ASUS N10 User Review

The ASUS N10 is a 10.2-inch widescreen notebook featuring an Nvidia 9300m GS graphics card. Based on the Intel Atom chipset, the N10 is technically a netbook, but ASUS claims the N10 is a notebook due to its large keyboard, track pad and power. Dropping the Eee PC tag was the first step but does this netbook deserve to be called an ultra-portable notebook?

Aimed at the business sector, the ASUS N10 comes in a sleek light gold color and can be bought through a retailer or reseller. Buying it from a retailer will limit your choices as upgrading memory and/or hard drives or any other component will void the warranty. Buying through an reseller may let your configure components such as the memory and hard drive. It is just as customizable as any other netbook.

For this review I will be reviewing the ASUS N10JC. It was purchased at Yodobashi Camera Akihabara (retail) in Japan for 64800 ($706). Prices will vary depending on retailers and reseller.

Specifications:

• Screen: 10.2” WSVGA (1024 x 600) Glossy LED, w/Ambient Light Sensor
• Processor: Intel Atom N270 processor at 1.66Ghz
• Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
• Nvidia 9300m GS 256MB DDR2
• Memory: 1GB DDR2 PC-5300 667
• Hard Disc: 160GB 5400 rpm w/Freefall Sensor (Seagate)
• Wireless: Atheros AR92X Wireless Network Adapter (A/B/G/N), Bluetooth V2.0 + EDR
• Optical Drive: N/A
• Ports and Slots: 3 USB 2.0, HDMI,VGA monitor out, headphone jack, microphone input, 8-in-1 SD card reader (SDHC compatible), Kensington lock slot, Ethernet 10/100, ExpressCard/34, Microphone-in, and Line-out/ S/PDIF
• Operating System: Windows XP Home SP3 + Express Gate.
• Features: Built in 1.3Mp Camera/Microphone/Fingerprint reader
• Battery: 11.1v 4800mAh 53Wh 6 Cell Lithium
• Dimensions: 27.6 cm (W) x 19.5 cm (D) x 2.99-3.71 cm (H)
• Weight: 1.40 kg with 3-cell battery
• Warranty: 2-Year Limited Global Warranty

Build and Design
The N10 shouts class. Like a drop top Phantom it demands attention while providing tranquility and comfort. The champagne gold has sparkle and shine which is accented by a chrome-looking hinge area and touchpad buttons. The gold follows suit with the black bezel with a high-gloss design which is a magnet for dust and fingerprints. The blue status lights are a bit off during the day but when dark out they give the notebook a gaming edge.

A close look at the glossy surface that shows dust and fingerprints

The N10 feels solid like a small notebook should. It can be held by one hand though it is heavier, bigger and thicker than a traditional netbook. The chassis is composed completely of plastic.

Bottom to top: Vostro 1500, Asus N10, Casio EX-word XD-SP6700, Sharp 922SH

15.4”, 10.2”, 4.9”, and 3.5” Screens

The screen when twisted does flex but is easily in the acceptable range and does beat out many notebooks. A downside is the N10 was designed without a latch to keep the lid closed. The hinges feel like they move a little too easily but at the end of the day unless shaken vigorously the screen holds the angle you set it at.

Like a business notebook the battery sticks out the back rather than underneath like other 10.2 inch notebooks. Nevertheless the major upset for me in the build quality was the battery. When I had opened the notebook from its packaging the battery had been chipped and taped up by the factory. I received a replacement and learned how it could have been chipped during shipping even while packed protectively. After receiving the replacement battery I had dented it with my hand. Yes, by grabbing the battery I had dented it. I am a strong guy but I should not be able to dent a notebook battery with my hand. I have honestly never seen such poor plastic on a PC component that is so essential to the notebook. I lack the words to describe how disappointed I am in the build of the battery.

