Customer Reviews

Asus 1008HA 10-inch Netbook (Intel Atom N280 1.66 GHz Processor, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB HDD, 6 hr Battery, WLAN, Bluetooth, Webcam, Windows 7 Starter, Black)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'd rather read a review of an item based on how it is rather than its potential for being changed to something that the reviewer would prefer. I'm sure many people buy netbooks without needing to increase RAM and in my opinion, for most users 1GB is ample for most netbooks, which generally come with fairly reduced operating systems anyway. Of course, for people who absolutely want to increase RAM, this one isn't a good choice.

What it is, is a solidly built, attractive (if that matters to you) piece of kit that I've been very happy with - especially since I got rid of the bloatware that infests most new PCs - including the manufacturer's usual bits of 'entertainment' software - and installed some free, recommended anti-virus and anti-malware software. It boots quickly and runs flawlessly. I'm reading more and more reviews of netbooks which seem compare them unfavourably against the performance of full-on laptops and that's surely defeating the object of a netbook. In this case, I've also installed the full Office 2007 suite with no issues: I don't run all the programmes at once as I wouldn't expect a netbook to cope with this, although as I say, I haven't tried to do it.

The keyboard keys are almost full-sized and pretty easy to use in comparison with other netbooks I've tried although, as seems to always be the case, we're stuck with the small, American-standard 'enter' key instead of the big British one. The netbook came without any sort of case or sleeve which was disappointing considering the full price. Oddly, the Asus 1008HA with the smaller hard drive but otherwise identical spec has much more favourable reviews on Amazon at the time of writing (Asus Eee PC 1008HA Seashell Netbook, Midnight Blue (Intel 1.66 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB HDD, 10 inch screen)

Anyway, all in all, I'm VERY happy with it.

I've had 3 different EEEpc's now alongside some other netbooks (yes I am a gadget freak!) If I didn't know better and read some of the negative reviews below I'd have already skipped this, but I'm here to tell you that this is the best EEEPC released to date. It's a true cross-over product that means you get the power and functionality of a desktop, but at a fraction of the weight, size and power draw. The new intel Atom chip is a logical improvement over the N270 found in older netbooks, but now you get the CPU speed with no increase in power draw. I previously had the 7" and 8.9" screen EEEPC's which were fine, but you could see there was room for a 10" display. Now they've come through with that AND a fullsize keyboard. A proper netbook should give you casual PC usage with near enough the same connectivity as a laptop but at a fraction of the cost. Here the EEEPC delivers in spades. I find it funny that people have found fault with the glossy paint job and the trackpad, as it's abundantly clear from the photos what you're buying. Yes the paint job shows up finger prints - wipe them off with a microfiber cloth. Does it affect the running of the machine? No of course not. iPhones have sold millions and they go through lint-filled pockets and get sticky fingers over them a hundred times a day. *Rant over*.

My point is, if you want a good looking, truly portable PC for casual surfing, emailing, blogging or even spreadsheet work I'd not yet had a machine that meets all these criteria until I bought this.

This is a fantastic machine. I used my brothers 1008HA last week to use while I was travelling & it's slim, light & surprisingly powerful for such a small machine. On top of that it looks great & was ideal to use while on the go to access e-mail & the web. I will purchase one in the next couple of weeks & I would recommend this netbook to anyone who requires a small, light machine.

Bought one of these a while ago for my company to use as a demo machine when we go to trade shows as it looks very nice and is nice and easy to carry around and the battery lasts for ages!

So far been very pleased with it over the last 6 months or so and can't really fault it. The hidden away connections are very well designed and so far its been very reliable, much more so than an older Acer Aspire we bought before which has killed two batteries so far!

Overall its a great looking, great performing little netbook that last a long time on its battery, its light enough to carry around easily and has loads of connectivity!

