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Windows For Devices
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AMD appears to have scored a home run with its Fusion line of "accelerated processing units," which include "Bobcat" x86 CPU cores on the same die as Radeon GPUs (graphics processing units). Since their announcement at January's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the devices have been showing up in portable computers (and tablets, too), more rapidly than AMD's previous mobile efforts.
| Model | CPU Cores | CPU Clock Speed | Number of GPU Cores | GPU clock Speed | TDP |
| AMDE-350 | 2 | 1.6GHz | 80 | 500MHz | 18W |
| AMDE-240 | 1 | 1.5GHz | 80 | 500MHz | 18W |
| AMDC-50 | 2 | 1.0GHz | 80 | 280MHz | 9W |
| AMDC-30 | 1 | 1.2GHz | 80 | 280MHz | 9W |
Detailed above, the Fusion chips have been adopted in such devices as Acer's Aspire One 522, HP's Pavilion dm1z, Lenovo's ThinkPad X120e, MSI's U270, and Toshiba's Satellite C655D. (We reviewed the Pavilion dm1z favorably last month, noting laudable battery life, decent performance, and even the ability to run Ubuntu Linux and Windows XP Professional in virtual machines.)
Now, Asus, which has dabbled with AMD netbooks before in the form of the Eee PC 1015T, has two Fusion-based devices. They're the 10.1-inch Eee PC 1015B and the 12.1-inch Eee PC 1215B.
Eee PC 1015B
Starting with the Eee PC 1015B, we find that this device looks much the same as the above-mentioned 1015T, as well as other devices in the vendor's "Seashell" series. (The many other entries in this range have included the Intel Atom N450-equipped Eee PC 1008P, the Atom N280-equipped Eee PC 1008HA, the Atom N550-equipped Eee PC 1015PEM, and the Eee PC 1015PN, combining the N550 with Nvidia's Ion 2 graphics processing unit.)
The Eee PC 1015B offers the same 10.1-inch, 1024 x 600 pixel screen as the 1015T. But, according to a placard on Asus' CeBit stand that was photographed by Engadget and other sites, the netbook will come with a 1.2GHz, single-core C-30 processor, or a 1.0GHz, dual-core C-50 processor.
Leveraging the processors' capability for HD video playback, the Eee PC 1015B will include an HDMI video output. The device also offers the other ports shared with the 1015T: VGA, three USB ports, and Ethernet, as Engadget's photos confirm.
According to Asus' display placard, the Eee PC 1015B will come with 1GB of RAM, expandable to 2GB, while hard drives will be offered in 250GB, 320GB, and 500GB capacities. As usual, 802.11b/g/n wireless networking is standard, while Bluetooth 2.1 and Bluetooth 3.0 are listed as optional.
Specifications listed for the Eee PC 1015B include:
Eee PC 1215B
The Asus Eee PC 1215B is also a revamp of a product we've covered previously, the Eee PC 1215N pictured below (the new device looks the same, apart from different finishes). With its 12.1-inch, 1366 x 768 pixel screen, the 1215N was larger than the netbooks to which WindowsForDevices.com typically limits its coverage, but we found it worth highlighting because of its desktop-class, dual-core Atom D525 CPU and its Ion 2 graphics processing unit.
Asus refers to its 1215B as a "netbook," regardless of size -- so who are we to quibble? This time, according to the company's CeBit placard, the device comes with a choice of C-50 or E-350 processors, both dual-core.
Claimed battery life, via a six-cell battery pack, is up from 6.5 hours on the 1215N to 8.5 hours on the 1215B. The device is offered with 2GB of RAM (expandable to 4GB), and hard disk drives in 250GB, 320GB, or 500GB sizes, Asus adds.
Like the 1215N, the 1215B is said to be available with either three USB 2.0 ports, or one USB 2.0 port and two USB 3.0 ports. The latter provide 4.8Gb/sec. data transfer -- faster than SATA II, Asus claims.
Another listed option is Bluetooth 3.0, which allows devices to discover one another and "shake hands" using a Bluetooth radio, then switch to 802.11 networking for faster file transfers. The Eee PC 1215B otherwise includes the usual 802.11b/g wireless networking and an Ethernet port.
Specifications listed by Asus for the Eee PC 1215B include:
A variant of the Splashtop OS (also featured on the HP Pavilion dm1z we reviewed, where it's called HP QuickWeb), Express Gate starts up in about five seconds, says Asus. It provides quick access to email, a media player, a photo viewer, the Firefox web browser, an instant messaging program, and the Skype VoIP client, according to the company.
Availability
Asus did not list pricing or availability for the EeePC 1015B or 1215B. However, according to product pages posted by ExcaliberPC here and here, U.S. list prices will be approximately $330 and $400, respectively.