Display
The glossy 10.2” WSVGA LED backlit screen reflects like a mirror. Unlike many netbooks ASUS decided to go with a glossy screen. For outdoor use it is generally recommended to have an antiglare screen in order to view the screen. The backlighting on the screen can become ridiculously bright. I have no troubles using the notebook in direct sunlight without having to boost to maximum brightness. There is some reflection due to the gloss but if you do not get headaches from the reflections of glossy screens in general it should not be a major issue. For general use at home I recommend you turn the brightness down, otherwise the colors begin to wash out.

I personally found the screen to lack vividness. I feel the color is a bit dull and lacks liveliness. When ASUS decided to market the N10 as a notebook one would expect they would offer a higher resolution choice but the limiting WSVGA resolution may make some web pages hard to view and multi-tasking virtually impossible.

Speakers
The N10 features a pair of Altec Lansing speakers. The sound was not exactly what I had expected: quiet maximum volume, lack of crispness, bass, and energy. They are not terrible by any means but display that this notebook is intended to be portable. In short if you care about quality, headphones are a must.

Performance and Benchmarks
Using an Nvidia 9300m GS was a bold move by Asus. The 9300m GS slots in between the 9200m GS and the 9400m GS, all which beat out Nvidia’s 8400m GS in terms of performance. It is enough to play general games though in the N10 the card is bottlenecked by the Intel Atom processor.



A major feature of the N10 is its ability to play 1080p Content, and HDMI makes the deal even sweeter.　One catch is that the 1080p content you plan on watching must support DXVA or it will have trouble playing smoothly. DXVA will take load of the Atom processor and use the dedicated 9300m GS to accelerate the video. The software for playback is also a bit picky due to this.

General start up was snappy and the Atom processor beat out my expectations. It has run anything I have thrown at it. Microsoft Office 2007, Adobe Photoshop CS3, and iTunes all run. The only issue I find is the lack of memory. At 1GB one would expect it s enough to run Windows XP nice and smooth, however I notice while attempting to run multiple tabs in an Internet browser or rendering some of the heavier filters in Adobe Photoshop CS3 the notebook tends to hang and possibly freeze.

Games tend to be quite playable. Everything from Grand Theft Auto San Andreas to Crysis will run on this 10.2” notebook. Do not expect great frame rates from newer games nor high settings. I recommend you visit www.youtube.com where there are many videos of how specific games run on the N10.

Heat and Noise
With its dedicated graphics card and small form one would expect it to be a hot little notebook. I was startled; when using the notebook in class or in the library it made little no zero noise, and heat overall while running graphic benchmark software was quite low. To be specific, in a room that was 18C every component was at or below 50C. The bottom does get warm and at times the keyboard and palm rests may heat up as well, but it is not a major issue. The hard drive does cause a bit of vibration which is more annoying than the heat.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard shown here is a Japanese keyboard. Many Japanese keyboards feel cramped and messy. A Japanese keyboard is the same size as an English keyboard but keys such as the space key are spit up into multiple other keys in order to fit more functions that are required. I can honestly say it is the best Japanese keyboard I have ever typed on. Everything was easy to reach without making mistakes.

With large fingers I find it difficult to type on many keyboards and impossible to type on most netbook keyboards. But with the sharp edge key design I found it very comfortable and easy to strike individual keys.



The Synaptics touchpad is rather large for a netbook. It is a full sized touchpad that beats out some notebook touchpads. Asus did cut a corner on the touchpad. Part of the outer edge of the touchpad is actually non-responsive; the actual touchpad appears to be smaller than the space provided.

Input and Output Ports

Right side:

USB 2.0, Headphone(S/PDIF) out, Microphone in, VGA out, Ethernet (10/100/1000) AC power jack　and ExpressCard 34 slot. The ExpressCard slot dummy can be used to store an SD(HC) Card

Left Side:

Wireless On/Off, two USB 2.0, HDMI out, Graphics Toggle switch, Kingston lock

Front:

SD/MMC/MS/Pro Card reader

Back:

No I/O ports

Wireless
The N10 features an Atheros wireless card. With compatibility from A to N this card connects to almost anything. It is quite easy to get it going and has decent range. The Bluetooth so far has been a bit confusing but does work.

