ASUS Eee PC 1005HA Review

by Jerry Jackson

It's easy to get confused by all the variety of netbooks on the market today. These low-cost ultraportable laptops generally have very similar features and many even look virtually identical. That said, it's never easy to overlook the latest Eee PC from ASUS. The Eee PC 1005HA Seashell is the newest netbook from ASUS that promises to deliver the perfect balance between lightweight style and functionality. Let's take a closer look.

Our ASUS Eee PC 1005HA Seashell features the following specifications:

• Operating System: Genuine Windows XP
• Processor: Intel Atom N280 Processor 1.66GHz (667MHz FSB)
• Memory: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM (667MHz)
• Internal Storage: 160GB 5400 rpm SATA HDD plus 10GB Eee Online Storage
• Display: 10.1-inch diagonal WSVGA (1024x600)
• Graphics: Intel GMA 950
• Wireless: Broadcom 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
• Expansion: 4-in-1 media card slot
• Ports and connectors: (3) USB 2.0 ports, VGA OUT, power connector, RJ-45/Ethernet (Gigabit), stereo headphone/line out, stereo microphone in, 1.3 megapixel webcam
• Dimensions (H x W x D): 0.89-1.40 x 10.2 x 6.9 inches (including feet)
• Weight: 2.8 lbs (not including weight of AC adapter).
• Power: 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery (5600mAh, 63Wh)
• Warranty: One-year standard warranty
• MSRP: $389.99

Build and Design
The Eee PC 1005HA is a lower-cost version of the 1008HA Seashell and features a similar clamshell chassis design but is a little thicker and comes with a removable battery. Unlike the 1008HA, which had plastic covers over every port, all of the ports on the 1005HA are easily accessible so you won't have to struggle to plug in a USB flash drive. The 1005HA also isn't as thin as the 1008HA Seashell, but the 1005HA makes up for extra bulk with a high-capacity removable battery.

If you look at the top of the 1005HA it's easy to see the "Seashell" heritage, and thankfully it manages to retain some solid build quality for a budget netbook. The glossy black plastics aren't prone to flex and the keyboard is very firm ... two things you usually don't see on budget notebooks. The various parts of the chassis come together with tight build tolerances like a higher-priced laptop. This isn't the most rugged netbook we've ever seen, but ASUS gave the 1005HA a pretty solid build for less than $400.

One nice improvement on this netbook compared to the last Seashell is the return of an easy-access RAM cover. If you want to upgrade the RAM in your 1005HA all you have to do is remove one screw on the access panel on the bottom of the netbook. I would have also liked to see an easy-access panel for the hard drive, but most netbook buyers aren't going to mess with the hard drive.

Screen
The new Eee PC 1005HA Seashell uses a fairly standard LED-backlit display panel with a 1024x600 native resolution. The glossy screen looks identical to what we saw in the 1008HA: the glossy screen offers good color and contrast, but glare and reflections indoors under strong lights or outdoors under direct sunlight can be a problem. Again, although the 1024x600 resolution is pretty standard for a netbook these days, I'd much rather see a 1366x768 screen in the next Eee PC. Vertical viewing angles are average, with minimal color distortion when viewing from below and some over-exposed colors when viewed from above. Horizontal viewing angles are better with colors staying accurate at extremely wide viewing angles with just a little bit of color wash out.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The 1005HA Seashell uses the same 92% of full size keyboard first seen on the 1008HA Seashell. The keys are slightly smaller than the keys on an average notebook but the spacing between the keys is quite limited. If you prefer the shape and feel of traditional keys then you'll probably like the new keyboard. That said, I personally prefer the "chicklet" style keyboard used on the ASUS Eee PC 1000HE since there is more space between the keys to prevent me from accidentally hitting the wrong key. Still, the keyboard on this netbook is quite usable and should be perfectly fine for typing quick emails or editing documents while traveling.

The Synaptics touchpad used on the 1005HA is likewise identical to the gesture-enabled model on the 1008HA. This allows you to use multi-figure gestures such as "pinching" your fingers together or "pulling" your fingers apart to zoom in or out. You can also use a "three-finger tap" as an alternative to a right click on a mouse. The Synaptics control panel in Windows also allows you to customize these gestures as well. The touchpad surface is covered in dots that provide a clear indication of the edges of the touchpad, but this also makes the touchpad surface too rough for quick finger movement. The left and right touchpad buttons are located beneath a single rocker-style button, but with no separation between the left and right side it's easy to accidentally press the middle of the touchpad button when you're trying to press the left or right side. The touchpad buttons have extremely shallow feedback, so it isn't always easy to feel when you have or have not pressed a button.

