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RM Asus miniBook

Reviewed by Rory Reid on 14 November 2007

Front of RM Asus miniBook

What you need to know

Price: £199

Our rating: 4.0 stars out of 5

User rating: Not yet rated

Verdict: There's no two ways about it -- the RM Asus miniBook is a great laptop. It's affordable, sexy and highly portable. If you're looking for a cheap second PC that can fit into a small bag, then there are few better options

Good

  • Great value
  • Three USB ports
  • Design

Bad

  • Cramped keyboard
  • Lack of storage space
  • No optical drive

Full review

The RM Asus miniBook is RM's version of the Asus Eee PC 701. It uses the same chassis and even sports the same Asus logo, but there are a couple of minor differences.

First of all, the miniBook is aimed at educational establishments so it comes in a range configurations optimised for students. The £169, entry-level model sports a 2GB solid state hard drive and 256MB of RAM, while the £199 flagship model sports a 4GB drive and 512MB of RAM. It's currently only available in white, but a black model is in the plans for the future.

RM assures us that ordinary consumers can buy them from rm.com, despite the site's claims that the laptop is only available to schools. To read the review of the virtually identical Asus Eee PC, plus impressions of how the changed spec might affect performance, click this link.

Key specs

OS family Linux
Operating system Linux variant
Available colours White
Screen size 7 in.
Weight 0.92 g
Estimated battery life 3.5 hours
Size (WxHxD) 225x35x165 mm

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