Acer Aspire 1410 vs Asus Eee PC 1101HA: Gaming edition – Video

aom 1410

The Asus Eee PC 1101HA and Acer Aspire 1410 are about the same size and weight. And both computers feature 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel displays. The Asus laptop has an Intel Atom Z520 processor and integrated GMA 500 graphics while the Acer laptop has an Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 CPU and integrated GMA 4500 graphics. Both are capable of handling local 1080p video playback, but both struggle with high quality Flash video (because Adobe Flash isn’t designed to take advantage of either computer’s graphics processor).

The high resolution displays and HD-ready graphics make these machines better multimedia workhorses than your typical netbook. But does that stop at pictures and video or can you do a bit more, like playing video games on these portable computers?

Well, as it turns out, I’m not much of a gamer. I looked through my stack of old school games and couldn’t find anything truly bleeding edge to test these netbooks with. The last game I purchased was Age of Mythology, a real-time strategy game from 2002 (which is still available for $10 from Amazon). But as luck would have it, this game turned out to be perfect for testing the gaming capabilities of these laptops.

I installed Age of Mythology on 4 different laptops. The first two were netbooks with 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processors, integrated GMA 950 graphics, and 10 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel displays. While I was able to install the game on these systems, it crashed every time I tried to play the game. Update: As pointed out in the comments, the problem is the low screen resolution on these machines. If you install the game in safe mode and configure it to play at 800 x 600 pixel resolution, you should be good to go, and it actually runs smoother than on the Eee PC 1101HA.

Both the Acer Aspire 1410 and the Asus Eee PC 1101HA were able to play the game, but even with the graphics set to the lowest settings (640 x 480 pixels and low graphic detail), the game was sluggish and the framerate choppy on the Eee PC 1101HA. The Acer Aspire 1410, on the other hand, was more than capable of handling the game. And as a result I’ve spent way too many hours over the last day and a half conquering invading armies.

You can check out videos of each laptop playing Age of Mythology after the break.

Asus Eee PC 1101HA:

Acer Aspire 1410:


Posted on Tuesday, September 1st, 2009, 3:03 pm by Brad
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  • Demonstration of 1080p video playback on the Asus Eee PC 1000H and Asus Eee PC 1000HE The verdict? Neither computer is really up to the task, but the 1000HE

    Age of Mythology on the Acer Aspire 1410 1704 views Age of Mythology on the Asus Eee PC 1101HA

    the in terms of speed virtualy identical N270/N280 or even the much slower Z520, no netbook will give smooth HD flash video until Adobe comes out with a new flash player plugin
  • AoM crashed on the smaller netbooks b/c it wants to start up @ 1024x768. Start the game in safe mode and set the resolution to 800x600, save and exit, now you can play @ 800x600.

    I have it running on my 8.9" AAO.
  • I'm not at home at the moment so I can't try this yet, but how well
    does it play? Is it smooth or jumpy?
  • I plays quite smoothly, the game is a bit old and doesn't tax my little Aspire One at all. 800x600 isn't a whole lot of real estate as you know, so that's about the only complaint I had with it.

    I also prefer games like Arx Fatalis and Tropico, both of which run very well (and Arx has native 1024x600 rez)... I've posted some videos showing the gameplay on my AAO on my site (http://mdj.us/netbook-games-list/). Many games around the 4-5 year old mark and older will play. Sid Meier's Pirates is a good example.

    Though some games are obviously too much for the GMA950, Far Cry being one, it installs fine and looks good, indoors is actually playable, but the jungle scenes require too much horsepower and it drops to single digit frame rates.
  • Oh and the smoother game play on the Acer Aspire 1410 was quite noticeable on the video.
  • Brad

    Thanks for the gaming head to head!

    I will note since you're not a gamer that often times intro screens are pre-rendered movies and so are not a good indication of gaming performance.

    I put together my own gaming head to head of Netbook vs Aging Ultraportable here:
    http://scottsoapbox.com/2009/09/01/netbooks-3d-...
  • Yup, I believe I pointed out in the video that we were looking at
    pre-rendered video. When it comes to actual gameplay, things are much,
    much smoother on the Acer Aspire 1410, although the game is somewhat
    playable on the Eee PC 1101HA.
  • Sorry I missed that comment.

    But for any future gaming comparisons you might consider the Free FPS utility Fraps and the URT04 Demo:

    http://download.cnet.com/Fraps/3000-18541_4-103... (1 MB)
    http://download.cnet.com/Unreal-Tournament-2004... (282 MB)

    For testing several machines they can be easily loaded from a flash drive. And you need that efficiency when you're reviewing like 17 machines a week ;)
  • Nice.

    So far on my Z520-laden Aspire 751 I've been sticking with even older games like Fallout and Starcraft. I expect the 1101HA will be in the same ballpark.

    Happily, these are still terrific games even if they're old.
  • coresolo
    Thanks for the gaming benchmarks Brad. Does 1410 heat up during

    1) light work for extended periods and
    2) during high processor use

    Is the heat too much to be used on lap?
  • The bottom of the laptop does get a little warm after extended use,
    but it's definitely not the hottest computer I've used. The keyboard
    doesn't seem to get very warm at all.
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