19 responses so far ↓

• 1 Ulbricht

  It’s a really good computer. Good size, goog speed but the price is to high.

• 2 Riffle

  Love this laptop. However, it’s a little heavier than I expected.

  The security features sounded cool, but it’s a pain to use. Finger scan took forever to register. The facial recognition is useless, it’s much faster to type in a password.

• 3 Munar

  This computer is a great computer for its price. Web Cam picture quality is really good. However, I have had problems with a CD that for a class that I need to do my assignments on. I am able to work with the CD on a cheap desktop that I have at home. But this laptop gave me com errors even after cleaning the CD. The CD doesn’t even have any scratch on it. So I have to use the old computer at school and the cheap desktop at home.

• 4 Hamano

  This is the SLLLLLOOOOWWWEEESSST computer on the face of the earth. I was very unsatisfied with it’s processing speed. I beefed up the RAM and it helped, but very little. It is CRAZY slow. It can take over a minute just to open up programs. I don’t recommend unless you have patience. As for pluses, it’s size is handy. It has great screen for viewing movies. I called the 1-800 number to talk to tech about trying to get the computer running faster. Here’s what he said “you get what you paid for.” My mouth dropped wide open. What an idiot.

• 5 Magno

  I am very satisfied with this netbook. I use it for browsing the web, and for my online course activities. It is lightweight enough that when I pack it up to take along with me, I don’t feel weighted down.

  It is important to note that it uses flash memory instead of a hard drive. The flash drive has 16 GB of storage. If that does not suit your needs, you will not want this computer. For me, it’s just perfect. I don’t plan on saving a lot of files on the computer, other than the papers I am writing.

  For me, durability is a MUST. I have to admit, this little netbook has taken more than its share of mishaps. My three year old finds it absolutely irresistible, and sometimes manages to get her hands on it. Once she dropped it (to the floor) when I entered the room. Another time, she sat on it. The computer kept on working just fine.

  It is very simple to use, right out of the box! It is great for students, casual internet users, and travelers. It is *not* meant for gamers who need much higher speed and greater memory.

  I would give it 5 stars if the battery life was a bit longer. I have to plug it in after about 2 1/2 - 3 hours of use.

• 6 Erlandson

  I bought this model to use for work after the great experience my husband had with an earlier version of one of these. What a mistake. Of all the models I could have bought, I bought the one that has a horrible hard drive, making it so slow it’s almost completely useless. This model has a known issue with the SSD hard drive–Asus admits it–that slows down performance TREMENDOUSLY compared to previous models. I’m not talking about a little lag here and there. I can deal with that. No, this is like 2 - 3 minute wait time to open anything, install anything, do anything. Believe me when I say it’s just awful. The only thing that fixes it is installing a new SSD, which starts at $70. Considering I barely had the cash for this machine at all, this was disappointing to learn to say the least. I am hoping to sell this somehow and get the 1002HA…though thanks to this experience I am definitely a bit hesitant.

  Edit: It’s been sold on ebay. I have since bought a Dell Vostro 1310 from the Dell Outlet online, which came to about 500 clams. It’s only 4lbs, dual core, and cost about the same as some of the higher-end netbooks like the Samsungs. Yet it’s just as powerful as my desktop.

• 7 Nickson

  Awesome Netbook! I did have a problem with it after receiving it, it ran very slowly and after two days the screen gave out. I contacted ASUS and the had me ship it to them for repair. One of the requirements was not to send it US mail as the unit has a higher percentage of being damaged. (This is how it was shipped to me from Amazon). The unit was not repairable and they shipped me a new one. WHAT A DIFFERENCE. This is a great tool. Quick and fast on start up, easily customizable and everything worked out of the box.

  Only gripe is that Amazon SHOULD NOT USE THE USPS for shipping, this is what caused the damage.

• 8 Kaufmann

  I bought this for my 15 year old daughter and could not be more pleased. She uses it all the time. The screen, at first, seemed really tiny to me but I got used to it right away - I was also concerned about durability but if your teenagers are anything like mine then you have nothing to worry about - this thing is a brick and one amazing little gizmo. My wife and I like our daughter’s so much that we’re getting another one for the family just to have in the living room for browsing while we watch TV.

• 9 Kuhn

  I’ve had the 904HA since January of ‘09 and it has been such a pleasure to use. The number of reviews has also grown since then, and they pretty much hit the pros and cons right on the head. I’ll try to add in my own thoughts without repeating too much.