Battery
The ASUS N10 features switchable graphics: To conserve battery power, the N10 has the ability to switch from the Nvidia 9300m GS to the integrated Intel GMA950. The 6-cell battery in the N10 pushes just over the 7 hour mark. I was able to get 7 hours and 11 minutes by switching to the Intel GMA 950, turning off Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, and dimming the screen. I am actually quite satisfied. ASUS does sell a 9-cell battery for the N10 if desired.

Operating System and Software
This specific model comes with XP preloaded. Unfortunately it is full of bloatware. Much of it is not needed and can be easily removed by the user. There is a hidden recovery partition which can clean install XP in 5 minutes flat. All drivers would be loaded and the bloatware as well. Asus does provide Recovery disks for those who would like to install XP via external optical drive without installing the bloatware.

Like many other recent ASUS products, Express Gate is included. It did not feel very “express” as it was slow to get going. The resolution is rather off from the actual resolution of the screen making the image rather blurry. It is not a very attractive OS as it is hard to generally read content. It is possible to connect to the Internet, use Skype, and a few other apps when booting up with Express Gate.

Customer Support
I had initially received the notebook in used condition. Part of the chrome was scratched as well as imprints and scratches on the screen, bezel and stickers peeling. The battery had already been installed in the notebook and it was cracked and re-taped by the factory.

I had several calls with ASUS Support here in Japan and every time the same man answered. It appears there is only one person on shift making call waits pretty long. Furthermore the operator was rather impolite, unhelpful and did not really care about what was being said. I had told him about my issue and was sent to the store where I had purchased the notebook.

There I was told there was nothing that could be done. I instantly began to get annoyed and started to point everything out. Eventually the manager came and said he will call Asus to see what he could do. An hour later he returns and says the operator was Mr. X, the same man which I had been talking to in the past. I was told that I could get a replacement battery and that was it.

I pointed out the legitimate evidence that the notebook appears to have been used previously and the employee and manager agreed but I was told to contact Asus though not recommended. I was told if I did indeed contact ASUS I would lose the notebook and may end up in a trial as they do not replace systems with any cosmetic blemishes upon arrival.

I must say I am quite displeased and disappointed by ASUS’s business practices here in Japan. They are surely not “No.1 in Quality and Services.”

Conclusion
Overall the ASUS N10 qualifies as a notebook. With more power than the average netbook it is a great solution for those looking for a secondary computer and for some such as myself as their main notebook. Personally I do not own any other computer at this time other than the N10. If you plan to use this as your main notebook an external monitor with a higher resolution is a must. I would recommend this notebook for those who would like to have a very portable, light gaming notebook with good battery time.

Pros:

• Switchable graphics
• Easy to type keyboard/Large touchpad
• Long battery time
• Size and weight
• Low heat and noise
• Sleek Design

Cons:

• Dull Screen
• No eSATA port
• Battery build quality
• Customer support

 

Thanks for the review. I was very tempted to go for the N10, but the price swayed me towards the 1000HE instead
I'm actually quite surprised to see the battery life last that long on the N10. I guess we can also add Japan to the same category as the UK in terms of poor customer service.

 

Should be 2.69 lb, right?

 

Nice review.

I thought the comparison pics of the various sized *books stacked together was a great idea.

An Atom powered netbook with dedicated graphics is a pretty interesting combo. Switchable gfx is even sweeter! Even tho I don't game I prefer to have at least relatively low-end dedicated gfx capability for some gfx "cushion" and future-proofing.

Edit: Dedicated gfx + HDMI -Out sweetens the deal even moreso, IMHO.

 

nice review. id love to have one of these to play around with but the price is out of my range for an atom processor.

 

Very nice review!

I would love to have think not<del>e</del>book,but the price is too high IMO!

 

Wow, you're brave to use that as your main computer. It's definitely a nice netbook, but unfortunately I would still deem it as a netbook, as it still only has a single core Atom and 1024x600 resolution.

It's still pretty nice though. You should post some gaming benchmarks, see how some newer games run, like TF2, CoD4 and 5, etc.

Good review though.

 

Is the ram user upgradeable?

