ASUS Eee PC 1008HA Seashell Review

by Jerry Jackson

There is no shortage of netbooks (ultraportable budget laptops) on the market, but the new ASUS Eee PC 1008HA "Seashell" might prove to be one of the best netbooks yet. With a new thin and light design and long life battery the 1008HE Seashell has a lot to offer for a modest price. Keep reading to find out more about this little laptop.

Our ASUS Eee PC 1008HA features the following specifications:

• Operating System: Genuine Windows XP
• Processor: Intel Atom N280 Processor 1.66GHz (667MHz FSB)
• Memory: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM (667MHz)
• Internal Storage: 160GB 5400 rpm SATA HDD plus 10GB Eee Online Storage
• Display: 10.1-inch diagonal WSVGA+ (1024x600)
• Graphics: Intel GMA 950
• Wireless: Broadcom 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Expansion: 4-in-1 media card slot
• Ports and connectors: (2) USB 2.0 ports, proprietary VGA adapter, power connector, RJ-45/Ethernet (Gigabit), stereo headphone/line out, stereo microphone in, 1.3 megapixel webcam
• Dimensions (H x W x D): 0.75-1.20 x 10.3 x 7.0 inches (including feet)
• Weight: 2.4 lb (not including weight of AC adapter).
• Power: 3-cell Lithium-Polymer battery
• Warranty: One-year standard warranty
• MSRP: $429.99

Build and Design
The Eee PC 1008HA Seashell features a completely new design for the ASUS Eee PC family of netbooks. Like the name implies, the chassis shape is inspired by the curves of a seashell. The clamshell-like design gives the 1008HA a very clean and distinct appearance. Every port from Ethernet to USB is covered with plastic doors which are probably more decorative than they are protective. ASUS claims this version of the Eee PC is just one inch thick at its thickest point, but that doesn't include the feet on the bottom of the netbook. We measured the maximum thickness at more than one inch, but the 1008HA is still remarkably thin and light.

Once again, ASUS managed to impress our editors with their attention to build quality in the Eee PC line of netbooks. The glossy black plastics suffer from very little flex and the keyboard is as firm as even the best business-class notebooks on the market. The various parts of the chassis come together with tight seams and good attention to detail. ASUS claims that the plastics used on Eee PC 1008HA are coated with an "Infusion finish" that makes the netbook scratch resistant. I wasn't able to produce any scratches in the plastics during the testing period, but the glossy surface is extremely prone to fingerprint smudges which make this brand new netbook look a little dirty after just a few minutes of use. The 1008HA is also available in white, blue, and pink ... in case black isn't your color of choice.

ASUS switched to a new keyboard design on the 1008HA that is 92% of a full sized keyboard, which is a nice improvement over some of the older Eee PC netbook keyboards. The gesture-based Synaptics touchpad is likewise pretty large for a netbook. If ASUS made any obvious sacrifices with the design of the 1008HA then those sacrifices are related to making this netbook as thin as possible. I'll explain later in the review.

Screen
The new Eee PC 1008HA Seashell uses a fairly standard LED-backlit display panel with a 1024x600 native resolution. The glossy screen surface helps to improve color and contrast, but glare and reflections indoors under strong lights or outdoors under direct sunlight can be a problem. Although the 1024x600 resolution is far superior to the old 800x480 screen resolution on the original Eee PC, I was a little disappointed that ASUS didn't use a higher resolution display on the Eee PC 1008HA. Considering that several other manufacturers such as HP and Dell are offering netbooks with 1366x768 screens the display on this netbook just seems a little underwhelming. Vertical viewing angles are average, with minimal color distortion when viewing from below and some over-exposed colors when viewed from above. Horizontal viewing angles are better with colors staying accurate at extremely wide viewing angles; you won't have trouble sharing a YouTube video with friends using this display.

Keyboard and Touchpad
As previously mentioned, the 1008HA uses an all-new keyboard that is 92% of full size. The keys are slightly smaller than the keys on an average notebook but the spacing between the keys is quite limited. If you prefer the shape and feel of traditional keys then you'll probably like the new keyboard. That said, I personally prefer the "chicklet" style keyboard used on the ASUS Eee PC 1000HE since there is more space between the keys to prevent me from accidentally hitting the wrong key. Still, the keyboard on this netbook is quite usable and should be perfectly fine for typing quick emails or editing documents while traveling.

