) just had to F10 and save changes. Now the RAM is recognized by MS Windows 7.

Review by Joey for Asus Eee PC 1001P-MU17-BU 10.1-Inch Intel Atom Netbook Computer (Royal Blue)
Rating:
It seemed like I had been reading reviews on this netbook for weeks. Here on Amazon and elsewhere. I more than did my homework on this one. I even went to Best Buy a few weeks ago and did some typing on the Asus netbook they had for sale there. I wanted to get a sense for how an Asus netbook would work for me in the real world. 2 Fridays nights ago I decided to go with it and I placed my order with Amazon. Following is my thorough review on this product.

First Impressions:

- This is a theme you’ll see played out over and over in various reviews on this netbook. Amazon ships fast. I ordered on a Friday night after hours (picked free shipping because I wasn’t in a hurry to get it) and by Monday it shipped. I had it in my hands by Wednesday morning before 10 AM. That is what I call exceptional service and it far exceeded my expectations.

- Upon receiving the netbook and opening up everything I was really pleased with the fit and finish of the netbook. I have to say that the checkered pattern is great. Definitely it will mask fingerprints and scratches a whole lot better than its glossy counterpart. It looks classy and works well in the real world.

- There was one fly in the ointment. When I turned on the netbook for the first time Windows would not boot up. I wasn’t extremely happy about that. But that all got worked out over the phone with Asus technical support in about 15 minutes. It would appear that the person who did the Windows installation didn’t complete it. Anyway, using the Restore function things were able to be reset and it was a minor problem soon forgotten. For lack of a better illustration, I feel that it was like buying a pair of brand new shoes and noticing they had a scuff on them. However, the shoes came with a scuff remover tool and so the scuff was easily removed. The point is, although it was nice to see the tool worked you’d just hope you wouldn’t have to use it on the first day! Anyway, anybody who considers this a deal-breaker as far as buying an Asus netbook is crazy. This was the only minor irritant for me personally and I will go on to elaborate now on the many things I love about this netbook!

Battery Life:

- This is an issue that there seems to be a great debate on around here in various reviews. There are people saying that they’re getting 11 hours right on Asus specifications but on the other hand there are people really upset with the battery life because they’re only getting 5 hours on a charge. This is my opinion after getting my own netbook. You MUST deep charge the battery for the first time for at least 11-12 hours. If you’re using the netbook during that time than charge it even longer. Remember, while you’re using the netbook the battery won’t charge as fast. This concept isn’t something I made up. Look it up for yourself. The Asus manual says charge it at least 8 hours for the first time – I decided to charge longer than that. Not only that, you MUST do a full charge and discharge a few times before the battery reaches its maximum potential. Again, it’s in the manual. After the first charge I used the netbook over 3 days for several hours of usage. It definitely seemed capable of getting 11 hours out of it if the Super Hybrid Engine setting was permanently set to Power Saver and the screen brightness was toned down (the screen is capable of being way too bright anyway!) and one wasn’t watching YouTube videos continuously for the whole time. I just got done charging it for the second time today (again charged it for 9+ hours) and it says it has 13 hours left.

- I want to talk about the Super Hybrid Engine function in a second. First, to recap, if you’re only getting 5 hours out of a charge than it would be my suggestion you consider these 3 things:

a) Did you deep charge it 8-12 hours the first time (without using it for that time) and a few times for the following charges?

b) Do you have 4-5 programs open and are you trying to watch YouTube videos for hours on end?

c) BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, is your Super Hybrid Engine set to Power Saver? You can toggle through several power efficiency settings and Power Saver is one of them. If not, there is no way you will get 11 hours out of the battery. Now, for just surfing the Internet I didn’t notice any difference in speed using Power Saver. Even playing a YouTube video it was okay. In fact, I think I’ll keep it on Power Saver permanently. But, the battery definitely notices a difference when the Super Hybrid Engine is in this mode. It can extend the battery’s life between 35-50% on a charge. That’s HUGE. You won’t get that in Super Performance mode!

Operating System:

- People on here are in some cases ragging on the operating system (Windows 7) that comes with this netbook. Folks, as I have already commented on some of your reviews before making this purchase, Windows 7 is coming out on most netbooks these days. It’s reality. XP is old and dated and quickly coming to the end of its life. If you only want your netbook for a year and you’re set on XP than save a few bucks and go with XP. For the rest of you, learn to deal with Windows 7 as it is the future, for the next few years anyway. I don’t find the Starter version to be that much different than anything else. Sure, I don’t have a few options that I’d have with Windows 7 Premium but big deal. This is a secondary computer to me. I already have 3 others in the house. The operating systems on my computers range from XP to Vista to Windows 7. This operating system isn’t that big of a deal to me. Windows is Windows.

