Asus EEE PC Flare 1225B unboxing and early impressions (video)
Alright, after seeing the Asus 1225C at CES last week, I know got to play with the 1225B it a bit more, as a test unit just landed on my test-desk today. Once again, this is a sample, a pre-sale unit, thus some things might be different on the final version that you’ll find in store. However, in these cases the only changes I’ve seen in the past regard the technical specs, and I’m confident that’s going to be the the same here.
The pictures and the clip in the post will tell you a bit more about the 1225B EEE PC Flare. And if you’re wondering what’s the difference between the B and C versions, the 1225B comes with an AMD platform inside, while the C is built on Intel’s new Cedar Trail Atom hardware.
Basically this is the successor of the popular Asus 1215B we tested in the past and brings a bunch of exterior changes, mainly a new design, case and a new screen. Not much has changed inside though.
On a first look, I was quite sure this is a 12 inch device, but it seems I was wrong, it comes with a 11.6 inch display. It doesn’t feel smaller than the previous 12 inch Asus EEE PCs, and that thick bezel around the screen confirms it, so you can understand the confusion.
Asus 1225B - looks like a 12 incher, but it offers an 11.6 inch display
The new EEE PC series for 2012 is called Flare, as opposed to the Seashell line we had in the past, and brings a new body shape, more evenly designed. In the past, the back of the laptops was very thick and they got slimmer toward the front, but now they are pretty much the same all along the body, with the front still getting slimmer, just more aggressive as before. The case is still covered in plastic, with a smooth matte finish for the lid cover and a textured finish for the bottom.
The 1225B we’re having comes in bright silver, but it will be available in Black, White and a bunch of colors as well.
There's a redesigned body, and it looks good
On the sides, the ports have been redesigned and there’s a chromed platting decorating the laptop, which actually looks quite good, although it might scratch fast. The clip will tell you more, check it out bellow.
Opening the lid, you’ll notice a metallic palm-rest cover that goes underneath the keyboard and on its top. Looks and feels solid, although the palm-rest feels a bit cramped. The keyboard is the same one we’ve seen before on Asus EEE PCs, but there’s a new trackpad, not very large and with integrated click buttons. Seems accurate based on early use, but the click buttons are very stiff, which is annoying.
Same keyboard, but a new trackpad
The screen is glossy, and we’re talking about an 11.6 inch display, with 1366 x 768 px resolution. The bezel around it is made from some textured plastic and is mate, plus there’s a camera with mic and protection cover on top.
Opening the computer, you’ll notice poor vertical viewing angles for the screen, as showed in the video. Can’t say they are poorer than what you had on the 1215B/1215N Asus mini laptops though, but it’s definitely not better either.
The screen is glossy and offers quite poor viewing angles
Inside, there’s an AMD E450 APU, 4 GB of DDR3 RAM, a 750 GB 5400 rpm HDD and Windows 7 Starter, plus all the needed ports and connectivity options. That’s basically the same platform as the one we saw on the 1215B about 10 months ago, although a bit faster (E450 vs E350 on the older EEE PC). Still, this config will offer decent everyday performances, plus multimedia and even some gaming abilities, while providing good battery life (I expect to get about 5 hours from the 6 Cell 52 Wh battery, but we’ll see).
As for prices and availability, I only have some speculations right now: a starting price of about $479 (so could be anywhere between $449 and $499) for the same config, but with 2 GB of RAM; and the EEE PC Flare 1225B is expected to land in stores around March.
The Asus EEE PC 1225B Flare should go for under $500, in March
That’s about it for now, look for the review next week here on the site. In the meantime, don’t forget to post your comments if there’s anything else you might want to know about the Asus 1225B 11.6 incher.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Tags: 11.6" netbooks, AMD Fusion, Asus, Asus EEE PC, Asus netbooks, unboxing
Last updated: January 20, 2012 | Published: January 20th, 2012 | See the comments or add yours!
Author: Mike - wrote 638 posts - see all posts by Mike
Andrei Girbea, aka "Mike", is the Owner and Editor in Chief at netbooklive.com . He's been dealing with gadgets and writing about them for years and now focuses more on portable computers, like netbooks, mini laptops and touchscreen tablets. You can follow him on Twitter.
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