Asus Eee PC 1000HA Pearl White

Specifications: 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270, 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160 GB Serial ATA, 10-inch WSVGA 1024x600, Mobile Intel 945 Express Chipset, no drive, Windows XP Home

Buy for $639.99 Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0

Review by NotebookNotes.com

Being one of the most popular netbooks, the Asus Eee PC 1000HA offers a great set of features for a relative small price. This Asus netbook provides the power of a full-sized laptop in a compact body with a large 10-inch screen and it is powered by the 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor.

Design

The case of the Eee PC 1000HA is made of solid white plastic, the build quality is excellent. It provides a glossy surfaces and smoother edges which makes it better looking than its predecessor. The glossy finish will show minor scratches and fingerprints over time. However, because of the pearl white case it’s not as bad as the 1000HA fine ebony model. The case feels stable and is solid enough to survive day to day usage without a problem. Although the 1000HA only measures 10.5 x 7.5 x 1.1 inches and weights around 5 pounds, it feels a little bit chunky because of the 6-cell battery.

Display

Most netbooks still come with very small displays, the white Eee PC 1000HA features a 10-inch LED-backlit display with a native resolution of 1024×600. There is no problem reading from the display for some time thanks to the LED backlight. The display is very bright and can be viewed from different angles without inverting colors. The only limitation is the 1024×600 resolution which forces the user to scroll a lot. This might cause problems with programs that need higher resolutions.

Keyboard & touchpad

The Asus Eee PC 1000HA features a keyboard 95% the size of a regular notebook keyboard. It’s comfortable to type on even with bigger hands. The only complaint about the layout is the right shift key, which is basically where it belongs, but only half the size, so one has to get used to it.
The 1000HA touchpad is very usable due to its Mac-like multi-touch features. You can scroll in your web browser by moving two fingers, for example. Therefore the Eee PC can be easily used without a external mouse. If the touchpad doesn’t work correctly, try individual customization or a touchpad driver update.
People complain much about the touchpad keys being too stiff to press. That’s partly true, because Asus probably rather designed them to be clicked at the front, not pushed down from the top. Again, once you get used to it, it’s no problem.

Performance

The 1000HA features the 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor. After some performance tests it became clear, that this machine is more than a device to surf the internet. Working on documents in OpenOffice for instance was no problem. It is even possible to play some older games on the Eee PC like World of Warcraft, for example. Boot and shutdown times were also very good.

Battery life

Battery life is the big plus on these netbooks. The Eee PC 1000HA features a 6-cell battery which lasted up to 4,5 hours under normal circumstances, so you usually don’t have to worry about getting the charging adapter ready for some hours.
If you need an even bigger battery, there are accessories available for the Eee PC. Of course, some portability will be lost, but on the other hand you get up to 8 hours of battery life.

Conclusion

All in all, the Asus Eee PC 1000HA is a fine netbook for a good price. It is highly portable, easily upgradeable and has a long battery life. For those shopping for an affordable netbook model should definitly take the Eee PC 1000HA under consideration. With an external monitor and extra keyboard and mouse, the 1000HA can also be used at home as a second computer.