The Synaptics touchpad used on the 1008HA is a gesture-enabled model that allows you to use multi-figure gestures such as "pinching" your fingers together or "pulling" your fingers apart to zoom in or out. You can also use a "three-finger tap" as an alternative to a right click on a mouse. The Synaptics control panel in Windows also allows you to customize these gestures as well. The touchpad surface is covered in dots that provide a clear indication of the edges of the touchpad, but this also makes the touchpad surface too rough for quick finger movement. The left and right touchpad buttons are located beneath a single rocker-style button, but with no separation between the left and right side it's easy to accidentally press the middle of the touchpad button when you're trying to press the left or right side. The touchpad buttons have extremely shallow feedback, so it isn't always easy to feel when you have or have not pressed a button.

ASUS also included a number of dedicated buttons and keyboard shortcuts to make life easier. There's a dedicated wireless on/off button, touchpad on/off, as well as FN keyboard shortcuts for screen brightness, video output, volume, and Windows task manager.

Input and Output Ports
In terms of port selection the Eee PC 1008HA is pretty basic. You get two USB 2.0 ports, a 4-in-1 media card reader, headphone and microphone jacks, and a special collapsible Ethernet port. The curved door on the right hand side of the netbook flips down to allow a standard Ethernet cable to be connected to the netbook.

Here is a quick tour around the Eee PC 1008HA:

Front view: No ports here, just clean lines.

Rear view: No ports here either, just the hinge and battery status lights.

Left side view: Power jack, proprietary VGA out, USB 2.0 port, and heat vent.

Right side view: 4-in-1 card reader, USB 2.0 port, microphone jack, headphone jack, and Ethernet.

In case you're wondering how that proprietary VGA port works, it's very simple and similar to the USB-to-video out ports on digital cameras. In order to make the 1008HA Seashell as thin as possible ASUS had to remove the standard VGA monitor output. As a result the VGA adapter is stored in a convenient slot in the bottom of the netbook ... there when you need it and hidden away when you don't.

Performance and Benchmarks
When it comes to testing netbooks, I can't really get that excited about the benchmarks. If you've read our reviews of other netbooks that use the Intel Atom processors then you know that all Atom-based netbooks have nearly identical performance in terms of actual real-world use. Overall performance with the Intel Atom platform is very reasonable for daily activities like Web browsing, email, using Microsoft Office, listening to music, and even watching movies. If you're in a bind you can even use photo editing software like Photoshop or GIMP for basic image editing.

ASUS also includes a proprietary overclocking application on the 1008HA called the "Super Hybrid Engine" that allows you to cycle through pre-set power profiles to maximize battery life by underclocking the processor, keep the processor at stock speed or slightly overclock the processor (from 1.66GHz to 1.70GHz).

If the Eee PC 1008HA suffers from any problems in terms of performance, it's likely related to the new proprietary VGA connector that ASUS uses to make the Seashell as thin as possible. The connection appears to be USB-to-VGA and if so that may be the heart of the problem. We've tested many simple video over USB solutions in the past and every single one of them suffers from sub-par performance with 720p and 1080p video files. *UPDATE* ASUS provided us with an updated BIOS for the 1008HA which improved our 3DMark06 results, putting its score more in line with other similarly configured netbooks.

That said, it's worth mentioning that the GMA 950 graphics in the Eee PC Seashell use the default clock speed of 133MHz for better battery life while some netbooks use a clock speed of 166MHz for better performance. The proprietary VGA port on the 1008HA should be fine if you're just wanting to display a Word document on an external monitor or show a PowerPoint presentation on a projector, or even standard definition (DVD quality) video files, but 720p and 1080p video playback over the proprietary VGA port to a higher resolution monitor suffers from some dropped frames/stutter. We used a number of widely available 720p HD trailers (such as this one) during our tests and none of the 720p movies played without some dropped frames. As long as you stay away from HD video you'll never notice any video problems ... similar to other netbooks currently on the market.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

