We should starta petition to all notebook manufacturers to stop this 1366x768 madness!
I don't ever would like to watch movies on a notebook! And if I ever wanted to, I wouldn't care if it was HD or not. Notebooks are not for watching movies - at least not for me! Even 1280x800 is a lot better.
This applies the most to lower budget models. You can always go out and buy a higher-end Lenovo with 1440x900 display, but at the $1000 price range, I did sweat until I found a suitable and capable notebook sporting a 13.3" display NOT having 1366x768 pixels for my wife. (Thank you Toshiba!) And for myself, I went out and bought a used Dell D620 - one from the better spec'd ones, T7200, 14.1" 1440x900, and an nVidia Quadro. It cost ~$500, but it's still C2D technology...
PLEASE!!! Manufacture notebooks for us techies too! I swear I won't complain about HD movies getting grainy at normal resolution... RANT OFF:
if you bring your own hdmi cable you dont need a docking station. You can use it in your hotel room and at the risk of annoying people, in the lounge at the airport!
Exactly. Too many idiots put down a product because it's not made SPECIFICALLY for there own needs. When this will be good for the MAJORITY of people.
Then theres also the fact that it's not the only laptop in existence, theres hundreds to choose from, and loads from each manufacturer, so just get one that suits you.
Talk about pointing out the obvious.
Having said that a glossy screen is not good for almost anyone. Laptops will also be taken outside more as they're portable, and any kind of bright or direct light on a glossy screen can make it near unusable.
Probably better (larger/heavier) HSF to handle the increased heat as well. Arrandale may be power efficient, but it still uses more power than the old CULV platform.
They definitely seem to be going backward. I was looking forward to Arrandale, until I read reports on AT that the turbo does not seem to be as effective as it should be and it consumes almost double the power requirements. Decided to grab a SU9400 system instead. Getting about 8 hours with an SSD + 5800mAH battery.
After owning a refurn Latitude XT2 with SSD, I decided to sell for a profit and but an Acer 1820ptz tablet laptop. Set the Display DPI to 125%, installed an SSD, max ram, virtual mem off, tweaked, learnt the gestures and multi-touch scrolling... Amazing little machine.
Why did I sell? The build quality. Poor? Yes. You could see gaps between the plastic and screen, along with the mirror glossy screen, those two points meant that after the Latitude, what could have been an amazing 'keeper', ended up back on ebay.
These have been out for months... The 1830T was available in June. I bought one for a friend over a month ago.
Yep, I got my 3820TG, with ATI 5650 gfx, also back in June. Works really well as a gaming laptop and has great battery life for office work etc. The perfect laptop (including price), except for the crappy screen of course.
I am in the market for a new laptop. But the first thing I look for in the reviews is the screen aspect ratio. As soon as I see 16:9, I look no further. I have seen hundreds of comments in recent months re this impractical screen size for those of us who want to perform real work on their computers. Yet, the manufacturers insist on making them.
Or does anyone else hate the fact that mobile processor names and desktop processor names for Intel with regards to the i5/i7 series are completely divergent in naming.
i7 used to distinguish quad core. Now what the hell does it really mean?
I wish some enthusiast site like this would systematically rename all processors to follow a consistent a guideline.
I remember the days when AMD did the performance names in their Athlon processors and people were moaning about it not being clockspeed. Back then, I remember Anandtech always listing the clockspeed and pertinent details next to the marketing name.
But this is taking it to a whole new level. How are consumers expected to know that i7 mobiles are not the same as i7 desktops representative quad core? Please, come up with a consistent nomenclature to help buyers out who read your site, I beg you.
i7M 6 series is just an enhanced version of the dual-core i5 Mobiles. Intel do this just because quad core is too power hungry (my i7 720M is a power-consuming beast that makes me doubt whether buying such a processor is a good deal). This problem will soon be solved when sandybridge architecture 32-nm Quad-cores are introduced. But still you can only expect a quad-core i7 Mobile with bigger-number-naming and the i7 26XX series will still be a enhanced dual core i5.
