Asus 1025C and 1025CE EEE PCs unboxed (with video)

We first saw the Asus EEE PC 1025C and 1025CE netbooks at Computex 2011, nearly 9 months ago. I was then expecting to see them in stores by late 2011, but since these are built on Intel’s CedarTrail platform, they were pushed back to 2012, with the hardware.

Today we finally get to play with these two, as on my desk there are right now a 1025C and a 1025CE, both 10 inch netbooks, part of Asus’s EEE PC Flare family.

These will be available in shops by late March here in Europe, and exact details on prices are yet to be confirmed. The units I’m having are thus pre-production samples, so there might be some minor differences from the actual devices you’ll find in stores in the near future. Also, configs will differ from region to region, but basically what we’re having here is very close to what you’ll be able to buy soon.

In this post I’m going to share some early opinions on the two, and the pics and the videos are here to offer some extra details.

Asus EEE PC 1025C unboxing

The 1025C is going to be Asus’s mainstream netbook this year, situated right between the Asus X101CH and the 1025CE. It will offer good features, solid build quality and materials, good battery life, but won’t offer all the goodies you’ll find on the more expensive unit.

ASUS 1025C – the mainstream 2012 Asus netbook

Our test unit comes in dark-gray, with a matte plastic lid cover and black textured bottom. On the inside you have a 10.1 inch matte 1024 x 600 px screen, a decent keyboard and a wide (but short) trackpad. On the sides you get all the needed ports, except for USB 3.0 slots. Notice that HDMI output, an addition to the previous 10 inch EEE PC line, as the 1025C is built on Intel’s Cedar Trail platform, now capable of dealing with HD and Full HD content with ease.

Of course, you’ll notice the new shape of the laptop, as Asus migrated from the Seashell inspired body, to this new Flare inspired one, with chromed edges. Overall, the laptop looks good, feels well balanced and is a bit slimmer than its predecessor.

The unboxing clip below will tell you a bit more about it:

Asus EEE PC 1025CE unboxing

The 1025CE is going to be the premium 10 inch netbook Asus will offer in 2012, with a couple of goodies over the 1025C.

It gets the same Flare inspired shape, but the materials used feel a bit better, plus you get the same finish for the lid cover and the bottom. Our test version is dark-pink (red?), and it looks great, but it will be available in many other colors as well.

Asus 1025CE – the premium Asus 10 inch netbook in 2012

On the other side, there’s no longer a quick-memory upgrade bay on the bottomfor this one, which is a bummer, since the device will only come with 1 GB of RAM in stores.

Inside you get a Cedar Trail Atom platform, and when compared to the 1025C, the 1025CE brings an USB 3.0 slot, as also Bluetooth Connectivity. Plus, there’s a privacy lock for the Webcam, a feature we’ve seen on other Asus mini laptops before.

The keyboard seems a bit tall when compared to the one on other netbooks I’ve tested in the past, but that’s not an issue, as it probably helps to get excellent travel on these keys (at least that’s my initial feel, you’ll have to wait for a more in-depth opinion after using the device for a while).

For more details, see the clip bellow and the pics in this post:

Look for the reviews

I’m going to play with these over the next couple of days and will get back with the reviews by next week.

The new EEE PC Flare family is here, and shows that netbooks are still alive and kicking

Like I said, both these devices will be available in stores in about a month, and the 1025CE is expected to be about $30 more expensive than the 1025C.

Prices should start at $299 for the latter, probably with a 3 Cell battery, while I expect the top equipped 1025CE to get close to that $400 mark, based on my available price estimates. A bit expensive for a netbook, but hey, both these ultraportables prove that netbooks aren’t dead yet and that there are still plenty of things to enjoy on a device like this, if you know what to expect from it.