A quick look at performance
Knowing that the ASUS Eee Top ET1602 features essentially the same innards as the majority of existing netbooks, we know not to expect much in terms of performance. Nonetheless, it wouldn't be a HEXUS.net review without a little number crunching, so here goes.
As the first nettop to reach our labs, ASUS' Eee Top finds itself in a unique and awkward spot - we don't have any other nettops to compare it too. Given its limited hardware capability, it also isn't ideally suited to comparison with the high-end desktops we're accustomed to testing.
Consequently, to paint a picture of general performance, we'll be comparing Eee Top numbers to a similar-specification Wind U100 netbook, and a pair of mid-range notebooks featuring Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo and AMD Turion Ultra processors.
Here's a more complete breakdown of the four systems in question:
| System name | ASUS Eee Top ET1602 | MSI Wind U100 | Novatech Centrino 2 X20mv Pro | HP Pavilion TX2520 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz, 512KB L2 cache, single-core) | Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz, 512KB L2 cache, single-core) | Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8400 (2.26GHz, 3MB L2 cache, 1,066MHz, dual-core) | AMD Turion Ultra ZM-80 (2.1GHz, 2x 1,024KB L2 cache, dual-core) |
| Motherboard | ASUS U-100 (i945GE+ICH7M) | MSI U-100 (i945GE+ICH7M) | Clevo M720T | Quanta HP 780G (780G+SB700) |
| Memory | 1GB PC5400 | 1GB PC5400 | 2GB (2x 1GB) PC6400 | 3GB (2GB + 1GB) PC6400 |
| Graphics card(s) | Intel i945GSE | Intel i945GSE | Intel Mobile X4500 | ATI Radeon HD 3200 IGP (500MHz core, 800MHz mem) |
| Screen size and native res | 15.6in - 1,366x768 (touchscreen) | 10in - 1,024x600 | 12.1in - 1,280x800 | 12.1in - 1,280x800 |
| WiFi | 802.11b/g/n | 802.11b/g | Realtek RTL8187B 802.11b/g | Broadcom 4322AG 802.11a/b/g/n |
| Disk drive(s) | 160GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Western Digital 80GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Hitachi 200GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Western Digital 250GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache |
| Optical drive(s) | None | None | TSST SN-S083A | HLDTST GSA-T30L |
| Operating System | Windows XP Home SP3, 32-bit | Windows XP Home SP3, 32-bit | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, 32-bit | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, 32-bit |
| Benchmarks | HEXUS.photofix - 152MB photos auto-fixed - 25 images HEXUS.squeeze - 205MB photos compressed into one file HEXUS.gaming - Quake 4 v1.3 custom-recorded netdemo at 1,024x600/768 HEXUS.power - under-load power reading, taken whilst running Quake 4 |
|---|
Notes
As you can see, this is anything but an apples-to-apples comparison. What we're hoping to show is what users can expect in terms of performance when carrying out everyday computing tasks.
So, what can and can't be done on an Atom N270-powered nettop?