  Let’s get the bad out of the way first, and the biggest thing that comes to mind is the right shift key–I find it out of the way, but at least I don’t need to look to find it. The lack of a caps lock indicator is also a puzzling though inconsequential oversight (considering what little use it gets). I would rather have dedicated page up, page down, home, and end buttons, which make navigating Firefox much faster. However, most netbooks don’t have such buttons, so I can’t knock the 904HA for following space-saving trends. I do have to knock off points for the touch pad though with its stiff buttons and floaty single finger navigation–multi-touch is fine and I especially love the two finger scrolling, but even with tweaks the cursor doesn’t follow my finger as precisely when using touch pads from Synaptic (i.e. like the ones on the HP Minis); the touch pad also goes erratic if I use a moist finger, so a couple more points off for that. I also don’t understand why the speakers are placed beneath the wrist rest area when there’s plenty of room on the bezel–it’s such a waste of space and the sound gets muffled easily.

  However, there’s still too much to like about the 904HA to rate it any lower than four stars. At it’s price (much lower now than when I bought it), you get: a large keyboard, touch pad, battery, and hard drive; an array mic, a decent web cam, a non-reflective matte screen, built-in cpu scaling, programmable buttons, and great audio quality (even with the low speaker volume); free online storage, recovery disk, cleaning cloth, and sleeve case; and easy access for hardware upgrades (I’ve put in a 2GB stick and a 32GB ssd with no troubles). Also, the 904HA is one of the few laptops/netbooks that you can buy plastic cases for. I got the mCover® BLACK Hard Shell Case for Asus Eee PC 1000 Series Netbook - Compatible with 1000/1000HA/1000HE for added protection.

  As much as I love the 904HA though, newer netbooks have since come out and its bigger siblings in the 1000 series have also come down in price. What made the 904HA so appealing to me was the large keyboard and battery at its low price, but now the 1000HA has all of that with a larger screen for only $30 more. Acer also has the AOD series and MSI the U123 at similar price points. Asus has even come out with a newer version of the 1000HA that has the 1000HE’s wonderful keyboard for only about $15 more. As much as I’d like to rate the 904HA on its own merits, it’s hard not to compare it to other netbooks when value is a concern.

  Ultimately though, the 904HA still stands out since it’s the cheapest netbook with a large keyboard and battery. It may not be that much cheaper than comparable 10″ models, but if money is really tight and you’re in the market for a netbook, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the 904HA. After four months, I’m still very happy with my purchase.

• 10 Egan

  I’ve had this unit for a couple of months now. The Asus is excellent because A) easy to upgrade RAM and hard drive (physical access), B) long battery life (up to 5+ hrs if screen dimmed and Wifi turned off), and C) very portable. Recommended.

• 11 Irwin

  I purchased this laptop from another vendor and upon using it discovered the battery to be defective. The battery life on this laptop was only 30 minutes instead of the 7 hours touted. I returned the defective battery to the vendor and received a replacement battery in reasonable time. However the replacement battery sent to me was an older battery with 3 hours of battery life. A company’s business ethics is only a reflection of how it treats or shortchanges its customers. If I had the chance to review the product before purchasing it, 2 features would have prevented me from buying this item. The keyboard shift key located in an awkward position and the frame around the monitor is thick, leaving a very small view screen.

• 12 Olszewski

  I am very happy with this computer.

  It is amazing and fast!, the ASUS Eee PC 904HA 8.9 inch doesn’t feel like a Notebook, its performance is similar to a desktop.

  I work in sales for a multinational company and have to be on the road more than 50% of the time. This computer is terrific!!, I take it with me everywhere. use it in restaurants, in my car, in a bus station/airport.

  It is very light (lighter than my mother’s HP of 8.9 inches), it doesn’t over heat (this is important is you live in a hot and humid place as Veracruz, Mexico, as I do). It is very quiet and have a fast response. The battery lasts between 3.5 to 5.5 hours (real use, with several programs, screens running, my model has 6 cells only).

  I see somebody leave a negative review, hey dude! , sure you got the only defective one on the lot!!

  Before buying this Notebook I tried with an Acer TravelMate 6291… bad idea!!!

  First, the battery died after 24 hours of use; the Acer guys change the battery, ok… then, the mother board crushed!!! I was so frustrated and angry!!!, after spending two days erasing and installing software… I wanted to kill them!!!

