Eee PC 1005HA

[mfrosty]

So this was recently expo'd in Europe and it seems to slowly be making its way to market. I would have already purchased the 1008ha but the integrated battery and lack of ability to upgrade the hardware components has left a bad taste in my mouth.

From the reviews and pictures it appears the 1005HA will have a similar body design to the 1008HA but with a replaceable battery. Since this product is so new I can not find any site that has said whether the 1005HA allows for easy access to the RAM and HDD. From the video provided I can see a bay on the bottom for the RAM but not for the HDD. I can assume since it is larger than the 1008HA that it is easier to get to the components. I dunno?

So I am left asking my fellow friends at NBR if anyone has any information about this netbook.

Also I have only found one retailer online who ships to the United States. EXcaliberpc.com. I have read reviews of the site and they seem legit but why are they the only company doing pre-order for this model right now? Also the site fails to say when the actual release date is and Asus has given no announcement at Computex yet. Has anyone heard an official release date?

Thanks in advance!

[linsook]

i was under the impression it was set for july. unofficial.

[uqmoore]

The 1005HA is now available for preorder:

ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-VU1X-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 8.5 Hour Battery Life: $349.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B002DYIXN2

[kierkegaard]

I'll be shocked if the higher model sells for $350. That is less than the 1000he.

[IKilledYourHamster]

will it have the GN40 chipset? i can't seem to find any confirm articles on it. just speculations.

EDIT:
newegg has the N280 blue edition for pre-order. according to the specs, it is the same chipset. oh well.

[kierkegaard]

Amazon recently changed the price of their pre-order from $349 to $389 which is also Newegg's price. I am still surprised that they're getting the higher end model of the 1005ha out for under $400 at the same price point as the 1000HE. Has me thinking about getting a netbook again, but I think I will settle for buying another battery for my W3J. I wouldn't be surprised to see the 1000HE drop in price at some point soon.

[uqmoore]

Amazon recently changed the price of their pre-order from $349 to $389...

Yeah. When I went back to look at the $349 one, I got an error page or similar. I think there will be cheaper 1005HAs but they will lack BT, N, and will have a smaller battery, similar to the $350 1000HE's at best buy.

Amazon is now showing the black one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B002DYIXMI

And the blue one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B002DYIXMS

[kierkegaard]

It doesn't look like the gimped model is getting released in NA, at least not immediately.

[PanamaMike]

Double Post

[PanamaMike]

Some comments on the gimp model I just picked one up at BB this afternoon. I had originally purchased a 1000HD model a few days back, but as it turns out, it had some sort of standby bug. As far as I can tell it had something to do with the keyboard. I was breaking her in using Prime95 and all seemed well. As soon as I did some typing, the machine would randomly go into standby. I tried a few ideas like upgrading the rom and other drivers, but no luck. Also, I was surprised at how hot this sucker got. Prime95 did a good job to max out the temp. It was certainly toasty.

As luck would have it BB was running a deal on the EEE 1005HA gimp. It turned out to be another $50.00, but figured what the heck, it should be better. Having played with it a few hours, I'm glad I put down the extra cash.

Pros:

1: The LCD is much brighter, more clear, and better color contrast. The negative is that it's the mirror type LCD, but it does look better under indoor lighting.

2: Doesn't get as hot. The machine does heat up like other laptops do, but it's definitely cooler that the Celery sibling. After running Prime95 for 5 hours straight, the laptop was still relatively "cool", meaning not hot to the touch. It does get warm near what I'm guessing is the location of the CPU, but not too bad.

3: Keyboard and general ergonomics: Off the bat, ergonomics of this laptop are pretty good. I'm sure as I use it more I'll get a better feel for what might be amiss, but my initial impressions are good. There is one area where they did fail.

Cons:

1: The touch pad buttons. I thought the 1000HD buttons were bad, they actually went one step further and made these worse! The 1000HD buttons are very stiff, but I must admit I liked the finish and the fact that they were part of the edge. The buttons on the 1005HA are equally as stiff, the left more that the right, but they don't go to the very edge of the laptop. This means you must press the button squarely and can't use a side thumb of press. If you have big fingers this makes using the buttons tough. To add a final bit of discomfort the two buttons are integrated as a rocker button. To add insult to injury, they made it chrome, IMO it looks cheap and will constantly be covered in finger prints. This is the single key issue I have with this laptop.

2: The machine is a fingerprint magnet, they made sure every surface is high gloss. That sexy look is good for pictures, but not so great in practice. This is just a visual preference thing, so in the end it doesn't really matter.

3: What's up with the gimpy power supply and connection? It's the smallest power supply connector I've ever seen for a PC. It's appears pretty fragile and doesn't stay securely seated in the PC's power port connection. Additionally ASUS decided to put the power connector on the side of the pc rather than the back. I'm just waiting for the day I give it a good tug and break the PC because of a poorly designed power connector. Looking at that power connector make's me wonder about the quality of the PC's internal power circuitry, this cost trade off may end up making this a throw away PC. Not being an expert regarding those things, only time will tell if the design will hold up. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

4: 2200 mAh battery: This and the bluetooth omition are what make this PC a "gimp". I'm not aware of any other gimp factors, but the battery is one that really hurts. I don't know how long it will run, but according to the battery meter, I should expect 2.5 ~ 3 hrs of normal use. I guess we'll see. The good news is I can eventually buy another battery if I need additional run time.

All in all, this laptop is pretty exciting, who'd a thunk we could get that much PC for so little money. It's about as much as I'd pay for an external HD of the same capacity just a few years ago.

So far a thumbs up for ASUS, If I find a significant issue to change my mind, I'll be sure to update.

Mike