The 1005HA lacks a dedicated wireless on/off switch, but ASUS did include a dedicated touchpad on/off button as well as FN keyboard shortcuts for wireless, screen brightness, video output, volume, and Windows task manager.

Input and Output Ports
The 1005HA provides a few more ports than the 1008HA. Namely, you get three USB 2.0 ports, a 4-in-1 media card reader, headphone and microphone jacks, Ethernet port, and the return of a standard VGA out port. The 1005HA lacks the protective port covers seen on the 1008HA, but I personally don't like protective covers since I have to move them to use the ports.

Here is a quick tour around the Eee PC 1005HA:

Front view: No ports here, just clean lines and indicator lights.

Rear view: No ports here either, just the hinges and battery.

Left side view: Power jack, VGA out, USB 2.0 port, security lock slot, and heat vent.

Right side view: 4-in-1 card reader, headphone jack, microphone jack, two USB 2.0 ports, and Ethernet.

The 1005HA is also the first Eee PC to offer a software "dock" on the desktop that ASUS calls "Eee Docking software." In much the same way that the Apple OS X dock or ObjectDock from Stardock software allow you to use quick shortcuts to utilities and applicatiosn, the Eee Docking software provides an easy way to locate utilities, software and digital content. It consists of the following: Eee Vibe (music/media application and Eee download website), Sharing (Data sync, messenger, and Eee Storage), Xperience (Voice Command) and Tools (Parental Control, Font resizer, and Settings), and all of these suites are easily accessed as the software “docks” to the top of the screen and is semi-hidden when not in use.

Performance and Benchmarks
I've said it before and I'll say it again. It's difficult to get excited about the benchmarking a netbook since most netbook have virtually identical specs. If you've read our reviews of other netbooks that use the Intel Atom processors then you know that all Atom-based netbooks have nearly identical performance in terms of actual real-world use. Overall performance with the Intel Atom platform is very reasonable for daily activities like Web browsing, email, using Microsoft Office, listening to music, and even watching movies. If you're in a bind you can even use photo editing software like Photoshop or GIMP for basic image editing.

On a positive note, ASUS includes a proprietary overclocking application on the 1005HA called the "Super Hybrid Engine" that allows you to cycle through pre-set power profiles to maximize battery life by underclocking the processor, keep the processor at stock speed or slightly overclock the processor (from 1.66GHz to 1.70GHz).

Unfortunately, there's only so much anyone can do with Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics. This integrated graphics processor (IGP) is powerful enough to handle displaying a PowerPoint presentation on a projector or watching DVD quality movies, but if 720p and 1080p video playback is your primary concern then you'll want to look elsewhere. That said, ASUS managed to squeeze some pretty solid benchmark numbers out of the Intel graphics in the 1005HA.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

Notebook / CPU	wPrime 32M time
Sony VAIO TZ (Core 2 Duo U7600 @ 1.20GHz)	76.240 seconds
HP Pavilion dv2 (AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 @ 1.60GHz)	103.521 seconds
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE (Intel Atom N280 @ 1.66GHz)	114.749 seconds
ASUS Eee PC 1008HA (Intel Atom N280 @ 1.66GHz)	116.030 seconds
ASUS Eee PC 1005HA (Intel Atom N280 @ 1.66GHz)	116.421 seconds
HP Mini 2140 with HD screen (Intel Atom N270 @ 1.60GHz)	123.281 seconds
Acer Aspire One (Intel Atom @ 1.60GHz)	125.812 seconds
Lenovo IdeaPad S10 (2009) (Intel Atom @ 1.60GHz)	126.406 seconds
Samsung NC20 (VIA Nano ULV U2250 @ 1.30GHz)	173.968 seconds

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Sony VAIO TZ (1.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600, Intel GMA 950)	2,446 PCMarks
HP Pavilion dv2 (1.60GHz AMD Athlon Neo, ATI Radeon HD 3410 512MB)	2,191 PCMarks
ASUS N10 (1.60GHz Intel Atom, NVIDIA 9300M 256MB)	1,851 PCMarks
Toshiba Portege R500 (1.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600, Intel GMA 950)	1,839 PCMarks
ASUS Eee PC 1005HA (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, Intel GMA 950)	1,637 PCMarks
ASUS Eee PC 1008HA (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, Intel GMA 950)	1,564 PCMarks
Acer Aspire One (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 950)	1,555 PCMarks
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, Intel GMA 950)	1,535 PCMarks
Samsung NC20 (1.30GHz VIA Nano ULV U2250, VIA Chrome9 HC3)	1,441 PCMarks
HP Mini 2140 with HD screen (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GM1 950)	1,437 PCMarks

