ASUS EeeBox PC EB1501 Pro Reviews

In all, the Asus EeeBox EB1501 proved to be a capable little box, though it's still a nettop at its core. The dual-core Atom which powers the box is enough to handle day-to-day office tasks and low-powered computer activities such as web browsing, sending email, listening to music and podcasts and typing out papers (and reviews!). The addition of NVIDIA's ION graphics push the nettop into new territories, letting it encode smaller videos for use on portable devices, decoding HD movies and Flash content and generally helps to speed things up. With HDMI-out and the included Windows Media Center software and remote control, the EeeBox could even be a handy little home theater PC. Adding on free third-party software like Boxee.tv or XBMC could make it even stronger.

Budgets being what they are, Asus' EeeBox PC EB1501 will be a good choice if you really do need all the extra features that come with the price tag. Even though performance is a little weaker than other compact machines, you simply aren't going to find such a varied load-out in most systems of this size.

We like the looks of Asus' Eee Box EB1501, but it's pricier than Blu-ray players that stream content from the Web, and not as powerful as slightly more expensive slim tower PCs that offer significantly more speed and power. Asus made a decent attempt at the Nettop-as-set-top-box replacement with this system, but it's crowded out by too many alternatives.

The ASUS Eee Box EB1501 is the best looking nettop available today and has the performance to match. Thanks to the Nvidia ION graphics it handles 1080p HD video with ease. Very quiet and stays cool. DVD drive may be handy to some but it adds to the cost of the nettop and adds bulk when it could be smaller.

Impressive performance from such a tiny PC, but the price is a touch too high

Although it doesn’t win in performance, Asus’ EeeBox 1501 delivers much for its smallest-of-the-small form factor, including a slot-loading DVD writer and HDMI output.