ASUS Eee PC 1005HA: Refining the Netbook
by Jarred Walton on August 20, 2009 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
ASUS Eee PC 1005HA -- Specifications and Overview
As stated, little has changed in terms of specifications since the ASUS 1000HE. All we can say for sure is that battery life has improved and the casing is slightly different. In addition, the 1005HA costs about $20 more than the 1000HE. Here's a rundown of the features of the ASUS 1005HA.
| ASUS Eee PC 1005HA Specifications | |
| Processor | Intel Atom N270 or N280 (Tested) N280: 1.66GHz, 512KB L2, 45nm, 667FSB |
| Chipset | Intel 945GSE + ICH7MU |
| Memory | 1x1024MB DDR2-533 @ 4-4-4-12 Timings |
| Graphics | Integrated Intel GMA 950 |
| Display | 10.1" Glossy LED-Backlit ~16:9 WSVGA (1024x600) |
| Hard Drive | 2.5" 160GB 5400RPM 7MB (Hitachi HTS543216L9SA00) |
| Networking | Atheros AR8132 Fast Ethernet Atheros AR9285 802.11n WiFi |
| Audio | Realtek AL269 2-Channel HD Audio (2.0 Speakers with headphone/microphone jacks) |
| Battery | 6-Cell 11.25V, 5600 mAhr, 63.0 Whr |
| Front Side | None |
| Left Side | Heat Exhaust Kensington Lock 1 x USB 2.0 VGA AC Power Connection |
| Right Side | SD/MMC reader Microphone/Headphone Jacks 2 x USB 2.0 100Mb Fast Ethernet |
| Back Side | None |
| Operating System | Windows XP Home SP3 |
| Dimensions | 10.31" x 7.01" x 1.02"-1.44" (WxDxH) |
| Weight | 2.8 lbs (with 6-cell battery) |
| Extras | 1.3MP Webcam Super Hybrid Engine (software over/under clocking) Available in White, Black, Blue, and Pink |
| Warranty | 1-year standard ASUS warranty (USA) Extended warranties available |
| Price | Black 1005HA-PU1X-BK starting at $381 |
We will see later whether we can reach the claimed 10.5 hours of battery life. The other features are typical of current netbooks, with minor bonus points for the inclusion of 802.11n WiFi. ASUS also provides a software utility to overclock (FSB to 680, CPU to 1.70GHz) or underclock (FSB to 566, CPU to 1.42GHz) the CPU/FSB/RAM. The overclock is too small to matter, though we might say the same about the N280 compared to the N270. The underclock is better, providing a slight (5.6%) increase in battery life . On the default "Auto" mode, the Super Hybrid Engine will run the CPU at full performance on AC power and underclock by 12% when you switch to battery power. The utility isn't going to radically alter your experience, but we certainly won't fault ASUS for its inclusion.
Before we get to the testing, here's a closer look at the system. We found a few other minor differences between the 1005HA and 1000HE in the exterior design.
So what differences do we find? First, there's the change in the casing on the bottom. Previously a larger panel provided access to both the memory slot and the hard drive; now you get a small panel that only provides access to the memory. If you want to upgrade your hard drive, you will now need to pry apart the chassis after removing additional screws. It's not particularly difficult on any notebook, but the change is a little odd. The other change we see is that the 1005HA has a new touchpad, and this isn't necessarily an improvement either. The new touchpad is part of the casing, with small bumps that help you find the limits of the touchpad area. It works about as well as any other touchpad we've used, but we're not sure why ASUS felt the need to undertake such a minor casing redesign. It's also possible that the LCD panel is different from the panel used in the 1000HE, which may help to account for the improved battery life.
If we had one complaint with the appearance, it would be the glossy surfaces. We understand manufacturers are sometimes stuck with glossy LCD panels because that's where the market has been going lately. Laptop casings on the other hand are firmly in the control of the laptop manufacturers. There's no reason we can't get some netbooks that don't have super glossy exteriors that show off every little fingerprint or smudge. ASUS has multiple Eee PC colors; can't we at least get one matte finish option? For what it's worth, white netbooks don't have as much of a problem with showing smudges. The black netbooks on the other hand… if you like to keep your netbook exterior clean, you'd better plan to carry around a cloth to wipe it down after each use.
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GeorgeH - Friday, August 21, 2009 - link
Thanks for those perspectives, they're much appreciated. I should probably just go buy one and judge for myself, but $200+ for another doorstop is a little steep. :)I guess for the time being I'll just stick with LGA775/AM2 for my low end needs.
JarredWalton - Thursday, August 20, 2009 - link
Honestly, employees get paid so much more than the computers they use (in all but a few situations) that there's no way I'd recommend "going green" by using Atom-based systems. Let's just estimate that computer-related tasks end up taking 10% more time on average (because multitasking is going to be more limited on such PCs). If you pay someone $20 per hour, you've now wasted $16 per day per employee.Even if it's only 5% and $8 per day, considering a 200W PC uses around $0.16 in electricity during an eight hour shift, cutting that down to an 8W netbook and spending a penny a day on power means that your net costs have still gone up $7.85 per day or more based on lost productivity.