3DMark06 comparison results against netbooks @ 1024 x 768 resolution:

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
HP Pavilion dv2 (1.60GHz AMD Athlon Neo, ATI Radeon HD 3410 512MB)	1,520 3DMarks
ASUS N10 (1.60GHz Intel Atom, NVIDIA 9300M 256MB)	1,417 3DMarks
Samsung NC20 (1.30GHz VIA Nano ULV U2250, VIA Chrome9 HC3)	151 3DMarks
ASUS Eee PC 1005HA (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, Intel GMA 950)	127 3DMarks
Acer Aspire One (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 950)	122 3DMarks
ASUS Eee PC 1008HA (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, Intel GMA 950)	116 3DMarks
HP Mini 2140 with HD screen (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GM1 950)	112 3DMarks
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, Intel GMA 950)	92 3DMarks
Sony VAIO P (1.33GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 500, Windows Vista)	88 3DMarks

HDTune for the built-in hard drive:

Audio
The built-in speaker performance on the Eee PC 1005HA is pretty good for a 10-inch netbook. I'm not a fan of the location of the built-in speakers since they're located on the bottom front edge of the 1005HA, but the audio quality is better than what we typically hear from netbook speakers. The speakers produce good volume (enough to fill a small room) and there is minimal distortion even at higher volume levels. The speakers lack much bass, but the range of highs and midtones are fine. Still, the audio output from the headphone jack is free of any obvious distortion and is a better solutiuon when paired with earphones or a good set of external speakers.

Heat and Noise
Temperatures on the new Eee PC Seashell are in line with what we've come to expect from netbooks with Intel Atom processors. Temperature readings taken from the outside of the plastic chassis remained "lap friendly" during normal use. The only time that temperature readings spiked was when I connected the netbook to an external display.

Below are images indicating the temperature readings (listed in degrees Fahrenheit) taken inside our office where the ambient temperature was 74 degrees Fahrenheit.

Battery
ASUS claims that the 1005HA provides "all-day computing" with up to 10.5 hours of battery life on a single charge. As difficult as that might be to believe, it's not completely out of the question. In our test with the screen brightness set to 70%, wireless active, and XP set to the laptop/portable power profile the system stayed on for 9 hours and 37 minutes of constant use. If we turned down the screen brightness even more, disabled Wi-Fi, and allowed the netbook to occasionally go into sleep mode then I'm quite certain the 1005HA could have exceeded 11 hours of battery life!

Conclusion
The new ASUS Eee PC 1005HA Seashell might seem like "just another Eee PC" at first glance, but upon closer examination it's clear that ASUS has refined their popular line of netbooks with every variation. The Eee PC 1005A is one of the best eveolutions of the Eee PC line so far.

Yes, on paper there's not much to get excited about with the latest Eee PC since it features the same processor, integrated graphics, and standard 10-inch display seen in almost every netbook, but in this case the whole may indeed be greater than the sum of its parts.

I'd still like to see a higher resolution screen, different graphics solution, and better touchpad buttons in this netbook, but overall there are plenty of reasons to like the latest Eee PC. If you're in the market for a $400 netbook then this is worth your consideration.

Pros:

• Nice build quality
• Excellent battery life
• Good port layout ... for a netbook

Cons:

• Thick for a modern netbook
• Still uses weak integrated graphics
• Bad touchpad buttons

 

meh good review
the touchpad and keyboard was pretty bad in my opinion when i tested it at Best Buy the other day, but it was the 1005HAB, same design, just with N270 processor.

 

Good review.

Also, it's a C|Net Editor's Choice

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/asus-eee-pc-1005ha/4505-3121_7-33698049.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0

they expressed the same preference for better touchpad buttons. sometimes I wonder if they intentionally do just one small, irritating thing to the notebooks that people won't like...just to make it tough on us. why not add one more battery cell to the 1008? why not put 2 normal buttons on the 1005 touchpad?

still, I really want an Eee, and this one looks like my best bet. I really want the battery life and like the look of this one.

 

good looking netbook

 

I tried some netbooks with new GMA500 and it has worse 3D/video performance than GMA950 + it has compatibility problems in 3D games.

