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Written by Sasa Pantelic
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Wednesday, 22 July 2009 |
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Page 2 of 3
GN40
What makes ASUS Eee PC 1004DN different is new Intel chipset: GN40. Interestingly, there is not too much information on Intel’s site about this product. What we know is that it has integrated graphics X4500M and support for HD video reproduction. We can only guess that is it successor of GL40 chipset. Although Windows XP isn’t best solution for GN40 and its advanced features, we managed to play HD video successfully on Windows XP SP3 that was preinstalled on our ASUS Eee PC 1004DN. Windows Vista (or Windows 7) is much better solution. Nevertheless we managed to play 720p HD video with ease and 1080p after some tweaking. We always had a sense that problem isn’t in Atom CPU because it never reached 100% load during HD video playback.
Of course is not all beer and skittles, as it may seem at first glance. GN40 chipset is pricier then GSE945 and has bigger power consumption, which has impact on autonomy.
Other advantage of ASUS Eee PC 1004DN is integrated DVD recorder. This completes the story with HD video reproduction.
Rest of the configuration is not that much impressive. Hard disk drive platters rotate at 4200RPM, which is ridiculously slow. Such exclusive netbook should have much faster hard drive? Doesn’t it? Well, if there was a place for an 2.5inch hard drive, instead used 1.8inch, we are sure that ASUS would use it. Because DVD recorder took a large portion of space beneath keyboard and palm rest there was no place, unfortunately, for faster and bigger hard drive. System has 1GB of RAM memory, but since there is no second memory slot, if you decide to upgrade memory you will need to replace existing 1GB module with 2GB.
Finger print reader is another feature worth mentioning. This is feature that all business users will notice. From bunch of additional software we would like to draw you attention at Super Hybrid Engine and Font Resizer. Super Hybrid Engine supports easier change of power profiles: Power Saving, High Performance or Super Performance. Font Resizer allows easy, on the fly, change of system font size in system windows and dialogs.
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