Asus Eee PC 1002HAE tested

The Asus Eee PC 1002HAE is a pretty refresh of the 1002HA, which comes with an aluminium skin, chiclet keyboard and the faster 1.66GHz N280 Atom CPU (the 1002HA has a N270 Atom). Portable Monkey has reviewed the Eee PC 1002HAE and it seems that there are other minor changes too that affects the overall proposition.

Upgradeability is made difficult as the screws on the access panels have been plugged which makes them difficult to lift without damaging the case (or at least without the right tools). The battery should last around three to four hours, acceptable but other models are now pushing battery lives double this. This battery sits at the front of the netbook, which will mean higher capacity batteries will cause it to tilt backwards. Also, there are some instances of flex on the keyboard and despite having an aluminium exterior, the weight wasn’t found to be different to the 1002HA.

On the positive side, the netbook has good build quality, with relatively lightweight chassis. The display is matte, which automatically earns it brownie points. The large touch-pad allows for multi-touch gestures and the whole device runs cool and quiet. The Eee PC 1002HAE is only available in Japan for now. Click through for the key review points after the break.

Key points from Asus Eee PC 1002HAE review:

• The lid comes with brushed metal that feels solid and is less prone to fingerprints compared to glossy plastic lids.
• Chiclet keyboards has large right shift key. Keys give a nice tactile feedback despite having a light, plasticky feel (mostly due to the flex).
• The touchpad and buttons identical to that found on the 1002HA. The multi-touch touchpad has a slightly larger touchpad area and a silver single rocker bar at the bottom.
• Sound is very good for a netbook. The volume is quite loud and the quality is very good too.
• The screen has a matte coating with the standard resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. Brightness is adequate for indoors, though it will be a bit hard to see outside when it’s bright.
• The 1002HA (1265g) and 1002HAE (1263g) are practically the same weight.
• The power plug and card slot at the back inconvenient.
• Heat isn’t too bad. The bottom only gets slightly warm. The 1002HAE is very quiet, though not quite as quiet as the Eee PC S101.
• 1002HAE has the screw holes covered up with plugs. You should be able to pull out the plugs with a sharp and thin instrument.
• The 1002HAE comes with a 4200mAh Lithium Polymer battery. The battery lies at the front and to the side, which means higher capacity batteries are a no-no.
• Battery life lies somewhere between 3 – 4 hours.
• The Atom N280 still has problems with a lot of HD YouTube videos and can’t play 1080P video.