Asus 1201N Reviews and Owners Lounge

@ some guy or anyone else that goes with that ram that i got with the heat-spreaders just wanted too let you know that it is a tight fit in one of the slots but it does fit fine just insert it straight right in. and when you want too take it out you just have too use some pointy or your figure nail and it pops right out after you do the snap clamps


someone on eee forums said theirs somehow got stuck sideways and they had too take the netbook apart im not sure how he put it in sideways or even got it stuck too have too take it apart but i didn't have no problems the first time lol

 

Many of the world's professional overclocking teams compete with only one stick, or the least amount of sticks, to get as much overhead off of the MCH. The more sticks there are for the MCH to juggle, more FSB bandwidth will be used. Dual channel in this day and age isn't a major factor in memory performance anymore. Even with the 1201N's performance that is no better than 2004 tech, taking away dual channel isn't that big of a hit. You will be able to get a better CPU overclock using only one stick. But like I've said before, you lose system memory capacity (unless you get the 4GB stick) and GPU performance.

 

thanks for the heads up.

does the density put more load on the MCH? as in will a single 4gb dimm stress the MCH more than a single 2gb dimm?

 

Try benchmark with single 1gb then single 2gb. The make up of the memory layout of each stick may have speed issues. Not sure how the 4 gb stick would be layed out without research.

Soviet Sunrise, lets us know if you see any single stick benches for the 1201.

tia

 

with 800mhzs ram don't think a single stick just will help with overclocking i tried it with the stock 800mhzs and didn't give any more overclocking than what i got with 2 sticks.


tho i would think ony running single channel would hurt the ion sense the ion relies on the system memory.

and with 667 memory it doesn't matter sense the limit for oc tuner is 177fsb any more it just stays the same and doesn't stick.

unless they up that limit or get another overclocking program the best overclock is 2120 177fsb for the 1201n which i say is pretty good lol


would be really nice if asus puts out a new bios for overclocking

someone made a bios for the hp 311 with overclocking options and they got there cpu up over 2200mhzs...

but the 1201n still young so asus might put a new bios or someone might hack one for us

 

altho i much rather to OC from the Bios i dont see Asus spending resources on OCing the 1201n seeing as how the shipped with SHE already anyway. i just wish i knew how to mess with the SHE program to get it to run higher clocks in super performance mode.

id love to set it anywhere from 1.8ghz-2.0ghz

besides... some of those over at the HPmini site have been bricking their 311's with the bios flash. i couldn't weigh that chance against say 5% more performance at most. im pretty sure the mobo doesn't have great vcore adjustment circuits to get anything much higher than 2.3ghz no matter how good of a bios your could write up unless you do a hardware volt mod (which i wouldn't put it past ppl like us ).

but consider around the 2.3ghz you would get from the bios flash vs. the 2.1 you can already get from the OCtuner. im all for getting the most out of my hardware but not for that small of a margin. if we didn't have OCtuner however i would seriously consider it.

 

The 1201N is indeed a very RAM dependent machine. The chipset configuration also makes it very difficult to get the overclocks that we want. Had this been a traditional three chip chipset, one DIMM regardless of density would be a better choice for pure CPU overclocking compared to two DIMM's. The same applies with two DIMM's vs four DIMM's; the MCH would be in for one hell of a ride if it had to juggle two sticks per channel. A lot of FSB overhead would be used and the bus latency would be noticeable. This is part of the reason why filling up all four slots on the G73 would be worse than just using two slots. More heat is generated by the modules if you use less of them, but the MCH would be spared. Notebook RAM doesn't get that hot anyway.

Theoretically, the result should be the same on this notebook but for some reason that's not the case. Users should be able to get that few extra MHz out of the FSB for the CPU. There are some hidden limitations with this chipset and it being a low budget solution is one of them. But the one thing that you should all do is reproduce and test the claim. It will help all of us determine where the bottleneck(s) is.