 

True. I'll take GMA950 over GMA500 any day, but the reality is that there are alternatives to GMA950 that aren't too expensive and allow manufacturers to maintain acceptable profit margins on these products.

I think many consumers would find the 1005HA more compelling if it could handle watching a basic HD (720p) movie trailer without dropping frames/stutter. Yes, I know the screen isn't 720p ... but that was also one of my complaints.

Even if it raises the price above $400, I think consumers would accept it if there was a way to bring it to the market for absolutely no more than an extra $100 over the price of an identical netbook with GMA950 and a slightly lower resolution screen.

This isn't an issue exclusive to ASUS. Every netbook manufacturer is trying to strike a VERY delicate balance between price, performance, and profit margins. It isn't easy.

Netbooks have been selling very well given the world economic climate and the desire to have affordable travel laptops. I think this category of laptops has staying power, but there are some people in the industry who think netbooks are going to die in the market within the next few years. The only way I can foresee netbooks vanishing from the market is if manufacturers fail to innovate. Based on new netbooks that we're starting to see and more low-cost IGP and discrete graphics options showing up, I think there are plenty of reasons to believe that netbooks are here to stay ... if manufacturers continue to improve them over time.

 

Actually GMA500 can play 1080p with Cyberlink PowerDVD codec.

I don't think GMA950 can pull that off.

I think it already can play 720p smooth with CoreAVC codec in MPC.

I think you did not use the right settings.

 

I recall the GMA500 having basically slower and weaker characteristics across the board....

But anyways, the battery life on these newer Asus netbooks is downright impressive. It must have to do a lot with the higher capacity cells... I mean, an Acer 6-cell battery is 4400 mAh, this Asus is a 5600 mAh, pretty big difference.

I also agree Jerry, the resolution and GMA 950 are okay, but a higher resolution and a 9400m or 3200HD would be amazing in a netbook like this.... I'm sure there are a lot that would pay an extra $100 just for those two extra features. I don't know the specifics, but I assume that a 9400m doesn't run half as cool as the underclocked GMA 950. In any case, Nvidia should be releasing the Ion platform in a few months... that's probably the answer.

Are these available to purchase yet?

 

GMA500 is weaker than GMA 950, but GMA500 has hardware video acceleration.

Believe it or not but Acer 751 with Atom Z520 (at 1.24GHz) has no problem playing 1080p mkv's. It will only work with the right codec though.

 

The problem with GMA500 and GMA950 is that although you can create conditions in which they can handle HD playback, there are too many conditions for simple HD playback from a consumer standpoint.

Average consumers don't want to mess with downloading codecs, changing BIOS settings for the allocation of RAM to the IGP, or making sure that they only try to watch HD content that is encoded in a particular format.

Average consumers just want to go to YouTube HD or download HD movie trailers and click "Play" and have it work perfectly.

I'm not saying netbook manufacturers need to stick Nvidia 280M cards inside a netbook but there are alternatives to using GMA500 or GMA950 that provide a better user experience without destroying the price point/form factor of a netbook.

 

True most consumers won't be able to get it working on some netbooks.

But Acer 751 plays 1080p mkv straight out of the box, because Cyberlink PowerDVD is pre-installed.

PS. a Nvidia card will not help playing Youtube HD. A 2.0Ghz Atom may do the trick.

PS 2. I read that the Asus N10 netbook with Nvidia 9400 had hard time playing 1080p without the right codec setup. So even when a laptop has the right hardware, the proper software installation is still important.

 

GMA 950 struggles in hd video playback as far as i can remember GMA 500.. yea, have to find right codec and right format for video. I was wondering where can you get some 1080p mkv videos to test? x.x

 

Isn't Cyberlink pre installed on yours?

Here in the Netherlands it is.

1080p trailer: http://www.vuze.com/details/BHCHVXTNVKJ5SB5VYAYVCCVJISWKK4IY.html

 

True. I guess that's what Nvidia's Tegra CPU/GPU solution will be good for later this year.

Here's a sneak peak at a Tegra-based netbook coming before Christmas that can play 1080p movie trailers direct from the Apple Quicktime website over HDMI to a HDTV.

 

yea it is, i was about to remove it lol.
i need some videos to test it though. thanks for the link.

 

Oops it's the wrong link wait a minute. I will edit this message.

Here you go: http://www.h264info.com/clips.html

 

mm... kay hopefully it'll work.

