Netbooks are more popular than ever, and with new designs and components being introduced every month you can’t stop getting information before making a purchase; the market moves too quickly. The more you know about different models, the more well founded your decision will be, this article aims to uncover some of the features of the Asus 1005HA netbook.

Asus was the first to ride the wave in 2007 and meet the demand with a low computing power notebook, which they called EEE PC, but the name netbook stuck. Not that because they are only good for browsing the net but that they are designed for similarly low-profile tasks. Watching movies, reading and writing e-mails and the mentioned online content.

When they first hit the market everyone was sure, or at least the so-called experts were, that they will not make it to the one year mark. Netbooks were so small and limited at that time that it was hard to see if they were any good.

The Asus 1005HA is a product of two years in the business, few details are honed to perfection, other let to be forgotten, fortunately. The first thing to mention that has changed for good is the operating system. The 701 EEE used Linux, because the maker didn’t think it was possible to stuff a Windows XP into the small 4GB memory chip used as main storage. Some bored hackers managed to do that, but there is no need for knowing the ins and outs of the device, the 1005ha comes with XP.

The other noteworthy feature is the 1GB of memory as default. It allows for comfortable multi-tasking, but don’t expect the computer to run resource hogging applications simultaneously. Multiple tabs in your favorite browser are more like a thing to see as a result. Enthusiasts may put in another 1GB stick using the easily accessible trap door at the back pushing the available RAM to the maximum of 2GB. You can also do this without violating the warranty. Make sure you switch the computer off and remove the battery first though.

The processor is the ever so popular N270, which is not a common sight nowadays; the power of the unit is here to stay, though. It runs at 1.6GHz and is basically what the new N450 core has integrated amongst other things. It’s not the most resource friendly processor ever, but the unit happily runs for six hours and some on the basic 6 cell battery.

Switching Wi-Fi off and setting the screen to 25% brightness nets you a battery time of 7.5 hours, which is a more realistic expectation for those who are using the unit for word processing.

The main storage is a 160GB hard disk drive, nothing to mention here other than its speed. If you are used to the performance 5200RPM drives give you then you won’t be surprised by it, other may need to check it for them. It’s not very snappy but gets the job done. The drive is split to two 75GB partitions, the primary holds Windows files and the secondary is there for you to save your files. The rest of the remaining capacity is a hidden partition with a Norton Ghost file that allows you to reset the system.

While booting press F9 and follow instructions. Always backup everything before you reset the main partition, but my findings are that it only erases C and leaves D alone.

The Asus 1005HA is a surprisingly comfortable computer to use, the manufacturer really stood on the tip of its toes to give quality. The keyboard is a joy to type on and has keys with remarkable build. When compared to other makes this set of keys stands out from a mile, but don’t believe anyone and try it for yourself. I done my fair share of testing and can say that HP and Toshiba are the two other contenders who take it as seriously as Asus.

The computer is still on for sale, but you can find better deals. The successor is called 1005PE and has almost the same internal setup with the little addition of pushing battery life to either 11 or 14 hours, depending on the exact model number.