What would you get if ASUS EEE S101 and EEE 1000H go to bed? An EEE 1002HA! The EEE 1002HA share the many of the hardware specifications of the EEE 1000H and sleek and svelte looks of the admiring EEE S101. Are we happy with what we get? Read the review to find out!
Design
The EEE 1002HA looks very much like the S101. Infact, if you put both of them together, it would be very hard for someone to actually differentiate between of them unless you observe them closely. That said, we will cover the differences between S101 and 1002HA later this review.
The EEE 1002HA is made from brushed plastic which gives it a ‘expensive’ look as compared to other netbooks in the market. On the right, you will find a USB 2.0 port, microphone and earphone jack.
On the left, you will find two USB 2.0 ports.
On the front of the device, you will find speaker grills.
On the back of the device, you will find Kensington lock, power in, LAN port, VGA out port and multi-card reader.
The cover holds two LEDs which show the charging status and power status. The power LED lights up when the EEE is on and blinks when the netbook is in standby mode. The charging LED is orange on AC power and green on battery power. The cover needs a special mention. It is glossy and looks very stylish and certainly makes it look different from the rest of the netbooks.
The pictures just do not do full justice to the looks of the 1002HA. It looks much more professional than the 1000H as it is not as curvy. Even the area around the trackpad gives you a feel of expensive device. Personally, I found it more attractive the S101.
Display
The display is 10-inch (not 10.2-inch) as compared to other EEEs. Does that make any difference? Well, I did not know about the fact the display in 1002HA is 0.2-inch smaller than the other 10+inch netbooks, until I saw the specification sheet.
So, how is the display? Display is adequately sharp and colorful. It has the usual netbook resolution (1024 x 600).The display is non-glossy just like other EEE PCs. Two microphones also sit just beneath the display.
Keyboard
The keyboard forms the most important aspect of any netbook. When it comes to any 10-inch+ netbooks, people expect great keyboards so that they are able to type-on long documents on-the-go. The keyboard in 1002HA is excellent. While typing, you don’t have to press the keys much. Infact, I had to use even less force as compared to my 1000H, which also has great keyboard.
Again, just like S101 and 1000H, it comes with a small right shift key. Although, this problem is rectified in the newer EEEs (like 1000HE), this so-called problem has never bothered me. I’m happy with the keys arrangement and can live with the small right shift key.
Trackpad
The trackpad is 100% identical to the one found in EEE S101. It is big and easy to use. I faced no problems using it. It supports the usual multi-touch gestures like two finger scroll, zoom-in and zoom-out functions. Unlike 1000H, which has separate left and right click buttons, it has a single bar just like old EEE 700-series.
Speakers
It has two speakers, both located on the front. They are not as strong as the ones found on the 1000H, but they do their job nicely. They are fine for skype and for casual listening to music that does not has too much of bass.
Memory
It comes with 160GB HDD and a gig of RAM. It also comes with 10GB of EEE storage (link)
Upgradability
Just like other HDD-based EEE PCs, ASUS has provided access to the HDD and RAM. Although, replacing the RAM is quite easy, but replacing the HDD can be a quite tricky. Here is the tutorial on how to swap HDD and RAM of the EEE 1002HA
Battery Life
The EEE 1002HA is equipped with 4200mAh lithium-polymer battery. The ASUS claims that it should provide around 5 hours of battery life. I do not think you are ever going to achieve those numbers, but since it is a lithium-polymer battery, its performance as compared to the standard lithium-ion battery is better (as expected). However, we were able to get a little more than 3 hours under heavy wifi use. Without wifi, you may be able to stretch those numbers to somewhere between 3-3.5 hours, but not more than that.
Also, since the battery is located beneath the unit, it would be very difficult for ASUS or for the third party companies to come up with extended battery. On the brighter side, the battery’s weight is not too much. So, it is more sensible to get another battery instead of waiting for some company to come up with extended battery.
Comparison with 1000H
Firstly, the screen of 1000H can be tilted way farther as compared to the 1002HA
Secondly, the 1002HA feels much smaller than 1000H. While the EEE 1000H feels a little bit on the bulky side, this is not the case with the EEE 1002HA. The reason is that the width of the 1000H is little bigger than the 1002HA. This is due to the fact that the battery is located beneath the hinge of the 1000H, whereas the battery of 1002HA is located on the bottom of the device.
How is it different from EEE S101?
- The keys in S101 had a unique crystal coating. This type of coating is missing in 1002HA
- The S101 is slimmer than the 1002HA. The reason is the use of SSD in S101 which is considerably slimmer than the regular laptop HDD found in 1002HA
How about some benchmarks?
First, CrystalDiskMark benchmark on the 1002HA:
Results of Crystaldiskmark on S101. S101’s SSD completely nails the HDD of 1002HA
Now, here are the results of Crystalmark on 1002HA:
..and of S101’s. As you can see, the scores are nearly identical except in the HDD department.
Final Thoughts
The EEE 1002HA is a great machine which takes the all the positives of the EEE S101 and EEE 1000H. The ASUS took the challenge to produce a regular HDD-based EEE with the slim looks of S101. Are we happy with the final outcome? Yes! The 1002HA is great in performance and brings seriously professional looks. On the battery life front, it may not break and records, but with careful usage, you should easily get 3.5 hours+ of battery life.
—
Pros:
- Shares the same sexy looks of the EEE S101
- HDD is way roomy as compared to small SSD of S101
- RAM and HDD easily upgradable
- Feels expensive
- Smaller than the 1000H
- Zippy performance with the XP
- 10GB EEE storage
Cons:
- Battery life is not great
- No extended battery options
- Small right shift key
Also read:
Review of EEE S101
Tutorial to upgrade RAM and HDD of EEE 1002HA
Comments are closed.