Full Review

Asus Eee Top is an interesting desktop computer based on the Intel Atom processor, incorporating a 15.6-inch full touchscreen in a compact form factor. Well, it’s not really a full fledged desktop PC. The Eee Top has the innards of a netbook, which isn’t for high-end performance. Having said that, its 1.6-GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, and 160 GB hard drive with Windows XP Home, pretty much covers all bases for everyday usage. The unit comprises of a thin, 15.6-inch LCD screen, encased in white plastic, an allwhite keyboard and mouse. Yes, there’s no separate cabinet to worry about. Another ingenious design addition is the steel handle cum stand fitted at the back of the screen to adjust its angle. And the whole unit weighs under 5-kg—lightweight in desktop PC terms. The Asus Eee Top’s killer feature is its touchscreen interface. The screen is glossy, with maximum resolution of 1366x768 pixels. It’s pretty good, the touchscreen experience, and we had fun working with it, even though the screen doesn’t support multitouch yet. Asus also bundles in a host of preinstalled software and applications specifically in mind for the touchscreen users. A console strip with frequently used programs and software highlighted with large icons, to aid touchscreen usage, adorns the desktop window. Connectivity wise, the Eee Top supports gigabit Ethernet and draft-N WiFi, on top of six USB ports and a multicard reader. It has a webcam and mic engraved on the top screen bezel, and speaker strip on the bottom screen bezel, but doesn’t come with an optical drive. Also, the audio-in / out jacks are placed on the back of the screen, which make them inconvenient for frequent access. The compact, chiclet-styled keyboard and mouse are good to work with. All in all a good all-in-one contender from Asus.

Bottom Line

The Eee Top 1602 looks like the Apple iMac. Its touch-enabled screen comes with its own control panel for launching pre-installed software easily. A touch costly than the MSI AE1900.