June 28, 2009
Written by: Kenneth Kwok
It's hard to believe that it's almost been a year since Netbook Updates started up. From posting daily news to our in house articles, we have been growing stronger in both traffic and readers. It's been a long while since our last perspective articles back in November of last year on the HP Mini 1000. Not too much has actually changed to revolutionize the market. From the boring introduction of the AMD Neo to the Z series Atom being put into netbooks and let's not forget the N280. Regardless of all that, netbooks are still growing strong and getting slimmer and bigger at the same time. The proof of slim is right here with the Asus Eee PC 1005HA, which we will do an in depth article on today.
Asus is known as the starter of the whole Netbook Trend with their original 700 series of netbooks. At that time it was known as the Eee PC 2G, 4G and 8G. Such a simple naming scheme, makes you want to have that simplicity nowadays. Asus is once again back after introducing the stunning 1000HE with the 1005HA and the 1008HA seashell series. Before we move on, let's take a look at the specifications.
-Operating System: Genuine Windows® XP Home or GNU Linux
-Display: 10.1" LED Backlight WSVGA Screen (1024x600)
-Intel CPU & Chipset: Intel® Atom™ N280/ N270
-Memory: 1GB DDR2 SO-DIMM
-Wireless Data Network: WLAN 802.11b/g/n @2.4GHz and/org Bluetooth2.1 + EDR
-Storage: 160GB HDD and 10GB Eee Storage
-Camera: 1.3M Pixel / 0.3M Pixel
-Audio: Hi-Definition Audio CODEC and Stereo speaker and Digital Array Mic (XP Only)
-Input / Output:
+1 x VGA Port (D-sub 15-pin for external monitor)
+3 x USB 2.0
+1 x LAN RJ-45
+2 x Audio Jack (Head Phone / Mic-in)
+Card Reader: MMC/ SD(SDHC)
-Battery: 10.5hrs*, 6-Cell 63Wh Li-ion Battery or 8.5 hrs*, 6-Cell 48Wh Li-ion Battery or 4 hrs*, 3-Cell 23Wh Li-ion Battery
-Dimensions: 262mm(W) x 178mm(D) x 25.9mm~ 36.5mm(H)
-Weight: 1.27Kg (with 6-Cell Battery) or 1.1Kg (with3-Cell Battery)
-Color: White, Black, Pink, Blue
In terms of construction, the Asus Eee PC 1005HA looks pretty solid, although most of the construction is made of plastic. It is slim and the glossy cover looks stunning. The theme of the seashell is clear in the white version with the slick and ultra slim design overall. Also visible are the 5 LEDs from left to right: power, battery charging, HD activity, Wifi, Caps lock. It seems a little weird to have a Caps Lock LED but it may be the Bluetooth LED on the models that have Bluetooth.
The 1005HA only comes in the 10.1" LED backlit LCD screen running at a resolution of 1024x600. Overall it's not too bad but it would be nice to see a higher resolution but with the Intel 945 chipset, it shouldn't be too hard to make a hacked driver or bios to support higher resolutions. The LED backlight should also contribute to the overall battery life since it takes less power than the standard backlit LCD screen. As usual there is a 1.3 or 0.3 megapixel webcam for making videos or talking with friends online.
The chicklet style keyboard from the 1000HE is dumped in favour of a reorganized keyboard. The right function key is removed and instead replaced with a longer shift key. The vertical arrows are also shrunk to half size to fit both in one standard key slot. This could be a potential bad point for the keyboard. Half sized arrow keys might make it hard to move up and down in a document or for day to day use. Above the two keyboard are two buttons located on either side, one is the power button, the other is to disable the touchpad when using a mouse or watching a movie.
Finally, the touchpad has multitouch capabilities for supported software. It is a new and unique feature to netbooks and should be a great addition especially for those of us who need to zoom in and out quite a bit. The surface of the touchpad is also textured making it harder to accidentally move the cursor when not wanting to. In terms of the buttons, it goes back to the original single bar design. One bar controls both buttons either the left or right mouse button. We were starting to like two separate buttons on the Eee PCs as it made it easier to use but the 1005HA is going old school and getting that single bar design.
The cover of the 1005HA gives it that seashell feel, it's glossy and looks surprisingly spiffy. Although it will be a finger print attractor, you will probably be able to put up with it due to its overall size and feel of the netbook. The biggest issue will be the possibility of damaging the screen due to the sleekness of the machine overall and even more so the cover.
The battery is available in three flavours: a 6-Cell 63Wh Li-ion Battery, 6-Cell 48Wh Li-ion Battery and 3-Cell 23Wh Li-ion Battery. The first gives an advertised 10.5 hour usage time which will be about 6 to 7 hours on regular use. The second with a 8.5 hour advertised battery life will give about 5-6 hours on regular usage. Finally, the 3 cell will most likely give about 3-4 hours of running time. Who could argue with having a 6 to 7 hour run time on a netbook.
The left side of the device features a power adapter jack, a full sized VGA port, an USB port, a Kensington lock and a vent for heat to blow out of. For a netbook this size, the included VGA port is very useful and should make this a great netbook for home use as well as on the road usage.
On the right side, there is a card reader, stereo speaker and microphone jack, two USB ports and an ethernet jack. Again, for something of this size, the three USB ports is nice and the card reader is great for additional storage or for people that take lots of pictures on the go.
Overall, this shapes out to be a great device. From the slim and lightweight design to the ultra long battery life, Asus has still got it. As an innovator in the netbook sector, they continue to revolutionize the netbook field and manages to bring something better to the table than the 1000HE. Competitors better keep their eyes on Asus and try to revolutionize as much as Asus has been able to do. Running in at $389.99, this is a great buy from just the looks.