 

Is it easy to overclock? Does gaming performance increase?

Looking to handle mainly the games I play now. Source based. Also may want to play a few Unreal 3 engine based games.

 

Generally those games will run if overclocked.

Yes but it voids the warranty to do so.

The processor overclocks to 1.7ghz with Power4Gear but if yu OC it your self bang, you can often push it to 2.0/2.1ghz, and you can OC the graphics card just a bit. It actually boosts frame rates by 5 or so.

A common question I notice already is general performance in game. I recommend you take a look at this N10 specific forum, it is a great resource as game performance can vary user to user

 

Ah, that's the site I was looking for. Stumbled upon it in google, but forgot to bookmark. Thanks!

 

Is it Rock Solid and Heart Touching?

The N10 is very close to being my perfect netbook, but unfortunately it's not quite there. HDMI goes a long way though.

 

I think there are a couple versions of the n10J. basically if it has 1 gig of ram it can upgrade to 2 gig ram. if it already has 2 it cannot be upgraded any further the system wont recognize more ram then 2 gb. At least what ive read.

 

WHAT??????

 

I was told by Asus to to I did not void the warranty and, upgrade then just replace the original ram stick. Unfortunately 1) it is Fraud, a federal offense 2)Do you really think they are going to honor that?

 

That's very unfortunate that Asus Japan have these restrictions. However, I should mention that none of the Asus notebooks and netbooks purchased in North America can have their warranties voided by upgrading the RAM. The only way to have your warranty voided is by removing the "void if removed" sticker located on one of the screws securing the GPU or GPU. From experience, this is also the same for Asus Hong Kong.

 

Interesting, I was told the N10 was the only notebook that would lose its warranty by upgrading hard drive or memory

 

thank u sir

 

Probably in Japan and maybe other countries it does, but not in the the US or Canada. Ram and hard drive upgrades won't affect the warranty. At least that's what Asus and GenTechPC are telling me

 

Lose the notebook and End up in trial?!?!? For what? Calling Asus?!?!? You have GOT to be kidding me!!!!

First of all, what kind of company thinks that they can confiscate a notebook simply because the customer is complaining about an issue (and a LEGIT issue at that!). If Asus (or any company for that matter) EVER did that with me, I'd sue them faster that the speed of light (and I still wouldn't give them the notebook)!

Secondly, how in the entire universe could you possibly end up in trial?! You've done absolutely nothing wrong here; it's Asus that needs to go to trial for such an outrageous excuse for "customer service"!

"Number 1 in service". It looks like Asus left out one little part of that line: "Number 1 in service at screwing people over".

All I can say is, Asus needs to be taken to court for this kind of BS ASAP. This is simply ludicrous.

 

One person on call for all of Japan Asus support? Yikes, that's rather concerning. How big of a brand is Asus in Japan? It's huge throughout much of Asia -- at least Taiwan and China, is that not the case in Japan?

 

In the netbook market it is HUGE, probably has at least 50% of the market in Japan. Otherwise it is a smaller company.

 

I take issue with the parts about the N10 being able to game. I personally reviewed this unit when I wrote it up for Tech Report, and its gaming abilities have been vastly overstated.

Here's the thing: if you stand still, then yes, you can hit that magical 30fps in many games. However, the instant you start hitting the CPU with anything, the thing bogs down to holy hell. Maybe my definition of playable differs from yours, but when even Source engine games have a minimum frame rate that regularly drops into single digits regardless of video settings (the 9300M GS is actually too much GPU for the Atom), I have to question if it's really even worth bothering with.

 

I believe the original idea of the 9300m GS actually came into play so that the netbook can have smooth 1080p playback. Gaming was just assumed by the public and media.

I consider playable at around 20-25 FPS and with source games I can get upwards of that and drop to about 10 at the very least (20 people in one area shooting)

 

Honestly don't know why people don't tell you the most importent things in reviews, instead of useless info about chipping a battery or how bad the speakers are...

Now my side, speakers are better than most laptops can give, expecially for it's size, on par with the TZ speakers which were great, but not as good as the mini note 1000 speakers..

