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

Best laptop I have ever used or owned.

The Size
Decades ago I carried a "luggable portable" the size of a suitcase through the airport. The size of computers has kept going down like Moore's law. For the past six years I have been using a 15 inch laptop as my main computer and for mobility. It was great but I always felt it was still a bit too big for true mobility or sitting on my lap. The Eee is the answer I have been waiting for. I wouldn't want it any smaller but it is big enough to use for hours.

Keyboard
I am not a speed typist and I don't think the keyboard would work well for speed typists. I have no complaints for my style of typing including the shift key location. At times I do wish the key labels were glow in the dark as it is hard to locate a key especially in dim light. I wonder if the white netbook would help this. The arrow keys are great, but I do wish the Home and End keys were separate as they are two keys I use quite often but these require pressing the Fn key first.

Touchpad
Of all the laptops that I have owned or used I find this to have the best touchpad. I like the size and the location and tactile of the buttons. I do turn off the tap to click due to my clumsy hands always pressing on it. But the buttons work great for me.

Screen
The native screen resolution is 1024x600 but there is a compressed mode that gives you 1024x768 which makes a difference for tasks like web surfing. But when I am reading a long email or web page I switch back to 1024x600 which is quick and easy to do.

Desktop
When I am at my desk I hook this up to my 22 inch monitor with USB mouse and full keyboard. I get full resolution of 1400x1050 and use it just like my desktop.

WiFi
The WiFi works just fine. No trouble configuring or accessing networks. I recently stayed at a hotel at the beach and it worked great, except when their router went down.

Battery
I haven't done a lot of power tweaking but I get about four hours of battery life which is ok most of the time.

External Drives
For DVDs and external hard drives I either access them through my network or use this great USB device that allows you to hook a drive up to one of the USB ports.
http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-USB-DSC5-3-5-Inch-Converter-Adapter/dp/B000HJ99DI/ref=pd_ys_iyr51

Overall this is a great little computer for such an incredible price. Maybe I should have waited for the HE to get the extra battery life but it hasn't ran down on me - although I haven't taken it camping yet.

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