Cramped keypad, uncomfortable trackpad
The ASUS 1005HA follows ASUS’ design ethos for netbooks. The body is designed so as to slope downwards towards the bottom edge of the lid giving it a tapered look. The corners are gently rounded, and the build quality is superb. In fact the plastics used on the rear are solid with no flex in their structure. The entire body sports a glossy black finish and in collaboration with the “Eee” embossed in chrome on the lid, the ASUS 1005HA stands out. The first thing we noticed was the trackpad – although dimpled, the protrusions were not as severe as the trackpad on the ASUS 1201HA, making the ASUS 1005HA infinitely more usable. Tracking accuracy was good. The mouse buttons were chrome finished, and are easily visible, although they’re as clicky as ever. The keypad is slightly cramped, as expected for a 10.1-inch display. The keys are well laid out though and keypad feedback although a bit soft, works fine and at no point does typing feel unintuitive. However, those used to a larger notebook will struggle initially. One exception to the overall keypad design is the up/down arrow keys. The display is decently bright, although colour and contrast is strictly mediocre.
In terms of performance this little beast could hold its own – the PC Mark 05 scores were pretty high when compared to some of its peers. It also shares a zippy hard drive with its larger sibling – the transfer scores were good, in particular the sequential transfer scores, which were some of the fastest we’ve come across for netbooks. At a price of Rs. 21,490 the ASUS 1005HA is slightly higher than what we would call a good price, however this is an MRP rate and market rates are bound to be lower, making it a pretty decent deal.