Asus just recently introduced their 900HA Netbook computer, coming in at 8.9” and using some ‘chasis’ of the 900 models. Asus recognized the need for a hard disk alternative over their solid state versions and offered a tremendous 160 GB hard drive. The previous versions of the 900 had a Linux and Windows version, while this is a Windows XP Home only netbook. The Asus EEE 900HA Netbook is significantly smaller than the 901 and 904 chassis as well. I refer to this as the refined 900 series netbook.
Our Asus EEE 900HA Specifications:
- 1.6 GHz Intel Atom
- 1 GB DDR2
- Windows XP Home
- 8.9” Screen, 1024×600 resolution
- 160 GB hard disk drive
- 54g Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), 10/100 Fast Ethernet
- 4-cell battery
As stated above, this netbook was designed with alot of similarities of the 900 solid state versions. The width and dimensions has remained the same, although the width is larger due to the the screen and HDD versus the SSD. Keep in mind that its only slightly thicker, and really is worth the added HDD space. It’s evident how far Asus has come since the older 700 series with this model. The fact that they are able to squeeze in a larger screen, harddrive, and processing power while increasing the keyboard size and adding functionality is amazing! Way to go Asus!
Asus didn’t sacrifice build quality the slightest, the Asus 900HA is exceptionally built. Coming in a glossy black casing with chrome accents you get the feeling of a nice quality netbook. The hinge is chrome and very substantial while the screen doesn’t flex or wiggle like some laptops/netbooks do. As the models have progressed Asus has kept in mind the need for easy access upgradability so that their netbooks can shift with the times.
The user upgradable components of the 900HA are easily accessible via the panel on the bottom of the netbook. Allowing for access to the hard drive and socketed RAM, which means EASY upgrades without getting frustrated or giving up before you start. This is one of our favorite features about this netbook, the fact that you can upgrade hardware easily without voiding your warranty. Upgrading to a 2GB of RAM and a 7,200 RPM 320 GB HDD has never been easier.
Display
We are so happy with Asus’ newer LED displayed monitors, matched with the matte finish you really can’t go wrong. We use our Asus netbooks on the balcony in direct sunlight days without a problem seeing the monitor, how is that for usability in nearly any lighting condition? The saturation of colors is superb and the monitor provides wonderful contrast. It’s alot of monitor for such a cheap netbook. Asus’ build quality is also reflected in the sealing and lack of backlight bleed. We’ve seen netbooks in which the backlight bleed is HORRIBLE and down right unacceptable. Not with the Asus though, our test model had no bleed through what so ever. Due to the wonderful monitor the viewing angles are excellent, you can literally view horizontally and still see the image. You don’t experience any washout or inverted colors when viewing at an angle.
Keyboard and Touchpad
In the older Asus netbooks, such as the 701, the keyboards were extremely prone to ‘flex’ which made the typing experience odd at times. Thankfully Asus must have heard the cries and complaints and the 900HA has little to no flex at all. The keyboard is solid, and we’ve heard that it’s 93% of a normal sized laptop keyboard. We would have to agree as it’s fairly sufficient for just about anyone after a little getting used to. Our one complaint of the keyboard is our typical complaint on the newer Asus netbook keyboards. The location of the right shift and the up arrow. Naturally you’d expect the right shift to be in the location fo the up arrow and it can get extremely frustrating. After a few minutes we gave up and installed a keyboard management software that allowed us to switch the up arrow and the right shift, easy and painless fix.
Elantech is the supplier of the touchpads on the newer Asus and we absolutely love them. It’s roomy, allows for touch gestures that are similar to the iPod Touchs/iPhone functionality. The drivers that the netbook come with are decent but upgrading them opens up even more possibilities. So update the drivers after getting this netbook and you’ll be thoroughly pleased. The mouse gestures include: finger tapping, scrolling, zoom and a few others which we never used that often.
Performance and Operating System
The Asus 900HA Netbook comes preinstalled with Windows XP Home Edition (SP3). Not skipping a beat once the operating system works well with this setup. From stopped to boot the computer starts up in about 30 seconds, impressive for a HDD and Windows. We didn’t have many complaints regarding the stock setup of the Asus as it wasn’t overloaded with garbageware that some of the netbooks come standard with.
System performance is great for a netbook, coming with the Intel Atom processor means that it’s one of the faster netbook processors allowing for medium application usage. This netbook is a great solution for college students and those requiring mid range resource applications. Photoshop works fine, as well as the whole Microsoft Office fleet. Although if your looking to run Mathematica or other similar resource intensive applications then a netbook simply isn’t for you.
Ports, Speakers and Audio
The speakers on the Asus 900HA are great for a netbook. These are the best speakers we’ve come across yet in a netbook. Without opening the case completely we believe that Asus opted for a larger speaker in the additonal roomy case. Keep in mind though that these are netbook speakers and you will experience slight distortion at the loudest level. But again, these were the best netbook speakers we’ve come across. Our one complaint is the speaker location, which are faced toward the bottom of the netbook. Therefore they are optimal on hard surfaces, but on your lap it can muffle the sound.
The 900HA is equipped with three USB 2.0 ports, a single VGA monitor output, a headphone jack/microphone input, and an SD card reader, a Kensington lock slot and an Ethernet 10/100.
Battery Life
The battery life on the Asus 900HA is good to say the least, but it could be better. At 100% and hard usage we received a little under 4 hours of operating time. Although I’m sure that with brightness as 50% under the same conditions we could get 4 1/2 to maybe 5 hours out of the netbook. Equipped with a 4-cell 5200mAh battery it is comparable to most netbooks. We’d love a 6-cell though as found in the Asus 1000H to get that extra power that is missing. Keep in mind that battery lifespan versus the SSD models of other netbooks. Sure you may get some extra juice as a result of SSD but can you sacrifice the disk space? We couldn’t…
Conclusion
The Asus EEE 900HA netbook is a wonderful netbook, solving all the problems and complaints we heard about previous models. Such as larger disk space, screen size, and operating system. Being that it is 8.9” allows for ultimate portability for any student or geek alike. Our larger laptops have simply become doorstops since we have purchased our netbooks unless of course we need that extra processing power. Although that’s only once in a blue moon that we need the extra processing power on the fly, we have desktops to do that. The harddrive space is wonderful, allowing to bring along a full library of movies, music and other entertainment to play on the fly if needed. We would suggest this netbook to anyone that is looking for a smaller netbook, with a larger disk space and that doesn’t need Wireless N or Bluetooth.