Now when you get yourself a netbook, you don’t really think much in the way of multimedia, right? I mean, netbooks are perfect for some light web browsing, getting some work done on your favorite word processor, and watching a couple of YouTube videos, but that’s just about it. They’re underpowered by today’s standards, and watching a 1080p HD video on your netbook would be, well, crazy. The video’s going to end up as choppy as hell.
Asus thinks that the 1005PR Eee PC might change the way you think about netbooks. You see, this intrepid netbook has a HD display and HD content playing capabilities, thanks to a Broadcom accelerator card. Wait, what the heck is a Broadcom accelerator card anyway? It’s an extension chip connected on the mini PCI-e slot, and it’s meant to enhance the graphic performance of the Intel PineTrail processor running the Eee PC.
As promising as it can be, All About Eee PC has a different opinion on this netbook:
However, improvements are only visible in terms of video playing and not on games, as the chip provides H.264 decoding capabilities. As a result, the Asus EEE PC 1005PR can play up to 1080p self-stored clips and 720p flash videos. 1080p Flash might work or not, according to the bitrate of each individual clip.
Playing HD content on a 10 inch 1024 x 600 px display wouldn’t have been much of an improvement, thus Asus equipped the 1005PR EEE PC with a HD ready 10 inch 1366 x 768 px screen. On the bright side, this translates in a bigger working area. But, having a bigger resolution will also translate in a bigger weight on the shoulders of the PineTrail hardware, which we already know ain’t the best in terms of performances. Thus, the 1005PR might be somewhat more sluggish than a standard Asus 10 incher in everyday tasks.
Oh, wow. What do you think? Personally, I’m sold on the HD-playing capabilities of this netbook, but I’d like to hear your opinion.
