Friday, February 27, 2009

ASUS Eee PC 1000HA 10-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel ATOM N270 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, 10 GB E-Storage, XP Home, 6 Cell Battery) Fine Ebony


Overview: It's a lightweight, ultra-portable netbook with a commendable battery life for a 6 cell. It comes with the basics pre-installed (word processor, a DVD program [a touch ironic since you probably don't have an external disc drive yet], and some eee PC specific keyboard functions). XP is XP. You know what you are going to get with that.

Pros: It gets all of your day-to-day activities done. The processor isn't a powerhouse, but it is fine for word processing, browsing the internet, and watching movies. The software overclock is nice because it allows for variable battery drain (roughly 17% swing if I remember correctly) depending on your needs and distance from civilization. For the brave, dual booting with a Ubuntu (linux) is very easy to do with a couple hours of free time. The AC adapter is also very compact and travels nicely with the eee PC as well. It has a reasonably well-built webcam integrated into the laptop (with respect to many newer notebook/netbook standards). It's not the greatest, but remember what you are paying for this little beast. The microphone is rather impressive though. It is an array-style microphone built into the base of the screen that does a very good job of catching your voice without much distortion prone to other microphones. The fact that there is no disc drive is a plus in my opinion. Get yourself a nice jump drive (8 Gig. is pretty cheap now) and use that. It reduces the netbook's weight immensely, and externals are available if you don't know how to network with your other home PC. Lastly, the touchpad has some very helpful functions built in. It has 1, 2, and 3 finger functionality that helps with some basic computing tasks. I was very impressed with this feature.

Cons: This should not be bought in lieu of a home or base computer if you do not own an external disc drive. If you have a home system, you can access the other computer's disc drive over a network and won't need an external disc drive (Note: I would recommend buying an external for watching movies). It is true that the shift key is a little awkward at first. You do get used to it though - don't let this scare you. You will not be playing the latest and greatest video game spectacles on this thing. I tried Warcraft III just for kicks, and I was greeted with a blue screen after 5 minutes. Remember, this netbook is designed for the traveling professional or student that wants ultra-portability. The battery life isn't really 7 hours either. Expect about 5 hours of reasonable battery use. The only time you will get 7 actual hours of use is if you have the wireless card and screen turned off and you are listening to iTunes. Lastly, the wireless card drivers don't seem to be too hardy in the latest Ubuntu distribution. I imagine this will be fixed, but be prepared for it to be a bit finicky. If you don't play with Linux though, don't worry about the last one.

Conclusion: This system does a great job at doing what it was made to do. You won't be disappointed, and you won't be regretting your purchase if you need something that can be taken anywhere with little hassle. I purchased this for my trip to Europe (not expecting to be connected to a jack that often), and I cannot recommend this netbook enough.Get more detail about ASUS Eee PC 1000HA 10-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel ATOM N270 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, 10 GB E-Storage, XP Home, 6 Cell Battery) Fine Ebony.

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