ASUS Eee PC 1215B Netbook review index
- Page 1 – Overview
- Page 2 – Gallery
- Page 3 – The BIOS
- Page 4 – CPU-Z Data
- Page 5 – Radeon HD 6250 OpenGL Support
- Page 6 – OpenCL Support
- Page 7 – GPU-Z Data
- Page 8 – C-50 CPU performance
- Page 9 – OpenGL performances
- Page 10 – Direct3D performances
- Page 11 – OpenCL test
- Page 12 – Power consumption and Burn-in test
- Page 13 – Battery stress test
- Page 14 – Conclusion
- Page 15 – Productivity test
14 – ASUS Eee PC 1215B: Conclusion
Like other netbooks, the major drawback of ASUS’s EeePC 1215B with its Fusion Brazos APU (C-50 CPU and Radeon HD 6250) is its sluggishness. It’s not related to AMD Fusion APU but to the fact that low power components must be used to realize an ultraportable.
The C-50 CPU is a bit slow with its 2 cores (compared to Intel 4-core N550) and the HD 6520 is dreadfully slow if you go beyond light 3D apps. If you run non-intensive GPU apps like the simple mesh (OpenGL 1.2) or the cel-shading (OpenGL 2) demos of GPU Caps Viewer, you get decent framerates (more than 100 FPS). But forget real gaming with this GPU.
Okay the the HD 6250 is slow BUT it’s a Direct3D 11 and OpenGL 4 capable GPU and it’s very nice to see these capabilities in a netbook. You can test any modern 3D applications and that works. Okay some apps will run slowy but they run! And for a netbook, this is the most important thing. Then you can display WebGL applications without problem.
What’s more, this netbook also supports OpenCL 1.1, the latest specification of the popular computing language. And since AMD provides the CPU and GPU codepaths for OpenCL, you have a 100% computing netbook. Ready for WebCL.
Now the noise level… barely audible (only if you stick your ear on the netbook). Even under load, there’s no difference. This netbook is realy quiet.
The keyboard is spacious, comfortable and responsive, and the battery can supply enough juice for at least 5 hours of normal usage.
The 12.1-inch LCD screen (1366×768) is bright and details are sharp. The speakers produce a clear and well audible sound. I enjoyed Luther Vandross even if the basses are not really present (a bit though) on such a kind of computer.
ASUS’s Eee PC 1215B is shipped with Win7 64-bit, but if you’re a Linux-addict, you can boot on an USB key and easily install your favorite distribution.
The Eee PC 1215B is priced at around 400 euros. It’s a bit expensive but this is the price to have the latest hardware (AMD Brazos Fusion APU)
squeezed in this ultraportable…
In a word: if you need a WebGL / WebCL ultraportable to surf the Net, do no hesitate, ASUS’s Eee PC 1215B is a good choice!
ASUS Eee PC 1215B Netbook review index
- Page 1 – Overview
- Page 2 – Gallery
- Page 3 – The BIOS
- Page 4 – CPU-Z Data
- Page 5 – Radeon HD 6250 OpenGL Support
- Page 6 – OpenCL Support
- Page 7 – GPU-Z Data
- Page 8 – C-50 CPU performance
- Page 9 – OpenGL performances
- Page 10 – Direct3D performances
- Page 11 – OpenCL test
- Page 12 – Power consumption and Burn-in test
- Page 13 – Battery stress test
- Page 14 – Conclusion
- Page 15 – Productivity test
Forget Crysis, can’t it run Flash?
How about WinRar bechmark?
I will update the review asap with a winrar test.
@MagicCPU, well i have an Acer notebook with one of those APUs( C350 1.6GHz x2/HD6250 ) and i’m very pleased with it, sure you won’t play crysis, but CSS, WOW, some other not so “heavy” games it will run smoothly.
Thanks JeGX, just press ALT+B.
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It’s been like 3 days I’m looking for a netbook for my 12 year old niece. Initially I was inclined towards a typical 15.6” laptop with DVD-RW drive, where a bigger screen is a plus. But after considering related disadvantages (a DVD drive is easy to break, these things in laptops are prone to damage, children are children after all) I set my mind on a netbook.
1) With same resolution the screen around 12-13” makes the whole computer significantly lighter.
2) Longer battery life.
3) More portable, easier to carry around. I think my niece will be able to take it on her abroad trips with classmates. Certainly a 12-13” netbook is preferred over 15.6” laptops when it comes to weight.
So, I looked at Lenovo S205, x121e, E325, Acer AO722 and wasn’t convinced. Asus 1215B that’s currently on sale in my favorite webstore comes with AMD E-450 CPU, 500 GB HDD but only 2 GB RAM (hope it’s easy to upgrade). However, the case in silver color looks very stylish. HDMI and USB 3.0 are most welcome, but I’ve read in another review about grainy images takes by built-in 0.3 MP webcam. I think it’s important because skype is definitely #1 for teens and video chatting is damn cool. I don’t want my niece to look grainy on computer screens of her mates! 😉
How about touchpad? There are owners out there speaking about ‘glitching’ touchpad and so they have to use a mouse instead. There is a workaround, but it voids warranty. Some people bring it to asus service center.
Also, I came across reviews describing wi-fi performance as mediocre, like 70 Mbp/s at most which is far from what N standard lets to achieve.
N550 isn’t quad core. Where did you get that from?
How is the Ubuntu compatibility? Are things like wireless and audio detected? How much tweaking did you have to do to get Ubuntu 11.10 fully operational?
Thanks!