Notebook / CPU	wPrime 32M time
Sony VAIO TZ (Core 2 Duo U7600 @ 1.20GHz)	76.240 seconds
HP Pavilion dv2 (AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 @ 1.60GHz)	103.521 seconds
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE (Intel Atom N280 @ 1.66GHz)	114.749 seconds
ASUS Eee PC 1008HA (Intel Atom N280 @ 1.66GHz)	116.030 seconds
HP Mini 2140 with HD screen (Intel Atom N270 @ 1.60GHz)	123.281 seconds
Acer Aspire One (Intel Atom @ 1.60GHz)	125.812 seconds
Lenovo IdeaPad S10 (2009) (Intel Atom @ 1.60GHz)	126.406 seconds
Samsung NC20 (VIA Nano ULV U2250 @ 1.30GHz)	173.968 seconds

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Sony VAIO TZ (1.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600, Intel GMA 950)	2,446 PCMarks
HP Pavilion dv2 (1.60GHz AMD Athlon Neo, ATI Radeon HD 3410 512MB)	2,191 PCMarks
ASUS N10 (1.60GHz Intel Atom, NVIDIA 9300M 256MB)	1,851 PCMarks
Toshiba Portege R500 (1.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600, Intel GMA 950)	1,839 PCMarks
ASUS Eee PC 1008HA (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, Intel GMA 950)	1,564 PCMarks
Acer Aspire One (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 950)	1,555 PCMarks
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, Intel GMA 950)	1,535 PCMarks
Samsung NC20 (1.30GHz VIA Nano ULV U2250, VIA Chrome9 HC3)	1,441 PCMarks
HP Mini 2140 with HD screen (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GM1 950)	1,437 PCMarks

3DMark06 comparison results against netbooks @ 1024 x 768 resolution:

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
HP Pavilion dv2 (1.60GHz AMD Athlon Neo, ATI Radeon HD 3410 512MB)	1,520 3DMarks
ASUS N10 (1.60GHz Intel Atom, NVIDIA 9300M 256MB)	1,417 3DMarks
Samsung NC20 (1.30GHz VIA Nano ULV U2250, VIA Chrome9 HC3)	151 3DMarks
Acer Aspire One (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 950)	122 3DMarks
ASUS Eee PC 1008HA (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, Intel GMA 950)	116 3DMarks
HP Mini 2140 with HD screen (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GM1 950)	112 3DMarks
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, Intel GMA 950)	92 3DMarks
Sony VAIO P (1.33GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 500, Windows Vista)	88 3DMarks

HDTune for the built-in hard drive:

Audio
The built-in speaker performance on the Eee PC 1008HA is extremely good for a 10-inch netbook. I'm not a fan of the location of the built-in speakers since they're located on the bottom front edge of the 1008HA, but the audio quality is quite good. The speakers produce excellent volume (enough to fill a small room) and there is minimal distortion even at higher volume levels. The speakers lack much bass, but the range of highs and midtones are perfectly enjoyable.

Granted, most audiophiles will want to use external speakers or headphones for a better listening experience ... but the built-in speakers work well in a pinch. The audio output from the headphone jack is free of any obvious distortion and worked fine with the earphones and external speakers I used during the testing.

Heat and Noise
Temperatures on the new Eee PC Seashell are quite comfortable thanks to the use of the Intel Atom processor and a well thought out chassis design. Temperature readings taken from the outside of the plastic chassis remained "lap friendly" during normal use. The only time that temperature readings spiked was when I connected the VGA adapter to the netbook and connected an external display.

This little seashell-shaped netbook stayed perfectly silent during our testing and it's safe to say that the 1008HA is one of the quietest netbooks we reviewed. However, we might have been willing to put up with some fan noise to keep temperatures down when the netbook was connected to an external display.

Below are images indicating the temperature readings (listed in degrees Fahrenheit) taken inside our office where the ambient temperature was 74 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep in mind that these temperatures were recorded while the 1008HA was connected to an external display running at 1280x1024 resolution. When the 1008HA was not connected to an external display the bottom temperatures never exceeded 96 degrees.

Battery
Battery life with the integrated 3-cell lithium-polymer battery is reasonably impressive for a travel laptop. In our test with the screen brightness set to 70%, wireless active, and XP set to the laptop/portable power profile the system stayed on for 6 hours and 36 minutes of constant use. Although I'm more than a little annoyed by the fact that you cannot replace the battery or use an extended life battery, the fact that the Eee PC 1008HA delivers more than 6 hours of battery life with constant use is pretty impressive.

Conclusion
At first glance, the new ASUS Eee PC 1008HA Seashell might not seem like an extraordinary netbook. Indeed, with so many netbooks using the same processor, integrated graphics, and standard 10-inch display, there isn't much on paper to make this netbook stand out in a crowd.

