The Asus S121 – too slow for a good brand

Slow hard disk and sluggish processor cripple an otherwise good machine

The S121

 The Asus S121 is a 12.1” netbook/notebook with very slow Intel Atom Z520 processor (1.33GHz of clocking) and an excellent 1280 x 800 pixel display. Furthermore, 1 GB RAM is included and optionally 2GB can get built in as well. The netbook’s mass storage device is a solid state drive which provides a disk size of 512 GB. A wireless LAN adapter and a Bluetooth module enable wireless communication. Although this laptop isn’t part of the Eee PC lineup, it looks a lot like a bigger Eee PC. Extranotebook got their hands on a piece to review.

For a change, the netbook is not plastic; it’s covered largely with metal frame, and why not – the S series is the prestigious high-end offering from Asus! On the first look, you’ll see the striking similarity between the S121 and the Eee PC S101. The S121 is larger and has more resolution though. The glossy display may attract a few fingerprints as well.

The keyboard looks very comfortable and wide enough to be stretched to the borders on both the sides. The trackpad is situated below the trackpad with the mouse button. There are USB ports, mic and headphone ports, cable connector output on the sides and back. The display is excellent as mentioned above, and the two speakers can give you some good treat – as found out by the reviewer. The Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n performs fine in the review.

But what disappoint the reviewer are the slow hard disk speed and the processor. The 160GB hard disk moves at a meager 5400 rpm, although equipped with a SATA connector. Even the processor, the Z520 has a clocking speed of 1.33GHz – even less than the old N270 (1.6GHz). It’s disheartening to watch this when the world is going more and more towards N280 and CULV way. Top it with the GMA500 and here is a machine that’s not meant for heavy multi-tasking.

Asus first showed off the S121 at the recent CES in January, but it’s not available in the US yet. If you like to show-off, don’t think twice – it’s gorgeous. But not for serious computing.