TigerDirect recently lowered the price at $299.99 from $349.99 to make room for the new Fusion E-450 model coming out.There's no difference in performance between this model with the E-350 APU compared to the E-450 APU that's coming out. You are only getting a little graphic boost in the 3D arena with the E-450 APU. You are paying for a full laptop performance at a netbook price with this model.
0. The notebook has a dedicated power button to boot into Asus Custom Gate Cloud OS which runs Google Chrome browser so you don't have to always log into windows 7. I would think this would save you battery.
1. Compared to other Fusion notebook like the HP DM1z, Lenovo x120e, and Sony YB: you are getting bigger 12" screen and a USB 3.0 with the Asus.
2. Battery: I'm getting around 5-6 hours on a full charge doing web surfing and streaming videos.
3. Keyboard: keyboard is nice. There is a little flexing but it's not that bad.
4. Built Quality: On par with other fusion notebook. This notebook does not feel cheap.
5. RED VS. BLACK Model: This RED model is less of a finger print magnet compared to the ugly matte black model. This red has a nice block-like print which makes the notebook look nicer than the ugly matte black.
6. Touchpad Issue Fixed: The touchpad issue is FIXED on the red model. You do not have to remove the silver plate underneath the touchpad which caused weird behavior.
7. Power Cable: The power cable head is very, very tiny. You have to be carefull when plug in and out. You can easily bend the head.
8. What is it good for: web surfing, Light photoshop, Audio mixing, Daily productivity, MS Office work, music, Watch HD movie, Light 2-D/3-D gaming, DVD convertion, Bed room Djing with Serato Softwares
9. What is NOT good for: HD Video editing, Heavy duty photoshop, Heavy duty 3D gaming, Professional DJing with Serato Softwares
10. RAM UPGRADE & OPTIMIZATION: I suggest spending the extra $25 for a 4 GIG RAM upgrade. This will boost the RAM 6 GIG Total which will improve in performance speed. Also, if you are techie savy, go to CONTROL PANEL>>SYSTEM>>ADVANCE SYSTEM SETTING>>PERFORMANCE SETTING>>ADJUST FOR BEST PERFORMANCE. This will turn off all Windows 7 animations which will speed up the notebook performance speed.
11. TigerDirect Policy (little bitchin' helps): Do NOTE that TigerDirect will charge you for shipping if you decided to return the item and only gives Tiger Store Credit for price adjustment. They lowered the price of this notebook the same time they shipped my notebook. It took a little bit of bitching for them to refund me the different as an exception. Demand to talk with the manager.
12. Conclusion: This is the best Fusion E-350 notebook you can get for $299. Other fusion notebook are selling at least $400 and up. Major advantage of this Asus 1215B is that you are getting a bigger 12.1 screen and a USB 3.0. If you are on a budget and looking for a powerful notebook on the go, you can't go wrong with this Asus 1215B.
This is the best value of a netbook you'll find. The AMD Fusion e-350 is definitely the best CPU/GPU combo you'll find in a netbook, especially at this price. The e-350 is a dual-core 64-bit CPU that runs at 1.6 GHz (it's 60% faster than the AMD c-50 you find in the top-selling Acer netbook). This is the usual frequency of the Atom processors, but the e-350's clocks are more efficient, making it more equivalent to an low-voltage Core 2 Duo. I tested out the CPU/APU by playing a blu-ray image file. It played perfectly fine, so you definitely won't have problems with any 1080p video or light gaming. It runs pretty cool and the exhaust is in a nice position on the left side.
The 12.1 inch screen is 1366x768, perfect for 720p video. It's nice and bright with a glossy finish in a great size. There's a USB 3.0 port on the right, which is a really nice feature. I haven't used it yet since I don't have a USB 3.0 hard drive, but it should easily double the speed of a compatible external hard drive when compared to USB 2.0.
This computer comes with Windows 7 Premium 64-bit with 2GB of RAM to handle it nicely. I usually run around 900MB of occupied RAM, so 2GB should be plenty for most users. However, I am upgrading to 4GB of 1333MHz RAM soon (this comes with 1066MHz RAM). With the starting configuration my system obtained the following Windows 7 User Experience Index scores: Processor=3.8, Memory=4.8, Graphics=4.2, Gaming graphics=5.7, HDD=5.6.
I love the design of the silver version of the 1215b. It has a brushed metal design (but really plastic) lid and touchpad. This finish is much better than the black version in terms picking up fingerprints. It does pick up fingerprints, but they're only slightly visible. The keyboard is a full-size chiclet keyboard (not 92% size like the 10" netbook), has good key travel, and no detectable flex. The touchpad is quite large, equivalent to most full-size laptops. The multitouch features work great. The bottom is a nice textured black plastic. This type of finish would have probably been better for the lid of the black version since it doesn't pick up fingerprints.
Overall, performance is great, especially for a netbook-sized computer. I can get about 6 hours of use from the 6-cell battery with light internet browsing.
Cons:
-The finish on the black version is a fingerprint magnet.
-The glossy finish on the inside of the lid is and around the keyboard picks up fingerprints.
-Some people may not like the smaller-than-normal right shift key. Personally, it does not bother me.
-The 320GB hard drive runs at 5400 rpm, but I'd obviously prefer a 7200 rpm drive. The HDD works fine, but the extra speed would be nice. Personally, I don't care about this much since I plan on upgrading to a 64GB SDD for around $100.
-This only has a 100 Mbps ethernet port; I'd really expect a gigabit port in 2011. However, I'll just be using Wireless N, so it's not a big deal for me.
-***Some people have reported trackpad issues with this model. I have yet to have any of these problems, but I know there is a fix available. Just google "Asus 1215b fix" and you should find a solution.
Overall, this is an EXCELLENT value and the highest-end performance you can possibly find in a netbook. I got mine for around $300 after Circuit City dropped their price by about $50. That's about $130 off its usual price. Feel welcome to make a comment on this review if you have questions.
Buy ASUS 1215B-PU17-RD 12.1-Inch Ultra Mobile PC - Red Now
I received the package very promptly and the correct items were shipped. The laptop is actually pretty awesome, but it did not arrive in working order. I had to reload windows 7 with one of my extra keys since the one on the bottom of the laptop wouldn't work. After installing all of the factory drivers one by one I realize the mouse is acting funny. It got worse over time, and within a couple weeks I had to take the mouse/hand rest plate off and remove a random pad that seemed to be grounding out the touch pad.After all the repairs I'm happy as a fat kid with cake. It was a refurb, but I would use caution when buying this product if you don't know your way around a laptop.
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I received a 64 bit version with USB 3.0 and did an 8GB upgrade with 1333 RAM and a 60GB SSD. I did have to remove the pad and foil from under the trackpad in order to stop the problem with the cursor doing weird stuff. I am very pleased with the product overall now that I have fixed everything. You won't find anything similar at this price point!Want ASUS 1215B-PU17-RD 12.1-Inch Ultra Mobile PC - Red Discount?
Great little mobile Windows 7 laptop. Does what is expected. I wanted a small travel travel computer with a little power, but nothing extravagant for web browsing, email, webcamming, and light game play. It does quite well and even plays some impressive game play more than I thought it might (It plays Star Trek Online well and CitiesXL 2012). I do recommend a dedicated mouse. It has served me well for almost 2 years.
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