Asus Eee PC T91 Swivel-Screen Tablet Netbook

Name: Asus Eee PC T91 Swivel-Screen Tablet Netbook - Page 7
Brand: Asus

by Shawn Oliver — Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 09:00 AM EDT

Summary and Conclusion

Page 7: Summary and Conclusion

Performance Summary: In our SiSoftware Sandra testing, the T91 performed a bit worse than we expected, but maybe we were expecting too much out of the underpowered Z520 CPU and GMA 500 graphics. In other words, it's one of the lowest-powered netbooks out there today, but it's also one of the smallest. Plus, it's got a swivel touchscreen, which hardly any other machine can say. You can easily see the trade-offs here; the small size and fancy screen are there in place of top-notch internals. Basic tasks were handled with relative ease (with hardly any lag when multi-tasking thanks to the SSD), though gaming and high-def multimedia is a no-go.

Asus' Eee PC T91 is a solid addition to the expanding Eee PC line. It'll surely appeal to a certain niche looking for a Tablet PC mixed with a netbook form factor. But unless you can think of a specific reason for needing the touchscreen, we'd argue that there are much nicer (and cheaper) netbooks to select. The T91 is less powerful, more cramped and has a less spectacular display than pretty much any other newly released netbook, yet it is priced at $499. That's a lot to ask for a netbook, even with the resistive touchscreen. If you are in a unique field that will allow you to really take advantage of the touch capabilities, it's a great machine to get. But if not, you'll be throwing away money on a feature you'll rarely use, and you'll get a less powerful machine to boot.

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We were impressed with the battery life (nearly five hours, just as claimed), but we didn't appreciate the non-removable nature of the battery. Also, the trackpad was great, but the keys were cramped due to the small chassis. The display looked washed out and was mushy to the touch, but that's what you get in a resistive touch panel. We loved how small and light the machine was, but we lamented the fact that it really wasn't equipped to handle any task more demanding than typing a Word document, sending an email or engaging in the occasional Skype call. For just over $330, you can take home the excellent Eee PC 1000HE, and for $389, you can take home the stylish and equally quick 1005HA. Why pay more for the T91 unless you absolutely need the Tablet PC aspect? If you find yourself thinking "I do need the Tablet PC functionality," then this is a great little machine. Indeed there are more than a few usage models weou can think of where a user could benefit from a touch panel interface, especially in business. The touch input works wonderfully, but understand what you'll be giving up in order to get it.