Page 7 - Battery Life and Conclusion
We simulated real life usage of the Asus Eee PC on one full battery charge on a pretty new battery, fully calibrated to run at its full potential. The brightness was variable as we used our Eee PC during the afternoon in various places; we adjusted the brightness to suit our needs at the time. Meanwhile, the wireless adapter was left on the whole time. We then went to surf the internet, used some IM programs, typed out some documents, and played a video for around 20 minutes. Basically, it's a mixture of what we would usually do in a day on the Eee PC, so we can have an accurate benchmark on how long the battery really lasts.
We must note that the battery meter is kind of oddly designed and implemented -- I don't know why they made it that way, but firstly the battery meter's reported data changes by increments of 10%, and not 1%. That is true until it reaches 10% battery, then it will start reporting odd integers like, 7%. It's not hard to make a battery with a proper indicator, since laptops were made that way for years anyway. Secondly, it's not accurate at all -- the reported rate of decrease occurs faster when the battery is high and slows down as the battery charge indicator approaches zero. Of course, it never reaches zero -- Windows froze on me when we drained it down, and refuses to boot when the battery is too low.
In our simulated typical daily usage, the Asus Eee PC lasted a decent 2 hours 51 minutes on one charge -- most of the time it was on ~70% brightness. As we've previously mentioned, the wireless adapter was on for the entire duration, and the Eee PC was not left idling. It's by no means impressive, but it's still decent for what you get for a 4-cell 5200mAh battery in such a small package. This is well within Asus' estimates, and depending on your usage you may be able to squeeze even more out.
It is a bit late, but what the heck -- the Asus Eee PC isn't necessarily what I would consider a fad. It's small, it's portable, and it uses standard hardware that it can run pretty much any x86 operating system if it meets the hardware requirements; meaning that running Windows XP is not a problem at all for a stock Eee PC. There's certainly no lack of expandability on our Asus Eee PC 4G; whether you want to hardware-mod or just use the fully loaded array of connectors on the sides to beef up your Eee PC, the possibilities are endless. The design is done very well, of course there's those standard complaints like the uber thick bezel around the LCD screen (If you own one, you would understand the feeling. Not to mention that everyone who sees your Eee PC will ask you the same question regarding the LCD over and over again), as well as the lack of screen real estate with the 800x480 resolution. But then again, consider the price -- not to mention that you can buy the Eee PC 900 if you want to pay more for 8.9" screen at 1024x600, and occupies the entire inside of the lid and moves the speakers to the bottom. As far as the keyboard goes, I had to admit it takes time to get used to, but after you got used to it, it's definitely usable for a person with an average sized hand. You can't really fit a full sized keyboard because of the physical limitations. Regarding performance, it's not great, but for its form it comes in, there's nothing much we could possibly complain here. The only thing I could possibly complain in this area is the poor performance of the SSD used on Asus' Eee PC during more intense usage scenarios, as we've previously described -- there's definitely room for improvement here. Battery life is only average at best. Otherwise, the Asus Eee PC is small, fully loaded, and ready to take on your everyday office tasks on the go!
Special thanks to Charlton over at Asus for making this review possible.
APH equal.balance Award | APH Review Focus Summary:
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks; but should be considered before purchasing.
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that aren't likely going to matter to the end user.
-- Final APH Numeric Rating is 7.5/10
Please note that the APH Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other sites.
See, here's the deal: Every time I whip out my Asus Eee PC in front of people, it always captures attention for its size and ability in its form. The Asus Eee PC is designed to impress, and I am a proud to be an owner of one!
Page Index
1. Introduction, Specifications, Bundle
2. A Closer Look - External
3. A Closer Look - Internal
4. A Closer Look - Software
5. Benchmarks: EVEREST 4.50, HD Tach 3.0.1.0
6. Onboard Sound (RMAA 6.06) Analyzation
7. Battery Life and Conclusion
