Pink Laptops

Continuing with our Asus Sakura Pink netbook reviews, we will today take a close look at the model they launched into the market right after the Asus Eee PC 1000H which we reviewed in the previous post.

What’s the big difference between the PC 1000H and the PC 1000HA one might want to know right at the outset. Well, the major factor that customers are likely to notice is the difference in price. This latest model is $50 cheaper than its predecessor and is priced at $429. Of course, the next thing you’re going to wonder about is what this price trade off involves. Well, what you lose in this Sakura offering are the N-Wireless card and Bluetooth. Budget buyers might not really mind this though. If a $429 netbook does not qualify as a budget buy in your dictionary, take a moment to consider the LED backlit 10” display resolution – 1024X600 pixels – which you must admit are reserved for the high-end netbooks.

The Intel Atom 1.6GHz Processor powering this mobile computing device isn’t a big surprise nor is the 1GB RAM. What’s significantly larger (literally speaking) is the hard drive – 160GB compared to the PC 1000H’s 80GB standard (Windows version) and 40GB SSD (Linux version) variants. Add to this the 20GB online storage facility Asus offers its customers with a generous limit of 5GB of downloads a day and space should never be a problem for you. This model has the Windows XP OS installed and comes with 3 USB ports, a VGA out, 1 headphone jack, 1 microphone jack, and SDHC compatible card reader, an Ethernet port, a Kensington lock slot, Wireless (802.11 b/g) and 1.3 MP webcam. Those meaning to use this as a mobile substitute will be happy to hear that it only weighs 3lbs and 2.5oz (excluding the adapter).

Take one look at the PC 1000HA and you’ll see it’s got a more updated look about it, at least in comparison with Asus’ first Eee PC 701, but for all that potential buyers might tend to describe it as chunky, especially when comparing it to other such netbooks. But keep in mind that this extra girth is due to the 6-cell 6600mAh battery that gives it at least four and a half hours of usage with the display brightness set to 60%; not bad at all for a budget netbook meant to be used on the go. The casing is all plastics though the build still feels pretty sturdy.

The keyboard is claimed by Asus to be 95% the size of a generic keyboard. It’s definitely not going to be as spacious as a standard keyboard but you get to be able to touch type pretty fast once your fingers familiarize themselves with the placement of keys.

The one feature that didn’t really work up to our expectations was the Elantech mousepad which exhibited a distinct lag and over-sensitivity when using the multi-touch feature.

One important positive feature of this Sakura model is that you can easily open up the panel on the underside and upgrade your RAM. Earlier versions also allowed this but at the risk of voiding the warranty. This model, however, does not bear the warranty voiding sticker announcement so you have the choice of powering the memory according to your budgetary allowance.

Tags: Asus, Asus notebooks, pink asus, pink asus eee pc, Pink Asus Laptops, Pink Laptops