Asus Eee PC 1001P: Our Favorite Netbook

Asus Eee PC 1001P: Battery Life

In our earlier tests of the Pine Trail-based 1005PE, we noted that the real victory of the new Atom processors was in the significantly reduced power consumption of the entire platform. This makes itself very noticeable in real world usage, with most 6-cell Pine Trail netbooks rated for anywhere between an impressive 8 hours to an absolutely astonishing 14 hours in the case of the 1005PE. The 1001P is rated at 11 hours of battery life—right in the middle.

While none of the devices actually reach their battery life targets in the real world (an idle battery life test isn't at all representative of typical use), having that much capacity on hand makes the new line of netbooks even more portable than the last. With 10 hours of battery runtime in the tank, the amount of mobility you're afforded is pretty refreshing. No more worrying about power cords, wall outlets, or the dreaded "will I have enough battery left after class to write this paper?" questions. Let me put it this way—the 1001P has better battery life than my first two iPods. Yeah.

Based on the test results, we can see that the 1001P has lower battery life than the 1005PE, and similar runtimes as the 1005HA. This is as expected, because of the 48Wh battery; the top end 1005 models tested both had larger capacity 63Wh batteries. So, the generational gap essentially means that you can achieve the same battery life results from a smaller and lighter battery. And that's why netbooks still remain relevant—double digit battery life on a $300, sub-3 pound machine that still runs Windows is a pretty awesome concept, languid performance notwithstanding.