 

id love to but my budget for the 1201n isn't high enough due to my lay off this month. i can swing a 4gb set but 1 4gb dimm is almost double the cost of 2x2gb. i guess i could test with what i got but that wouldn't tell us much on the density issue.

just kind of rambling here but im leaning toward ether the RAM or the way the ION handles the RAM to be our enemy here. as we can see the clear differences between the 311 that runs single channel DDR3 vs the 1201n with dual channel DDR2. that would point to the RAM being the biggest factor in overall system performance and OC overhead. if the 311's are hitting well over 1000Mhz RAM speed on the same ION chips one would assume the IONs in the 1201n are capable of the same bandwidth but due to the nature of DDR2 we cant hit it easily. so in theory no bottleneck there unless the 330 taxes the ION differently? would that be why changing the FSB/RAM ratio (667mhz vs 800mhz) helps? or is it simply just a DDR2 limitation?

this kinda goes along with why Asus has the SHE profile set to 1.63ghz OC instead of the 1.73ghz it was on other Atom machines (like my 1000HE). was keeping the same profile and shipping the 1201n with 667Mhz RAM to risky for a 1.73ghz OC? i mean that would be a much more ideal configuration and cost would be no different ether way.

i wounder???

 

You can test the theory by using the 2x1GB kit that came with the notebook, and one of the 2GB sticks of your 2x2GB kit that you bought.

 

Hey guys, you all have been so helpful. I just bought a silver 1201N, a WD Black 320gb hard drive, and a set of the G skill memory. I will get them by Saturday. Got DriveImage XML to make a copy of the rescue partition, Win7 64bit, and OCTuner. I see all the versions on ASRock's site, but the one I need is for the A330ION hardware, correct? The manual for that board is similar to the netbook, but the controller on that board allows DDR3 memory. Just wanted to make sure that's the one.

Also I have read the thread here and seen the pictures of the small yellow sticker on the netbook, but can't confirm it. Does removing that sticker void the warranty?

 

@ Soviet Sunrise

well i didn't buy the 2x2gb set yet but i did try to test some stuff with what i had here. i didn't really get the results i expected but the info may help out some one.

i tested the system using only the 667mhz dimm out of my 1000HE and got no were close to the 1.9ghz i was getting with both of the stock 800mhz dimms. i find this odd because i can get the 1000HE 2.1ghz stable with this very same dimm. so i need to figure out the FSB/RAM ratio the 1000HE uses to see whats going on there. also the i tried the dimm in both slots and it did not make a difference in my OC.

note: the brand is ASINT (1gb 667mhz) it has 16 chips total that say HYNIX

also i tested the system using 1 dimm of the stock 800mhz in one slot while the other was left empty, then i tested the other slot. it did not affect the OC at all. so both slots give the same results and running single channel did not seem to help my OC.

note: the brand is also ASINT (1gb 800mhz) it has 8 chips total that say ELPIDA

so at least up to the speed that the stock ram is stable (around 900mhz) the MCH does not seem to be negatively affected by running single or dual channel. this may change with running larger dimms (2gb or higher) or the different ratio when using 667mhz in the 1201n.

i think this does change when going higher in speed with DDR3 in the 311 as most in that forum noticed better OC from using only the integrated 1gb. once adding more RAM no matter the speed or timings it seemed to always negatively affect their OC limit.

 

this is where i got my start for OCing my 1201n. it was pretty straight forward.

http://myhpmini.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=2445

1. download the OCtuner from the link thats #1. in the first post.

2. then also download the ion.ini attachment at the bottom of that same post.

3. after you install the OCtuner program go into the program folder where it installed to and copy that ion.ini attachment file into that folder.

4. then open the asroc.ini file in the same ASrock program folder and add this code: 1201n=ion.ini into the list, then save the changes to the doc before exiting.

there you have it!

 

Hi guys, I just got my silver 1201n a couple days ago. So far it does everything i need. I would like to get rid of all the bloatware and i have seen of the forum where some people do a fresh install. I have never done this. I have an external dvd drive from my dm3. If i install the win 7 cd that came with the 1201n will i need to reformat the hard drive? Am i better off doing this or should i just remove the stuff i know i dont need. Im just afraid i will delete something i shouldn't

 

I know that I was trying to remove bloat for 3 hours before giving up and reformatting with a Windows 7 x64 disc I had. I would suggest a reinstall, but the disc that came with it is just drivers and software AFAIK. The rescue partition on the hard drive has Windows on it, but I think it recreates the point you are at when you first turn it on.

