Review: The Asus Eee PC 1000HA Netbook

Ten years ago small form factor laptops were not even considered to be in. Everyone wanted a bigger screen, larger hard disk space, longer battery life, and more features. Its like we had to have everything found on our desktops crammed into a laptop.

Today, that sentiment is starting to change with low cost Netbooks. Last week I ordered up an Asus Eee PC 1000HA and it just arrived. I have been playing with it the past few days and am totally pleased with it. Here's my review on the machine and why you should consider getting one.

Why A Netbook?

If you just hate lugging around a laptop wherever you go, netbooks are a great solution. A netbook is truly portable. It has a much more smaller form factor and lighter in weight (less than 3.5lbs).

Surprisingly, the keyboards are 92% the size of a traditional notebook. You can also get displays that are just a tad smaller at 10.1". Some contain a handy web camera and assortment of goodies including USB 2.0 ports, mics, speakers and ethernet connectivity.

The only thing the Netbooks don't have are a DVD/CD ROM, this, to cut down the size and depth of the computer. That should be no problem if you go out and buy a USB DVD drive.

But the idea is, true lightweight portability without carrying stuff.

Asus 1000HA Contents

I cracked open the box and found the following contents:

• Netbook PC
• AC Adaptor
• AC Power cord
• Support DVD
• Warranty card
• Windows XP Quick Use Guide
• User manual
• System recovery guide
• Black sleeve

Asus 1000HA Hardware Specifications

Specifications for the Asus 1000 are the following:

• Intel Atom N270 Processor 1.6Ghz
• 1 GB DDR2 SO-DIMM RAM (upgradable to 2GB)
• 10.1" LED screen (1024x600)
• 160GB disk drive
• 10GB Eee storage
• 802.11 b/g wireless networking
• Chicklet keyboard
• Touchpad
• 6 cell Li-ion battery
• 1.3 megapixel web camera
• Built in stero speakers
• Microphone
• VGA port
• 3 USB 2.0 ports
• SD memory slot
• Headphone and mic jacks
• Ethernet port
• Kensington lock
• Weight 3.2 pounds
• 266mm x 191mm x 28.5mm in size

Asus 1000HA Software

Software installed and pre-configured on the netbook consisted of the following:

• Microsoft XP Home SP3
• Microsoft Works (Word processor, Spreadsheet, Database, Calendar, Dictionary)
• Microsoft Office 2007 (60 day trial)
• Norton Internet Security (30 day trial)
• Skype

My Take

The Asus Eee PC HA1000 is a very nice netbook. I purchased the pearl white version and am pleased with how attractive it is. It has everything that I want on it with the exception of a DVD drive.

The 10" LCD monitor is bright and runs default at 1024x600. You can run it in higher resolution but you'll end up scroll the desktop and applications a lot. There's enough screen real estate that you can run a browser and turn off the toolbars to see Youtube videos. I would not recommend a 8.9" display. Squinting to read the fonts is no fun and too hard on the eyes.

The startup time is fast - faster than my desktop computer which is a joy because I hate sitting around waiting for Windows to boot.

Memory wise, 1GB isn't sufficient. I noticed that when I had Internet Explorer 7 up and tried to launch Microsoft Works, the operating system complained there wasn't enough memory. A $25 2GB memory stick can fix that as the HA1000 is upgradeable.

The mousepad is quite sensitive. There were times when I tried to use the Startup menu and the mousepad mistakenly took my scrolling to be drag and drop causing the menu items to move around in the popup menu window. This was fixed by going to the mousepad application in the tray and adjusting the sensitivity.

The keyboard takes a little bit practice getting use to. It is a chiclet model commonly found on Apple Mac notebooks. The keyboard layout is comfortable and after practicing typing things in notepad I didn't notice much of my fingers mishitting keys. With the layout being 92% of a regular laptop, this is quite easy to use.

Battery wise, I've been seeing around 4.5-5.0 hours of battery life before recharges. I am glad I got the 6 cell battery instead of the 3 cell. I just couldn't imagine having to recharge every 3 hours, if even that.

There is enough CPU horsepower to run YouTube videos and not have any hiccups. I ran some quick tests on a wireless to cable modem setup and didn't notice any problems. To give you an idea of how fast An Intel Atom N270 CPU is, its faster than Intel Pentium 4 2.2Ghz, Intel Celeron 2.6 Ghz, AMD Athlon XP 1800. It is not faster than an Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz and AMD Athlon XP 2100.

What Can You Do With A Netbook?

Here's some things I've found myself using the netbook for over the past few days:

• Tote this around town like a little notepad. Very portable and light.
• Attach to any free Wi-Fi location and surf the Internet
• Use it as an appointment book
• Use it as a field computer for photography. Upload the pictures to its hard drive freeing up the digital camera's SD ram card while in the field.
• Go to the book store, sit down and take notes while reading
• Use it as a chat device (Yahoo IM, AOL IM, Skype)
• Use it as a second computer. Just hook up to the USB keyboard and attach to a LCD monitor through the VGA port
• Take notes while listening to seminars, business meetings and the classroom
• Use it for Powerpoint presentations
• Sit down in the family room surfing the internet while watching TV
• Sit in the backyard working on research, searching Internet by the pool

Summary

The Asus Eee PC HA1000 is a great little netbook suitable for reading email on the go, surfing the Internet, and tracking appointments. With its 6 cell battery offering up to 7 hours of charge, crisp 10.1" LCD display and optimal keyboard, there really isn't any way you can go wrong for under $350.

About Kerry Kobashi

Kerry is the founder of KerryOnWorld. He lives in Silicon Valley and has worked as an engineer and project manager. He owns Kobashi Computing a consulting company.