eMachines EZ1601-01: Stylish Exterior, Drab Interiors

Sum n substance:

Thumbs up:Large screen, kind of alright features for a nettop.

Thumbs down:Terrible operation and functioning, dull audio, netbooks offer the same or probably even better  features at the same rates.

Inside the trunk:
Processor: Intel Atom N270 (1.6 GHz)

RAM installed: 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM

Hard drive: 160 GB Standard

Monitor Type:LCD display – TFT active matrix

Graphics Processor / Vendor: Intel GMA 950 Dynamic Video Memory Technology 3.0

OS Provided: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

THE WHIZ-KID SPEAKS:

Razzle-dazzle:A look at the net top and all I had to say was… “darn, the monitor is huge” …the monitor is distinctively large with 1,366×768-pixel resolution and it does look swanky at 19 inches width and 13 inches tall with a smooth black exterior which is pretty much appealing to the eyes. Frankly speaking the nettop isn’t all that stunning to make anyone go gaga over it, it’s just like the plain Jane probably in a new cocktail dress. The keyboard and the mouse are wired peripherals. The power button which illuminates with a green glow (drab) has the Emachines logo on it. On the left side of the EZ1601-01 is the standard array of ports, including two USB ports, headphone and microphone jacks, and a flash-card slot that handles SD, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, and Memory Stick Pro media. It isn’t a difficult task to find a decent small place to stuff this nettop because it hardly requires any.

Inside dope:

Being Intel atom powered, it’s kind of a surprise that this nettop costs less than $500 i.e. It is priced at a low $399,but the thing I don’t understand here is that the Intel atom was basically devised for portable computers… why is it being used as a processor for this nettop?? Anyways, the price somewhere down the corner makes this all-in-one a kind of a perfect choice for a second or a third computer in a place where the space constraints are tight. On the back there are vertically mounted ports which make it difficult for connecting the cables.

Unlike its competitor Asus Eee Top ET1602 this one does not have a touch screen. But frankly I don’t give a damn about the touch screen because I am getting almost the same features at a comparatively low price plus I could easily sacrifice it for the large screen just to avoid straining my eyes. Plus the Emachines version has a DVD drive unlike the Asus which has no external optical drive. The DVD drive is actually a good one, but I wouldn’t recommend this for online video reviewing because the results are kind of choppy and grainy. Also the audio quality is not all that great. At times the volume just diminishes to such a level that almost nothing is audible. Comparing it with its competitor from Asus I would definitely say that the Emachines is a better deal.

Nitty- gritty:I somehow fail to understand the concept of a nettop.  As in why can’t people just buy a ‘real’ computer?? Anyways, I would just recommend this nettop to anyone who wants to use it as probably an assistant in the kitchen for just having a look at the recipes or maybe for just some simple word document viewing or creating. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who is on the look out for a primary computer. In short to sum it all up… just go and buy this if probably you don’t care about long term benefits just short term dollar savings… or probably if you have nothing else worthwhile to spend your money and time on.

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