Asus eee PC X101 vs. X101CH

[acid317]

I am deciding which one of these two to buy. I want something quite thin, and under $250. Storage is not an issue, so the X101's SSD is actually an advantage, considering its speed. I am highly tempted by the X101 as it is cheaper, lighter, and thinner.

The X101 currently sells for around $200, and the X101CH for around $240.

I plan to install Arch Linux on whatever computer I end up buying, and use it for web browsing, and video/audio playing/streaming.

I am mainly wondering if I would get better performance out of the X101's 1.33 ghz single-core processor with 2 gigs of RAM of the X101CH's 1.6 dual-core with 1 gig of RAM. Thoughts?

 

[tsnor]

Good luck with a 1.33-GHz Intel Atom N435. I have a netbook with amd e450 and it feels very sluggish. Here's some benchmarks. http://www.sonexpc.com/benchmark/netbook

It's usually pretty cheap to add memory to a laptop/netbook. Check the ASUS site (1) to see if they have decent support and (2) to see how hard adding an extra 2gb will be for the 1.6 dual core.

 

[acid317]

What OS were you using? Also, do you have any recomendations for a cheap and thin netbook? Thanks for the benchmarks. The RAM on the X101CH is integrated, with no way to add more. However, I just discovered a $260 1215b, which has a nice processor, a 2 core AMD APU at 1.6 ghz, and 2 gb of RAM. It is a lot more expensive, though.

 

[tsnor]

Hi, I use win7. (After many years of trying to make OS2 work I switched to mainstream windows and haven't really regretted it). You may get (much) better performance from Linux.

I ended up with a Lenovo factory refurb S205 for $320. (google lenovo outlet) I didn't find any good deals anywhere on thin/light/strong netbook. The ones you found were better than any I found.

Bummer they needed to save $0.50 enough to solder the memory on the MB and not give a socket in the X101CH. No way 1GB is enough memory for next 4 years. That would rule out that netbook for me (I keep stuff way too long).

Did you consider something like this: $300 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2043695&SRCCODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=VRqCjC7BBTkwCjCECjCE Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Notebook PC - Intel Core Duo 1.66GHz, 1GB DDR2, 60GB HDD, 12.1" XGA, Windows XP Professional 32-bit (Off-Lease) That is a really nice notebook. Used is used, battery will cost you another $100 in a year or so. You'd need a doc to get DVI. But it's a really nice notebook.