Speed and Functionality:

- This netbook is more than fast enough for me. However, I’m just using it as a portable Internet surfing machine. I don’t plan to put Photoshop on it. I don’t plan to put iTunes on it. I put Open Office on it and that’s all I’ll need. This netbook runs just as fast for me as any other computer I have around here. If you plan to use it as I do than 1 GB RAM will be fine. If you plan to do heavy duty stuff with it than upgrade to 2 GB RAM. Keep in mind though that at the end of the day it is still and will always be just a netbook. If your expectations are out of whack and you’re expecting this netbook to be some amazing powerhouse that can do everything for you except wash your dishes you will likely be disappointed. Do your homework. Assess your requirements and needs. Maybe you’ll find that you should be getting a regular laptop instead. This is something you will need to work out with yourself. If/how you work it out will determine how happy you will be with this product.

- The keyboard is great. It is 92-93% of a regular-sized keyboard and my fingers can fly on it. Still getting used to having the Delete and Backspace keys in a slightly different place but I will adjust. People talked about it being spongy? I don’t understand that. It seems solid to me.

- Before I forget, and as others have always stated, the bloatware that comes with this netbook is minimal. I only had to remove a couple of programs that were getting in the way. That’s a positive.

- I like the smooth touchpad. The Asus I tried out at Best Buy had a dotted touchpad. It wouldn’t have been the end of the world to get that but I much prefer the smooth touchpad. It’s very responsive and I have no problems with it. I do have a wireless mouse for one of my other laptops but I don’t plan to use a wireless mouse with this netbook. Not necessary.

- People have complained about the WiFi range being bad on this netbook. I don’t have a problem with that. I have a G wireless router and this netbook has a G network card in it. I can easily use my netbook anywhere in the house and on the property. In fact, I took it across the street to my neighbor’s house the other day and I still had 1-2 bars on WiFi over there.

Power Adapter:

- People have said the light on the power adapter block is too bright. That makes me laugh. Folks, if that light is the worst irritant of your day you have it made!

- Speaking of the power adapter, it does make me nervous that the pin that you insert into the netbook is so tiny. I did worry for a small amount of time about that breaking and perhaps I’ll buy a back-up power adapter just to be prepared. Ultimately, I think if you’re careful with it than it likely won’t be a problem. Keep in mind, with this netbook’s long battery life most of the time that power adapter is going to be sitting at home collecting dust.

- I know there was an issue with some Asus power adapter blocks getting too hot. I think that was specifically related to the 1005 series. I can certainly verify that after 11-1/2 hours of charging the first time and 9+ hours of charging the second time the adapter block was very COOL to the touch. So, Asus either fixed that problem or it never was an issue for the 1001 series and it was just an issue for the 1005 series.

Special Features:

- The Super Hybrid Engine feature is great. It seems to me that is exclusive to Asus. It’s a feature in and of itself that makes the Asus netbook one to consider.

- The Express Gate feature is pretty slick too. It really does boot up the netbook into a different area and get you on the Internet a whole lot faster. When you want to get out of that, it’s easy to segue into the main Windows area where you have full access to all of your programs again. Too bad that Internet Explorer is the only browser of choice in Express Gate. I’m a Chrome die-hard because I know just how fast I can browse the Internet with Google Chrome. Oh well, it’s not that big of a deal.

Conclusion:

- If you’re a traveler or student on the go definitely you want to consider this machine. It’s light as a feather, pretty durable and is a pleasure to use. I look forward to taking this to Canada with me when I go on a road trip in a few weeks. It does everything well that I expect of it. And it has the best battery life of any portable computer I’ve ever seen.

- I just want to stress yet again that you should assess your needs and requirements before you buy this netbook. So many reviews on here (and I can tell just by reading them) are negative because I firmly believe those people who bought this netbook should’ve bought something else instead. If you’re at all computer savvy like me and you’re a bit of a neat freak (you don’t clutter up your computer with crap) this netbook will easily perform to your expectations and that I can guarantee you.

Good luck. Hope you’re as happy with this product as I am.

