I had bought one for my wife and liked it so much I ordered a 2nd for myself.
Three words for this netbook: Stilysh, compact, slim. I was skeptical about getting 1008HA vs. 1005HA due to battery life but unless you travel often to Europe (which is a 12 hour travel from US) you might not need an all day computer. 4.5 Hours with mid-bright screen and running wi-fi (or 6 hrs no wifi/bt & lowest brightness) is what you get on this little machine. The covered ports are awesome and really makes this pc look expensive and original. Everyone in the office asks me about it because, compared to other netbooks, this one is really thin. Regarding the 2GB upgrade, you see when you run WinXP with customized desktops, antivirus & antispyware you're pretty much about 416MB of ram. The other 584MB you can use for PPTs, (Internet Explorer, Itunes, and Outlook) and you'll be fine. I have a friend who made the 2GB upgrade on this 1008HA and really, it doesn't feel any faster (performance wise). Windows 7 Requires a minimum of 1GB of ram for a 32BIT, so when the final release comes out it will run perfect. I'd give 5 stars just because $400 bucks really makes it worth of the price being 1/4th of a macbook air. You won't regret it.
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I received my Asus 1008ha 6-9-09 and loved it. The design, size and functionality are perfect for my business. For me and the type of work I do, this computer seemed the be perfect. After five weeks of use the computer wouldn't start. When I pressed the power button, nothing happened. I called Asus support for warranty service and found out that I had to pay to ship the computer back for warranty service. "You have to be kidding", I told the service person. After five weeks of use, I have to pay to send their defective product to be repaired? What's up with that? I sent the unit in for service, received it yesterday, opened the box, pressed the power button AND THE COMPUTER STILL DOES NOT WORK. I then called tech. support, they issued a new RMA and agreed to pay shipping to send the computer back for service. As of this morning I still have not received a shipping label.
I spent hours loading programs and data to set up this computer. It was all for nothing because Asus sold me a piece of junk. At this moment I am not happy and cannot recommend the 1008ha to anyone.Get more detail about ASUS Eee PC 1008HA Seashell 10.1-Inch Pearl Black Netbook - 6 Hour Battery Life.
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The asus 1008ha is beautiful. The design is great, small and thin, great for travel. However, I was dissappointed on its speed. It's kind of slow, especially when it run on battery. Everytime I tried to watch a video on HULU, it kept pausing. I called ASUS tech support and they couldn't resolve it neither. Test it out before you buy this model.Get more detail about ASUS Eee PC 1008HA Seashell 10.1-Inch Pearl Black Netbook - 6 Hour Battery Life.
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I bought this netbook primarily to use when travelling, as my main laptop is a Dell that weighs over 5 lbs. The 10.1" screen is fantastic, and while it is reflective, it is not problematic at all, unless trying to use it outdoors in the daylight. The keyboard runs edge to edge, and the keys feel very natural and are not awkwardly placed for normal typing. Video playback is fine, it is not jerky on iTunes or youtube. When deciding between this one and the 1005HA, for me I did not want the extra .5 lb weight for 2 hrs extra battery life.
Initially I had concerns with the difficulty in upgrading the RAM, but after using it for more than a month, I don't feel the need to upgrade it. XP boots up very fast, as does firefox, etc. If you are looking for a lightweight netbook with a great keyboard and 10" screen, look no further.Get more detail about ASUS Eee PC 1008HA Seashell 10.1-Inch Pearl Black Netbook - 6 Hour Battery Life.
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I bought this on impulse about a month ago for an upcoming stretch of working vacations and business travel this summer, and I am glad I did. Years of lugging around various brick-like laptops, just to keep up with email and make the occasional emergency document edit or ssh session, was getting old. A friend had a Macbook Air and I considered it, but the price was absurd. This seemed like a good compromise - plus by burning DVDs we would be able to keep our 2-year-old entertained with some shows on the plane, a plan which worked very well.
Like many people, I thought the 1280x600 resolution would be a major bummer. But in reality it hardly ever matters at all, and when it does it is a small price to pay for the form factor and weight. There are certain things this is not suited for, but that is why I have twin 22" monitors at home. The screen is clear, finely detailed and has great contrast and range, if you can't deal with it then you probably need to see an optometrist. My only gripe is the gloss (found on almost everything these days), which makes it hard to deal with outdoors or by a window - but indoors it's better, so it's a toss-up.
keyboard: very well done, I couldn't improve it if asked, for the size. Might be one of the most comfortable keyboards I've ever used on a laptop PC of any size.
Battery life - 5-6 hours may be an issue for some, but personally I have found it sufficient so far, and again it's a weight trade-off I am happy to make. Did I mention it's light?
The BIG problem: Windows XP. After using OSX and Linux for the last 7 years, it looks dated and dysfunctional. It's downright sad that millions of people are still using this in 2009 and have no idea there is a better world out there.
Fortunately, Ubuntu Netbook Remix is well suited to the 1008HA, although it does currently need a bit of voodoo to get the wired and wireless networking to work (see http://www.amazon.com/review/R1FY56FWYYXMFD/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm). Conveniently, ASUS splits the 160Gb drive in half with a C: and D: drive, so it took about 45 minutes to get it all installed and happy as a dual-boot with XP. Camera and sound work and the performance is great, it wakes from suspend in about 5 seconds. Fedora 11 and Moblin are said to be working well on the 1000HE but may be a few drivers missing on this newer model, will research as time allows.
So I am subtracting one star for making me deal with Windows XP for a couple days (and pay for it), and for having such a glossy screen that picks up fingerprints.
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Best looking netbook by far. I looked at all the latest netbooks and this one is far ahead aesthetically. Very impressive how the ports are neatly covered with plastic tabs. To keep the seashell shape, the ethernet port folds in a bit when not in use. I chose white as black is a huge fingerprint magnet. Fingerprints are not that visible on white. First unit I got did not boot (hard disk was making clicking noises). Amazon sent a replacement unit the very next day with overnight free shipping. The second unit has no problems so far except for one USB port stops working after waking up from hibernation. This is not my main computer so can't comment on performance. I just use it for browsing and emails for which the performance is more than sufficient. I am etting abt 5 hrs of battery on minimum screen brightness and no audio/video play. Pretty decent considering the light weight. Wireless works flawlessly even across sleep/hibernation. Got 5Mbps speed (which is the maximum my DSL can get).
The reason for 4 stars is the highly reflective screen. This screen is practically useless outdoors. This screen is no different than the reflective screen that comes with latest greatest laptops including MACbook pro. Even the MACbook is useless outdoor. Get more detail about ASUS Eee PC 1008HA Seashell 10.1-Inch Pearl Black Netbook - 6 Hour Battery Life.
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This netbook is great it's very light and thin run window 7 flawlessly, the battery life could be better and I wish it come with better cover but Do like how quiet the netbook is you can't hear the fan at all.Get more detail about ASUS Eee PC 1008HA Seashell 10.1-Inch Pearl Black Netbook - 6 Hour Battery Life.