There is a post here which is really helpful in determining what software does what, what is essential, and what is bloat that can be removed.

As a side note, I installed Win7 x64 and would like it if we could make a list of where to get the correct drivers for it. I have a subscription to DriverAgent and have the free version of Driver Magician, but neither of them really help. It could be that the Win7 default drivers are good enough for them.

 

the only thing you really have to lose is the factory partitioning. out of the box mine was pretty slow. i had it for 10 min before i got the disc out and did a reformat. to be honest if you have a external DVDrom i see no need to not just make the HDD one single partition again. thats what i did but thats just the way i do stuff. some may find the way the 1201n is partitioned out of the box useful. to each his(or her)own.

if your not comfortable using the disc, just go into run command and use msconfig to disable start up programs that you wont use or just uninstall the crapware all together.

 

I got rid of the bloatware, deleted second partition, expanded C partition. Cleaned registry in about 3 hours. I was trying to get the feel of 7 over vista and where same old functions had been hidden where

I have to get ready for the road Monday so wanted to get 1201 usable fast. I'll do clean install, 32bit, at a later time. I'm going to keep the hidden install partition so I don't have to drag around another drive. (for now) I keep images of utilities and apps with work files backed up.

My other down the road project is to set up drive with apps, then, clone all to second drive for safe keeping. This locks up my spare drive but set up is fast if things should go wrong. Spare 250 gig drives are getting cheap now days. YMMV.

 

So...my 1201N just shut off in the middle of browsing the forums. Like, the power just completely cut off, as though someone had unplugged it and yanked the battery. No warning or anything. The battery is definitely in, and fully charged, and I was plugged into AC power.

I hope this isn't a recurring theme of this machine...a friend recently bought himself a 1201N based on my recommendation, and he returned it within a week because it kept doing exactly what mine is now doing - shutting itself off with no indication, or any noticeable reason to do so.

 

Did you get a chance to look at the error reporting? Anything about overheating? What about the usb mouse set to wake? On some machines this was a reported fix, something about fans not restarting after wake from sleep.

Let us know what you find..maybe we get updated to Ion2 laptop

 

There was no error report, and my temperatures aren't any higher than they have been (upper 60's Celsius). I don't put this thing to sleep, and the fan was definitely blowing.

 

did it BOSD and restart or just die? were you OCed?

right now my 1201n is in a million parts scattered on my desk. ive been having temp issues again. don't know why but im idling in the mid to high 70s again on the CPU ? GPU is nice and cool at mid 40s so i know the fan is throttling right and i lapped the cold plates nice and flat all the way up to 2000 grit.

anyway i took everything apart and set some nice big heatsinks on top of the CPU/GPU. it immediately dropped to the high 30s GPU and mid to high 40s CPU. so its not the sensors. ok, so i reset the stock heatsink back on with new paste and all. what do you know CPU is in the 70s again...

so i decided to hold the mobo and heat sink up to the light and see if i could catch a glimpse of light thru the contact surfaces... and bingo. the heat pipe is not bent correctly. sits on the GPU side just fine but the CPU side it only makes contact with the outer edge of the core furthest away from the GPU and the core in between the ION and outside core doesn't even touch the cold plate not even with the heatsink screwed down nice and tight.

so the bending the heatpipe thing i was putting off can no longer wait. ive been trying to get it bent just right for the past few hrs cuz it such a small amount of pipe between the the GPU an CPU (less than 1"). not to mention this is some of the softest copper if ever worked with so i have to be very careful not to kink the heatpipe or.... im screwed.

 

And here I am sitting next to my 1201N that has been thrashing torrents for the past 72 hours straight. Not a single hiccup or sign of overheating.

 

I am trying to get some of the software that was on here initially that I cannot find on the driver disc or on the support site. Right now I am looking for the Hotkey Utility.