As for the display hinge, solid build, very strong hinges, no compaints there, screen is very bright and sharp, the gloss is spot on put's most other glossy screens to shame, only negatives is alot of people have scratches on their screens when recieving their laptop, even me, very bad quality control on the screen.

Build quality on the whole notebook is excellent, very stong and sturdy built like a tank , solid all around...

The major let down is the touchpad, although quite large, not sure why they went for the smooth gloss surface, the standard matte would be better, the scroll feature is terrible, spent 30 minutes configuring but not matter how much I try it's terrible, cannot really use it to scroll, as it scrolls too far, has a mind of it's own, the two mouse buttons are very stiff to press, then need to be softer.

Also a lot of wasted space inside, enoough room for two extra mini pci-e cards, for the price they charge they should of offered internal 3G modem.., or at least had the spare mini pci-e slot

The wifi card that ships wiht it is a crippled N card, only supports up to 150mb/s N and not even the 5GHZ band, at least they have a 3rd antenna installed so you can upgrade to a proper N card, recommend Atheros AR5008, Intel 4965AGN did not work...

Asus need to sort this issue out, if it had the touchpad from the vaio TZ it would be great

Nice cooling system, not to loud, nice large vent, some overclocking features for the cpu would be nice, i.e in BIOS, should be able ot handle the heat, gaming wise the CPU is the main letdown, HD movies play on the 9300M superb, Install power dvd 8 ultra which supports purevideo for mpeg 2/H264 and your all set. overclock the CPU to 2GHZ and with an extenal blu ray drive, playing any blu ray movie is a breeze, with bitrates of 40mb/s for H264 this system delivers..

Check my sig for my N10 Upgrades

 

The reason I mention the battery is that it is actually pretty darn dangerous that I can break this battery if I squeeze it. It shows a safety hazard

Its because the edges of the touchpad are not the edges.. Asus cut a corner and the edge is a bit in, personally i drew lines on my silicone protector i use over the whole palm rest and keyboard so I know where the touchpad actually is. The buttons are personal preference, I like the stuff rather than the soft...which I did mention

You seem to be asking far too much from a sub 700$ system in the states. The TZ starts at 1600$ in the states (according to sonystyle). So there is no point comparing the touchpad etc. You expect better touchpad.

As for wifi, space and heat. A major reason the cooling system is so great is because of the extra space available. Its like the Vostro 1500/Inspiron 1520. A major reason they stay cool is the extra space.

They dont put OCing into the Bios then they would have to pay to replace systems people damaged by OCing.

 

intresting how far netbooks have actually come since the asus eeepc
netbooks are catching up........
putting in a 9300 GPU aint bad makes the deal sweeter
but it does decrease battery life though
which were one of the strong points of these lil netbooks
cheerz

 

One thing I notice I did not make clear or mention properly was that the N10 features switchable graphics.

You can switch to Intel integrated graphics to conserve battery life.

 

so what you're saying is that w/ power DVD 8 ultra this will work w/ any 1080p content except HD WMV???

i'm interested in thin and light sub -3 lb systems that can handle w/ HDMI out 1080p 60fps content but have very few places to try it out before purchase

 

I don't see the point in having 1080p for a 10-inch screen that requires external BluRay reader... but that's just me

 

Fair enough.

But with HDMI-Out the N10 can drive an HD TV, and the gfx card can likley (hopefully) handle it. Some of use ur lappies to bit-torrent movies and/or just keep movies on our HDDs.

I'm finding that more and more my lappy is becoming the cliche' "center of my digital life", literally.

Having only VGA-Out on my current lappy is very limiting.

 

awesome review....

It will be interesting to see how the updated model with the 9400 compares.

 

I for one keep a desktop in my room that is my media center, then I use my laptop to stream 1080p .mkv's from my massive storage space, and from there HD out to the HDTV in the living room. Even over a wireless G connection you can stream 1080p without hitches.

 

Im planning on doing something similar with Ion nettops. ;]

 

You have nice hands

Cool, its interesting to see what upgrades the newer models are gonna bring over the current models.

