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First Impressions – Asus Eee 1215b laptop computer

By Michael Tefft • on April 27, 2011

I have had my new Asus Eee 1215 laptop for a couple of days now. It is a replacement for my old Dell Mini 9 netbook. I ordered the Asus both to replace my Dell and act as a HTPC for my home entertainment system. I had thought about ordering a dedicated HTPC but I figured why not use a laptop instead. When I am not using it in the HTPC capacity, I could use it for my laptop.

The specifications for the Asus Eee 1215b are as follows.

AMD Brazos E-350 dual-core processor running at 1.60Ghz
2 GB ram
350 GB hard drive
802.11/n wi-fi
card reader slot
2 USB 2.0 1 USB 3.0
web cam
hdmi output
Radeon 6310 with 512mb
10/100 GB ethernet
12.1 ” High definition backlit display

The case is quality black plastic with a patterned bottom. The laptop has a well built feel to it. The chiclet keyboard is almost full size and fairly easy to type one. The Synaptic touchpad is large and has a metal bar for right/left clicking. There are 5 Led’s on the front left edge of the laptop to indicate various status’s.

The laptop runs Windows 7 home premium edition. There is not too much bloat-ware loaded and some nice additional software in addition to what comes with Windows 7. A trial copy of Trend Micro Titanium is provided for anti-virus software. In its capacity as a HTPC I have loaded Boxee software although I am very impressed with the latest version of Windows Media Center.

I have already hooked it up to my Home Theater HDTV and it works very well. I am able to run and stream full 1080p video with no buffering or stuttering. So it is mission successful for its ability to serve as both laptop and HTPC.

The only negatives I have have to do with the placement of a couple of keys and the fact that I have not found a way yet to disable the touchpad while typing. But these are not really flaws with the laptop, just something I will have to become used to.

Overall, I am extremely impressed with the Asus as well as Windows 7. I ran Ubuntu 10.10 on my old Dell and feel no need to replace Windows 7 with it. The laptop itself is a quantum leap over my old Dell. I have not been able to check the battery life but it is rated for a minimum of 6 hours. My research on available laptops in the price range I was looking at seems to have paid off. It is money well spent. I would highly recommend this laptop to anyone looking for a sub $500 laptop.