Lowest Price ASUS 10.1" Eee PC 160GB Netbook Computer with Windows XP Home - Midnight Blue (1005HA)

I'm a Mac person. Used to be in tech support and Microsoft's software issues provided for me for most of my 20s, so I'm not a hater, but this review is geared specifically towards people who understand the possible benefits and limitations of a Netbook. This little guy certainly performs up to par, so long as you're not expecting the performance of a PC or Mac laptop.

As a small business owner who not only uses a laptop as my main computer, and travels extensively with it, who is clumsy and had dropped my laptop at least 3 dozen times in the past 3 years that I've had it, I was sad when my MacBook Pro finally died due to my own error. I'm still deciding between models. In the mean time, most of my companies functions are performed online, so I couldn't go more than the weekend without the computer.

So, instead of going on a weekend getaway, I got this little number, and I must say, I'm impressed. There are four laptops and two desktops in my household not including my now-deceased model and this one can go toe to toe with the other older models -- and sometimes win!

If you want to use this feller without the AC cord plugged in, spend a few extra bucks for the model with the longer battery. I always plug my computers in, so a full day battery life is a waste on me. This has a nice long cord too. I would say we're talking six or seven feet of cord.

I've never used the Webcam, so I can't speak on that . I do use screencasting software, like you'd find on [...] - no problems so far. Right now I have Skype open and two instances of Mozilla Firefox with 8 tabs open in one, no problems.

Pros

Small
Light
Attractive - I got it in blue, not too glossy, no fingerprint issues.

Cheap - I got mine on sale at Best Buy when it was out of stock here, and got mine for $[...] if you include taxes.

Fast - out of the box - With the bloatware, it's not as fast as my MBP, but it beats the pants off the other machines in the house, though they're a few years old. That Atom processor is something else.

Of course I have knocked it over twice already. No damages.

HD streaming video on sites like Hulu work just fine.

These speakers kick BUTT. I have yet to plug it into my desktop speakers, which was my only complaint about my MBP, ANY laptop, really.

Cons
Though the keyboard is almost full size, as a touch typist, about once a day I find myself mistakenly hitting keys that make strange things happen. So I had to turn off keyboard shortcuts on Google Docs, etc, but then, I don't use kb shortcuts anyway. In the browsers, it seems to be nothing a little Edit--> undo can't handle.

This is really a pet peeve but the lettering on the alphabetic keys seems to be for the blind. HUGE.

If you tilt the cover too far forward it hibernates automatically.

Switches from AC to battery unexpectedly sometimes when I shift the position. No idea why but it's only for a second.

To wrap this up - if you want a Netbook that can handle several programs open and several in the system tray without stuttering, that feels almost like a regular laptop, this is the one. I've tried many other 10.1 models, and unless you want more battery power, this is a safe bet.

My only regret is that I promised it to my mother when my Mac comes. :-D Come Christmas this will make a great gift.
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