Asus Eee PC 1005HA Netbook Review
Netbooks have replaced the conventional Personal computers and the trendy laptops just some time back. The invention of the netbooks is not just a change brought out, but an evolution. The Netbook is attractive, cute and stylish. The gifts of Nature do not require a second look to gain attraction as they are the ones which make us fall in to the category of “love at first sight”. The Seashell design of the Asus 1005 HA is no exception to this simple yet meaningful theory. Having the outlook of a stylish seashell, this model is all set to attract the users in to buying this product. But appearance is not the sole key to success. It is just one of those factors which make the users to take a look at it, the moment their eyes catch sight of it. The Taiwan based company always tries to “improvise” on its products and thus it brought out an array of netbooks and the latest model is the Asus 1005 HA 10 inch Netbook. This latest version of the netbook has its own features in addition to the ones in use by its predecessors.
Asus 1005 HA is Eee pc netbook with a neat design, good number of ports and also with reasonably good performance. The laudable features are many while the blamable features are only countable. At an affordable price, this 10.1 inch notebook has achieved all that it can afford with minor defects which are acceptable. The presence of 3 USB 2.0 ports is a great boon though the number “3” is pretty high and unwanted for few people. There are provisions for VGA port, SD card reader, Keningston lock and fan vent. There are good microphones, speakers and above all, there is the touch pad with multi touch facilities. The users can make use of WLan for wireless connectivity, in addition to the traditional ethernet port. Let us study all about this recently released netbook to know if this 1005 HA was just an ordinary seashell or a pearl oyster!
Two Configurations available:
The major chaos with this model is that it not just one model but it comprises two models, that is, the processor of the Asus 1005 HA netbook can be either 1.6GHzN270Atom or 1.66GHzN280Atom. The N270 model is cost-efficient but is devoid of Blue Tooth connectivity, has a lower 6 cell lithium battery that can function properly only for 8.5 hours and has only 0.3 MP camera while its direct counterpart the N280 is costly but facilitates Blue tooth connectivity, 1.3 MP camera and the high grade Lithium battery that can work for nearly 10 hours. This results in the user’s confusion in making the right choice between the two.
Design:
Body:
As mentioned earlier, the design of this slim and exquisite Asus Eee PC 1005HA netbook computer is attractive and elegant carrying an attire of richness. Looking at the netbook when it is closed, the front portion is thin and tapered whilst the rear portion of the netbook is slightly thicker. The Asus 1005HA netbook comes in two colors, white and black. The lid is very shiny and this glossiness has a disadvantage, it gets easily dirty and smudged. This can be hidden to some extent in black color netbooks than in white. To facilitate the easy opening of the netbook, there is a lid both on the top and the bottom. Opening the lid displays all the features. The top portion of the netbook is completely black in color while to the contrast, the base comprising of the touch pad and keyboard is purely white. The display is matte while the surrounding portion is glossy. This makes reading the contents on the display easy even when the light conditions are unfavorable. The display is a neat 10 inch and the resolution of the screen is a decent 1024 x 600 pixels.
Keyboard:
The keys are flat with good response. The keys might seem little hard for the typists while it would be no big deal for those who do not have much use of it. All the keys are present with a neat layout and occupy the maximum space possible, similar to the computer keyboard. But few keys like the page up and page down might be quite difficult to operate because of their smaller size. Overall, the keyboard is fine. On both the sides of the keyboard at the top are two buttons, touch pad button and power button. The left side button above the keyboard is the control button for the touch pad. The users can switch on the touch pad when needed. A main advantage of having this button is that the users can comfortably work with the keyboard without the fear of unknowingly placing their fingers on the touch pad which senses the touch and moves accordingly. At the extreme right end above the keyboard is moused a power button which is used to switch on or off the netbook.
Functionality of the Multi Touch:
The free space below the keyboard contains few important features. One is the touch pad. This track pad can sense gestures. The movement of fingers for zooming in or out the photos is feasible. The touch pad can be easily sensed by the users just by touching it without looking at it. This is because of the tiny dots on the surface. The left and right mouse buttons serve as a kind of boundary to the touch pad. These mouse buttons are placed below the touch pad. It might seem a little difficult to differentiate between the left and right since it is almost like one big button.
LED:
Asus Eee PC 1005 HA has five LEDs at the side of the touch pad and below the key board. The LEDs are used for indicating power, battery, hard drive, wireless connectivity and also for indicating caps lock respectively. Since it would not be easy to open the netbook every time to check whether the power is on and also to check the status of the battery, Asus has provided its users with these LEDs which can be seen even when the netbook is closed. Thus a big nuisance has been avoided.
Microphone and Camera:
Asus 1005 HA 10″ Netbook Laptop comes with two microphones and a web camera, all the three positioned right above the display and the web camera stands as the separation of the two microphones. The microphone exempts the surrounding noise and transmits the voice of the speaker alone clearly. It receives the audio that is only within 60° of its proximity. The web camera is very clear in the N280 model because of the 1.3 MP while in N270 it is only 0.3 MP. This variation makes a very big difference in clarity. The function of the microphone and camera overall is pretty good.
Speaker:
Speakers play a very important role for the voracious music listeners who listen to music most of the time. The speakers are below the keyboard that is on the bottom side of the netbook. The volume of the two speakers is relatively high and there is also good stability through out the play of the audio.
Available Ports:
Happy news awaits people who got irritated in opening the covering of the ports to insert the flash drives or storage devices. The storage media can be inserted directly since it is not covered by any plastic lid. There are a number of ports available and they acquire their places on both sides of the unit.
