Asus N10 Notebook First Thoughts

Asus today took the cover off the new N10 10.2" screen Intel Atom powered notebook. Despite its small size and Atom processor, Asus really wants you to know this is not a netbook, but indeed a notebook. Which explains the lack of Eee PC in the naming. The N10 has a full sized keyboard and even switchable Nvidia dedicated graphics to separate it from the netbooks flooding the market of late.

We got some hands on time with the N10J today, which is the Nvidia equipped member of the N10 family. The N10E version has just integrated graphics and starts at $599, while the N10J has an Nvidia 9300 GS 256MB graphics card on board. You can toggle to using integrated graphics on the N10J to save battery life by flipping a switch on the left side (you have to reboot to make this switch between dedicated and integrated).

The N10J has the same Intel Atom 270 1.60GHz processor that many netbooks have, but the available 320GB hard drive, Nvidia graphics and 2GB of RAM help to separate it storage and power wise from the smaller Eee PC. Asus had enough confidence in this notebooks performance abilities that it went ahead and put Vista Premium or Vista Business on there as the OS. There will be a downgrade option to XP for those business users whose organizations haven't made the leap to Vista yet.

The quoted battery life for the N10 in integrated graphics mode is said to be up to 10 hours. That seems rather optimistic, and your mileage may vary depending on how you use the N10 of course.

The LED backlit screen appeared blazingly bright in the rather dimly lit room we used the N10 in. The 10.2" screen has a 1024 x 600 resolution, so real estate viewing is somewhat limited, but at least the colors are brilliant and picture is crisp.

The keyboard is full sized and oh so much more easy and comfortable to type on than any netbook out there. For those who insist on having a notebook that provides a halfway decent typing experience and have shunned netbooks simply because they don't, you might have a friend in the N10 here. It's certainly not as light as the Eee PC, but it does become more usable with the extra size.

The port selection on the N10J is also very good. It has the following ports:

• 3 USB 2.0 ports
• HDMI out port
• Media card reader
• Microphone-in
• Headphone-out
• Ethernet LAN
• Monitor out

Left side view

Right side view

You of course get 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless, no WWAN built-in though (remember, it's $599).

The overall design is attractive, head-on it looks a lot like a shrunken down HP Pavilion dv2700t notebook, sans the imprint design, it even has the Altec Lansing speaker branding along the top like Pavilion notebooks do. The lid is a pearl white color, with no multi-color options such as you get with the Eee PC, at least for the moment.

If you've read enough and are ready to order, J&R has you covered with their pre-order page for the N10, links to those are below:

• N10E on JR.com $599
  
  
• N10J on JR.com $699

Or if you prefer to wait for an official review, we'll have one in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

 

Good review thanks as well, awesome first one to post!

 

Can't wait to read more, now the only thing I'm waiting for will be a dual-core atom and maybe a 64gb ssd drive. Thanks for the write up

 

This is pretty impressive, and quite daring for Asus to integrate a dedicated video chipset in such a small notebook. I am happy to see they're using a LED screen as well. My only concerns for the N10J is the heat and noise emission, but if they're classroom friendly, I'm sold.

 

Do we know the dimensions of it?

By the way, look at that huge bezel.

 

Very interesting.

It's as if Asus just took a 3 year -- I dunno, say a Dell Inspiron 6000 packing a Pentium M and ATI x300, shrank it down to netbook size and threw in switchable graphics and contemporary aesthetics for good measure.

 

wow 9300gs .. on a 10inch? wonder how they gonna do it , with the heat and small casing and all..

making me regret buying my vaio z lmao jk jk

 

Isn't this more of a netbook? Anyways pretty cool consider the size, specs, and price. Nice Drew!

 

Will someone buy me one? Please?

 

i'll buy you one patrick, anyway a 9300m? How the heck did they put on in here? That's quite amazing.

 

Size and weight would be VERY appreciated.


And about the bezel... well, that's just shameful. Once again, the same old story they did with the EEE 701: give them this huge, senseless bezel, so when we throw a couple of inches bigger panel in there (EEE 900) they will have no friggin reason whatsoever not to upgrade.