This is the same on desktop! Don't ignore the fact that the Lynnfield i5 and i7 are identical in design but just adjusted some functions. The i7 8 Series has higher turbo clock speed than i5 7 Series and provides HT support. And here's what the problem is: Intel failed to make enough difference on an i5 and i7 because they are in essence the same chip. I guess in Sandy Bridge they will have better naming because there is only one quad-core i7 (namely an enhanced i5) with LGA 1155 and the "True i7s" will be LGA 2011 and have six cores.
Personally, I don't see the need for anything better than i3-370m for 14" and below. Turbo is pretty useless since any multithreaded game or app won't activate it. And I doubt the extra 1M cache of i7 2C/4T is even worth the price premium.
It'd be great to see a review of the new 1830T on battery life. From what I was reading, the older Core 2 Duo 1810T actually had a chance of getting 7-8hr of battery life whereas these new Arrandale Core i models seem to get closer to 6hr of battery life. That was a major reason why I bought the 1810T Special Edition with a 1.4GHz SU9400 and I am getting 7-8hr on light usage, surfing the web, reading research papers, word processing, which is my typical use case. It was also only $499 CND which is a lot cheaper than the 1830T in Canada and the Canadian 1830T models don't include Bluetooth whereas the 1810T Special Edition does. There were also reports that some 1830T models are configured with ALPS touchpads which can be finicky and with 802.11n WiFi that don't include the faster 5.8GHz band. The 1810T Special Edition seems to more consistently include better Synaptics touchpads and 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi which is what I received along with DDR2-800 memory even though the specs only call for DDR2-667. Hopefully Anandtech does a review of the 1830T and compares it to the 1810T they review before so I'll see if I made the right choice.
why does everybody rant about display resolution 1366x768 is good for 11.6 to 14inch models. i dont understand what kind of work you ppl do that you need 1280x800 resolution display for that matter extra 32 vertical pixels.. if you ppl care so much about the resolution go find other laptops with resolution u need.this aint aimed at you ppl its aimed mostly to mutimedia savvy ppl and also work minded ppl who care less about screen resolution and more about getting the work itself done and having good battery life of laptop
>1366x768 is good for 11.6 to 14inch models. My old 14" is 1400x1050: 40% more usable area.
>go find other laptops with resolution u need. We will. But 16:9 is growing harder to escape.
>mutimedia savvy ppl and also work minded ppl BS. Pixel count is critical for the entire *video* side of "multimedia", and critical for getting work done. Where it's not critical is for using twitter.
If it's so important do it on the PC at home. And if it's really that important RAID should be used already. Software RAID doesn't count, so where the RAID on your laptop??
yes pixel count is important.1366x768 has obviously more pixel density that 1280x800 which u want.moreover 16:9 is the way to go for mutimedia content watching.use common sense when i said mutlimedia savvy ppl.
that extra 38 pixels is of no use at all if u consider the advantages of widescreen display nowadays especially
>tell me one movie,tv show or any video that is coming out 4:3 from last 2yrs
Last 2 years: how about all digital pictures and a significant chunk of youtube videos. Then add Family Guy, all TV prior to a couple years ago, video game emulators, and Diablo 2.
Aren't movies 1.85, anyway? How many people actually watch movies on laptops? And why would that mean that everyone should have to settle with 16:9? I never watch movies. As for 4:3 vs 16:10, at 14" that changed 1400x1050 to 1440x900--gaining 40 pixels wide for a loss of 150 vertical. Bad deal. 16:9 sucks even worse. So would you rather have 1.85 instead of 16:9 since it fits movies better? What about 2.39?
ha good reasoning but what the reasons you are using the laptop is not everyone uses for. u complaining about not watching movies on laptop?? thats the most absurd thing i have heard of,everybody watches movies infact 90% do watch movies on their laptops.may be u dont watch but that doesnt mean other wont watch,this laptop isn't made specifically for you and it targets wide audience.
even apple who use 16:10 displays came with 16:9 display for 11.6inch air,that itself is an indication where the future is going. the things u said about youtube videos,family guy are nothing compared to the content that is available in widescreen resolution. would somebody choose a laptop thats does 10% of the work in day to day life rather than 90% of work??
