ASUS Eee PC 1215P Seashell

I recieved this laptop as a Christmas gift, and have been using it very regularly for four months now. As a University student, I needed a portable laptop that would not only help me in my studies, but also allow me to comfortably browse the internet, use skype, watch movies and much more! This review will hopfully explain my thoughts and experiences with this laptop and give the reader a sense of how useful it would be for them.

Who are ASUS?
When I was researching different laptops to buy, I frequently came across a range of different ASUS laptops. As someone who had never heard much, if anything, about ASUS as a company, I decided to do a little research into the company. On their website they describe their laptop range as being 'a well established and respected brand for both home and business users. These laptops have the right balance of quality specifications at excellent prices.' I found this to be quite a nice introduction into the company, and upon looking at their range of products I found that they were easily on par with many of the other 'major players' in the computing industry, and were often slightly cheaper! After asking around friends and family about their opinions or experiences with the company, I found out that my cousin had a ASUS laptop. She spoke extremely highly of her laptop and recommended me to get one for myself!

Product Details
The laptop I settled on was the 'Asus 1215N-RED097M', which is infact a netbook ( Basically, a smaller laptop), and costs £318 from the ASUS website. The product has a 12.1 inch display, its dimensions are 296mm (W) x 203mm (D) x 38mm (H), and it weighes 1.46 kg. The netbook comes with a D525 1.8G processor, 2048MB of memory, with a 320GB hardrive. The battery is described as lasting for up too 6 hours, and the laptop also boasts a 0.2 megapixel webcam, bluetooth, a port for an ethernet cable, 1 USB 2.0 port, 2 USB 3.0 ports, a HDMI port, a VGA port, and a standard audio jack. The laptop also has a built in speaker, and a built in microphone. Finally, the netbook operates on Windows 7 Home Premium for its operating system.

My Thoughts and Experiences
Upon opening the box, the first thing I noticed was the colour of the product, which is an appealing shade of burgandy. I think that the colour is really gender neutral, and would suit almost any room, desk or enviroment. The top of the laptop also has a silver ASUS logo placed in the centre. After taking the laptop out of the box I was initially quite shocked by the small size (I knew it was going to be small... but not this small!), and the light weight. I was even more surprised when I opened the laptop, and saw the small screen and keyboard. For someone who was used to a larger sized laptop, this smaller size did take a couple of days to get used too, but I soon found myself loving its smaller dimensions. When I went back to university after the Christmas break, I discovered that its smaller size was infact a godsend! The netbook is small enough to fit into my handbag (even when inside a case), and light enough to not really notice that its there! Also, I found that even though the keyboard is small, that does not make it less easy to use. Yes, it does take a couple of days to get used to the smaller proportions, but I've found the small size to be easier on my fingers when dong lots and lots of typing (which, as a student, I tend to have to do!).

When analysing at the speed of the laptop, I've found the netbook to be quick enough for regular internet browsing, but quite slow when under heavy usage. For someone like me that doesn't need heavy internet usage, this isn't a problem, but for others who require more use this might be a problem. The webcam and microphone are extremely useful for chat programs such as skype. The webcam is placed in the centre of the upper part of the laptop (the best place in my opinion), and while im not sure where the microphone is, i've never had a problem with it! The 'mouse' section is also well placed, quite sensitive and easy to use.

Overall Opinions
After four months of using this laptop I've rarely had a problem with it! I've found it extremely easy to use, navigate and customize! The small size is the biggest advantage for me, because of how easy it is to carry around. However, I have found that sometimes it can be a tad slow while downloading, or heavily using the internet. Even so, I've never really found this a problem, and it certnaly doesn't effect my overall impression of the laptop. I have also been impressed with the battery life, and even found it too exceed the 6 hour limet stated in the product description. Probably my biggest problem with this netbook is, in my opinion, its small memory. However, due to many harddrives on the market, I do not think that this is too much of an issue. Overall, a great laptop that I would recommend to anyone who asked!