 

1080p be damned on a netbook, I'd rather have some more graphics horsepower

But to each his own

Edit: Jerry, that is one interesting looking computer! All those ports are part of the battery or what? Also, that looks like a new Linux distro?!

 

the ports are not part of the battery i've seen it in person lol

 

haha, well that picture sure makes it look like they are.... it's a pretty obtrusive battery as well.

 

i downloaded one clip from it, the height of the clip is only 800? 1920 x 800 not 1920 x 1080?

 

As already mentioned, the ports sit on the back of that netbook above the battery ... not connected to the battery.

Also that module that looks sort of like a RAM module on the desk next to the netbook is actually the motherboard (processor, chipset, GPU, etc. Basically, the connections for the ports take up more room than the entire motherboard on the Tegra platform.

Anyway, back to the 1005HA ... good netbook with fantastic battery life, but falls victim to some of the same shortcomings as other current netbooks.

 

i like this netbook alot and am thinking of getting it. althought im not sure if i should since the thing thats killng me is the res think i should wait? or just go ahead and get this!?

 

At this point we haven't seen anything to indicate that ASUS will offer higher resolutions screens on the current generation of netbooks ... but only ASUS can say what the future holds.

There are a lot of things to like about this netbook, but if the resolution is a concern then there are a few other netbooks on the market that offer higher resolution screens.

 

They are available for preorder:

ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-PU1X-BU 10.1-Inch Blue Netbook - 10.5 Hour Battery Life: $389.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002DYIXMS?ie=UTF8&tag=id10-20&creativeASIN=B002DYIXMS

Also, I dont think most netbook buyers care about HD video clips or higher resolution screens. But since Asus is already manufacturing a lesser trim for sale at best buy, perhaps they can also sell a higher trim with better video. They could replace the blue one for a better black one.

 

the 1005HAB is ready to be purchase lol from Best Buy, with a N270 processor..

 

I didn't see it on their website. I need to buy 2 netbooks by next Tuesday for family visiting from over seas. I think the 1005HAB would be cool for 2 kids under 10yo.

 

It isn't on their website, I only saw it in store
I also saw the Toshiba NB205 in store also, Best Buy been getting a lot of good netbooks lately in my opinion

 

Are they all chopped up versions specific for Best Buy though? Like the Asus 1000HEB.... Supposed to be the 1000HE, but has a slower Atom CPU and lesser battery... not big deals, but still not the 1000HE.

 

I cant see the point in this model, seems too similar to the older ones.

We really need a big change to justify a new model.

larger resolution screen, windows 7, things like that.

also looking for more movement on that device posted last month the one that goes in a mini pci-e slot in a netbook and allows it to play flash animations and hd video and things with no issues.

If we can get all 3 of those things in a new netbook then we are talking a big step forward and something that would be good enough to upgrade from a current netbook to.

 

yea, it was chopped up :/ but it is only $300.. It is a pretty good deal with N270 still, for the price or $299.99 at my local Best Buy. The name was Asus 1005HA B, not sure about the battery, didn't bother reading the details and stuff since I already got myself a new Acer 11.6" lol

 

Yeah and N280 or N270 is not really important. Neither can play Youtube HD. And during normal use there will not be ANY difference.

I think it addresses one of the biggest shortcomings of the older Eee line: looks. As good as the 1000H(E) are, they do look chunky.

Other than that it's not much new I agree. But the improved battery life makes the 1005HA one of the best netbooks.

It is the best netbook at the moment if Asus has not downgraded the screen. If the 1005 uses the same screen as the 1008, it's no where near the contrast of the 1000H(E).

 

the HAB gets about 3 hours less battery life (6).

 

Hi. I'm new to netbooks and I've read that they're basically only good for internet and word processing. I'm wondering if the processor and memory will be able to support playing movies from an external hard drive, playing music from iTunes, using AIM, and using Word/Excel/Powerpoint, and having many windows open at once. Most of the time I have iTunes, a Firefox windows, online on AIM, and a document open. I'm wondering if a netbook would be able to handle that. I would be looking to replace a potential larger, more costly laptop for the last couple years of college with this netbook. I like the design of this netbook and it's hard to find a small screen laptop with really good battery life without getting the higher cell battery that would make it look bulky.

 

Yes, it will support playing movies up to 720p basically, depending on format also. It will work with itunes for music, work with aim, microsoft office, firefox, etc. It will handle all of the stuff you want, but just slower than a regular size notebook.

 

Okay. Thanks for replying. Would you say there is a considerable slower difference between a regular size laptop and a netbook? Or is it minimal?

