ASUS Eee PC 1101HA Review

The newest 11-inch netbook from ASUS looks remarkably like an enlarged ASUS Eee PC 1005HA Seashell, but there's more to the new 1101HA than meets the eye. Inside you'll find an average Intel Atom processor and software that allows you to overclock this netbook for roughly a 33 percent boost in performance! Is the Eee PC 1101HA the king of the 11-inch netbooks? Keep reading to find out.

Our ASUS Eee PC 1101HA features the following specifications:

• Operating System: Genuine Windows XP
• Processor: Intel Atom Z520 Processor 1.33GHz (can be overclocked to 1.74GHz)
• Memory: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM (667MHz)
• Internal Storage: 160GB 5400 rpm SATA HDD plus 10GB Eee Online Storage
• Display: 11.6-inch diagonal WSVGA (1366x768)
• Graphics: Intel GMA 500
• 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): 0.9-1.50 x 11.25 x 7.75 inches (including feet)
• Weight: 3.0 lbs (not including weight of AC adapter).
• Power: 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery (5600mAh, 63Wh)
• Warranty: One-year standard warranty
• MSRP: $429.99

Build and Design
I have to confess to feeling a strong sense of deja vu when I opened the box containing the new ASUS Eee PC 1101HA. The latest entry to the Eee PC family of netbooks looks remarkably like the Eee PC 1005HA that I previously reviewed ... and with good reason. The 1101HA is essentially nothing more than a larger version of the 1005HA with a larger screen and a few different parts inside the clamshell chassis. Although the 1101HA needed to be physically larger than previous Eee PCs in order to accommodate a larger 11-inch screen, this new Eee PC is still exceptionally compact and makes a convenient travel companion.

Since the new 1101HA has so much in common with the 1005HA, some of our readers may want to jump ahead to the sections discussing the new 11-inch display and the performance and benchmarks. Beyond that, much of this review will be surprisingly similar to our review of the last Eee PC.

As previously mentioned, if you look at the top of the 1101HA it's easy to see to confuse this laptop with one of the earlier "Seashell" Eee PCs ... but that's not such a bad thing. The simple styling, solid build quality and budget prices are all reasons that the ASUS Eee PC line remains popular among many retailers. The glossy black plastics aren't prone to flex and the keyboard is very firm ... two things you usually don't see on larger budget notebooks. The various parts of the chassis come together with tight build tolerances like a higher-priced laptop. The 1101HA isn't a premium laptop by any stretch of the imagination, but this netbook is pretty solid build for a street price of only about $410.

The bottom of the netbook looks very clean and smooth with an easy-access RAM cover, heat vents, and the battery. If you want to upgrade the RAM in your 1101HA 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 and Speakers
The new Eee PC 1101HA Seashell uses a reasonably impressive 11-inch LED-backlit display panel with a 1366x768 native resolution. The glossy screen in the 1101HA offers good color and contrast, though images looked a bit washed out at default settings. Glare and reflections indoors under strong lights or outdoors under direct sunlight can be a problem because of the glossy surface, but the LED backlighting is usually strong enough to overpower any reflections on the screen. Again, the most noteworthy feature here is the 1366x768 resolution which is a nice boost over the 1024x600 resolution on 10-inch screens. Vertical viewing angles are average, with some color distortion when viewing from below and 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.

The built-in speakers, like those found on virtually all netbooks, are pretty weak. You can use them to listen to short online video clips or system alert sounds, but if you want to enjoy music or a feature-length movie while traveling then you'll need to purchase a good set of headphones.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The 1101HA uses a new 95% full-size keyboard that is marginally larger and more comfortable than the 92% of full-size keyboard first seen on the 1008HA Seashell. The keys on this netbook keyboard are still slightly smaller than the keys on an average notebook and the spacing between the keys is a little cramped. If you prefer the shape and feel of traditional keys then you'll probably like the new keyboard. That said, I personally prefer the "Chiclet" style keyboard on netbooks since Chiclet keys provide 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 1101HA appears to be identical to the gesture-enabled models on the 1008HA and 1005HA. 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 1101HA 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 1101HA features an identical port layout to the one seen on the 1005HA. Specifically, 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 1101HA 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 1101HA:

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 1101HA also features the "Eee Docking software" first seen on the 1005HA. 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 applications, 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 from the top of the screen and is semi-hidden when not in use.

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Performance and Benchmarks
The 1101HA might look like it's "bigger and better" than the smaller 1005HA, but this 11-inch netbook is equipped with a lower performance Intel Atom Z520 processor running at 1.33GHz compared to most other Eee PCs that have N280 or N270 Atom processors running at 1.6GHz or faster. The Z520 suffers from noticeably more lag than the N270 or N280 when opening various applications in a Windows environment. The processor is still capable of running the same software that other netbooks do, but you might have to wait an extra second or two for a web browser window to open or for Microsoft Office to load a document.

If you've read our reviews of other netbooks that use the Intel Atom processors then you know that all Atom-based netbooks have similar 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. Just don't expect the fastest laptop on the planet and you'll probably be satisfied with the performance.

On a positive note, ASUS includes a proprietary overclocking application on the 1101HA 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 overclock the processor by roughly 30 percent (from 1.33GHz to 1.74GHz).

Unfortunately, there's only so much anyone can do with Intel GMA 500 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.

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

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

HDTune for the built-in hard drive:

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. In fact, thanks to the Z520 processor, the temperature readings taken from the outside of the plastic chassis remained surprisingly "lap friendly" during normal use.

