Asus can largely be credited for making the netbook so incredibly popular in the first place. Even if you think that netbooks are already obsolete, there is still something to be said about producing an inexpensive computer that can easily handle most of our online tasks, whether it be web surfing, video watching, or word processing. It is with that in mind that we turn our attention to the Asus Eee Top ET1602 1B.
This is almost the natural progression for the Eee family, going beyond the netbook form factor to offer an inexpensive all-in-one desktop solution. If you take the idea behind the Apple iMac, chop down the price a few notches, and bring it to the Windows PC market, you’ve essentially got the Asus Eee Top.
Features and Specifications
Just as with the Eee PC line of netbooks (and the somewhat intermediary Eee Box product), the Eee Top was never meant to be your main computer. Instead, it’s meant to be a secondary or complementary unit that can function as a lifestyle PC. Assuming you keep it safe, it’d be a great addition to the bedroom, kitchen, or children’s room. Not surprisingly, the specs on the Eee Top mirror those of the Eee PC. Yup, it’s got Atom.
Among the features and specs are the following:
- 15.6-Inch Touchscreen LCD with 16:9 Aspect Ratio
- Genuine Windows XP Home
- Intel Atom N270 CPU + 945 GSE Chipset
- 1GB DDR II RAM
- 160GB SATA II 5400rpm Hard Drive
- 1.3 Megapixel Webcam
- Array Mic
- 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
- 4W HiFi Speaker x 2 + SRS Premium Sound System
- 5.1 Audio Support, Gigabit LAN, 6 USB 2.0 Ports, Multi-Card Reader
Following in the footsteps of certain multimedia laptops and LCD monitors, the Asus Eee Top also features a 16:9 aspect display, maxing out at a resolution of 1366 x 768. That’s better than most netbooks, but at 15.6-inches, you’d expect this display to offer a better resolution than that. Then again, this is Atom-powered.
What’s in the Box?
The point of the Asus Eee Top, just like the iMac for the Apple crowd, is that you are provided with a truly complete all-in-one computer right out of the box. In this way, you don’t need to head out and buy any additional accessories or cables to get started. You can certainly upgrade the components, should you so choose, but this is not required.
Opening the carefully packed box, you discover the Eee Top itself (available in black or white), the power supply, quick start guide, user manual, wired optical wheel mouse, and wired keyboard. Both the keyboard and mouse use a standard USB connection. For a more seamless approach, I’d recommend getting a wireless desktop to accompany your Eee Top.
Even though this is technically supposed to be a desktop computer, you can really see the Eee PC influence in the product, particularly with the keyboard. It’s a little bit bigger, but you get the same chicklet keyboard as the one implemented in the Eee PC 1000HE. This makes for a very comfortable and slick appearance. Just like the keyboard that comes standard with the iMac though, the keyboard that accompanies the Eee Top out of the box lacks a standalone numeric keypad. Too bad.
Ports on the Side and Back
The Asus Eee Top is propped up using a very simple metal stand, letting you place this all-in-one PC just about anywhere you have some space for it. After setting it up on my desk (the most boring of locations, really), I noticed that Asus really loaded this thing with plenty of ports. On the side, you get a pair of USB ports for handling flash drives and that kind of thing, as well as a multi-card reader.
Around the back, you’ll find a connection for Gigabit LAN (there’s also integrated 802.11n Wi-Fi if you want to go wireless), no fewer than four additional USB ports, the DC power port, and three audio jacks that can provide instant support for 5.1 speaker systems. These same audio jacks can alternatively be used for your headphones and microphone.
I’m quite impressed with the number of USB ports provided (six total), making it very easy for you to tack on additional peripherals when you need them. Two of these ports will be used right away for your keyboard and mouse, but the other four can be used for whatever you’d like. Thanks to the integrated webcam and mic, you don’t need to use up a port for that purpose.
Blue Glow for the Win
It seems that Asus really wants to push the Eee Top as a lifestyle product and one that happens to boast a little dash of style. They already remind you that you have “that magic touch” to use the touch panel display (there’s even an on-screen virtual keyboard if you want it), but they go even further than that.