Would I be able to add another GB of memory? How much does a Netbook support? 2, 3 GB?

Finally, there isn't a version of Windows 7 that is going to replace XP for netbooks, correct?

 

You will notice a difference in some video playback, software opening etc for the cpu.

The max memory for this would be a 2 GB.

I haven't heard anything about Windows 7 replacing netbooks yet. I would just go buy a Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade for around $50 (pre order) and install it on the netbook if you don't like Windows XP. Even if there was Windows 7 for netbooks, stuff would be limited.

 

Windows 7 Starter will be on netbooks come October coupled with Intel's new N450 processor. Most netbooks with the N270/N280, and current Z series, will likely stay with XP.

 

Is the memory 2x512MB or 1x1GB? If I wanted to replace the memory, do I just get a corresponding 1x2GB memory card and install it? I haven't done this before so I don't know how I would switch it.

I haven't really read/seen many other netbooks except the Dell Mini's and the ASUS EEE PC 1008HA with up to 6 hours battery life. Which netbook would you recommend? I'm sold on this longer battery life even if it's not as thin as the 1008HA. I suppose spending about 400 on the netbook plus 25? for memory and 50-70 on an external hard drive wouldn't hurt my budget so bad.

 

heh.. might as well go buy the upgrade yourself for better features of windows 7 instead of the "Starter"?

edit:

the RAM will be 1 Single 2gb DDR2 usually at under 667MHz.
The best battery life would either be the Toshiba NB205 and/or the Asus 1005HA.

 

Is there a noticeable difference between 1 GB RAM and 2 GB RAM in terms of speed of the computer? I'm having trouble deciding between the 1005HA or 1008HA. I like the thinner 1008HA and it would be about the same price if I got the 1008HA without a 2 GB RAM compared to a 1005HA with a 2 GB RAM stick.

I also read a review for the Toshiba and while I'm not a huge fan on the battery sticking out, I like the layout of the ports and it's thin and even design. Best Buy had the white version today and I was playing around with it and I really like the keyboard. I think I'm going to head back and play around with it more.

 

In terms of thinness, Toshiba NB205 is probably thinner than the 1005HA. 1008HA is thin, but still over 1" at the back. 1008HA starts out thin, but still thick at the end, so no point really. If you want a good battery life netbook, most likely, the battery will have to stick out no matter what, even with the 1005HA, the battery will stick out if I am correct. Only 3 cell batteries don't stick out. RAM upgrade, not much improvement, but just make the system slightly faster, in my opinion, I didn't notice much improvement from 1gb ram to 1.5gb ram for my Acer Aspire One 8.9" ZG5 and 1gb ram to 2gb ram wasn't much improvement either on the Acer Aspire One AO751h 11.6" ZA3. I wouldn't really choose the Asus 1005HA or 1008HA due to the Toshiba being almost similar thinness of the 1008HA and similar battery life to the 1005HA. Toshiba would be the winner in my opinion. Even if the battery doesn't stick out, the battery sticks "up", making the height of the netbook higher..

 

In XP 1 GB vs. 2 GB has ZERO impact unless you are running extremely memory hungry applications like Photoshop in some cases.

In Vista and Windows 7 2 GB is definitely beneficial.

 

But looking at the pictures of this review as well as the ASUS 1008HA review, the battery is flush with the rest of the netbook. Only does the Toshiba netbook's battery stick out. Or am I wrong about the ASUS?

Okay. Thanks.

Also, the resolution says it's 1024x600. If this is the pixel measurement of the screen, I'm wondering if I can change the settings so the icons on the desktop screen aren't so huge, ie, a better resolution.

 

You can decrease the DPI of fonts, making fonts smaller. And you can make icons smaller.

It kind of looks like you have higher resolution, but it's not the same of course.

 

1008HA battery is built in the netbook, which means if your battery is dead, it is done for most likely unless you have warranty. Toshiba do stick out a little, but you won't notice it when using the netbook.

 

It's ugly though in my opinion.

Chances of a lithium polymer battery dying are pretty slim.

In the looks department 1008HA hands down imo. It's about time they release the 11".

 

don't most netbooks with either 6 cell battery or bigger always stick out? xD

 

Samsung NC10, N110, N120, Asus 1000H, 1000HE, MSI Wind have a 6 cell that doesn't stick out from the back.

Sticking out slightly to the bottom is not a problem for me.

 

heh, i prefer it sticking out on the back instead of raising the netbook up
that makes it look like thicker to me xD