And we're supposed to take your word as the definitive truth because you actually work for one of these Laptop company? Or do you actually work for one of the reputable site or independent firm that isn't sponsored by one of the companies? If none of the above, WTH??
Dear customers, thank you for your support of our company. Here, there's good news to tell you: The company recently launched a number of new fashion items! ! Fashionable and welcome everyone to come buy. If necessary, please$$$$$$$$$$__$$$_$$$$$$$$$$$ http://www.vipshops.org $$_____$$$_$$$_________$$$ $$$_____$$$_$$$______ $$$ $$$ ____$$$_ $$$_____ $$$ $$$$$$$$$$__$$$____$$$ $$$_____$$$_$$$___$$$ $$$_____$$$_$$$__$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$_$$$_$$$ $$$$$$$$$$__$$$_$$$$$$$$$$$$ !::! http://www.vipshops.org Thursday, 21 October 2010 at 9:48 PM
Im typing this on the 1830T with an i3 @ 1.2ghz that i bought at the end of August.
its snappier than the eee netbook i had before, from time to time if im doing a number of things itll take a second to catch up, but thats not often.
This will get 6 hours with moderate/light usage, I could see 8 if you turned off wifi, dimmed the display and just let it hang around...isnt that how they usually come up with the max runtime anyway? 5 hours is easy to come by for me. Its not unusual for me to just charge it when i get home at night.
Build quality isnt awesome, The EEE 1000HA definitely is sturdier with a thick hard plastic body. I like the keyboard though some people complain about it. The glossy screen is....well its glossy. A meh, but oh well. I dont use this outside, and I do watch movies on it from time to time so its not entirely a bad thing.
The touchpad though...the model i have uses an ALPS pad. Its poor compared to the synaptics pad in the the EEE 1000ha i had. Synaptics seems to support more features and multitouch gestures...id kill to have double-tapping for a middle click work on this damn thing. This is also a touchpad that is seamless with the body and has a slight texturing, that may be part of why i dont like it.
Other than the touchpad i pretty much love this thing. Long battery life, small form factor, very lightweight and quick enough to do the moderate amount of homework and a couple of light or older games. im a student with a part time job and i take it everywhere in my bag.
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40 Comments
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beginner99 - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
...16:9 & 1366x768 & glossy = failFor what do you mainly use a 11" notebook? Surfing and office where 16:9 pretty much unusable.
ppeterka - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
RANT ON:Sign me up too!
We should starta petition to all notebook manufacturers to stop this 1366x768 madness!
I don't ever would like to watch movies on a notebook! And if I ever wanted to, I wouldn't care if it was HD or not. Notebooks are not for watching movies - at least not for me! Even 1280x800 is a lot better.
This applies the most to lower budget models. You can always go out and buy a higher-end Lenovo with 1440x900 display, but at the $1000 price range, I did sweat until I found a suitable and capable notebook sporting a 13.3" display NOT having 1366x768 pixels for my wife. (Thank you Toshiba!) And for myself, I went out and bought a used Dell D620 - one from the better spec'd ones, T7200, 14.1" 1440x900, and an nVidia Quadro. It cost ~$500, but it's still C2D technology...
PLEASE!!! Manufacture notebooks for us techies too! I swear I won't complain about HD movies getting grainy at normal resolution...
RANT OFF:
nitrousoxide - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
Well don't feel too bad about this `cuz those using the Sony Z-Series have to suffer a 13.1" Full-HD lolvol7ron - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
"Notebooks are not for watching movies - at least not for me!"Many people watch movies/videos from laptops. It's one of the best uses for laptops when on a trip, especially when internet is not available.
This is perhaps the only thing you watch movies on, if in a college dorm.
I am able to take my laptop into another room to do my at-home workouts, which is especially important.
While I agree, there are more important aspects to a laptop than HD video, it is still important, especially with gaming in mind.
therealnickdanger - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
I use the HDMI out on my TimelineX (i3-330UM) to stream Blu-Ray rips or games or other videos to projectors, HDTVs, etc. in 1080p.Just because a laptop only has a ~720p display doesn't make it useless. Any serious mobile professional uses a docking station anyway.
kmmatney - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
No docking station ar the airport, on the airplane, or in the hotel room.I wouldn't call 768 vertical pixels "useless" - its just a step backward from 1280 x 800.
xsilver - Tuesday, September 28, 2010 - link
if you bring your own hdmi cable you dont need a docking station.You can use it in your hotel room and at the risk of annoying people, in the lounge at the airport!