You’ll notice the clear acrylic portion that makes up the bottom part of the Eee Top. Well, this whole thing lights up a brilliant blue when the computer is turned on, thanks to a lightbar located on the underside of the monitor. The computer has underglow effects! As far as I can tell, however, there’s no way to turn this off.
Premium Sound is Pretty Loud
While it certainly won’t compete against the more expensive computer speaker systems on the market today, the built-in speakers on the Asus Eee Top ET1602 were actually quite impressive right out of the box. There’s a pair of 4W speakers embedded into the lower bezel of the Eee Top and they can pump out quite a bit of sound.
Is there a lot of bass? No, not particularly. Is the sound particularly crisp-sounding? No, I wouldn’t say that either. I would say that the sound is definitely a notch above what you’d find on most consumer-level notebooks and it’s better than the el cheapo speakers that usually accompany budget PCs.
Should we be attributing this to the SRS-Enhanced Premium Sound system? Perhaps. These aren’t the biggest or most powerful speakers, but they’re perfectly adequate for a casual movie-watching session.
Windows XP with an Easy Mode
No, that’s not a Linux build that you are looking at, even if the desktop looks remarkably similar to the Linpus Linux Lite we found on the Aspire One. Instead, this is what Asus calls “Easy Mode” for Windows XP.
Just as with Linpus Linux Lite, your main tasks are broken down in a series of categories (Communications, Fun, Work, Tools), each of which contains large (read: touchscreen-friendly) icons for accessing Skype, the Internet, and so forth. Eee Memo is a touchscreen-friendly memo app.
Continuing with this lifestyle and “easy to use” shtick, you’ll also find that the Eee Top has something called the Eee Bar. This can be thought of as a quick launch toolbar that can slide in and out of view, making it easy for you to get to Opera (which comes preloaded), Easy Mode, Eee Cam, Eee Cinema, Finger Writing, the on-screen keyboard, and more.
Benchmarks, Touchscreens, and Usability
Since the Asus Eee Top is supposed to be little more than the desktop equivalent of the Eee PC, I really didn’t go in with huge expectations in terms of performance. I do like the inclusion of the touchscreen display, even if I don’t use it all that often. The responsiveness isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty good.
The resolution of the screen is what got me. When you stretch 1366 x 768 pixels across at 15.6-inch canvas, everything looks like it was built for the geriatric audience. The icons are huge. The font is big. And videos feel stretched. I suppose this helps with touchscreen accuracy, but it makes for a less than desirable experience on a display this size.
Going through the benchmarks, we came up with the following:
- HDTune 2.55: min 24.3MB/sec, max 68.5MB/sec, avg 52.2MB/sec, access time 22.2ms, burst rate 79.95MB/sec, CPU usage 7.0%
- PCMark05: CPU score 1457, memory score 2316, graphics score 503, HDD score 4199, overall PCMark score n/a
- 3DMark06: Test fails, results in black screen about 2/3 of the way through
All in all, the Eee Top is comparable to its Eee PC brethren with similar specs. But then again, that isn’t surprising since the guts are nearly identical.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
Just as they did with the Eee PC, Asus is introducing something quite novel with the Eee Top. We don’t see too many of these all-in-one computers on the Windows side of equation, especially at the sub-$500 price point that we find the Eee Top. The performance won’t be enough to replace your main desktop, but this is perfectly adequate for quick email checks, YouTube videos, and similar tasks.
The Eee Top would be a good fit in the bedroom or even next to the couch in the living room. This way, you could look up some quick stats while watching a hockey or football game, for instance. Don’t have an on-screen guide for your TV? Keep the listings handy on that touchscreen.
It is certainly not without its faults and I would have certainly liked a higher resolution for a panel of this size, but the Eee Top offers a good value if you find the right place to use it.
Pros
- Easy Mode is very finger-friendly
- Chicklet-style keyboard
- Simple all-in-one lifestyle PC solution
- Adequate performance, including ability to use Ustream
- Overall nice design and build quality
- Great value at around $499
Cons
- Poor resolution display makes for poor video
- Eee add-ons, like Eee Bar and Easy Mode, feel like bloatware
- Only an Intel Atom N270
- Cannot turn off blue underglow light
- Keyboard lacks numeric keypad
Overall Rating: 7.5 / 10.0
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