  They replaced the mother board, but for being honest I am not using that laptop, is in “stand by”. My girfriend has a laptop, so my sister, my mother (she has 2 HP, one laptop and one notebook), so I don’t have use for it. It is stored for the moment… someone want to take a change with Acer???

  Temo
  Veracruz, Ver., Mexico

• 13 Ibsen

  We were a family of four with three computers: one desktop at home and a laptop for each of two working parents. Every evening there were times when both adults and both school-age children wanted (or needed, for work or homework) to be on a computer at the same time. The kids type assignments, search the web for information, and occasionally play simple games (like the ones that come with Windows).
  In the month we’ve had it, this netbook has eliminated all waiting to get on a computer at home, gone on a week-long car trip (traveling in an eight-year-old’s backpack), never missed a wireless connection - at home or on the road, and reduced familial stress by getting everyone’s work done earlier and entertaining kids in the car, in hotel rooms, and at home. It meets (and when not using wirless, exceeds) its advertised seven hour battery life, and when the time comes for it to go to school, it’s capable of functioning on the school’s wireless network and surviving young boys’ handling. Its weight in their backpacks won’t send them to the chiropractor before their time, either.
  Both adults in the family have used it, without any sense that they were missing something significant available on their laptops. We wouldn’t mind having a second one, but for now, even our techno-centric family can’t rationalize five computers for four people.

• 14 Umland

  Well, I have to give Amazon 5 stars for their service! I ordered it overnight shipping at 8:30 in the morning on Tuesday, and had it in my hot little hands by 9:30 am on Wednesday! Not too shabby - thanks Amazon!

  As for the little notebook, I love it actually! It is everything you could want in an ultra portable. It really is attractive, (much nicer then in the pictures) and the keyboard feels great, I didn’t really even need to adjust. This is a nice, solid feeling notebook with an almost standard sized keyboard. Compared to the Acer 10.1″ there is no comparison! =)

  Pros: Solid, nice looking, comfortable to work on, yet extremely portable. I love it! And with the geforce 9300 graphics, it runs Second Life very well (which is really the only game I play)

  Cons: I wish it had come with XP loaded instead of Vista. I am not a Vista hater, and love it on my full sized (main computer) laptop but honestly, the atom doesn’t handle the vista very well. It is sloooooooow! I am definately going to use the disks that came with it to UPGRADE to XP! But it would have been nice if it had come with XP loaded with disks for Vista for those that really wanted it. That is really my only gripe for this sweet little baby! And the only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.

  I plan on loading the XP tonight, and I am hoping that that will change my rating to a 5!

  UPDATE: Just loaded XP last night and this machine really hums now! I love it - and would give it 5 stars if I could change it! The install went well, just follow the instructions on the little pamphlet that comes with the machine. I had to go into device manager and manually update a few of the drivers but other then that, piece of cake! LOVE THIS LITTLE MACHINE!!!!!

• 15 Prather

  This “netbook” basically has all the features any real notebook would have except a dual core processor. You get a decent sized hard drive, plenty of RAM (more than the Atom processor can use), discrete graphics, Vista, great battery life, Bluetooth, and lots of ports. The specs are such that you actually can use this netbook as your primary computer. There is no optical drive, which allows the netbook to stay small and light.

  The N10J is kind of a niche product. If you were a typical netbook user (internet, word processing, etc.), you would probably want a lighter, cheaper netbook. If you were interested in discrete graphics, you would probably want a dual core processor and more screen resolution. So, what’s the point of a souped-up netbook?

  As I see it, the N10J is a highly portable netbook/notebook uniquely suited for two purposes:
  1. Playing moderately demanding games
  2. Using an external monitor

  In my case, I was looking for something that could do both. The N10J is one of the few netbooks with HDMI. While the Dell Mini 10 and the Samsung NC10 have this feature also, the specs and features are way better on the N10J, making it much more functional as a primary computer. The N10J doesn’t have the most amazing graphics card, but it actually compares well to pretty much all the other sub-15″ notebooks out there, especially for the price. I doubt it will run the latest games, but I find that it runs older games very well, even on high settings. I don’t have any recent games, but apparently it can run newer, moderately demanding games just fine.