Another computer that I probably WONT buy just because Asus wants me to be more idiot that I am.

 

N10 does NOT have full sized keyboard -- did you look at the right side? Shift key is the size of any other regular key!

Besides looks very good, but again, when using notebook you use keyboard all the time, so this unfortunate shift-key can be show stopper.

Cheers,

 

I really like it...

 

Um... Way to kill your own line of netbooks Asus.

 

What's the use of an discreet graphics card on such laptop? For games, isn't the Atom just too weak for that? Is it because the integrated card isn't powerful enough for movies and HDMI out? If that's the case, then what's the point of the N10E?

 

Good notebook overall, but looks rather dated.. And that bezel is a big turn off..

 

Big bezels seem to be Asus's calling card.This is a pimped out Eee PC,no matter how Asus tries to differ from it.It IS nice to see the old ASUS logo back on the cover instead of the ugly triple E.Shame it's got the same Atom CPU.I know its more power efficient but an old C2D would be better,or dual/ faster Atom.Not sure how it can be different given the screen size,but ya same res. as the 10" Eees.And this is probably going to be heavier than the heavy weight of the netbooks,i.e. the Eee 1000H.Don't know too much about the GPU,but its a nice option to have.Pricing is about right,right between the netbooks and $1000 umpcs.FYI seems you can order the priciest one at xoticpc for $50 cheaper than J&R w/ lots of options to upgrade and customize.

 

Just checked,it does appear to be a tag heavier than the 1000H.weight/dimensions- 3.5Lbs 10.8"x7.6"x1.2"-1.4"

 

Ugh. What is it with Asus and oversized bezels. They could easily have fit a 11-inch screen (maybe even 12-inch) in that notebook.

 

the 9300GS will make more sense when a dual-core atom is used.

 

Way to go ASUS. With those weight and dimensions, why not just go for a M1330 or similar?

 

I agree. I used a Sony for a while with a 11" screen and that would be about the limit I could tolerate. That's probably why Asus keep a low resolution since you probably could not read anything otherwise. The Sony has a much better utlraportable but its way expensive. Maybe if this has really good battery life it might have something over the m1330 dell. I think its a bit cheaper then the dell as well.

I think the key to this notebook is battery life and with the low res screen it might be usable. I definitely like the looks of this machine. I don't see any reason for the nvidia option on this kind of notebook. Too small to game and viewing HD on this would be dumb. It can't even do 720P. But if it could output 720P to HDTV though HDMI that might be ok for some. But I really doubt that Atom could do 1080 but maybe I'm wrong.

 

Any word on Atom dual-core? Think I'd get one for my 27th birthday.

edit: And guys, stop complaining. The thing's only $699 for goodness sakes.

 

About the ridiculous bezel thing, I just found that Dell is doing the proper thing: similar case, 12" panel.

Inspiron Z530, check it out:

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.204-8424.aspx

 

Lots of great comments guys, and some great debate. I have to say I was a little perplexed to hear that there was an Atom processor inside and yet an Nvidia dedicated graphics card as well. Seemed a little bit of an oxymoron if you will. But maybe having the Atom is what allows temperatures to stay down in this small package and allow the extra "warmth" of the 9300 card. Also, Asus is claiming 6 - 12 hours of battery life (YMMV) and wanted the Atom in there so they could achieve this. That battery life seems way optimistic, but we'll see.

 

Well that was to be expected, since there isn't such a shortage of small panels and Atom processors, manufacturers will flood the market with just about any combination imaginable.

I am sceptical about it's success, seems to be way too large, heavy and complicated for a netbook. We'll see.

 

for anyone who is thinking of buying, on the brightside when the dual core atom is released - they are interchangeable with this single core chip meaning you could only pay about $80 and get a dual core chip in there (install it yourself).

i would buy this for the hdmi finally being in there and then upgrading to dual core....but the deal i got on the u330 is just stupid to pass up (signature)

 

Are you sure about this? I think I remember reading that many netbooks have the Atom soldered straight to the motherboard with absolutely no chance of swapping it out. I think some of them even had the ram and hdd soldered to the motherboard as well.

