Gaming Which EEE Pc Model should I get?

[CorruptJon]

Looking to get a new netbook for school assignments, maybe some movies and surfing, but I can't decide which one to get. I've done a good amount of research, and these three all stood out to me.

Some Pros / Cons I came up with each one:

Asus EEE PC 901

Pros:
Lightweight
Small
Ridiculously Long Battery Life (~8 Hours via 6 Cell Battery)
Shock Resistant Flash Memory (If I drop it)
Decent Price
Bluetooth

Cons:
Only 12GB Flash Memory (could be a deal breaker)
Small Keyboard

Asus EEE PC 904HA

Pros:
Cheap
Decent Battery Life (6 Cell)
Nice 160GB HDD
Perfect 5 Star Rating on Amazon (rare?)
Nice Big Keyboard

Cons:
8.9" screen with the same shell as the 1000HA (10" screen)
Kinda Bulky
No bluetooth

Asus EEE PC 1000HA

Pros:
Huge Screen
Huge Keyboard
Huge Touchpad
160GB HDD (nice)
Good Battery Life (6 Cell)
I've decided that I want an Asus brand one, so please don't suggest an MSI Wind or Acer Aspire One, etc.

Cons:
Big, Bulky (kinda closer to a real laptop than a netbook)
Most expensive of the three (by a few bucks, not much)
Same Processor as the smaller 901

Overall, I'm stuck. I just want to know what people think is the one I should get. I'm kinda leaning towards the 901 or the 1000HA, with the 904HA in a close third. I've already decided that I want an eee pc, not an Acer / MSI / Dell etc. I just need help picking one out from these. All help is much appreciated.

 

[notnarb]

what about the 900HA? Much cheaper then the 901 and it doesn't look as silly, plus a hard drive for good measure. I guess it comes down to if you really need 7 hours of battery life or if 2/3 of that would suffice. As far as actually answering your question: If you are going to get get a 10" form factor, might as well get a 10" screen. Have you tried the keyboard on the 8.9" models? If not, I would play it safe and go with a 10" form factor (I personally don't have a problem with the smaller keyboard, but then again I don't have my hands on the keyboard when I 'touch' type)

 

[Pizzaroo]

I'd get the 904 HA. As long as you get a nice case for it the bulkiness won't bother you.

 

[epicelite]

Get a 701 and mod the frak out of it!

 

[Mangofett]

Well first... the 1000ha and the 904ha are the same size... so i dunno why you said one is more bulkier.

Also, another vote for 900ha. Got one for Christmas, almost perfect for me. 4+ hours of battery life with wifi on, sound on, and brightness at 80%. My complaints with it are the "bad" multi-touch(coming from using Apple multitouch, but still good), and that there aren't any 3rd party things for it (since its new)

edit: my next choice would be the 1000ha. Also both the 900ha and the 1000ha are very upgradable... just pop open the back panel and you see RAM, Hard drive, and wifi card.

 

[jesterscourt]

I have a 901, if you want to go that route, pick up a 16 gig SDHC. That provides a pretty decent amount of space.

My uncle has one of the 1000 models, I like the keyboard better, but I don't like the fact that it has a regular HDD instead of a SSD. Things would actually be perfect if they made a 1000 model with a 16 gig SSD. The keyboard is a bit cramped on my 901, I use a foldable keyboard when I have to type for long periods of time, it works fine.

 

[Anakir]

I have 1000H. I definitely like mine.

Don't go crazy on me from saying this but, there are videos of people testing EeePC's SSD and HDD. HDD still ran faster, plus a lot more memory.

The keyboard takes a bit of time to get used to, but it'll be easy. Don't go any smaller than 10". They keyboard will definitely feel uncomfortable on your hands, unless your hands are small.

I always pull a 7 hour battery life out of it too with wifi and lowest brightness setting.

 

[DrYHeLL]

If you've listed all of you options then go with (arguably) the best: The 1000HA.

Quality over... umm smallness?

 

[hankchill]

Get the 1000HA. I got one for my wife and she loves it. Honestly it's still much smaller than a standard laptop, isn't bulky at all, screen's great, lasts a long time on a single charge, and running Windows XP it runs pretty good.

 

[jesterscourt]

An update to my review of 901XP, I updated to the 2 gig stick, and it really helps with my multiple tabs in Firefox.

 

[m-p{3}]

Personally I'd go with that 10 inches.

 

[Taza]

901 Linux. Get a Windows install separately and a decent SDHC. Shock resistance means A LOT with netbooks. And oh, upgrade to 2gb of RAM.
(Linux has a bigger SDD.)

I have a 701, btw, been working like a dream with 2gb of RAM.

 

[Mangofett]

901 Linux. Get a Windows install separately and a decent SDHC. Shock resistance means A LOT with netbooks. And oh, upgrade to 2gb of RAM.
(Linux has a bigger SDD.)

I have a 701, btw, been working like a dream with 2gb of RAM.

I would've said this a while ago, but seeing SSD trends, SSD prices are dropping fast so it's better to get a HDD model so you can upgrade it later.

 

[Taza]

HDD models and school netbook don't go together. At all.

Personal experience.

If he gets it to a situation a HDD model will do - so will a desktop.

 

[Jiggah]

HDD models and school netbook don't go together. At all.

Personal experience.

If he gets it to a situation a HDD model will do - so will a desktop.

I'm confused on why they wouldn't. The netbooks are about portability, as long as the netbook is still considerably portable i.e. not a whole lot of extra weight then I don't really see what you're getting at. If the argument is about battery life, most if not all the netbooks have at least decent battery life even with an HDD over an SDD.

 

[Taza]

HDD models and school netbook don't go together. At all.

Personal experience.

If he gets it to a situation a HDD model will do - so will a desktop.

I'm confused on why they wouldn't. The netbooks are about portability, as long as the netbook is still considerably portable i.e. not a whole lot of extra weight then I don't really see what you're getting at. If the argument is about battery life, most if not all the netbooks have at least decent battery life even with an HDD over an SDD.

Well that just means you really don't get it.

SDD's are faster (seek time wise) than HDD's. But the important part is that they're shockproof, and a really portable machine and vulnerability to shocks is a really bad combination.

 

[Mangofett]

A hard drive is rock solid when its off/has its head parked. If you're a student/working in a school environment, why would you need the shockproof capabilites? To play on the eee while making laps in gym?

You might say "oh but I like to have it in standby between classes!"

Hibernate is a better option in this case. Less battery life wastage, and the HDD based eees are hella fast at hibernate.

Besides, not like you can't move a hard drive around while its running.

 

[AshuraZro]

I have the 900HA and personally I love it.

My only real complaint is the keyboard size (what can you do though if there physically is no more room!?) so the 1000HA looks like a nice choice here. And that price isn't shabby at all.

As for your complaint on the processor... what processor would you expect it to have?

Also, as Taza sugests. You should be careful with it due to the fact it has an HDD. If you would not prefer that, go with SSD.

 

[Taza]

You'd be surprised how often you can drop your laptop while working at school.

Yes, more than a few times. I am clumsy, I know, but accidents happen to the best.

 

[CorruptJon]

Went ahead and ordered the 1000HA. Thanks guys, I know I'll love it.