  Since I chose the N10J to be my primary computer, my biggest concern was trying to get by with an Atom processor. Overall, I find that while the Atom processor can be pretty slow, it is worth giving up the processing power for the size and price. The limitations can be annoying - Vista startup is horrible (~2 mins, down from 4+ mins), installing programs takes forever, and ripping mp3s in CDex using the processor intensive VBR algorithms is unbelievably slow. However, even though Atom is pretty weak, most “real” programs don’t ever use a huge portion of the processing capacity unless you really try. I actually have no problems with the processor as long as I avoid running more than about three large programs simultaneously. I wouldn’t recommend lots of video editing or extensive batch processing in Photoshop, but typical use of large programs really shouldn’t be a problem. Since coming out of sleep or hibernation is actually pretty fast, I generally avoid the slow startup altogether. So far, the limitations of the Atom processor haven’t been severe enough for me to bother downgrading to Windows XP or overclocking the processor as many N10J owners do.

  If you are planning on using the N10J as your primary computer, I suggest you know a bit about controlling background processes. Since the Atom processor is not dual core, the background processes really can kill performance, so you need to know how to keep them under control. (You don’t have a backup core when a background process starts hogging resources.) I definitely recommend disabling the pre-installed Google Desktop and Norton Internet Security. Also, I added an $8 4GB SD card for ReadyBoost which helps a bit.

  With an external monitor this is an excellent setup. You get the best of both worlds - a tiny computer and a huge screen. The performance of the Atom processor is good enough, unless you regularly do a lot of fairly processor intensive tasks. It’s probably even better if you downgrade to Windows XP and overclock the processor.

• 16 Blocker

  I bought this laptop as a replacement for a 3 year old Fujitsu Lifebook that died recently. I prefer small/light laptops for travel purposes, but plug it in to a monitor, mouse and keyboard when in the office. First of all the keyboard is fantastic for the size computer this is, much better than my small Fujitsu. Secondly, the fact that a downgrade (or is that upgrade) to XP was very nice and was the first thing I did. Worked without a hitch. I wasn’t sure how well I would like the fingerprint reader, but in the end it works well and seems secure. The video camera works great too with Skype. You can boot the computer into a Linux shell quickly and use a browser, Skype, and a few other apps without having to get into Windows. It is quick and works pretty well but has locked up a couple of times. I paid over $2K for the Fujitsu. This computer has more memory, larger hard drive, better CPU and graphics for less than 1/2 the price.

• 17 Quickley

  Well, I’ve had this thing for over a month now. It’s sturdy, sleek looking, and I am overall pretty pleased with my purchase. Some of the features that I really appreciate about this (when comparing it to other netbooks) are the following:
  Bluetooth
  HDMI output
  nVidia GeForce 9300m graphics card
  and the 6-cell battery that gives it some really great battery life.
  2 gigs of ram as opposed to the 1 that many other netbooks have.

  The downsides to this include:
  The screen could have been bigger to fill the space.. I mean, as long as the space is there, we may as well have a larger screen.
  I wouldn’t have minded a little more ram, even if 2 gigs is better than 1, I think 3 or 4 would have been even better. I mean, why not, RAM is cheap right?
  The worst thing is the limitations that the Atom 1.6 ghz processor imposes on this system. Right now I give this thing 3 out of 5 stars, but if this thing had a fast enough processor to match the rest of it’s great features, I might have given it 5 out of 5.

  But, again… it is a netbook. At the moment, I don’t know of any more powerful netbooks, tho I’m sure they will eventually come. So, I don’t have any regret for having bought it.

  I have heard of people overclocking the cpu on this thing and as a result being able to run some newer games that you wouldn’t expect any netbook to be able to handle. So, if you want to risk it, that is an option.

• 18 Ucci

  This is a great little computer. Only thing making it bad is the problem getting VISTA off of it. It should only come with XP-Pro loaded, if they user wants to slow it down let them mess with puting the “option” of vista-business on.

• 19 Velasquez

  My only regret is that I didn’t find this little gem before I bought my hp laptop. I could have saved money and gotten a better product. The ASUS Eee netbook came in Pearl White which looks stylish no matter where I am. The size is great for sliding into my bag when I go somewhere. And Linux….I’m sold. Comes loaded with all the the software of the big guys just under a different name and fast. You wouldn’t believe how fast it opens, shuts down and when you insert a sd/mmc card it loads instantly, not like windows. Complete with webcam, voice recognition. Buy it, you won’t be disappointed.

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