Just about to buy one for myself :o)

This mini PC suits me fine - I bought it to go in my backpack when travelling, together with my photography gear. Basically want to use it as a storage device for my photos, plus to be able to review shots on a bigger screen than comes with my 7D. Obviously it has the added advantage of being able to browse my emails etc.. and all the other functionality you might need when travelling. Note: I am not using this to play games - so don't know how it would perform.
A couple of words of warning though:
1. do not bother buying the 2GB memory upgrade - it is seriously difficult to fit. I got a colleague from our IT Services department to have a look at it for me, he builds/repairs this sort of stuff on a daily basis - but even he said that he would not attempt this for fear of damaging the machine.
2. I cannot install the normal Canon software ZoomBrowser and EOS utility due to incompatability in the screen resolution. This is a bit of a pain as I enjoy remote shooting using EOS utility. Contacted Canon on this - but seems I am stuck.
But for the above it would have been 5 stars - the design is great, it is lightweight and actually it seems to work fine with 1GB memory. I have even installed Norton antivirus on it.

This does exactly what it says on the tin and thoroughly desrves five stars. It gets through start-up almost instantly and connects to wi-fi effortlessly. It is good for word prcoessing (using the included Microsoft Works) and web browsing, including iPlayer. I'm sure it's underpowered for video gaming and other applicatiosn with very high processor demands but that's not what it's made for.

As to the fingerprint criticism in an earlier review - buff it up with a microfibre cloth and all will be well. I love the shiny piano black.

Used this on a recent round the world trip and it was my saviour. It survived being lugged around in a rucksack for many months, did everything I asked of it and at 1.1kg, it didn't break my back lugging it around the northern and southern hemispheres!

The only con is the speaker. You have to bend forward to hear the sound on full volume when in a moderately noisy environment.

The OS installs fast, web browsing (which i bought it for) is excellent. The only drawback is that you can't change the desktop background (microsoft's fault), and the touchpad is a bit annoying (find hard to select and move things sometimes).

I don't think there is a better netbook on the market a year on from buying it!

Very good netbook with good battery. Everything is as in description. For this price didn't expected anything better. I'm very happy that I bought it. I can't say anything wrong about it. Recomended :)

Lasted two weeks before trackpad failed. Amazon great as always and gave full refund, but very poor quality computer.

I am REALLY disappointed with this Netbook.

The 'clamshell' case is undeniably shiny, and smooth... which is the first disappointment because, the moment you pick it up to revel in its loveliness, it will become covered in fingerprints. No matter how clean you THINK your fingers are, this ASUS will prove you wrong. Pretty soon, it looks like it has been passed around a classroom of nose-picking sweet-eating six year olds.

Next step... opening it up. Fiddly and annoying, because the lid catch is awkward. If you are holding it in mid-air to open it, you will find that there is no natural way to get your hands on the Netbook such that you can hold the base in one hand while opening the lid with the other. It is TOO close-fitting and aerodynamic !. Similarly, it is not substantial enough for the weight of the base to hold it down on a desk while you lift the lid with one hand. You just end up tipping the whole thing over backwards.

Powering it on and booting it up - very impressive indeed. It's absolutely silent, and you get your Desktop within moments. However - USING it, what a nightmare. The touch-pad is defined by a square of little raised dimples on the smooth and shiny front of the keyboard area. After a while, this produces a most disturbing sensation in the fingertips, as if you have pins and needles in the ends of your fingers ! It feels 'greasy', due to the obsessively shiny plastic, and is amazingly unpleasant to use. And, again, the glassy-smooth black plastic soon looks disgusting, covered with finger prints. Also, the cursor has a habit of 'sticking' - such that you find yourself scrolling down pages, or dragging screen items, without wanting to.

Finally, the screen is TOO small. For example, if you want to use Google Maps, you will find that, because of banner ads, menu bars, toolbars, system status bars etc, you actually get a ridiculously narrow band of 'map' across the middle of the screen. Similarly, for reading emails, there is just not enough usable screen available.

I have been an IT professional for 20 years, and can remember when laptops came with a trolley to wheel them round on (almost!).... and this is the nastiest little machine I have ever used. It's a triumph of style over function. Performance wise - yes, it's quick, no problem at all with booting it or running apps... but it is just NOT PLEASANT to use !. I can't even use it as a decent internet radio player (I have a habit of listening to the BBC iPlayer, or internet radio via Winamp, whilst cooking in the kitchen...); because the speakers are so small and tinny, the sound you get is pathetic.

A beautiful, disappointing, mistake. My recommendation is to give this a miss.

Chris.