B3an - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
Exactly. Too many idiots put down a product because it's not made SPECIFICALLY for there own needs.When this will be good for the MAJORITY of people.
Then theres also the fact that it's not the only laptop in existence, theres hundreds to choose from, and loads from each manufacturer, so just get one that suits you.
Talk about pointing out the obvious.
Having said that a glossy screen is not good for almost anyone. Laptops will also be taken outside more as they're portable, and any kind of bright or direct light on a glossy screen can make it near unusable.
chrnochime - Tuesday, September 28, 2010 - link
Can't surf or excel on 16:9 and must do it on 4:3 or 16:10 who's the FAIL here anyway? Bwahaha LOLKaarlisK - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
The 11.6'' model was ~3 pounds, now it's 3.1The 13.3'' model was ~3.5 pounds, now it's 4.
The 14'' model was ~4.2 pounds, now it's 4.65.
Could it be they have a bigger battery, because of higher power requirements?
JarredWalton - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
Probably better (larger/heavier) HSF to handle the increased heat as well. Arrandale may be power efficient, but it still uses more power than the old CULV platform.sleepeeg3 - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
They definitely seem to be going backward. I was looking forward to Arrandale, until I read reports on AT that the turbo does not seem to be as effective as it should be and it consumes almost double the power requirements. Decided to grab a SU9400 system instead. Getting about 8 hours with an SSD + 5800mAH battery.damianrobertjones - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
After owning a refurn Latitude XT2 with SSD, I decided to sell for a profit and but an Acer 1820ptz tablet laptop. Set the Display DPI to 125%, installed an SSD, max ram, virtual mem off, tweaked, learnt the gestures and multi-touch scrolling... Amazing little machine.Why did I sell? The build quality. Poor? Yes. You could see gaps between the plastic and screen, along with the mirror glossy screen, those two points meant that after the Latitude, what could have been an amazing 'keeper', ended up back on ebay.
piroroadkill - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
Acers are cheap and have sub-par build quality? This is new and exciting information!jmunjr - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
"Acer is launching a series of new notebooks in their Aspire TimelineX range"These have been out for months... The 1830T was available in June. I bought one for a friend over a month ago.
Just saying.
Pjotr - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
Yep, I got my 3820TG, with ATI 5650 gfx, also back in June. Works really well as a gaming laptop and has great battery life for office work etc. The perfect laptop (including price), except for the crappy screen of course.
therealnickdanger - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
Yeah, I've owned mine for several months too. Great portable machine!sleepeeg3 - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
The lower end models may have been available, but Arrandale has not in the higher end ones.byrdav - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
I am in the market for a new laptop. But the first thing I look for in the reviews is the screen aspect ratio. As soon as I see 16:9, I look no further.I have seen hundreds of comments in recent months re this impractical screen size for those of us who want to perform real work on their computers. Yet, the manufacturers insist on making them.
infodan - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
"No mention of graphics cards?"No nothing, except the whole of the last paragraph.
epyon96 - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
Or does anyone else hate the fact that mobile processor names and desktop processor names for Intel with regards to the i5/i7 series are completely divergent in naming.i7 used to distinguish quad core. Now what the hell does it really mean?
I wish some enthusiast site like this would systematically rename all processors to follow a consistent a guideline.
I remember the days when AMD did the performance names in their Athlon processors and people were moaning about it not being clockspeed. Back then, I remember Anandtech always listing the clockspeed and pertinent details next to the marketing name.