Still, what the 1008HA lacks in performance, it makes up for in finishing touches. The thin and light design, extreme battery life, and nearly full size keyboard make the Seashell Eee PC a very attractive travel laptop. If you can overlook the integrated battery and weak HD video performance the 1008HA is every bit as good or perhaps even better than the competition.

Pros:

• Thin and light
• Excellent battery life
• Cool built-in VGA adapter

Cons:

• Integrated battery
• Weak VGA output performance at HD resolutions
• Bad touchpad buttons

Related Articles:

• ASUS Eee PC 1000HE Review
• ASUS Eee PC 1000HA Review
• ASUS to Intro Eee PC 'Seashell'
• ASUS N10JC-A1 Review

 

Thanks for the review. Six hours of battery seems unbelievable!

 

If you click on the images they should open a new window with larger images showing the temperatures. If the larger images are still difficult to read we can certainly look into using alternative colors and fonts, but this is the first forum post I've read that mentioned poor visibility of the temperatures listed in the heat and noise section.

Let me know if the larger images still aren't helpful.

 

sexy looking

 

I'm with Indrek. I was thinking the same thing while reading this review. True when you open up the larger image it's no problem to read, but I really don't need to zoom in to read the temps. Maybe just little lighter shade of red? I realize that it varies from laptop to laptop though and what shows up well on a white laptop doesn't show up so well on a black laptop. But it's something you might want to consider.

 

Good review, it seems like a pretty impressive notebook. If it went down to the seemingly standard now $350 I might consider it alongside the 1000HE.

What I want to know is how Asus pulled off over 6 hours on a 3-cell battery when other netbooks, like my wife's Aspire One can only do 2 hours on a 3-cell battery. My guess is Asus used larger cells... maybe much larger... because other than that, I don't know what is very different between them.

 

thank you for the review.

6:36 is much more time than anyone else seems to be getting. what kind of things were you doing in that 6:36? run any video clips or youtube clips during that time? if so, how much?

the amount of battery life you got out of the machine almost made me pull the trigger, but I'm greatly concerned about the VGA-out. I really need that to work properly for video at 1680x1050. that it might not is greatly concerning, as I often play video clips during my presentations.

Citizen86: it uses a LiPolymer battery; not lithium ion, which is waht's in your wife's laptop. different technologies = different results. this is the same kind of battery used in the new MacBook Pro's that get 6-8 hours of battery life. also, other than eBay with cash back, where are you finding 1000HE's for $350?

 

Zipzoomfly had a deal a while back for a 1000HE with a 2gb ram stick... then it went to $370. Looks like it's $370 now.

 

yep. you can get it through Zipzoomfly for ~ $330 right now with live cashback.

this laptop (1008ha) can also be obtained through them for $386.

I'd really like to find out more about the VGA-out. that's a show-stopper for me. if that's not good enough, I'll either go with the HE or wait for the 1005ha, which will have a standard VGA-out port.

 

That's what I thought.

I think Trustedreviews got about 5.

 

then again, TrustedReviews stated that they didn't run the laptop in any of the battery-saving power modes/profiles.

they just left it at high power and let it run. (that's part of what I found disappointing about that review, tbh)

 

Thanks for the in-dept review, Jerry.

One question: would you happen to know if the HDD and ram is located under the keyboard like some of the HP netbooks, and if so, how easy is it for users to upgrade these components?

 

I thought the same.

But still 6:30 on 70% brightness seems extremely long.

 

If you want the 1008HA to output 1680x1050 resolution it can do it for a standard Windows desktop, web browser, Microsoft Office, or standard definition video upscaled to 1680x1050, but native 720p video playback will suffer from dropped frames/stutter. The Intel IGP just can't handle HD video at higher resolutions without some loss of quality (you can see the video, but you'll lose frames or see video stutter.

UPDATE: Just to clarify, standard definition/DVD quality video is still completely viewable, but based on the 720p and 1080p video files I tested you will notice dropped frames if you attempt to watch native HD video.

 

C|Net review is live

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/asus-eee-pc-1008ha/4505-3121_7-33661568.html?tag=smallCarouselArea.0

yet another review that only measures battery life based on a video drain test (which does not help the majority).

