Asus Eee PC T91MT-PU17-BK 8.9-Inch Intel Atom Netbook Computer (Black)

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Price: $369.99    

Product Feature

• Intel Atom Z520(1.33GHz, 512KB L2 Cache, FSB 533MHz)
• 1 GB DDR2 SODIMM memory, Max Capacity upto 2 GB
• 32GB SSD+ 500GB Internet Storage
• 8.9" Touch Screen - Multi Touch
• Windows 7 Home Premium

Product Description

Asus Eee PC T91MT-PU17-BK 8.9 inch Intel Atom Z520/1 GB/32 GB SSD/W7HP Netbook Computer (Black)

Asus Eee PC T91MT-PU17-BK 8.9-Inch Intel Atom Netbook Computer (Black) Review

(Note - The T91MT is released in Black and White versions, I have the White Version.)

Since I've started using Ipod Touch generation 1 a couple of years back, I decided the future is all about touch screen and I told myself I would only buy mobile devices that would have access to touch screen. So I was looking forward to this netbook, as it was exactly what I've been hoping for in terms of concept and design.

Initially I was disappointed with the touch features due to lack of response, but after over a week I've started to like it. Don't get me wrong, the T91MT uses a resistive screen so it is never as responsive as the IPhone Capacitive screen but once you get used to the amount of pressure you need to apply, the T91MT response pretty well to touch commands. The main culprit of lag and unresponsiveness is the low powered CPU. I've notice while it is tablet mode, the processing power is restricted to only 800mhz. You will only get the full performance of 1.33ghz in netbook mode, this may be purposely implied to lower the system temperature in tablet. The difference in performance is very noticeable while watching online videos.

Multitouch zooming is not highly inaccurate, instead of making small smooth changes; it makes leaps that zoom from 100% to 125% or 100% to 75%, depending on the program. Some program has smooth animation between zoom to give the illusion that the zoom is more fluid. The biggest problem here is still processing power. If you are running zoom while low in processing resources you will likely to make inaccurate zoom, going over the desired zoom level due to lag.

There is a official demo video floating around on YouTube of the T91MT, this is the same video that is installed onto the netbook that shows every time you startup. It can be misleading; the video shows a different version of Touch gate that has a different background graphics. They have show very smooth animation in their software, it is unlikely the real thing will perform this well, due to once again, lack of processing power. The real thing is much choppier.

However on the positive side, the design of the netbook itself is solid and reasonably attractive, one of the big selling factor of this notebook is the small form factor and the tablet option. The netbook is very portable, I find myself getting it out during long queues like I would usually do with my Iphone. It can operate in tablet mode without going back to the keyboard, thanks to the virtual keyboard in windows 7.

The battery life is reasonable to good; it runs down quicker in full performance setting, around 3hrs, which is what I usually have it in due to the lack of processing power. I installed the extra 2GB ram memory right away; it didn't make much of a difference in terms of system performance. In addition, a lot of online videos are unwatchable or choppy. Youtube content cannot be played in HQ and depending on the video some will be choppy even in LQ mode while in tablet mode. Youtube is much more playable in netbook mode. Hulu has the same problems, more severe than Youtube since a alot of their video is in a higher quality format, Hulu is barely playable in netbook mode. Watching video's from hard drive is a different story, they play rather well, they don't suffer like those online videos.

I will also mention Asus's in-house software. The Touch Gate and Eee docking software are rather poor. In the touch gate, the online radio has a trial period and a link to Internet explorer was very unnecessary. Touchgate was designed for the XP to give them some touch screen functionality on that platform which was lacking in touch functions, but in windows 7 they are rather redundant since windows 7 was designed for touch screen. On top of this, the program itself is laggy.

Another problem I ran into is the palm rejection. The palm rejection software "Intelliwriting". It only works with sticky notes and windows journal. But this is not its only problem, this software is inaccurate, causing you to draw with your palm. It also distorts your text, making productive work very frustrating. I've turn this feature off and train myself to write without pressing my palm on the screen by using landscape mode making use of the side of the screen as a form of physical palm rejection. Updated - After a couple of weeks testing the T91MT, I can tell you that palm rejection is a lost cause. It is very difficult to write for longer than a few words on this net book, the palm rejection software distorts so badly that it is not worth turning on. A active digitalizer would've made a world of difference. Writing is only useful for making a couple of annotations.

The netbook has 2 USB ports and 2 SD/SDHC slots if you have the money, you can purchase 2 SDHC cards to increase the disk space by 64gb(2x32gb). This is kind of expensive, but does give you the option to expand without compromising portability.

The netbook is functional for reading PDF's and Amazon's Kindle. It is easier to read Amazon kindle, as that is less processing intensive. PDF magazine with lots of graphics can load slowly between pages and zooming can cause lag if you use the tablet mode, due to the reduced clock speed. I've learnt to use the pdf software's internal function to change screen orientation rather than using the netbook's function, that way you will scroll your books from the side like they are naturally. Another interesting fact is the notebook fits very well on the standard book holder at your local gym, so you've the option of working out while reading your pdf books or watching a movie on your netbook.

I've installed Photoshop CS4, Illustrator CS4, ArtRage and Corel Painter 11. Photoshop works surprisingly well despise the low processing powers. Applying filters only took a few seconds. Photoshop demanded much less power than I had imagined it would.

There was initially a problem with the drawing tools on all these programs, they would not perform short strokes and sometimes would not draw at all. After some tweaking with settings, I worked out that this problem was caused by touch gestures sending both commands for drawing and moving the canvas at the same time, which confused the software. To fix this, I disabled "Single Finger Panning" under "Pen and Touch" control panel, this solve much of the drawing problems.

In conclusion, this device is not bad but could've been much better with more power. The touch screen function gets more responsive as you get used to it. The portable format lets the user to work anywhere. It works very well as a portable tablet. However the palm rejection is a lost cause, realistically you cannot do any kind of productive handwriting on this netbook, this netbook desperately needed a active digitalizer. The other main let down of this netbook is the processing power. The overall lag caused by this is discomforting, if Asus had put in a high powered cpu and gfx, this would be a award winning product. Note that your processing power will be lowered in tablet mode(800mhz), you can however work around this by putting your netbook to sleep during netbook/laptop mode then change to tablet mode while it is powered off. Once you repower on you will keep the same clock speed as the laptop mode(1333mhz), but this may cause heating problems.

I was initially very angry with this netbook, as Asus make a deceiving marketing video giving false expectation of the netbook, but as time went on this netbook grew on me. It makes a nice toy for reading and watching movies on the move, it is a cross between a iphone and a netbook. But as a first generation touchscreen netbook, it is not much of a productive tool in it's current form.

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