Intel Asus EeeTop PC ET2002

The Asus EeeTop PC ET2002 is a with a 20-inch display and a dual-core Intel Atom processor that sells for about $600. It’s part of Asus’ popular Eee line which original featured just the company’s netbooks, but has grown to include a number of different products that make it “easy to learn, easy to work, and easy to play”. Previously most nettop models, including Asus’ EeeBox, were just netbooks brought to the desktop–this was effective for the price but underwhelming on the performance front. After all, the limitations we accept when on battery power are much different from what we will accept when sitting at home. To deal with this scenario the ET2002 not only moves to a dual-core Atom processor (the Atom 330), but it uses Nvidia’s Intel Asus EeeTop PC ET2002. ION brings a significant graphics boost to the

, making it ready for tasks that you would ask of a desktop, including HD video playback and mainstream gaming. It also offers GPU acceleration of certain tasks, like video encoding through Nvidia’s Intel Asus EeeTop PC ET2002. These things are important when you have a 20-inch 1600×900 display sitting in front of you as well as a built-in DVD drive. The ET2002 has 2GB of RAM, wireless b/g/n, and a 320GB hard drive.

The Intel Asus EeeTop PC ET2002 is about 20-inches wide and 16-inches tall. It requires about 10-inches of depth to stand properly. This makes it a good size for most desks, and smaller than the combination of a 20-inch LCD and a tower. The system ships with an undersized, numberpad-less keyboard, and a travel-sized mouse which also save room (though you’ll probably want to upgrade both). The computer isn’t quite as good looking as some of the other all-in-ones that we’ve see on the market, but given it’s emphasis on value, it doesn’t give us much to complain about. A nice 20-inch LCD panel is framed with a rather wide bezel and at bottom of the entire cabinet is a speaker. The base is composed of two pieces–an adjustable metal stand which controls the tilt of the LCD and a clear plastic component with a soft rubber foot on the bottom. Overall the design is a bit clunky but it’s something that people won’t have a problem putting on a desk on even in their kitchen. If there are any features to complain about it would be the seven blue LEDs below the display. These are constantly shining and can be distracting, especially during media playback. The worst part is that some of the LEDs are for volume up/down, a Home button, and the LCD OSD, which don’t certainly require LED indicators.

One of the best parts of the Intel Asus EeeTop PC ET2002 is its versatility. Many people might be expecting a simple system that works for checking your email and little else, but it can do much more than that. The 20-inch system works great for watching video and the speakers get surprisingly loud, so they are great for listening to music. The computer also has an optical drive, a card reader, and an HDMI input for watching video from another device Intel Asus EeeTop PC ET2002 (or playing video games through your console). Another major perk–it runs with only one cable connected. It obviously needs power, but the mouse, keyboard, and internet connection are all handled wirelessly.

Intel Asus EeeTop PC ET2002 got at least one part of the EeeTop perfectly right: the setup. After taking it out of the box, plugging it in, and turning it on the EeeTop instantly recognized its keyboard and mouse. After that I was connected to my wireless network in seconds and on the internet doing what I wanted to do before I knew it. The point of an all-in-one is convenience and ease of use, and Asus nailed both of them.

When it comes to usability, the EeeTop was also strong. The full-sized display could use more height for productivity purposes, but it worked for most (especially media). The dual-core Atom was the most significant hurdle to the Intel Asus EeeTop PC ET2002 success (at least in my estimation), but it wasn’t ever a serious issue, even running Vista. The system certainly doesn’t have a lot of CPU power to spare, but the inclusion of ION means that 3D and video will be able to run, leaving the CPU to handle the rest. It sometimes choked when too much was thrown at it, but it’s not particularly bad. In fact the Intel Asus EeeTop PC ET2002 was just slow when multitasking if an application or two was demanding. ION isn’t perfect, but it’s an impressive solution and it tends to be the star of the show if you know what to look for–most people will just see that their $599 all-in-one plays HD video (even while installing a program) and be happy with that, not thinking about what’s making it possible.

The system has enough storage for most people as well as enough USB ports for expansion (six) but does not have eSATA or Firewire. The keyboard isn’t particularly good, nor is the mouse, but they are included and can be swapped out if you think it’s worth it. If you are only spending an hour or two a day on the computer they will be adequate. Asus EeeTop PC ET2002 All-in-One ended up being a really attractive product. For $600 you are getting a 20-inch display, a wireless keyboard/mouse, and a computer that can play HD video. Plus clean desktop lovers will have a system that runs with only one wire connected to it. It’s also a computer that can be setup by someone of any skill level in under ten minutes. There are cheaper options out there, but with the Intel Asus EeeTop PC ET2002 you are getting that dual-core Atom processor and Nvidia’s ION, both of which are important when it comes to performance and the system’s ultimate capabilities. The extra $100 or so dollars will be well worth it when you want to do some casual gaming or fire up a 720p video.