Glitz and Glamour

Although the classical Eee 1000H notebook rated first class in our tests and still belongs to the leading models, its design could never really convince. After Samsung launched a serious competitor with the NC10, Asus now counters: The Eee PC S101 especially addresses netbook users who appreciate a good design.

Considering key size and layout the Eee S101 apparently uses the same keyboard unit than the Eee PC 1000H, but with an essential difference. The keys are now either made of a different plastic composite or a different coating was chosen, which makes the keyboard slightly glitter. Although this harmonizes well with the look of the Eee S101 and really looks good in daylight, it harbours an inconspicious danger.

During our test we also used the Eee S101 late in the night with sparely light. In  general it is not possible to type without external light if you want to see the keyboard and not only blindly hit the keys. On the one hand the brightness of the screen is too low to also illuminate the keyboard, on the other had this netbook does, not much to our surprise, not have a separate keyboard light.

Combined with an external light source, in our case a small lamp above the passenger seat in a car, the metallic particles in the keyboard lead to very unpleasant reflections, which make reading the key labels difficult.
Despite being probably a rare special case, this could nevertheless be interesting for users who also work late in the evenings and in a very mobile way with the Eee.

Typing with the built-in keyboard feels, alike with the one of the Eee 1000H rather good, and is characterized by a very clear feedback and carefully selected key travel. Because of the keyboard's size touch typing is absolutely possible. Even typing longer texts was no problem.

The touchpad of the Eee S101 was redesigned. It was very decently integrated into the base unit and given a comfortably rough surface. Although the touchpad buttons got a simpler look and are now made of a continuous key bar, this is not ideal in practice, because there is an annoying dead band in the middle of the bar, which blocks the buttons on imprecise hit.

Once again also this model is equipped with a touchpad, which supports multi-touch feature and is already known from former Eee PC models. It recognizes multiple simultaneous touches and enhances therewith the possible ways of input. E.g., it provides a zoom feature, a magnifier, or fast scrolling by simultaneously moving two finger across the touchpad.

Also the viewing angle stability does not belong to the advantages of this screen. In horizontal as well as in vertical direction very quickly color distortions arise. So, adapting the opening angle will be frequently required especially in mobile operation.

Due to hardware typical for netbooks, i.e. an Intel Atom N270 CPU and an integrated Intel GMA 950 graphic the results of the benchmarks are not surprising. The combination of Intel Atom CPU, integrated GMA950 graphic, one gigabyte RAM, and an built-in solid state drive (SSD) offers sufficient performance for running all important office base applications on the Eee S101. The economical Windows XP serves as operating system.

Often the question arises, whether netbooks are completely unable to run games or whether games are probably still possible. In this regards we have to mention that the integrated graphics chip is the primary limiting factor and rules current 3D games virtually out. Nevertheless, older undemanding games can be played. E.g., the well-known shooter Reaction Quake 3 ran rather smoothly on a resolution of 800x600 pixels with about 40-70 fps and could be played without problems.

However, also newer games, which do not demand to much 3D performance, e.g., Fifa 08 are possible. When we tested the demo on a resolution of 800x600 pixel, we recorded rather passable 30-40 fps. Only in the interludes the frame rate fell to 15 fps. Netbooks usually do not have problems running 2D games like, e.g., SimCity 2000, which are admittedly already a little out-of-date, but nevertheless  occasionally a nice amusement.
Apropos amusement, also a current game with in the meanwhile big appeal, was tested on the Eee S101: World of Goo. Lovely animated 'Goo-Balls' could be joined together without problems until they were finally sucked off into the measuring glass.

Regarding mass storage Asus came up with an interesting solution, which cannot unconditionally be recommended. The intrasystem mass storage device is a 16 GB solid state drive. The built-in SD card reader inclusive a 16 GB card ex factory is used to enhance the available mass storage capacity. The advantage of this solution is that you can switch cards as well as substitute the provided one with a higher capacity card in the future. This way it is possible to easily enhance the storage capacity if required. Even if this seems to be handy, the performance of the SD card reader is far below the one of the built-in SSD. The read rate of the card reader is about 17 MB/s while the write rate of 7 MB/s is even clearly lower than the first value.

The Asus Eee PC S101 is so to say a logical enhancement of the current Eee family. It especially focuses on those who consider design important. Because of its attracting look, it might probably fly out the shelves in superstores, where customers can no longer resist its charm.

Indeed, the Eee S101 comes compared to the Eee 1000H really with an improved case. The thinner, but still stabler base unit as well as the successful use of high-quality materials are favourable. The connectivity and the keyboard stayed the same. The only difference, which might maybe cause troubles, is the look of the keys, which now shows metallic particles.

The built-in screen of the S101 really disappointed us. While Asus strictly focused on making the case better than the one of the Eee 1000H, it seems that it apparently took the first panel it could get hold of for this mini notebook. Except of a low illumination it could especially not convince in bright environments, e.g., in outdoor operation.

With the Atom CPU from Intel Asus did not try any experiments in terms of hardware. Only for the mass storage, they developed an interesting concept which combines built-in SSD, SD card reader, and Eee Storage Online memory. However, due to its performances it could not completely convince.

Also in terms of noise and temperature emissions the Eee S101 rates good. Similar holds true for the battery life. Despite of a very low total weight of slightly above one kilogram the Eee S101 convinces by a runtime of 4-5 hours, thanks to being equipped with a lithium-polymer battery.

Overall, the Eee PC S101 does not find it hard to score points. Because of very good results in battery life, emissions, and especially its low weight of slightly above on kilogram, this mini notebook gets a total rating of 88%.
Considering the faint screen and the high entry-level price of about 500.- euros, this notebook has to meet enthusiasts and fashion addicts for the price being justified.