Gateway and Acer Netbooks: Wonder Twin Powers, Activate!
by Vivek Gowri on April 28, 2010 2:22 AM ESTScreen Analysis
The screen is pretty average, not standing out in any category. This continues an unfortunate trend of mediocrity in the LCD panels used in mobile computers. As shown by the iPad, a high quality can really enhance or even define the experience of a device, and that's one aspect of the 1001P that really trumps these two devices. With both the matte finish and super high contrast ratio, the Eee is on an entirely different level than the Gateway and Acer.
Acer Gamut
Gateway Gamut
These two fall right in line with most other consumer-level notebooks in terms of display quality. This continues an unfortunate trend towards poor quality screens for the sake of cost cutting measures, with few exceptions (as mentioned, the 1001P, along with some larger media and gaming laptops). Unfortunately, what most manufacturers (and consumers) should realize is that the display is one of the single most important parts of any mobile device, being the main method for interaction between user and computer. We can’t criticize Acer specifically here for the poor LCD—it’s an industry-wide trend that is disappointing overall. What we want is 1001P contrast levels, preferably with greater than 200nits maximum brightness. Only when we have that is it worth discussing color gamut and accuracy… and honestly, color accuracy isn't a major concern for any netbook.
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Lonyo - Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - link
Is there any news on what Pinetrail can be used for?Are there going to be 11.6" / 1366x768 Pinetrail netbooks? Or indeed any 1280x720 10" netbooks with Pinetrail.
All these 1024x600 screens are not particularly enticing, and it's higher resolutions which really give some appeal (plus 11.6" chassis mean a bigger keyboard, which is nice if you actually want to be productive, same for a higher resolution screen).
DanNeely - Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - link
Anandtech did a preview of a lenovo S10-3 with a 10" 1280x720 screen a few weeks ago. Unfortunately it's not available yet, nor is the 10" 1366x768 EEE 1005PR.Vivek (AnandTech) - Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - link
There are a few 10"ers out there with 1366x768 screens. The Dell Mini 10 and HP Mini 210 have it as an option (combined with the Broadcom HD chip). All of the forthcoming Ion 2 netbooks have wxga screens as well, as does the Asus Eee 1201 update.jabber - Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - link
Yes okay okay they are netbooks but at least give us a little more screen depth!CSMR - Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - link
Very good review.But I disagree that higher brightness is better.
In specific situations (outdoors in bright light) it can be useful, but normally LCDs are too bright and you can measure benefits to users from reducing brightness. See the Eizo guide to eye fatigue:
http://www.eizo.com/global/products/flexscan/vdt/G...
strikeback03 - Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - link
Sure, but a bright screen can always be turned down, while a dim screen is dim no matter what. Given that these are netbooks and not DTRs there is a decent chance they will be used outside, and a 120 nit screen might well be unusable there. Plus color accuracy is already bad here, so any drop from dropping screen brightness isn't a big deal.strikeback03 - Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - link
The labels in the relative battery life chart are all messed up. The number labeled HP Mini 311 should be the ASUS 1005PE, the one labeled Gateway 5409u should be labeled HP Mini 311, the one labeled Dell 11z should be the Gateway 5409u, the one labeled ASUS 1201N should be the Dell 11z, and the one labeled ASUS 1005PE should be the ASUS 1201N.Qubix1 - Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - link
Relative Battery Life chart needs a look:HP Mini 311 = 5.47 m/Whr (9.48)
Asus 1001P = 9.48 m/Whr (9.42)
Acer AO532h = 7.75 m/Whr (7.75)
Gateway LT2120u = 7.48m/Whr (7.48)
Acer 1810T = 7.47 m/Whr (7.45)
Asus 1201N = 3.92 m/Whr (7.15)
Dell Inspirion 11z = 7.11 m/Whr (6.89)
Gateway EC5409u = 6.90 m/Whr (5.47)
Asus 1005PE = 9.37 m/Whr (3.95)
JarredWalton - Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - link
Sorry... I updated the spreadsheet to list the battery capacity, and then copied/pasted the labels. I thought all of my tables were in the same order, but the relative chart was jumbled and so I screwed up the labels on most of the laptops. The chart is now correct.jaydee - Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - link
Could we PLEASE see a review of an AMD-based netbook? Like the ASUS Eee PC 1201T-MU10? Should be better cpu, better graphics, bigger lcd, less battery life at a tad higher price. Anandtech even had a giveaway of a Lenovo x100e with the AMD MV-40 processor, but no review. How do these cpu's compare?!?!?Thanks!