Have you tried an overclock of the GPU as of yet?

I see you have done the CPU and its good to hear how smooth that went.

 

Is it common for Asus laptops to have really well engineered cooling? It's cooling doesn't surprise me at all, given that I see the same results from my (obviously much higher specked) 14" n80 Asus.

I was a bit worried, given that it's a smaller notebook than previous ones I've used, but it at full load stays cooler than a lot of notebooks do at idle. I can't get the CPU above 50c, even when Folding on the CPUs and GPU.

 

I really dont see why they would stick a 9400m in there 0.o. It would just be more heat and minimal if any performance gain. The Atom processor is already enough of a bottleneck, it seems Asus just wants to get a bigger number so it looks better on paper.

If you overclock your GPU you usually have to drop CPU by about 1Ghz. I usually dont us my own OC regularly, I'm fine running it with stock Asus OC.

An Asus notebook being 1) cool and 2) having good battery life has actually been a very long and old oxymoron

 

The 9400M chipset would likely replace the 9300M dedicated card. It might produce lower 3dmarks(which doesn't necessarily mean worse game performance) but heat, and chassis size would go down while battery life would go up.

 

Nice to see another review of a Japanese N10. Sorry to hear about that ASUS support you had to go through.

I also did a review of a Japanese N10 if anyone wants to read a second opinion:
http://portablemonkey.com/article/asus-n10jc-review-the-gaming-netbook/

 

wow that sounds great!!
do you have to reboot or could you do without ?

 

If I remember correctly, a reboot is required for the switch.

 

As an N10 user i find my experiences somewhat different than reviewer.

In terms of gaming the majority of games i tried, do run, but not so with the fluidity that is essential for a pleasant gaming experience...at least from my point of view.

HD Playback for the majority of users right now means standard scene releases, the run of the mill 4.37GB, x264 files, with 5000-7000 bitrates. They DO NOT playback without dropping frames.

 

Good Job mate!

Yup, personally I switch when I leave the house so I flick the switch when its powered off.

One thing I have noticed about the N10 is that it seems to vary heavily from user to user. Every reviewer has different issues with the notebook and different positive/performance with the notebook. Its kind of weird.

 

I think that is somewhat endemic of netbooks, in general. That probably goes in-spades for netbooks that are at the higher priced end of the spectrum and aspire to more "notebook-like" performance.

 

Well put, and in my sleep deprived state the last time i posted i forgot to say thanks for the review...so Thanks!

Hopefully in the very near future we can expect to see a combination of more powerful CPUs and 720p minimum screen resolutions in netbooks. Machines like the Vaio TT...but at about half the price...and a wee bit smaller.

 

　　

It also seems the case with cheaper 12/13" notebooks as well

Personally the resolution is REALLY growing on me, I'm currently watching the Sopranos, talking on Pidgin and have firefox open all viewable at all times so I watch and talk while browsing without having to alt + tab.

 

On your N10.... netbook? 1024x600? Is your nose touching the screen? lol, no offense, but really....

There's just not enough pixels to see that much on screen.

 

I am serious, I cant believe it my self

 

Screenshot please. I have a hard enough time with some websites on my Aspire One netbook.

Not that I don't believe you, I just want to see what it looks like.

 

Not of all us download Pirated x624 movies/tv shows, not sure what that guy is talking about only 720P H264, them pirate show have a bit rate of 4-6mb/s for 720P and 1080P varies between 8-12mb/s, with the nvidia graphics it features purevideo, so can decode 1080P H264 at 24-30mb/s, and overclock the CPU to 2GHZ and you can do 40mb/s + H264, stock cpu speed can do 40mb/s H264 but with some ever so slight slight pauses, probably becasue the cpu isusage up time to stream content from USB blu ray drive.

I hooked my N10 up to a 1366*768 LCD, playing back blu ray fine and also Outrun 2006 with 360 Wired Conroller is great, everything High and 2x AA, gives the HP DV with 2GHZ C2D and 8400M graphics a run for it's money..