When Asus launched a teaser campaign for its upcoming Eee PC Sirocco with the tag line ‘Making waves’ a lot of folks including me thought that Asus was going to launch an innovative product that would make waves in the industry. Now that optimism has given way to disappointment because the Eee PC Sirocco is far from being the kind of device that would make waves of any kind.

It is a regular 10 inch netbook that just happens to have a wave-like textured paint job on the lid. Sirocco is in fact just another name of the Eee PC 1015PW which was first introduced in October.

Specs-wise, it has a 1.5GHz Intel Atom N550 dual core processor, 1GB of DDR3 memory, a 250GB / 320GB hard drive, WiFi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0. The 10.1 inch display has a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. No word on pricing or availability at the moment.

Asus is going to have a great show at CES. Company chairman Jonney Shih has announced that there will be an ‘Eee for everyone’ at CES 2011. The company will reportedly showcase 7-, 9-, 10- and 12 inch Windows and Android tablets at CES. The Windows versions will have Intel processors; the Android tablets will be powered by Tegra.

Asus has also previewed its Eee Slate EP121 (previously called Eee Pad) in video. The tablet has a 12 inch multitouch display. It runs Windows 7 and has a Core i5 processor. Naturally, Asus claims that this machine will deliver much better performance than other tablets on the market. It is expected to hit the shelves sometime in January.

Meanwhile Digitimes report that EP121 will be aimed at enterprise customers which it launches. Asus is also planning to launch two 10-inch Eee Pads (one running Windows on Intel and the other running Android on Tegra 2) as early as March for prices ranging between $499 and $599. 7-inch models are also expected to launch before March. They will have either Tegra 2 or Qualcomm processors. At least one of these tablets will have 3.5G radio for phone functionality.

The Asus Eee PC 1015PN is the first netbook to have Intel’s 1.5GHz Atom N550 dual core processor and NVIDIA ION graphics under its hood. Needless to say, it is the most powerful 10 inch netbook to ever hit the market. So how does the machine fare in real life usage?

The folks at Engadget have published a detailed review of the netbook. Long story short, they are quite impressed with the Eee PC 1015PN except for one thing – its inability to support the NVIDIA Optimus technology.

Look and feel
The Eee PC 1015PN has more or less the same looks and case design as other Seashell netbooks from Asus. It has a wide screen bezel and soft-to-the touch lid. The netbook measures 1.4 inches in thickness and weighs around 2.8 pounds. The six-cell battery protrudes from the bottom of the laptop, but some people might like it because it also props up the keyboard. The overall build quality is satisfactory.

Ports
Port selection is satisfactory. The Eee PC 1015PN has 3 USB ports, an Ethernet port, HDMI and VGA jacks, a 4-in-1 media card reader, and a headphone and mic jacks.

Keyboard, touchpad, and screen
The Eee PC 1015PN has a chiclet style keyboard. The keys provide decent feedback while typing. On the down side, some people may not like the shrunken right shift key. But that is an arrangement you will get used to. The touchpad is wide for a netbook of this size and shows decent sensitivity. It has a single mouse button which according to the folks at Engadget is mushy but better than the one found on the Eee PC 1018P.

The Eee PC 1015PN has a matte display which is quite viewable in bright surroundings. Viewing angles are also good. The speakers are loud enough for personal listening, but music aficionados will definitely want to invest in a pair of headphones.

Performance and graphics
The Eee PC 1015PN has a dual core Atom processor. The extra core does improve everyday performance. That said, the machine isn’t significantly faster than a single core netbook. It has enough power to handle day to day jobs like word processing, web surfing and chatting. The netbook comes standard with 1GB of RAM. By upgrading to 2GB of RAM you will be able to speed things up a bit more.

Graphics performance is impressive. The ION graphics deliver significantly better performance than Intel’s integrated graphics. It even rivals AMD’s ATI Radeon HD 4225 that comes bundled with the Athlon Neo K125 processor. Needless to say, you can stream Flash video at full screen, watch local HD video content and indulge in modest gaming. When the ION graphics is on, the 1015PN has no difficulty playing 1080p HD video on its screen. It can also transfer HD video to an HDTV via the HDMI port.

On the flip side, the 1015PN doesn’t support the NVIDIA Optimus technology. Asus ships the netbook with Windows 7 Starter Edition. Obviously, the company wants to keep the cost down. The result is that you have to reboot the computer every time you want to switch between the integrated and discrete graphics options. Of course, you can keep ION enabled all the time, but doing that will reduce the battery life you will get.

Battery life
The netbook has a 6-cell, 56Wh battery. If you keep the ION graphics enabled all the time, you will get only around four and a half hours of battery life. Switching to the integrated graphics option will lengthen the battery life and you will get close to 6 hours.

Conclusion
The Eee PC 1015PN is unarguably one of the most powerful 10 inch netbooks on the market. It delivers impressive CPU and graphics performance. The only downside, perhaps, is that you have to reboot the computer every time you want to switch between graphics. Of course, you can solve this problem by upgrading to Windows 7 Home Premium which supports the Optimus technology. Or you can spend $70 more and buy that 12.1 inch 1215N.

Pros
Great display
Good graphics performance
Decent battery life

Cons
Doesn’t support the Optimus automatic graphics switching technology

The Asus Eee PC 1015PN is now available from Amazon for $425

Asus has posted an official unboxing video of its upcoming 12.1 inch Eee PC 1215T laptop. The Eee PC 1215T is powered by a 1.7GHz AMD Athlon Neo K125 single core processor which is known to deliver better performance than Intel’s ubiquitous Atom processors.

The laptop is available in three colors – red, black and silver. It sports a matte case and a glossy display. Other features include a chiclet-style keyboard, an HDMI port and 7.1 channel audio. The Eee PC 1215T can handle 1080p HD video, thanks to the ATI Radeon HD 4250 graphics.

The Eee PC 1215T is now available from Amazon for $436 All in all, it looks like an interesting laptop for its price. On the flip side, it is unlikely to get the same kind of battery life as an Atom powered laptop. But if horse power is what you look for in a mini-laptop, it is hard to ignore this one.

Amazon has started shipping the Asus Eee PC 1215T for $436 The Eee PC 1215T is a 12.1 inch notebook powered by an AMD Neo processor.

In terms of case design, the Eee PC 1215T isn’t all that different from the Eee PC 1215N. But while the 1215N has a dual core Atom processor and ION graphics, the Eee PC 1215T is powered by an AMD Athlon K125 (1.7GHz) processor and ATI Radeon HD 4250 graphics. The Radeon HD 4250 has more or less the same graphics capabilities as NVIDIA ION graphics.

The Eee PC 1215T also has up to 2GB of DDR3 RAM, a 320GB, 5400rpm hard drive, HDMI, VGA, Ethernet LAN, WiFi 802.11b/g/n and a 0.3 megapixel webcam. It runs Windows 7 Home Premium (32 bit) operating system.

So is the 1215T a cheaper and better alternative to the $485 Eee PC 1215N? Well, it depends upon your priorities. Both notebooks may offer similar CPU and graphics performance, but the 1215N with its Atom processor will definitely last longer than the AMD-powered 1215T. But if battery life isn’t all that important to you, you will find the 1215T a better option than the 1215N.