The disc has the following utilities:
Adobe Acrobat
Trend Micro Antivirus software
Asus Storage*
Asus Update*
Asus Vibe*
Boingo
Bupdater
Dr Eee
Eee Docking
Eee Splendid
Font Resizer*
Game Park
LivCam
Live Update
Skype
Super Hybrid Engine*
TMT
Windows Live*
You Cam

*Also found on support site

Support site has:
Keyboard Filter Utility
Chinese Patch

 

Hi guys,

My HP dv6 is kinda heavy and i was considering the 1201n. I've read through the thread. I'm not an overclocker or modder, I was just wondering how you think it'll handle my usage:

Normal: IE8, msn, WMP, windows live mail
Sometimes: light gaming like WoW (I have an xbox 360 for proper gaming). Very basic Photoshop, very occasional office 2007. DVD play back (in this case via external USB 2.0 DVD-RW).

Also can anyone tell me how well it handles external monitors of the same res? Any pointers or simple mods like 4GB RAM definitely recommended?

Thanks

 

Office, CS3, DVD playback using ISO via USB..NO problems. I have not tried my external burner at this time.

External 52" via HDMI is very good, output was adjusted to 1080P, however, I only have 480i DVD ISO's and a few 720P video files to test. The 720P played fine. So, your external monitor at same 720P rez, via 15 pin, should be no problem.

I'm still running stock ram but others here can help you there.

 

I played the 10 day trial of WoW on mine for a while (I do have it Oced to 2GHZ and the GPU also OCed) but I saw fps in the 20-50 range depending on what was going on, perfectly playable.

 

ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/EeePC/Utility/
you want the hotkey service 1.15

 

Nope, no BSOD, error message, or any warning or indication that anything was wrong. It just completely powered down. When I turn it back on, there's no Windows notification about shutting down improperly or anything.

Since last night, this has happened 8 times so far.

Do I call Asus and get this thing exchanged or fixed? How long does that take? What guarantee do I have that a new one will be any better? I have final exams all week, and I really can't afford to go without it.

I swear to god, this is the last time I spend less than $1,000 on a laptop. My last 3 in a row have been failure after failure after failure.

 

By all means get it exchanged, unless Asus will get you a quick turn around. Big river is 30 day return, not sure for newegg.

Hope you get the problem fixed quickly...

 

Today I returned two more headsets to BB. The problem is the 1201n has the lowest analog audio output of any laptop I've ever owned. I even tried $145 Shures with so called 115/mw output compared to 100/mw for the run of the mill. My ipod touch can blow the lid off the 1201n

I have a 10 hour flight tomorrow so I'll bring my beat up HD280 cans unless I can whip up a battery powered head amp for my sony buds. I'll try bluetooth head phone at a later time.

 

Moon Angel, the 1201n is perfect for what you want and then some. Im not an overclocker and the only mod I did so far was 4GB of Kingston HyperX 800mhz CL4 ram. The Ram made a huge difference in the performance of the games I tested on it. Street Fighter IV, Red Faction Guerilla, COD 5 WaW, Left 4 Dead 2, and Fallout 3. Streaming movies online was also smooth. Not to mention the 1201n is big enough that you can enjoy movies and games on yet small and light enough to grab and go.

 

As valdan75 said, I think you will love this machine. It's my first netbook after only desktops and heavy laptops, and I feel SO lucky getting this one. The performance is overall better than anything else at the price, it being the only configuration of its kind. I bought mine a week ago and have barely done anything else since but play with it.

Mods: I upgraded to 4GB RAM (OCZ 2x2GB 800). Swapped the HDD for a Hitachi 500GB/7200 vs. the 5400 it ships with. Together improved performance markedly. Memory is easy, takes 2 min literally. HDD is a PITA, with thirty screws, prying and popping, and voids the warranty. If you aren't a real techie with nerves, have someone else do it, but it's worth it. Together less than $200 for big difference.

Plays full 1080p MKV video files perfectly via HDMI into my Panasonic 50" plasma via Pioneer receiver. Gorgeous video and flawless performance from the Nvidia ION, worked instantly after just switching the HDMI connection from my home theater PC to the 1201n. Full theater sound quality and control. Haven't attached it to my LCD monitor yet, but no reason to expect any issues. HDMI connection output is a big plus.

Everything I've tried attaching has worked immediately. USB HDDs of all types and sizes/enclosures, two brands of USB external DVD drives, USB speakers, Bluetooth mouse, etc. Next is my cameras, which again I suspect will do fine. Skyped webcam, just nothing hasn't worked instantly so far.