But this is taking it to a whole new level. How are consumers expected to know that i7 mobiles are not the same as i7 desktops representative quad core? Please, come up with a consistent nomenclature to help buyers out who read your site, I beg you.
nitrousoxide - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
i7M 6 series is just an enhanced version of the dual-core i5 Mobiles. Intel do this just because quad core is too power hungry (my i7 720M is a power-consuming beast that makes me doubt whether buying such a processor is a good deal). This problem will soon be solved when sandybridge architecture 32-nm Quad-cores are introduced. But still you can only expect a quad-core i7 Mobile with bigger-number-naming and the i7 26XX series will still be a enhanced dual core i5.This is the same on desktop! Don't ignore the fact that the Lynnfield i5 and i7 are identical in design but just adjusted some functions. The i7 8 Series has higher turbo clock speed than i5 7 Series and provides HT support. And here's what the problem is: Intel failed to make enough difference on an i5 and i7 because they are in essence the same chip. I guess in Sandy Bridge they will have better naming because there is only one quad-core i7 (namely an enhanced i5) with LGA 1155 and the "True i7s" will be LGA 2011 and have six cores.
StrangerGuy - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
Personally, I don't see the need for anything better than i3-370m for 14" and below. Turbo is pretty useless since any multithreaded game or app won't activate it. And I doubt the extra 1M cache of i7 2C/4T is even worth the price premium.Stuka87 - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
Yay, another laptop with an unusable resolution.When is this "everything must be HD/16:9" crap going to end? This display is useless because it has NO vertical space at all.
synaesthetic - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
WTF Acer?Do I really have to splurge a few gees on a Sony Z just to get some power in a 13" form factor?
Well at least the Z offers 1920x1080...
fic2 - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
Is the keyboard any better? I have two Acer laptops - 11" and 17" and both have the crappy flat key keyboard. Hopefully these have better keys.ltcommanderdata - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
It'd be great to see a review of the new 1830T on battery life. From what I was reading, the older Core 2 Duo 1810T actually had a chance of getting 7-8hr of battery life whereas these new Arrandale Core i models seem to get closer to 6hr of battery life. That was a major reason why I bought the 1810T Special Edition with a 1.4GHz SU9400 and I am getting 7-8hr on light usage, surfing the web, reading research papers, word processing, which is my typical use case. It was also only $499 CND which is a lot cheaper than the 1830T in Canada and the Canadian 1830T models don't include Bluetooth whereas the 1810T Special Edition does. There were also reports that some 1830T models are configured with ALPS touchpads which can be finicky and with 802.11n WiFi that don't include the faster 5.8GHz band. The 1810T Special Edition seems to more consistently include better Synaptics touchpads and 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi which is what I received along with DDR2-800 memory even though the specs only call for DDR2-667. Hopefully Anandtech does a review of the 1830T and compares it to the 1810T they review before so I'll see if I made the right choice.AnnonymousCoward - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
Why do they say "full size keyboard" when it's not? The backspace and arrow keys are obviously shrunken.15.6" 1366x768, are you kidding?? Come on, 1600x900.
narayanagame - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
why does everybody rant about display resolution 1366x768 is good for 11.6 to 14inch models.i dont understand what kind of work you ppl do that you need 1280x800 resolution display for that matter extra 32 vertical pixels..
if you ppl care so much about the resolution go find other laptops with resolution u need.this aint aimed at you ppl its aimed mostly to mutimedia savvy ppl and also work minded ppl who care less about screen resolution and more about getting the work itself done and having good battery life of laptop
AnnonymousCoward - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
>1366x768 is good for 11.6 to 14inch models.My old 14" is 1400x1050: 40% more usable area.
>go find other laptops with resolution u need.
We will. But 16:9 is growing harder to escape.
>mutimedia savvy ppl and also work minded ppl
BS. Pixel count is critical for the entire *video* side of "multimedia", and critical for getting work done. Where it's not critical is for using twitter.
chrnochime - Tuesday, September 28, 2010 - link
If it's so important do it on the PC at home. And if it's really that important RAID should be used already. Software RAID doesn't count, so where the RAID on your laptop??AnnonymousCoward - Tuesday, September 28, 2010 - link
"if it's so important, do it at home!"--that is such a weak and stupid argument.RAID? Who's talking about hard drives?
