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Asus EeePC 1201T Review

The Asus Seashell design was continued with the introduction of the Eee PC 1201T, a 12-inch AMD Athlon-powered netbook. We took the unit for a spin and shared my verdict in the review below.

The Intel version, which is the 1201N with Atom N330 dual core and nVidia Ion, will not be released by Asus in the Philippines. But that shouldn’t prevent you from seeing some units sold in the grey market.

If you’re familiar with the Seashell 1008HA and 1005HA, the 1201T is the 12.1″ version with respect to design and construction — slim and tapered at the edges.

The unit is glossy all over — from the lid, to the keyboard panel and the palm rest — so expect a lot of smudges and fingerprints when using this. Some people like it, others hate this type of piano-black finish.

The chiclet-type keyboard is well-spaced although the individual keys are a bit small and prone to slipping when touch-typing. I kinda liked that style though.

The display screen is 12.1″ in diagonal and has a resolution of 1366×768 pixels. The glossy screen is bright and crisp — a big disadvantages when used outdoor because of the glare.

When I ran Windows Experience Index, the processor got a rating of 3.2. This is 0.1 higher than the same Athlon MV-40 on the ThinkPad X100e (WEI: 3.1) because I installed 64-bit version of Windows 7. More benchmark information here using PassMark. Here’s a comparison against the ThinkPad X100e with the same CPU and GPU.

Now at least we know that 64-bit OS does some improvements on performance. There’s also a difference in the GPU performance but that’s for another entry. I guess the most revealing about this CPU is that it can’t play YouTube HD (720p) smoothly — playback is choppy at best. It can play Full HD 1080p video files but that’s because of the help of the GPU.

One unique design feature of the Asus 1201T is that the trackpad area is continuous with the palm rest and that it’s pimpled (dotted like that of a Braille). This gives you some tactile feedback and I think works very well. The other drawback though is that the left and right click buttons are not separated.

The system is pre-installed with the Asus Express Gate, a quick-boot OS that allows for basic functions like instant messaging, browsing, games, video and photos. It’s a nice feature that’s built into the system and saves a lot of time when you’re in a hurry to get connected and just wanted to do a quick check.


As for battery life, the 6-cell battery only provides up to 2.5 hours but that’s because of the low rating of 4400mAh. I reckon if it had been 5600mAh, it could do about 3.25 hours. The Athlon CPU and Radeon HD3200 graphics are really juice-guzzlers.

The unit sells for Php21,900 without an OS — pretty affordable price if you asked me. However, the poor battery life and slightly above average performance of the CPU isn’t something to be too excited about.

In some respects, it’s actually better than a regular Atom-powered netbook with a 3-cell battery selling at the same price point. At the same time, if you compare this to the Lenovo ThinkPad X100e which has the same specs, the Eee PC 1201T looks attractive with the Php21,900 but don’t forget you still need to shell out some more money for the operating system.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

87 Responses

  1. Avatar for Ces Ces says:

    I’ve been using this laptop for nearly a year, and so far, I’m satisfied with its performance. However, one of the keys is no longer functioning. I called the service center and was informed that it will cost me Php 2,300 for the whole keyboard replacement and 2 to 7 days of servicing. Does anyone know how I can replace just that one dysfunctional key? Service center recommendations would be helpful. Thanks!

  2. Avatar for a a says:

    asus 1201T vs 1201B vs 1201N? which one is the best?

  3. Avatar for jego207 jego207 says:

    We’ve been using the Asus 1201T for almost a year now. It’s light, durable, and versatile. Sometime’s you forget that it’s a netbook. I think prices are from P21k to P14k and upgraded with higher specs. I recommend this for portable computing.

  4. Avatar for Jared Durupan Jared Durupan says:

    Thank you, I’ve been looking for facts about this subject matter for ages and yours is the best I’ve found so far.

  5. Avatar for tipsntricks tipsntricks says:

    The only con of this netbook is the battery.

  6. Avatar for Mickey Mickey says:

    msi wind u135 vs asus eeepc 1201T san mas ok???

  7. Avatar for John Cruze John Cruze says:

    The Assus EEE PC 1201T is also very nice but its 2GB Ram maximim capacity is holding me back from buying it…I would still prefer the Lenovo Thinkpad X100e

  8. Avatar for Rains Bautista Rains Bautista says:

    Pwede kayang mag-Photoshop dito? Can games like Plants vs Zombies and Mystery Case Files be played in this netbook?

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