Screen is large enough, easy to read, but machine is still very light. Keyboard is big enough to really do work on. Only downside is glare. Find some shade.

Working through removing all unnecessary/undesirable apps and getting everything set media/utility/security wise. Made a lot of changes, everything good.

I could go on, but after 25 years in computing, I would not hesitate to recommend this machine to anyone who doesn't have really pro or high performance requirements, something where they can't do the job otherwise.

 

Would you mind posting before and after game benches after you upgraded Ram?

TIA

 

id call em asap. i got my second RMA ticket today!

same exact problem i had before AC adapter dieing randomly after making a horrible noise inside the laptop.

i asked for a replacement this time considering i haven't even got to use my 1201n for a more than 10 days due to RMA shipping back and forth.

this is horabile! i told them the mobo needed replaced with the first RMA and all they did was Chech the AC adapter, considered it faulty and gave me a refurb in its place.

i really hope they issue me a BRAND NEW UNOPENED BOX! (and it works) or ill be majorly pissed! ill keep you guys up to speed on if Asus is on par with costumer satisfaction.

 

check this out, new Asus Eee PC 1201PN

http://netbooked.net/blog/asus-eee-pc-1201pn-powers-up-with-atom-n450-and-ion-2-cebit-2010/

ASUS Eee PC 1201PN HD

* 12.1” 1366 x 768 display
* Atom N450 processor
* Nvidia ION graphics (“ION 2” still branded as ION)
* 1GB RAM
* 160GB HDD + 500GB online storage
* 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
* Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
* 6-cell 63Wh Li-ion battery (battery life not announced)
* HDMI out

 

I returned an Asus N81 to newegg last week for exactly this problem. I'm absolutely shocked to find the 1201n suffers from the same problem considering the two models have so little in common.

At present, there's a 14 page thread on the Asus VIP tech support forums about this issue relating to the N81, I haven't checked the 1201N boards.

Link to thread-
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...0859&board_id=3&model=N81Vp&page=14&count=137

Re:Rmaing to Asus-

Tech support says the average turn around time on an in-house rma is 3-5 business days. If you send the unit to another facility it may take longer, but you might catch a break on shipping. Regardless, estimates aren't a guarantee.

This is a particularly troublesome issue to troubleshoot as shutdowns are typically random. In my case, I would occasionally go 3+hours without a shutdown while other times I would shutdown repeatedly before even coming out of boot.

However, many users report shutdown ONLY occur when the unit is running on AC power. Has this been the case for you?

Moving on...

What will asus' techs do to your unit?

Units that were rma'ed in the n81 thread returned with asus bloatware removed. That's it.

This includes losing all your UI hotkeys, including volume, battery mode, etc...

This solved the issue for one user, but shutdowns persist for the majority of units returned.

Thus far, only one poster is shutdown free. In addition to asus stripping bloat, he manually removed all ATI programs (n81 has amd cpu/gpu), and disabled aero and microsoft updater. There were a few other steps that I don't recall.

As far as your comment about spending more to be problem free, I'm sad to say the N81 sells for >1k .

It's Asus not the dollars that are of issue.

Pretty bummed right now to see this problem spread to other Asus units as I was considering picking up the 1201N. Guess I'll take a harder look at the Lenovo edge.

 

ony thing what really will hurt it is the cpu sense the bottleneck is the cpu even in the current 1201n atoms gpu ion aint the problem.


battery life problee be better but pretty sure im passing on anything that has a atom in the future hehe

my 1201n is serveing me fine

 

Wish I could Hydra, I am a new PC convert from Mac (for gaming) and the 1201n fit the mobile gaming needs I was looking for. From research the 4GB ram upgrade was recommended and the HyperX 800mhz CL4 was the fastest. So I went with it only days after getting the 1201n. Since then I have purchased the new Asus G73JH for my gaming rig and have learned more about benchmarks now. So the 1201n will become my baby Frankenstein project.

 

Thanks for that. Much better than going through the labyrinth that is their support site.


