Asus N10: The first Gaming Netbook
And I though Asus was simply flooding the market with more and more of it’s EEE line, this notebook is actually a cut above the rest. Why? It’s a Netbook made for gaming! Yep. I for one never expected to see gaming near the Netbook genre until quite some time but I’m glad that I’m mistaken.
The N10 Gaming Netbook
The original members of Asus’ N- series uses a Core 2 Duo to power them, the N10 uses an Intel Atom N270. On the exterior, it’s stylish with the design is very much like the N20, it’s nearest brother.
How could a Netbook achieve Gaming and be as efficient as a typical UMPC? Simple, use 2 GPUs. Aside from the standard Intel 945 graphics found on other netbooks, the N10 also has a discrete nVidia GeForce 9300M graphics chipset. The result? The N10 is the very first netbook that’s capable of playing 3D games at reasonable resolutions and frame rates.
That 10.2″ 1024 x 768 might not be for everyone especially for gaming since it’s quite cramped. The caveat however is that a arger, higher-resolution screen will eat up battery life especially since the N10 ships with a three-cell battery as standard.
I want to get one to test with Sins of a Solar Empire (a game I’m still playing). Asus you there? XD
In terms of dimensions, here’s how the N10 sizes up to it’s EEE bertheren.
N10 Specifications
CPU: Intel® Atom® Processor N270
OS: Windows XP Home or Windows Vista Home Basic/ Home Premium/ Business/ Ultimate
Chipset: Mobile Intel® 945GSE Express Chipset
Display: 10-inch/ 1024×600
Hard Drive: SATA 160 GB / 250 GB / 320 GB
VGA: UMA
Memory: DDR2 667 MHz up to 2,048 MB
Card Reader: 4-in-1 (SD,MMC,MS, MS Pro)
USB Ports: 3
Options: Mic-in/Headphone
Webcam: 1.3 MP
WLAN: 802.11b/g
Bluetooth: v2.0 + EDR (optional)
Battery: Three Cells / 2.5 hrs
Dimension: 27.6 cm (W) x 19.5 cm (D) x 2.99–3.71 cm (H)
Weight: 1.40 kg (with 3-cell battery)
The price? $849
Expensive, yes. Worth it? Not really sure since at that price, you can find a good notebook to play games with although it’ll be quite bigger and heavier. If you have money, I think it’s better to get a gaming laptop AND a UMPC separately. Still, if you want a very portable gaming netbook, the N10 should do.
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