 

yes the cpu is soldered on the mobo

 

Hm, that's an interesting machine (unlike those scented laptops they came up with lol)

So one question, is this configuration powerful enough to playback Full HD videos? (1080p) ... of course with an external tv connected to HDMI port. I'm sure both graphics cards should be fine (intel vs nvidia) but have doubts about the CPU

 

I think it might have issues with full HD, but it really depends on how much of the HD processing is taken on by the 9300M.

I think the whole "netbook with a dedicated GPU" idea is pretty sweet. This thing has more power than the average 2005 model year 15.4" gaming notebook...in a 3lb enclosure...with insane battery life. Where do I get to sign up?

 

That's the thing, I've got a 15.4" gaming system from 2005 (inspiron 6400 with x1400) and it handles full hd just fine. I read 9300gs is better than x1400 in most cases, so the only bottle neck could be the atom cpu...

 

Well, Dell Outlet comes close: 13" 1280x800, refurbished 3yr warranty
$679 - Core2 Duo 1830, 3GB, 250GB HD, IGU X3100
$699 - Core2 Duo 1660, 2GB, 250GB HD, GeForce 8400MGS

vs. the $599 Asus 10" 1024x600, 1.6GHz Atom, 1GB, 160GB HD and a IGU 950.

 

Very nice well rounded and feature rich notebook with a really fair price.

The one drawback I can see is 1024 X 600 resolution. But should work ok. Would have been nice with a 1280 x 800 ( 768 ) option though.

 

whats the battery life on this one? its very nicee i like should come with different color options

 

At xoticpc you can pick 'Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound' for +$37 from $655.Not sure what that is..but I love silver and it sounds awesome!!!!I don't dig that beige too much.I would be happy if it gets over 6hrs. in medium settings.

Thanks for clearing up that the Atom cpus aren't upgradable,I been wondering about that for awhile.I mean if you really want a dual Atom than you might as well wait a bit longer.

 

if you want dual core you'll be waiting for it for a year. Supposily the new atoms will have great video capabilities

 

man, i wish the N10 actually had a higher resolution than the 1000H.

 

hmmmmmmmm still debating on this one

 

Right, except thats not from 2005....Thats got a dual core processor...I mean, the atom can kinda hold up against PenM's (its got about the power of a 1.3GHz PenM, I think), but not any Core processor. (Core based laptops started shipping in February 2006...Core 2 was July 2006)

And yes, the 9300M GS is faster than the X1400, so the bottleneck probably will be Atom.

 

sorry about that, didnt know the cpu was also soldered on

 

all atoms and ulv cpus from intel are soldered in the mobo to save power so theres less distance for the electricity to travel. But if you have lots of money and a special machine you can unsolder it and upgrade the CPU. I remember someone that had a sony UX upgraded it to a ULV core 2 duo

 

Yeah I read about that, think Engadget or somebody had a link to the forum it was a great read considering I would never have thought it possible.

 

geez, lay off the bezel, this is a 10in netbook with dedicated graphics!! that should be as amazing as the LG p300!

 

the MSI PR211 is only slightly bigger and has twice the CPU/GPU power for a pricetag around £500.

that bezel is a killer.

 

"all atoms and ulv cpus from intel are soldered in the mobo to save power so theres less distance for the electricity to travel."

Huh? They are soldered to save money, space, and height on the MB.

 

Really, a year before the dual atoms come out? I thought they should be coming out around this time,or at least within this year.

 

I don't think it will be that long, the successor to Atom is supposed to come out in 2009, I think we will see dual0-core netbooks by the end of this year or early next year. The main problem for the designers is the reduced battery life it brings so they want to try to balance that out.

I don't think its possible to be able to disable a core when needed to save power?

 

will intel already laid out the road map they say Q3 of 2009 is when the dual core is gonna come out.

 

Not for me. Big bezel, big footprint, big weight and slow performance.

I'd rather buy an off-lease Thinkpad X61.