Unless you're power constrained (i.e. in a data center), I think the whole green movement is just a bunch of marketing and political mumbo jumbo. Other "green" CPUs like Core 2 Duo would be far more effective at saving money over the course of the year.
Then again, the biggest source of lost money for companies is probably employees wasting time rather than waiting on their PCs. :-)
yyrkoon - Thursday, August 20, 2009 - link
"Dont expect to spend sub-$400 (not yet anyway) and still expect all the sweet things most commenters are asking for here"I did exactly that, 3 month ago. But it was not a netbook, it was a full blown laptop, even if low powered. $399, free shipping. But, I did add to the cost by having enough foresight to order a 4GB upgrade for it ( $50 ). It will definitely not win any speed records, but at least it *will* run Photoshop, play video without skipping a beat,and play game titles such as GTA San Andreas, or Titan Quest with no problems. All while using a maximum of 40W full load. Idle is only ~17W. Battery life is only ~2 hours, unless you turn it down to energy conservation mode, but that does not bother me one bit. As a matter of a fact, playing no games, and turning the power option down, I have had it last 8-9 hours, but I was not constantly using it like I often do while gaming.
Also, at the same time I was looking at an Asus C2D system, with 4 GB RAM, and one of the newer 512MB/1GB N120 nVidia dedicated graphics cards in it. It was not sub $400, but it was sub $800. This is something that I personally did not ever expect to see, and wished at the time - I had the cash to divert towards. Sadly, I could not :(
Anyhow, this all just lends to what I have been thinking ever since netbooks have been on the market. Which is: "Why even bother". You can get a decent laptop, for close to, or the same price, and get much better performance for your price. These laptop also may not be built like an M1 Abrams, but if you're careful with them, they will last a good long time.
qwertymac93 - Thursday, August 20, 2009 - link
im just waiting for amd's 45nm notebook chips, or at least their dual core neo's. the ones used by hp are custom, i want dual cores for everyone! is it too much to ask for a sempron 140 that uses 10watts or a 240 that uses 25?BigLan - Thursday, August 20, 2009 - link
It looks like the xvid and x264 pass 1 charts have got mixed up - I'd be really suprised in any of the laptops could only manage single digit xvid encoding.JarredWalton - Thursday, August 20, 2009 - link
The x264 encoding graphs are correct; there are no Xvid encoding results - I assume you mean the DivX results? x264 is much more complex than DivX, true, and the second pass in particular can take a very long time. However, the x264 encoding results are for a 720p video (graysky x264 HD Benchmark) while the DivX results are for a 1080p file (done in single-pass, quality-based, preset of 5). The settings and video source definitely have an impact on how quickly DivX encoding will run; a regular single-pass DVD encode is going to be about four or five times as fast in DivX. I'll add the video file information to the charts for clarification.Mithan - Thursday, August 20, 2009 - link
These netbooks are all fine and dandy, but they still have not made one I want.What do I want?
-1.6Ghz+ CPU
-11-12"
-Higher than 1024x600 resolution (1366x768?)
-Preferably an ION chipset, but I can still live with the 950.
There are a few 11-12" Netbooks on the market, but they all have that crappy 1.2Ghz Celeron or ZA520 chip or whatever it is called.
No, I dont want a 15" Laptop, even for the same price.
I guess the wait goes on...
Voldenuit - Friday, August 21, 2009 - link
What about CULV C2Ds and Athlon Neos? Ultraportable, ultrapowerful and ultraaffordable.qwertymac93 - Thursday, August 20, 2009 - link
ever heard of the samsung nc20? its via chip is actually a little faster then the atom n270 despite its low clock speed. the only drawback is its $100 more then most atom notebooks, but it does have a 12 inch screen!Visual - Thursday, August 20, 2009 - link
Well I am a bit more hard to satisfy than you then. the 950 is definitely not enough, i'd not say that even for the GMA 4500... but at least it would have been a step in the right direction.I also am ready to pay a bit more to have it convertible with a simple touchscreen... and pay even double if it were a really good touchscreen - at least 1024 pixels in vertical for adequate portrait operation, with multitouch, decent amount of pressure levels, both pen and finger sensitivity and ability to distinguish between the two.
Bonus points (and price) if it also distinguishes between the two sides of the pen or has a button or two on it, though buttons on the screen bezel can do the trick as well - they just need to be accessible in tablet mode. I think they are a must-have for emulation of hover functionality, where you're not forced to click and/or drag every time you touch the screen to move the "mouse" somewhere - anyone that has ever used a touchscreen probably understands this, so I really can't believe it's not a standard feature of every tablet by now.