Remember the Eee PC? The little laptops that they called netbooks that were once a rage? I had have one too - the Asus Eee PC 1000H. The little hardy thing survived many a fall and even after seven years boots up fast whenever I need it as a backup.
The original netbooks promised basic computing at a budget price. It was a promise worth making, in the pre-touchscreen-smartphone age, when Internet usage was growing and many couldn't afford a full-fledged laptop or even had a need for much of its power or features.
Even though netbooks were not recommended as a primary PC, I found myself using the little Intel Atom-powered device to also edit small videos. Not the best device to do that, but it, with some effort, did deliver.
After a few years in the limelight, the netbook quietly faded away, unable to make space for itself in a new era of Internet connected devices. A year ago Asus, the netbook pioneer, announced that it was ending production of the Eee PC series.
But picture abhi baaki hai, mere dost.
At IFA 2014, Asus announced its return to netbooks - only that it was no longer called a netbook and the branding was changed from Eee PC to EeeBook. And the Asus EeeBook X205 is the first in the series.
I am a compact laptop enthusiast and the news that the EeeBook was coming to India did get my fingers itchy. And after a fews days of the fingers easing their itch on the chiclet keyboard, my belief is reaffirmed that the netbook deserves a second chance. The Asus EeeBook X205TA isn't the perfect comeback, but is nevertheless a commendable one.
Available in four colour options, the unit that came to me for review was white. Not my choice of notebook colour as I am the type who uses a computer even while eating.
While 13-inch is the perfect size for a laptop screen in terms of function and portability, but the X205's 11.6 also serves its purpose satisfactorily. This being a budget device, I didn't expect much from the display and the 1366x768 16:9 panel is along expected lines. The screen is glossy (I prefer them matte) and viewing angles aren't great. Also don't count on using this in the bright outdoors.
The first thing that you might notice on picking it up is its weight, rather the lack of it. At 0.98 kg this fanless device is (if we go by the specs) lighter than Apple's much-fancied MacBook Air. It is also slim. At 17.5mm this is much slimmer than most regular laptops.
The keys appeared a little noisy while I was rapidly typing away this review in the quietness of my bedroom late in the night. But then this might not be as noticeable in other environments. Pity it doesn't come with a backlit keyboard. But I was quite impressed by the other sounds that X205 produces - the ones from its speakers. The front facing speakers produce audio that is quality enough to prevent me from attaching it to external speakers and loud enough for our three-year-old to ask me to turn the volume down.
The power-efficient Intel Bay Trail-T Quad Core Z3735 1.33 GHz processor, present in many tablets, also drives the Asus EeeBook X205 and with some efficiency. This and 2 GB of RAM might not exactly turn the X205 into a workhorse or a gaming companion, but gives enough for it to deliver regular browsing, word processing and basic image editing without any hiccups.
The battery backup is another plus. Though Asus claims 12 hours of battery and that's not too far away from real world use. I have clocked over 10 hours on a single charge with mixed usage. The compact adapter that comes with the device is quite like those that accompany some tablets and not like the laptop chargers that we are accustomed to. The large and responsive touchpad also merits a mention.
What spoils the party is the paltry 32 GB of onboard storage of which only 20.8 GB is user accessible. Though there exists a microSD card slot (for cards of up to 128 GB) for optional storage addition, 20.8 GB on C: still appears to be too little and is reminiscent of PCs from 15 years ago. Though Asus promises 500 GB of WebStorage for 2 years at no additional cost, storage on the cloud is quite different from storage on the local machine given patchy Internet connectivity and FUPs.
Asus is also including a 1-year subscription for Microsoft Office 365 (with 1 TB of online space). This is a bonus.
Minor irritants on the Asus EeeBook X205TA include the position of the status indicator LEDs that angle away from the user and therefore are not readily visible. Also that the two USB 2.0 ports (no USB 3.0) posts are located very close to each other which means that if there's a fat dongle that you need to attach, there might be no place left to squeeze in a pen drive. Left-handed users could also see the absence of an USB port on the left as a letdown.
More than their features and specifications, it was the price that had made netbooks so attractive years ago. And this bit of fact hasn't changed since 2007 (when the first Asus Eee PC was introduced). Given its $199 price tag in the US, we expect Asus to keep the India price of the EeeBook as attractive. Asus has priced the EeeBook X205TA at a very attractive Rs 14,999.
Though it is unlikely that the EeeBook will be able to achieve the popularity of the Eee PC, but it, irrespective of its storage limitations, it makes for a recommended secondary laptop and for many with limited needs, a nice-looking-and-performing primary PC.
Asus should, however, consider adding a high-storage MicroSD card as a freebie.
(The X205 goes on sale in India from January 21)
Pros: Lightweight. Value for money. Attractive looks. Battery life.
Cons: Limited internal storage. Poor viewing angles.
Rating: 3.75/5
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