narayanagame - Tuesday, September 28, 2010 - link
yes pixel count is important.1366x768 has obviously more pixel density that 1280x800 which u want.moreover 16:9 is the way to go for mutimedia content watching.use common sense when i said mutlimedia savvy ppl.that extra 38 pixels is of no use at all if u consider the advantages of widescreen display nowadays especially
AnnonymousCoward - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
...and 87% more 4:3 area (there's a lot of 4:3 content out there)...and 45% more vertical web browser content space
narayanagame - Tuesday, September 28, 2010 - link
90% of the content of videos is in 16:9 ratio now,4:3 ratio is outdated.tell me one movie,tv show or any video that is coming out 4:3 from last 2yrsyes web browsing ll obviously be more better in normal 4:3 laptops but u get extra width than 4:3.
anyway those are not the real world uses i can think of with non 16:9 displays.that work can be done without a prob on 16:9 displays
AnnonymousCoward - Tuesday, September 28, 2010 - link
>tell me one movie,tv show or any video that is coming out 4:3 from last 2yrsLast 2 years: how about all digital pictures and a significant chunk of youtube videos. Then add Family Guy, all TV prior to a couple years ago, video game emulators, and Diablo 2.
Aren't movies 1.85, anyway? How many people actually watch movies on laptops? And why would that mean that everyone should have to settle with 16:9? I never watch movies. As for 4:3 vs 16:10, at 14" that changed 1400x1050 to 1440x900--gaining 40 pixels wide for a loss of 150 vertical. Bad deal. 16:9 sucks even worse. So would you rather have 1.85 instead of 16:9 since it fits movies better? What about 2.39?
narayanagame - Thursday, October 28, 2010 - link
ha good reasoning but what the reasons you are using the laptop is not everyone uses for.u complaining about not watching movies on laptop??
thats the most absurd thing i have heard of,everybody watches movies infact 90% do watch movies on their laptops.may be u dont watch but that doesnt mean other wont watch,this laptop isn't made specifically for you and it targets wide audience.
even apple who use 16:10 displays came with 16:9 display for 11.6inch air,that itself is an indication where the future is going.
the things u said about youtube videos,family guy are nothing compared to the content that is available in widescreen resolution.
would somebody choose a laptop thats does 10% of the work in day to day life rather than 90% of work??
chrnochime - Tuesday, September 28, 2010 - link
And we're supposed to take your word as the definitive truth because you actually work for one of these Laptop company? Or do you actually work for one of the reputable site or independent firm that isn't sponsored by one of the companies? If none of the above, WTH??nbjknk - Thursday, November 25, 2010 - link
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Here, there's good news to tell you: The company recently
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and welcome everyone to come buy. If necessary, please$$$$$$$$$$__$$$_$$$$$$$$$$$
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$$$_____$$$_$$$___$$$
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$$$$$$$$$$__$$$_$$$$$$$$$$$$ !::!
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Thursday, 21 October 2010 at 9:48 PM
xSauronx - Tuesday, September 28, 2010 - link
Im typing this on the 1830T with an i3 @ 1.2ghz that i bought at the end of August.its snappier than the eee netbook i had before, from time to time if im doing a number of things itll take a second to catch up, but thats not often.
This will get 6 hours with moderate/light usage, I could see 8 if you turned off wifi, dimmed the display and just let it hang around...isnt that how they usually come up with the max runtime anyway? 5 hours is easy to come by for me. Its not unusual for me to just charge it when i get home at night.
Build quality isnt awesome, The EEE 1000HA definitely is sturdier with a thick hard plastic body. I like the keyboard though some people complain about it. The glossy screen is....well its glossy. A meh, but oh well. I dont use this outside, and I do watch movies on it from time to time so its not entirely a bad thing.
The touchpad though...the model i have uses an ALPS pad. Its poor compared to the synaptics pad in the the EEE 1000ha i had. Synaptics seems to support more features and multitouch gestures...id kill to have double-tapping for a middle click work on this damn thing. This is also a touchpad that is seamless with the body and has a slight texturing, that may be part of why i dont like it.
Other than the touchpad i pretty much love this thing. Long battery life, small form factor, very lightweight and quick enough to do the moderate amount of homework and a couple of light or older games. im a student with a part time job and i take it everywhere in my bag.