I'm starting to think this thread and future testimonies from owners will be our only window into just how much time we can realistically expect to get under normal usage.

 

So, it looks like it's great on design but sacrifices functionality & features for it. (What with weaker VGA, fewer USB's, shorter battery life,) in comparison with the 1000he.

Personally, I'm looking to pounce on the 1005ha. Looks like it'll solve all the issues that the 1008 has and become the netbook to beat. (Although the pricing for the H model, with bluetooth, could be an issue. I wish they'd include BT as an option for the M model.)

I have a question or two about the seashell design:

1. How is the keyboard, really? Is it less usable than the 1000he's? You mention spacing, but is that much of an issue? How's the feedback?

2. Does the trackpad have scrolling functionality? If so, how is it implemented? How is it 'rough', texturally?

 

I'm confused about the video benchmark in the review. That 3DMark score -- is that for the built-in screen or for an external display? The wording of the review text seems to suggest that you're going to show us a benchmark for the external display... but I can't find it.

 

1005HA vs 1008HA

 

from other reviews, the battery life was under 4 hours? x.x i think it was from engadget or gizmodo.. not sure

 

^ all the other reviews except for this one feature battery life testing while on "max performance". the review in this thread is the only one that tested the 1008HA using a power-saving feature. you know...how real people would use the laptop.

for the life of me, I can't figure out why reviews didn't also do a test doing mixed activities while utilizing the power-saving features.

I'm in total agreement with the lone comment left on that page:

"The thinness and lightweight of the 1008HA model is the major selling point.
Where's the killer feature if this thing is no longer super thin? And what reason do you have to buy it over any other "me too" netbook?"

I thought the 1005 would be near the 1008's thinness. Not equal to, but certainly not that big a difference. it joins the "me too" club. 1008HA is probably the better of the 2. definitely the more re-sellable version.

I'm pretty convinced I'm about to pick up a 1008HA. just need to decide on white or black now. and if the VGA is unacceptable, I'll just exchange it for something else.

 

1005HA looks very promising. It has downsides though. 1.4kg is quite heavy for a 10" netbook now a days. And 1024*600 is becoming old fashioned.

On the other hand, 1366*768 is not really suite for a 10" screen in my opinion. I have it on a 11.6" and I would not want it any smaller for working on my lap. On a table it would be ok.

 

6 hours battery life is nothing to get excited about. The 1000HE can get 9. I read someone else that ASUS is making 2 different versions of the 1000HA, one with a non-integrated battery.

 

That's not really the point. The 1000HE weighs 1.45kg, while the 1008HA only weighs 1.1kg.

The 1000HE has a 8700 mAh Li-ion battery, while the 1008HE has a 3 cell 3-cell Lithium-Polymer battery.

The 1000HE battery by itself weighs 300 grams.

So considering all that, 6:30 is a great performance for the 1008HA.

The version with replaceable battery is called 1005HA and is considerable heavier and thicker than 1008HA. (as you can read in the rest of this thread)

 

I cant believe they moved to glossy ruins it IMO, so that makes the 1000H still the best EEE IMO

I have had to use mine for a month now as my primary notebook and its great for anything, good keyboard/screen/battery life/speakers.

Seems like with the EEE series they fix one thing but break another with all the new models.

They "fixed" the keyboard on this one but broke the screen.

1000HE, 1002HA also very honorable mentions.

 

When netbooks are benchmarked with 3DMark06 we have to use an external monitor (unless the netbook has an HD panel) because the minimum resolution for 3DMark06 is 1024x768 ... meaning that netbook screens with 1024x600 resolution cannot run 3DMark06 unless they are connected to an external display.

 

If they got battery life that low it had to be set to maximum screen brightness with the processor in the overclocked mode and/or they had to be playing video or music accessing the hard drive the entire time. With basic use (browsing the Web, opening documents, and typing emails) we were able to get the battery life mentioned at the default power profile setting and with the screen brightness dimmed a bit.

It also wouldn't surprise me if there is some variance to the batteries being tested in various models. Considering how cheap netbooks are manufacturers aren't exactly buying the most expensive batteries on the market ... which may lead to things like capacity variance.

We recently tested a pre-production netbook from another manufacturer (who shall remain nameless) and the li-po battery inside that other netbook "swelled" to more than two times its normal size (breaking the chassis) and the netbook stopped functioning.