There are five ports on the left side of the 1005HA netbook. They are, a power input port for connecting the plug, a VGA port for connecting to another monitor, Keningston lock and also a vent for releasing the hot air from the fans. The right side of the netbook hosts a slot for SD card, 2 plugs, one for connecting to head phone and the other for connecting to microphone, two USB 2.0 ports and finally an ethernet port. The presence of an ethernet port means that it is possible to connect to the internet. Moreover, since there is a slot for inserting Security Digital (SD) memory cards, the users can transfer photos from digital camera to their netbook and are free to manipulate with those photos. All the ports that go along with this model are perfectly fitting and are good in quality.
Connectivity:
Asus 1005 HA 10 inch netbook has provisions for both wired and wireless network. Wired network can be achieved through the ethernet connection. In the case of wireless network, this model runs on WLAN 802.11 BGN.11n which facilitates quick usage of the internet and its features. When you are traveling in air plane or when you are jobless and enjoying the comfort of your bed or when you are in search of something very important on the net, you can use the netbook to provide full assistance at a very quick pace.
Heat:
The main disadvantage of this model is the emission of heat. The heat comes out more from the side portion of the netbook which houses the fan vent and the hotness becomes unbearable at times. Even when the netbook is not much in use, it emits a lot of heat. Also, the noise produced by the fans is clearly audible though it is not very loud. This adds to the down side of the netbook.
Memory:
The memory of the netbook is located at the bottom side of the unit. The capacity of the RAM is 1GB, 533MHz DDR2, but it can be extended up to 2 GB. There are a number of options to use the memory in an optimized and satisfactory way. 160 GB of HDD is available for the users to store data of their interest, be it music, video, confidential data files or project reports. In addition to this, Asus has a magnanimous attitude and has given the users another 10GB of online storage memory where the users can store the contents which can be accessed online. All credit goes to the hybrid storage system.
Battery:
The Eee PC 1005 HA contains a 6-cell-Lithium battery (4400 mAh) and it is present at the down side of the netbook. The plus point is that this battery is removable. There is a super hybrid engine feature included in this book which saves power and makes optimum use of it. N270 can work for a maximum of 8.5 hours while the more efficient N280 is stable for a longer 10.5 hours, as said before. Though these are under moderate conditions, the life of the battery varies depending on the environment and type of use.
Docking – A Feature:
Docking is a kind of program or software designed as an extra attribute to the netbook which is a thumb up for the model. There are features like the docking, vibe, sharing, Xperience and tools, all under the Eee sharing software which are of much use to the novices and also experts. The Tool sharing provides parental lock which is a relief to the parents as they can scrutinize the contents their children access and also have a control over them and also live update for updating the software. The Eee Xperience enhances the audio and video performance. The other features are used for sharing the data or downloading the contents from the internet. These features can be made available from the icons present at the top of the monitor.
Performance:
The next important consideration, secondary to battery life is the performance. The audio and video performances were relatively good though Samsung’s products seem to have performed better than this. The compatibility of this product with Windows software was really fantastic. On studying the sustainability of this netbook, though it does not exhibit extraordinary performance, they are satisfactory for a moderate netbook. Because of the variations in the model, the performance level also varies. As said earlier, the battery life of N280 is higher than N270. Also, because of extra features, the N280 is a step higher than its counterpart N270 in performance.
Warranty:
The warranty of this product is a complete 1 year for any kind of repair or replacement. But then, the battery warranty is only for 6 months.
Verdict:
Thus, this Asus 1005 HA netbook comes with a good number of ports, good audio and video performance, relatively laudable battery performance and sustenance. With all these on the positive side, the presence of two different types of processors with highly varying features adds to the negative side. Their principle “Easy to Learn, Easy to Work and Easy to Play” is clearly evident in the design and use of features of this model. It is appreciably easy and also interesting to use. The interface is also very user friendly. With all these at a very reasonable rate, what more can you expect from a small netbook? So, if you are on the look out for a reasonable netbook that can serve all the intended purposes in a decent manner, then Asus 1005 HA 10 inch netbook would definitely be on the list of your choices.
Asus Eee PC 1005HA Netbook – Technical Specification Table
| Manufacturer | Asus |
| Model Name | Asus 1005 HA |
| Dimensions: (W x D x H) | 262 x 78 x 26.5~35.5 mm |
| Weight | 1.4 Kg |
| Type | Netbook |
| Display | |
| Screen Size | 10 inch |
| Screen Type | LED backlit widescreen |
| Screen Resolution | 1024×600 |
| Aspect Ratio | 16:9 |
| Internal Components | |
| Processor | Intel Atom N270 (533MHz FSB, 1.6GHz) |
| RAM | 1GB DDR2 SO-DIMM (Extendable up to 2 GB) |
| Hard drive | 160GB (+ 10 GB online storage facility) |
| Keypad | Flat keys with good feedback |
| Touchpad | Yes with Multi touch facilities |
| Multimedia | |
| Graphics | Intel 945GSE and GMA950 |
| Speakers | Built-in 2 stereo speakers |
| Communication Setup | |
| Wireless support | WLAN 802.11 BGN |
| Memory card slot | 2-in-1 SD card reader built-in(MMC/SD) |
| Connectivity | 3 USB 2.0 ports, Audio line in, Audio line out, SD Card slot, 1 VGA video output |
| Other Detail | |
| Warranty | 1 Year complete warranty and 6 months warranty for Battery |
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