The Asus 1002HA is another netbook recently released by Asus, adding to their already significant portfolio of Netbooks. Focused on the Windows netbook market, rather then the Linux that we have seen so often with Asus’ netbooks. Without further or do, let’s examine the latest and greatest Asus netbook.
Our Asus EEE 1002HA Netbook Specifications:
- 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor
- 1 GB DDR2 RAM
- Windows XP Home
- 10” screen, 1024 x 600, LED backlit
- 160 GB hard disk drive
- Draft-N Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n), 10/100 ethernet
- 2-Cell (4200 mAh), up to 7 hours
- 2.6 lbs
Our initial thoughts, awesome! The 1002HA differs from the other 1000 lineup because of its brushed aluminum finish. Brilliant, beautiful, and aesthically pleasing to say the least. We enjoy the other 1000 series, but for those looking for a better looking netbook then the 1002HA is a must have. It simply is just that much better looking.
The Asus 1002HA hands down could be the slickest mid ranged priced Netbook we have tried to date. Covered by its gray brushed aluminum and surrounding the keyboard/trackpad. It’s subtle, elegant, and well designed.
The 10-inch LCD is bright just like the rest of the 1000 series that we have tried. Using the LED backlit technlogy is a great choice as it allows the screen to be seen in ANY setting, well almost any setting. We test our Netbooks extensively in bright sunlight to see what each netbook is capable of. We weren’t surprised when the 1002HA matched up with the rest of the Asus lineup. There’s nothing like the portability of a netbook, but if you can’t use it in nearly any setting then what is the point? Asus understands this and produces great screens for this type of setting. The LCD has a built in Webcam coming in at 1.3 mp and was actually a very good webcam unlike many of the other built in cams we have seen in laptops and netbooks alike.
The keyboard is described as 95% of a typical laptop sized keyboard, and Asus wasn’t lying. The keyboard is great for a netbook and extended use doesn’t cramp your fingers or make you hate that you purchased a netbook. The only complaint that we have with Asus’ keyboards is the location of the right shift key and the up arrow. They need to be switched as it is nearly impossible to use either key successfully without actually looking at what you are pressing. We used a simple keyboard utility to switch them, and it was as if we never noticed a problem after that.
Asus is brilliant for the use of their trackpad capabilities. Not only can you control the mouse cursor with your finger like on any trackpad, but the trackpad supports track gestures and multiple touches. For example a pinching motion zooms in on images. A single finger controls the cursor while two fingers can control a pages scroll direction. Tapping three fingers on the track pad acts like a right click, and then you have the ability for customization as well. Why other netbooks don’t offer this functionality is beyond me, it’s just so easy to implement.
Performance on the netbook is as good as it can get for these low to mid range netbooks. Being able to successfully run most applications, check email, surf the internet, and operating all of Microsofts applications. The Asus does all of those things just as well as a desktop equivalent. Although if you are looking to do some heavy duty resource extensive programs such as Photoshop and CAD programs then you will easily reach the limits of the Asus Intel Atom processor!
Now for our one real complaint of the 1002HA, the 2-cell battery. Maybe that’s why they called it the 1002-HA, like HAHA you didn’t get a full 6-cell battery. With the 2-cell battery your looking at roughly 4 hours of computer use, and less for extensive netbook activities. Although the computer does have the Super Cell technology (change processor speed on the fly for extra battery life) it just doesn’t cut it we don’t think. Why have such a beautiful netbook, and then cut out on the battery? If you can manage with a little less than 4 hours of battery time then don’t rule out the 1002HA.
Scoring a 1494 on PCMark05, this is significantly behind most full notebooks, but remember that we said Notebook and not netbooks. As far as netbooks this is a very good competitor and as we said before, a solid netbook as far as processing capabilities.
In conclusion, the Asus 1002HA netbook is a great netbook solution for users that can manage with the lower battery life. The added bonus of the 1002HA over the other 1000 series is the brushed aluminum that adds a sense of credibility to the notebook. It’s absolutely gorgeous if you ask us. But where Asus is laughing is with the 2-cell battery. We know why they called it the 1002HA, because they are laughing that they could have made an awesome 6-cell netbook but didn’t with the lack of the 6-cell battery.