Review by Megumi Garvey for ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-EU1X-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook – 4 Hour Battery Life
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All in all, the 10005ha is probably the best all around netbook you can buy. While the toshiba and the samsung have better keyboards, and the toshiba has a better mouse…the samsungs speakers are much improved…each oft hose has major flaws (toshibas battery sticks out of the case and their speaker is on the BOTTOM…Samsung used a glossy screen that reflects direct light and becomes unwatchable unless shaded! Plus its a 270 prcoessor not a 280, and no BT).

If you want the biggest and baddest power netbook out there, the asus is it.

Just not THIS one. There are various flavors, all called 1005HA. You really WANT the bigger one. You get BluteTooth, you get a 10.5 hour battery instead of this measly 3 cell 4 hour thing, and you also get a real camera (1.3mp, good enough for skype chatting at decent level…the 0.3 that this stripped down model comes with I wouldnt OWN! Thats designed output resolution size smaller than a PDA screen!!! Cellphones have better cameras!)

Yes, I strongly recommend the asus…they make a good machine. Anything with an N270 or 280 really isnt half bad. Unfortunately newer netbookz will all start getting the cheaper slower Z processors…thank you for that INTEL….so if you are planning to do MORE Than email or chat…wanna run some programs…or god forbid MULTITASK, the newer 12 inch netbooks will all be SLOWER! The few already available all have Z processors, and all the future ones are scheduled to. Its a chip thing. Plus the N’s like the 1005ha are ridiculously power efficient…hence the longer battery lyfe.

But a 1005 (or a 1008, less battery, but prettier with covered side ports…if that matters to you)

You cant go wrong with a toshiba either. I liked mine, the keyboard was great, so was the mousepad…samsung also…but you try all 3, and you realizee mostly identical after practice….but the asus has better performance in all the unfelt but measurables. longer battery, beter performance (slightly) bluetooth, Wireless N, its the one. At least for the moment.

Review by J. Greenwood for ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-EU1X-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook – 4 Hour Battery Life
Rating:
Most people should get the 8.5 hr battery version. I didn’t. Why?

Price – Limit of $300 MAX. This was $291 when I bought it with shipping.

Size – there are larger 11.6″ versions, but with a slower CPU and heavier. The 10.2″ was enough for me.

Weight – better netbooks are heavier and more expensive.

For me, a netbook means compromise. It’s what you should be aware of going in. It will not completely replace your existing laptop (or desktop). But its handy to have and if its light/small enough, you’ll take it with you everywhere.

I looked at the Acer and their 10.2″ netbooks had smaller keyboards. The Asus keyboard is pretty easy to get used to. I blog on it all the time on the train to work. The touch pad will sometimes annoyingly move your cursor and you end up typing a paragraph up in the middle of another sentence.

Three USB ports – I use them rarely with an external mouse or for a USB drive. I’ve never filled all three yet.

Volume setting – at first it wasn’t loud enough to hear a movie on the train. Max out the windows volume. Then increase all those mixer settings (Asus sound settings, not the Windows ones).

Fast enough for Picasa – the SD card reader is awesome. Great for photo shoots rather than relying on the LCD screen at the back. Also replaces those backup photo hard drives the pros used to carry around.

For me, this was perfect. I’m completely satisfied with what I bought.

Review by Doc Soon for ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-EU1X-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook – 4 Hour Battery Life
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I bought the 1005HA-EU1X-BK with a 4-hour battery in Oct 2009. The netbook fitted our needs well and was very convenient around the house. However, it seems that this netbook has some serious problems with its power system. First, I soon ran into the problem of the charger not working after leaving the charger plugged in the power outlet but without connecting to the netbook. After calling Amazon for a replacement, I found out online that cooling down the charger brings it back to life again.

Then there was about half a year of happy experience with it, with about one charge cycle every couple of days. Then, about a month ago, I noticed that the battery would never charge to 100% and the orange charging light would always blink, even if I left it plugged in all night. Then about a week ago, the battery suddenly died when I plugged in the charger. The battery indicator always showed 0%, and the orange indicator light always blinked as if it was charging. The battery indicator never showed anything more than 0%, and as soon as I unplug the charger, the netbook turned off due to lack of power.

Conveniently, Asus only has a 6-month warranty for battery. I called Asus technical support, and was guided through updating some driver which had no effect. I also updated the BIOS to the latest, which did not have any effect on this either. According to Asus technical support, my only option probably is to buy a new battery.

I think it is outrageous to have to buy a new battery after a mere 8 month of usage. I’m grumpy, but I can’t think of a better alternative. I like the netbook, but definitely not the battery.