Confusion about which Asus EEE Netbook to choose from? We feel your pain! Here is the new Asus S101 Netbook, adding yet another Asus to the ever growing lineup. Did Asus get it right with this sleek, clean, and executive looking netbook?

Things are getting downright confusing about the EEE lineup, in fact when we first heard about the new S101 we were confused why it was labeled with an S rather than a number, like the previous 1000, 900, or 700 series. We must say though that we are incredibly happy with our initial observation of this netbook.

Our Asus S101 Specifications:

• 1.6 GHz Intel Atom
• 1 GB DDR2 Ram
• Windows XP Home
• 10.2” screen, 1024×600, LED backlit
• 16 GB/32 GB/64 GB Solid State Disc
• 802.11n Wireless Adapter
• 3x USB 2.0, 1xVGA,1xLAN,2xaudio jacks

It’s apparent with the new releases, matched with the wonderful numbers, that Asus is truly living the wave of success with the netbooks. And it doesn’t come without blame either, Asus deserves it all as they are the only ones that have truly captured the netbook market and gone with it.

We are happy to say that it seems that Asus has finally created a netbook that can appeal to the ‘executive’ corporate types. The type of netbook that isn’t just targeted towards everyone such as students, and people on the move. They decided to ramp up the design, and make a sleek yet beautiful netbook computer. This can be apparent through the way they packaged the computers. All previous Asus netbooks were packaged in a white glossy packaging, that looked like it was packaged straight from Japan and not really targeted towards the U.S. market. The new packaging is great though, coming in a matte black cardboard box that is fully embossed with silver text. It seems like something that Apple would have packaged.

Executive is one word that can properly describe the Asus S101. From opening the box you are greeted with pristine packaging, and an even better looking netbook. Asus has always excelled at understanding what exactly the netbook market has been looking for.  Creating lightweight, small, and capable laptops that are available for the most competitive prices available.

One of our favorite things about Asus is how they identify what the consumer wants, and is asking for and then creates that product. The Asus S101 feels like a tremendous improvement over the previous Asus EEE series. It feels lighter, looks sharper, and has a sense of professionalism that the rest of the line up has seemed to miss.

One of the problems we had with the previous Asus netbooks (without recognizing it until now) is the feature creep that existed. With the ports running rampant on the sides of the computer, things got a little intense. Asus managed to clean up their act, and provide a universal experience of ports, what we mean by that is that they are found on the back, and sides now rather than loaded up on the left and right sides as before.

For example the SD card reader was moved from the very front, as found in the previous 1000 and 900 series to the very back of the unit. This may seem like a stupid transition, but it is extremely intelligent as most users do not need to see and have access to the SD card all the time.  The same can be said for the Ethernet port as well. Previously this was found on the back right side of the netbook. Now Asus has transitioned it to the back of the netbook, thus removing that bulky cord for those of you that need to plug an Ethernet cord in.

In congruency of ‘cleaning up their act’, Asus has now shaved that bulky battery down. Before the battery was slightly awkward, bulking out of the bottom of the computer. They managed to shave it down to create a sleek, and balanced look to the netbook. This allowed the new netbook to be thinner than any previous generation!

Keep in mind though that the shaving down of the battery doesn’t come without cost. The newer batteries don’t last nearly as long as the previous Asus 1000H which provided over 7 hours of operation, in fact we were only able to manage 4 hours of battery life with the newer smaller battery.

The keyboard and touchpad have been improved as well. The feel of the previous generations of the Asus netbooks led us to believe that there may have been a trampoline underneath the keyboards due to the flex and bounce that we frequently experienced. Matched with the location of the trackpad created a headache at times as we’d mistype and then send the mouse flying across the screen.  Thankfully the compact frame has eliminated any flex, and allows for a crisp and smooth typing experience.

Asus also spent time renovating the touchpad, making a congruent single click that allows for both right and left click without the previous split associated with it. It’s most likely the largest trackpad we’ve seen to date on a netbook. We really love the new trackpad and feel that its one of the best upgrades we’ve seen yet.

Unfortunately though we didn’t see much of an upgrade with the monitor. Coming in at 10.2 we thought that we’d see a slight upgrade in the resolution, although it is still only capable of 1024×600. Granted this is fine for most functions, although we’d really like to see a higher resolution!  One on hand though we are glad that they kept the matte finish and LED backlit displays that have been so great to us in the past. We are literally able to use the Asus netbooks in the brightest of So Cal days in direct sunlight! That can’t be said for many other netbooks.

Performance is more or less similar to the previous Asus series, keeping in mind the true origin of the netbooks to be a low cost, internet capable laptop. We have never really complained about the capabilities of the netbooks as they are able to complete 90% of the applications needed on a daily basis. Those that don’t work we have a desktop computer for.

Verdict

If you couldn’t tell by now, we highly recommend the Asus S101 as it is the best looking netbook we have seen Asus produce yet. We are glad that Asus has finally decided to take the right steps towards producing better looking netbooks. We know that the hardware will come to be what we need it to be, although the biggest flaw of the previous netbooks was the ‘netbook’ feel. Thankfully Asus has gone away from that and has started developing better looking netbooks. This netbook is sleek, stylish, and just downright done right. The executive feel, for a manual labor price. The battery life is good, but for those of you needing the best battery life possible should shy away from this netbook. It’s really the only downside, seven hours on Asus 1000H vs ‘maybe’ four solid hours on the S101.