That was a bizarre and freaky occurrence, and it wasn't related to ASUS or the Eee PC 1008HA, but it serves as a reminder that low-cost batteries aren't exactly perfect.

 

Having used several of the latest Asus netbooks, I'm generally not too impressed with their keyboards, especially in regard to keyboard flex. And, I really don't like the chicklet-style keyboard used by the 1000HE, but that's only a subjective opinion. Prior to buying my Samsung NC10 (apparently the Rodney Dangerfield of netbooks), I did a substantial amount of hands-on testing of a number of netbooks in the $400 and less price range. The NC10 met my needs the best, and the battery life in real world applications is more than acceptable - typically 6 to 7 hours. I just ordered a 3rd party battery which extends operational time to 9 hours without adding too much extra weight. All netbooks are compromises, but overall I'm happy I bought the NC10 over competing models.

However, very nice review, and the 1008HA should be another good seller for Asus.

 

It is something to be a bit excited about... since this netbook ins running on a 3 cell.. while the asus 1000he is much heavier, bigger design, and runs on a 6 cell battery instead.

 

I should receive mine today. I'll let you know.

 

oh wow. fantastic, uqmoore.

also, if you have an external display, please hook it up and run a video!

Not doubting the OP's review so much as looking for confirmation.

 

1.4kg is lighter than the uber-popular 1000he, isn't it? Certainly the 1008 is good if you prefer the ultimate in portability, but it's only marginally lighter and I don't care about having an uber-thin netbook. An extra USB, better battery life, and a real VGA are significant, imo.

That said, over $400 might be a bit too much as a starting point for the 1005ha. We'll see what price point it winds up at.

 

1008ha? it has been release as far as i know? already been shipping to customers from J&R and other sites.

 

Yea, it's already out.

 

Still the best looking netbook i think it should hold that title for a long time

 

Wow, that is a really good in-depth review. I am currently on the netbook market and will be getting one in August just in time for school (my last semester in college). I had a Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 that dies and am currently using an even older Toshiba tablet.

I was leaning towards the HP Mini 1000 and was excited about the new models coming out on June 10th (the Mini 110) as they will feature a Broadcom graphics acceleration chip that is supposedly capable of handling 1080p video. However, after reading this review, I may jump on this netbook instead. I know that I will never, ever, ever play HD videos from a netbook. Hell, my Dell XPS could handle 720p videos and I still never played them.

I think this review has made me look twice at the 1008HA which I had initially dismissed due to it lacking any type of HD video hardware acceleration. I watch a bunch of SD videos and I know that any netbook on the market can handle them. I was worried about the terrible battery life specs that many different websites were reporting while yours were so high. However, those other reviews ran at full brightness with wi-fi and bluetooth on while also playing videos. I will be running to CompUSA soon, hopefully they get them in stock by this weekend as I really want to see one in person.

 

my pearl white just arrived right now, and i love it

 

I've been using a msi wind for a while and fancy getting a bigger screen, i might buy eee pc 1008ha and see how it goes

 

MSI Wind has 10.2" , Asus 1008HA has 10.1".

Unless you bought the MSI Wind with 8.9" screen...

 

Here's a few things I've noticed on my 1008HA:

There is no 3-finger tap for right click as Jerry mentioned in the review (I did not see the option in the Synaptics mouse settings).
The textured touchpad is similar to the touchpad on the new HP DV series such that if your hands are slightly wet or oily, it will be difficult to use.
Fingerprints and smudges is much less obvious on the white colored 1008HA.
Like Jerry said, the 1008HA runs cool. Even when using it on a soft cushion surface, the netbook is only warm to the touch. Given that the non-user replaceable battery i located right underneath the palm rest, I'm surprised to say that the palm rests stay quite cool to the touch.

 

any vga-out impressions? is the video choppy/lacking v-sync as the review mentioned?

 

Notebookjournal measured the screen on their 1008HA. Very disappointing: Brightness 136 cd/m² and contrast 143:1. Washed out colors and completely not suitable for outdoor use, in their opinion. The screen ID was MS_0003.

Previous Eee PCs used to have much better screens.

Eeectl tool may help crank up the brightness, but contrast will stay below par.

 

Thats bad! And they use same screens on 1005?

 

I don't know. You'll have to ask some owners if you want to find out.

Or wait for NBJ or NBC reviews of the 1005.