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 1101HA provides "all-day computing" with up to 11 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 "Super Performance" power profile (with the CPU overclocked to 1.74GHz) the system stayed on for 6 hours and 57 minutes of constant use. If we allowed the netbook run at a standard clock speed of 1.33GHz we were able to get closer to 9 hours and 20 of battery life!

Conclusion
The new ASUS Eee PC 1101HA might seem like little more than an oversized version of the Eee PC 1005HA, but you really shouldn't judge this netbook by its cover. The high resolution 11-inch display, larger keyboard, and easily overclocked processor make this little laptop a compelling option if you're looking for a cheap travel companion.

On the negative side of things, the slower N520 Atom processor really "needs" to be overclocked in order to provide a reasonably snappy experience, and the weak Intel integrated graphics prevent this netbook from being much of a mobile entertainment center.

I'm glad ASUS is finally giving consumers a higher resolution screen, but I hope we'll see a better graphics solution and better touchpad buttons in this generation of netbooks. If you're in the market for an 11-inch netbook then the new Eee PC 1101HA is worth a closer look.

Pros:

• Nice build quality
• Good screen
• Easy to overclock

Cons:

• Has to be overclocked
• Still uses weak integrated graphics
• Bad touchpad buttons

Related Articles:

• ASUS Eee PC 1005HA Review

 

What a pity ... everything else about the netbook looked nice, but the lower cpu just does the thing in for me. I owned a 1000ha and the n270 atom was just a little too slow for me ... this cpu looks noticeably slower.

 

It is a good price for what you get but that is about it.

 

The GMA500 can handle 720p and 1080p. Hardware acceleration needs to be enabled - it's the Atom processor that can't handle HD videos, not the GMA.

 

Hate the touchpad texture. They should also spend an extra $ and make the touchpad 2 buttons instead of this single button that pivots in the middle. Sure it looks better as a single button but it is so much more annoying to click.

 

It would've been helpful, IMHO, to mention somewhere within the review that the standard overclocking capabilities disappear if you upgrade the RAM to 2GB. Well, there is a tiny exception to this rule but only a small handful of 2GB DDR2-800 memory modules are qualified by Asus to work in conjunction with the SHE overclocking.

More info here:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=75195

Otherwise, I really like the formfactor of this machine. I'd just love to see a CULV version with a user-replacable HDD. I still prefer Asus' build quality, styling, and support over Acer (as well as Asus' more favorable stance on standard Bluetooth).

 

Kinda sad with the single slot RAM. 4GB modules are simply too expensive right now. Also, the 1410 Timeline is $430 shipped from Amazon.

I wonder if there will be massive discounts on netbooks once the CULV ultraportables hit full force as we near the release of Windows 7.

update: 4GB module won't work. *sigh*

 

I am not too crazy about the single button rocker style touchpad buttons either....

Good question!

 

Another nice review, unfortunately there have been so many netbook reviews it feels like you could simply describe the screen, keyboard, and case and be done with it... there is nothing much new in any netbook that has an Atom processor anymore.

Seems like time that could be put towards more interesting laptops to review. This is all my opinion though....

 

Actually the Atom with GMA500 can play 1080p videos smooth if the right codecs are installed.

Cyberlink PowerDVD can do it.

 

Media Player Classic and Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre can also do it.

 

I don't like this laptop. Sure, it's good when you're considering the price but I dislike it! The specifications could be a little better and the design is not the best. It doesn't look good when you view it from the side. Good review though.

 

I really hate that a lot of the netbooks are going with glossy screens.

I think matte is much more practical and usable.

 

I prefer glossy myself.

My Gateway LT3100 trumps that Asus in every test. There is simply no reason to even consider the Asus unless you absolutely CANNOT have a Gateway or Acer.

The new 11.6" Gateway Acer's are equipped with Core 2 Solo ULV processors and cost $450 at newegg, why would ANYBODY rather have such a cruddy processor like the Z520?

I had the higher end Z530 in a Dell Inspiron mini 10 and I cannot express to you how weak it was at everything.

The GMA 500 was disturbingly bad also.

 

Except battery life.

Agreed. Acer 1410 with SU3500 was going for $399 last week.

 

Well, if you MUST have integrated Bluetooth, then that's one more point in favor of the Asus EEEs but I agree that the Acer/Gateway CULV machines are the best units on the market right now for the money ($400-$450).

I really wish Acer would take BT more seriously and beef up their support offerings (less bloatware, include a restore DVD in the box, revamp their support site etc).

 

Tell me, how does this stand out of the bunch of netbooks in the market?
I see basically the same things...

 

-11.6" 1366*768 screen is rare in the netbook market, only the Acer 751 has it.
-An overclocking function beyond 1.7GHz is super rare.

 

Spotted a few mistakes.

1. Specs - 1366x768 is WXGA, not WSVGA.

2. Heat and Noise - "Temperatures on the new Eee PC Seashell are in line with..." The 1101HA isn't branded Seashell. From what I know, this was copied exactly from the 1005HA article, hence the error.

 

Does it have to look good to be a good machine though?

 

I'm about to install Windows 7 on one of these for a co-worker; am in the process of getting all the drivers before reformatting. One thing I do notice though, is that the system fan is always audible. Is it supposed to stay on all the time like this? It has the current BIOS 0317 and HWMonitor shows nothing out of the ordinary.