Review by Sagistic for Asus Eee PC 1001P-MU17-BU 10.1-Inch Intel Atom Netbook Computer (Royal Blue)
Rating:
The ASUS 1001P (white) is truly gorgeous. It just looks and feels impeccably detailed and doesn’t feel flimsy. I’ll lay out a quick pro/con first before updating it later with more details/observations. Keep in mind, I’ve only had this netbook to play with for a few hours, yet it expels me to write a review, since there’s none for this particular model.

Pros

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+ Battery life! I doubt any other model offers an 11 hour battery life at this price point ($299). If you only surf the net, write reports, or do simple tasks, on a slightly dimmer backlight, you can well get up to 10.5hrs. However, other intensive tasks with a brighter view can cut the battery life in half (~6 hours), which is still good.

+ Keyboard – I like the feel of it, and it doesn’t feel as cramped. I have slightly smaller than average hands, but it works well. I prefer non-chiclet style, as this netbook is.

+Trackpad- I’m glad this one didn’t come with bumpy surface. I tried it at a local BB, and didn’t really like the feel of it. I also don’t mind the single bar layout for the left and right clicks.

+LCD- This one comes with the matte LCD style. I thought it would be less sharper or poorer viewing angles, but it seems sharp enough for me.

+Chassis- I love the latticework/non-glossy look. Doesn’t attract any fingerprints and it doesn’t look plasticy.

Cons

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- Battery Charger – I wasn’t going to order ASUS unless I was sure that the problem was fixed, but I decided to just gamble. Unfortunately, I got the worst brand. There seems to be 3 different types of chargers. One from Enertronix (high failure rate due to a overheating problem that shuts off the charger and making it unusable), one from delta (the best one- doesn’t seem to have any failure rates)- and one from PI Electronics (not sure about this one). It works for now, but many users have reported it comes DOA or fails within 1-3 months. * More about this down below*

- No N-wireless while the Acer alternative with the same price point has this option

- Windows 7 Starter. Sucks. Amazon needs to fix this; The technical details say that it comes with Win7, but the Specifications says Win XP Home.

Neutral

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- No netbook sleeve, I purchased a separate one from Amazon.

- Comes with crappy outside cardboard box.

***More about the battery charger. As I’ve mentioned, I got the crappy one. It’s specific model is Enertronix #EXA0901XH. If ASUS readily replaced this, it wouldn’t be much of a concern. But, users in various forums have reported that ASUS’s crappy customer service and lack of, as well as weeks or months of backordered chargers prevented them from getting a new one. In addition, ASUS doesn’t pay for shipping back the failed battery charger. However, if you get lucky and get any of the other two charger models, there seems to be no problem.

However, it seems that most people found a temporary solution. I’ll try to relay the knowledge I’ve gained about these solutions. First, it seems that the faulty charger lies within an overheating problem and a mechanism for turning the charger off (but not back on). So you can alleviate this problem by temporarily allowing your charger to cool down after each use and if that doesn’t work, putting it in the refrigerator for ~10-20 minutes. Other users have also mentioned that the charger will fail quicker, if multiple input locations are used. So if you keep plugging in and out the charger at different outlets, it often fails.

Despite the problem with the charger, the netbook itself is great, and even with its shortcomings, I decided to take a plunge. Whether it turns out to be a problem or not, time will tell.

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Update as of 2-13-2010/about 2 weeks into purchase

- My charger still works fine, although it runs pretty hot. I’ve attached an heatsink from an old video card (not sure if this helps any), and I haven’t really been using the charger anywhere else except in my bedroom.

- The matte screen, although great for outside, I am starting to see the lack in brightness compared to a glossy at a bright setting. The viewing angle is also pretty limited but most of the times you’ll be look straight ahead.

- I’ve also noticed that the battery is very heavy so that the weight of the whole netbook is not equally distributed, but slightly heavier towards the battery, but its not a concern on flat surfaces.

- I have used coreAVC to try resolutions of 720p on .mkv and .avi and they worked fine. However, the cpu will run at 95-100%. Also, it has much difficulty running multiple flash embedded sites (for example, trying to run youtube and omgpop or hulu at the same time).

- Battery life is still good, and I haven’t seen any noticeable decreases. One thing I’ve noticed is that it takes a while for the system to estimate your battery life depending on your usage style.

- I will be using this netbook more extensively, so more updates will be posted. So far so good.