Too Much of Something ...

Don't get us wrong, we like the ASUS Eee PC. We like the gradual improvements that have followed the course of the evolution (still ongoing) of the netbook, but ASUS' current crop of SKUs for their Eee brand has left most commentators puzzled or shaking their head in disapproval. We were willing to give ASUS the benefit of the doubt for the Eee PC S101, which turned out surprisingly well despite its high cost but the newest Eee Top might be another matter altogether. But, like the fair reviewers that we are, we'll of course be looking at this objectively before we make any conclusions.

So what's the Eee Top you ask? It's definitely not the upcoming touchscreen Eee PC but it does have touchscreen capabilities. Think of it as a less powerful HP TouchSmart IQ500 and you won't be far off. That's because the Eee Top, like all recent Eee machines, use an Intel Atom processor and chipset with either integrated graphics (ET1602), or discrete graphics (ET1603) in the form of a ATI Mobility Radeon HD3450. Unless you intend to watch HD 1080p movies or play some light 3D gaming, you should be fine with just the normal ET1602 version which we'll be reviewing in the following pages.

Sleek, shiny and packing the popular Intel Atom platform is the 15.6-inch ASUS Eee Top ET1602.

Connectivity options are limited to the left and rear portions of the unit. On the left there's space for two USB 2.0 ports and a SD/MMC/MS Pro card reader.

The rear of the unit is where you'll be doing most of your plugging and it sports a RJ-45 port, 3 USB 2.0 ports and the audio and microphone jacks.

Lastly, our usual specifications for your kind perusal:-