Look what Engadget just posted.... Asus 1201PN

One other thing I wanted to note, with the stock 2gb of memory, Win7 was reporting that only 767mb was available. Now that I put the 4gb in, it is reporting 3.25gb available. I know that the Ion uses 256mb and other base system resources use a little, but 1.25gb?

Also, I am currently testing OCing for CPU/GPU and will have some numbers soon.

 

Wow, when I had an EEE 901 I had this issue too where it would randomly turn off.

 

Ion 2, nice! I think its clear what to expect.

Better Battery Life
Better Game Performance, if the game doesn't take a big hit from the single core
Not as good multitasking given the single core CPU

It will be very interesting to see the benchmarks for games. Nice to see Asus sticking with the higher resolution screen. 1024x600 even on the 10" screen netbooks is simply too low!

I really like the way Asus has been going.

 

(my thoughts on what ive read on the web so far) untill facts and benchmarks surface we wont know for sure.

i think performance will suffer greatly when comparing to the 1201n. first and foremost single core vs dual... no contest even if the new architecture is a tad better. secondly and even more importantly the new ION (ION2) as of last i heard was not licensed access through the north bridge and sadly has to use the south bridge for its bandwidth. this is not only slower but a longer path to take (electronically speaking).

so basically your looking at 1201PN = better battery life but less gaming/multitasking performance. isn't that market already filled? i thought the 1201n was basically the gap in between the two

a nice improvement on the 1201n would be more battery life but if its at the cost of performance whats the point? isn't that what Intel graphics based netbooks are for?

im all for improvments in tech but this just sounds like politics getting in the way of better tech... thanks Intel!

 

No doubt about the Dual Core v. Single Core comparison with regards to the CPUs being compared. It's also too bad Asus isn't putting the New Intel Atom N470 which runs at 1.83 GHz in the new 1201 model.

However I am excited to see how the new Ion 2 runs.

I know this question is gonna make me look like a moron, but are sites like YouTube and Hulu more dependent on the CPU or GPU?

 

It depends on which version of the visual platform Adobe Flash you have installed. The latest beta of Adobe Flash, 10.1, is supposed to be a momentus improvement as it allows the GPU to handle flash videos, which comprises all YouTube and Hulu videos. If you are using the latest official release, 10, then it's all going to be on the CPU to crunch up to 1080p videos, in which it cannot do very well.

I've been using 10.1 since it went beta and so far Adobe is doing great work. Beta 3 was just released on the 23rd and has fixed a lot of stability issues, very few which apply to me, but overall it's worth replacing version 10 with the 10.1 beta 3. Try it out and give a 1080p video on YouTube a whirl. Your CPU will love you for it.

 

i second this. but note that you should have the most updated video driver installed.

for some reason the driver that came on my 1201n disc didn't support 10.1 but once i updated all was golden. watching 1080p at like 4-10% CPU usage.

 

Agreed. Along with Flash 10.1, install the latest video driver for maximum compatibility. Any of the official Nvidia drivers or later drivers supporting the Ion will work.

 

I'm noticing my fan noise now more than I did when I first got the 1201. I've been so busy with my Alienware M11x that the 1201 was on the back burner for a few days. Now when I use the 1201 the fan is so much louder than I remember. Even when I boot into Windows with nothing running the fan is audible in a quiet room. Not horrible but loud enough that I find it bothersome. I have checked to see that nothing is running. I did update to the newest BIOS recently - could that have changed it? Is this normal. Thanks.

 

I really want the alienware m11x but I hate the look of it. Why couldnt they make it nice and sleek like the Eee Pcs

 

I like the look of the M11X more than I thought I would. I do still like the ASUS better. I just love the graphics card in the M11X.

 

Hmmmm anyone have the m11x, any idea how the gaming performance compares to the 1201N, thinking of trading up, the better CPU seems like a no brainer.

 

gaming performence should be tons bettter sense better cpu and way better gpu.

it scores around 6 too 6500 on 3dmark 06.


me i think i might get it but not this verison i might wait till they add i3 i5 to it in the future


anyways my 1201n is doing fine what i want it too do for 3 too 5hours a day which is mobile gaming.

i think the m11x would just go too waste sense i mosty home with my gaming desktop.

and i also have a g50vt-x5