The Asus Eee PC 1008HA is the top of the line model in their seashell series which includes the best-selling 1005HA. The 1008HA is basically identical to the 1005HA in every way except that it is thinner, lighter, and has small access doors to hide the ports.
Here are the hardware specs:
- Intel Atom N280 processor (1.67GHz)
- 6 hours battery life
- 1GB RAM (upgradeable to 2GB)
- 10.1″ LED backlit LCD display (1024×600 resolution) non-glossy
- 160GB SATA 2 5400 rpm hard-drive (250GB Windows 7 model)
- Weight: 2.4 lbs
- integrated 802.11 b/g/n wireless
- integrated low-light webcam
- Windows XP or Windows 7 OS
Asus’ effort to update and reinvent the 1005HA was largely successful, but not so successful in other ways. It is a refreshed and clean exterior look with its hidden ports, and it is definitely thinner and lighter. The only problem is that to make it thinner and lighter they had to remove the bottom access doors so it’s not an easy task to upgrade the RAM. Instead of a simple unplug and replace operation like with the 1005HA, upgrading the RAM in this bad boy involves taking the computer apart and can be quite an ordeal.
The ports on the outside have been covered with doors and access ports, which looks nice but can slow you down at times.
funky vga port
The battery is also non-removeable so you’re stuck with 6 hour max battery life, which isn’t too bad after all.
Now that I’ve covered the negatives here’s a look at where they all payoff, in the 1 inch thick design. For a slightly higher price tag you get a very beautiful netbook.
the 1008HA sitting on its portlier cousin, the 1005HA
The thin design is very beautiful and at it’s also over 1/2 pound lighter than the 1005HA, which is very light in itself. Overall the effect on the 1008HA is that it is the most portable and lightweight netbook you can buy. If you like the 1005HA (which everyone does) but want something a little lighter and more portable than the 1008HA is the way to go. It’s available from Amazon preloaded with Windows 7 for around $400.
