In a sea of nearly interchangeable 10.1-inch netbooks, the modestly priced Asus Eee PC 1001P-MU17 stands out for one thing: Express Gate, a nearly instant-on auxiliary operating system that allows quick access to the Web, online gaming, Skype, IM, and your photos. To boot to Express Gate, you start the 1001P-MU17 using a secondary power button (which has no light) on the upper left of the keyboard deck. You boot to the regular Windows 7 Starter OS via the normal lighted power button on the upper-right side.
Beyond Express Gate, the Asus Eee PC 1001P-MU17 leans mostly toward the mundane. You get the current popular netbook components: an Intel Atom N450 processor with an integrated 3150 GPU, 1GB of DDR2 memory, and a 160GB hard drive. The ports are also typical for a 10.1-inch unit: three USB, one VGA, one AC, one 10/100 ethernet jack, a single SDHC slot, plus audio in/out and a Kensington lock port. The Eee PC 1001P-MU17 is styled in an all-black color scheme broken up only by a silver rocker button for the touchpad and a checkerboard pattern on the upper shell and lower deck. It looks as if it would be more at home in a boardroom than in a coffee shop. That’s not a complaint, just a caution to anyone who might want to wow style-conscious friends.
The netbook weighs 2.8 pounds, about average for this category of netbook with a six-cell battery. If weight is more of a concern than run time, you can drop that to 2.24 pounds with a three-cell battery. However, if you plan to upgrade your machine’s performance with an SSD, you might want to skip the 1001P-MU17: Unlike most netbooks, it has no access panel for the hard drive. But it does have an access panel to the memory if you want to upgrade that module.
Overall, the Asus Eee PC 1001P-MU17 felt as snappy as an N450-based netbook can when running Windows 7—you can live with it, but that’s all. The WorldBench 6 score of 34, while a point higher than most, bears that out. Video performance was a touch worse than average. The Webcam’s image was decently smooth, and the unit had no problem playing QuickTime or Flash HD video locally. But MP4 and WMV were a stuttering mess, as was online Flash video. Online Flash gaming was jerky to the point of distraction. Battery life was a solid 6 hours, 50 minutes， not the best we’ve seen, but more than enough to get you from coast to coast.
The keyboard has a crisp feel, and for some users the oversize left /right cursor keys might eliminate some hunting. The touchpad was also exceptionally well adjusted for tapping. The model comes with Microsoft Works, which should cover most users’ needs adequately and Skype is installed, as well. Asus has also refrained from placing useless software on the desktop. The Asus Eee PC 1001P-MU17 is a solid effort from the company that started the whole netbook craze, offering a very nice keyboard, a particularly well-adjusted touchpad, and a sedately handsome look. If you regularly need quick access to the Web, the Express Gate OS can be handy indeed. Plus, you can get the unit for just under $300.
Asus Eee PC 1001P-MU17-BK 10.1-Inch Intel Atom Netbook Computer
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