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

My little Asus Eee PC1000HA arrived yesterday early afternoon, and I've been on it ever since, doing work and testing its potential. I'm delighted with it overall--it's no surprise that, as of December 31, 2008, it's sold out at Amazon. I did a huge amount of research on netbooks before purchasing this, and the other Amazon reviewers (for all the different netbooks researched) were most helpful. Their warning that this is only an atom processor is a good one--this doesn't work as fast as my five year old Gateway 200XL (XP pro, centrino processor, 1.6mhz, 512mb RAM, 60gb hd), which I just loved until it ran out of hard drive space and could not be upgraded. On the other hand, the Eee PC1000HA really is great for internet and word processing--what it is designed to do. I had to turn off various background-working programs, like webshots and google indexing, but these are still useful, within limits. Don't run an anti-virus scan while working, either. When all the background programs were turned off, internet access, even internet video, was speedy on my wireless connection, with no gaps (or gasps) at all.

Here's what I really like about this machine:
1) It's pretty quiet--much quieter than the old Sony Vaio picturebook I used to use. I'm a student, and the Eee PC will not draw the negative attention in a small graduate class the way the Sony picturebook did (and so I had to stop using the Sony and sell it).

2) The screen is clear and the 10.2 inch display is quite adequate. I don't really miss a bigger screen at all.

3) The keyboard really is do-able (except for that blasted right shift key--it is quite a stretch for my little finger, even with a smaller keyboard). But that is adjustable, too. (See previous reviewer regarding downloading free software that allows users to change keys.)

4) I can watch my news video clips with no lags at all.

5) BATTERY LIFE IS GREAT! It really is 7 hours with (a) LCD lighted display turned down all the way, (b) wireless off. In other words, if all you have to do is word processing, you can do it. Otherwise, 6 hrs with wireless and lowest light LCD, and 5 hrs with wireless and highest light LCD.

6) The upgradeability is the best on any machine I've ever seen! Not only are the RAM and hard drive easily removable and replacable, but so is the wireless adapter! Now THAT is really COOL! Still, I'm quite pleased with the wireless and its speediness.

What I don't like:

1) I don't like this touchpad so much. Now, don't get me wrong--I prefer touchpads to a mouse, but I really miss the old synaptic touchpads. I could do all kinds of great things with the synaptic touchpads of the olden days, and all with one finger! Now I have to learn a whole new touchpad sign language, and even then, the touchpad is not as responsive as I'm used to on older laptops. The scrolling, for example, is inconsistent. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The Elantech smart pad is not as easily programmable as the old synaptic touchpad on my Gateway 200XL. What ever happened to Synaptic? Why throw away what was great? On the other hand, this touch pad still does not drive me crazy the way the touchpad does on machines like the HP Pavilion 2660SE. So, Elantech is a step in the right direction, at least, even if it hasn't gotten as far as what the old synaptic touchpad could do with just ONE little finger (not two or three). That said, even when you take the time to learn the new sign language, the Elantech touchpad still doesn't scroll as easily as a single quick stroke of my finger used to on the old synaptic. With the Elantech, I have to keep stroking the touchpad to scroll--too many movements!

2) I don't like the hard drive light under my right wrist--I can't tell if the hard drive is being written to or not. I like having the hard drive light visible, and this is not positioned well to make it easily seen, unless I stop typing and remove my hand.

3) A nice size hard drive...and they partitioned it! UGH! Forget that they tell you it's 160gb--it's really 80gb on one partition and 61gb on the other. So their math is off (80+61=141 gbs, not 160). I have used an old HP nc4000 that does read all 160gb on the hard drive, so I can't figure out why the 1000HA misses 19gb on its hard drive, even with the updated bios.

So, for the touchpad, which is less than the old synaptic quality and simplicity, I give this little machine 4 stars, not 5. But so far, I'm delighted that I got this from Amazon before it sold out. Amazon's deal was the most affordable option for this model (with these specs for hard drive and battery life), and I looked everywhere, even at Best Buy. So all in all, this will serve my needs very well and I'm delighted with it.

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