PC makers seem to love putting glossy lids on netbooks. And there’s a good reason for that: They’re sleek and sexy and look all kinds of awesome when you first spot the computer on a store shelf or take it out of the box. But give it a few days, and you’ll notice that your glossy lid is covered with oily fingerprints and smudges, which kind of diminishes the cool factor.

EeeUser forum member sharkexe came up with a  solution.  He used black matt film, which is normally used to cover cars, furniture, and other itmes, to cover his Eee PC 1005HA.

Applying the film takes a pretty steady hand in order to keep everything straight. And if you want to cover all components of the laptop you’ll need to take apart the screen and remove the keyboard. But sharkexe reports that the film only costs a few bucks.

via GadgetMix

Netbooks and Notebooks

• LG X120 10.1″ netbook for $49 when you sign up for a 2-year AT&T contract – Radio Shack (via jkOnTheRun)
• ASUS Eee PC 1005HA 10″ netbook w/Win XP, 10.5 hour battery for $329.95 + free shipping – Amazon
• Lenovo IdeaPad S12 Atom 1.6GHz 12″ LED-Backlit Netbook for $349 + free shipping – Lenovo (coupon: USPS55U)
• Samsung NC10-13GB 10.1″ netbook w/ Win XP, 6 cell battery for $295.19 + free shipping – Amazon
• Samsung N130-13B 10.1-Inch w/Win XP, 6 cell battery for $279.99 + free shipping – Amazon

Accessories

• TRENDnet 802.11n Wireless Router for $25 + free shipping – Buy.com via eBay Daily Deals
• Refurbished Linksys WRT160N-RM 802.11n router for $31.25 + free shipping – Amazon

You can find more deals on netbooks, gadgets, and accessories in the Liliputing Deals section.

Microsoft has been offering low cost Windows XP Home Edition licenses to PC makers selling netbooks for nearly two years. In order to qualify, a netbook needed to have a small screen, slow processor, and no more than 1GB of RAM or 160GB of hard drive space. As a result, nearly every netbook released over the past two years met those specifications. But here’s the thing: If you’re not interested in keeping the price down, the sky is the limit, because those restrictions don’t apply to laptops with Windows Vista, or even Windows XP Professional.

Now that Windows 7 is just around the corner, Asus Japan has apparently decided to give the Eee PC 1005HA a business-class upgrade: by sticking with Windows XP, but loading the computer up with Windows XP Professional.

The Eee PC 1005HA Business edition is virtually identical to the versions currently on the market. But the new model has a silver and black chassis instead of a solid black one, and 2GB of RAM. The rest of the specs are prety much what you’d expect, including a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display. 160GB hard drive, and 10 hour battery. The Eee PC 1005HA Business edition is due out today in Japan for about $715.

Keep in mind, Asus is launching updated versions of its Eee PC 1005HA, 1008HA, and 1101HA laptops with Windows 7 in the US, Europe, and other parts of the globe later this week.

via Engadget

With Windows 7 set to launch in just a week, we’re about to see a whole lot of netbooks, notebooks, and other computers get a spec bump. And the Asus Eee PC lineup is hardly exempt. At an event in Germany, Asus officials outlined some of the company’s plans for the next generation of the Asus Eee PC Seashell line, including the Eee PC 1005HA, 1008HA, and 1101HA.

For the most part, the info is in keeping with a leaked product roadmap from earlier this year. But here’s the interesting part. Most of the netbooks will ship with Windows 7 Starter Edition, while the Eee PC 1101HA with an 11.6 inch display, 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z520 processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 260GB hard drive will ship with Windows 7 Home Premium.

The Asus Eee PC 1005HA will be available in two different versions. Both will have 1GB of RAM, 250G hard drives, and Intel Atom N270 processors. The 1005HA-H will have Bluetooth and a 10.5 hour battery, while the 1005HA-M will lack Bluetooth and include an 8.5 hour battery.

The Eee PC 1008HA will have 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, an Atom N280 processor and a 6 hour battery.

via NewGadgets.de

A few days ago pictures of a new Eee PC 1001HA model started floating around the web. At first glance, the netbook looked like a minor variation on the popular Eee PC 1005HA. And sometimes first impressions are correct. Asus has uploaded a user manual for the netbook to its support site, and the first page reads “Eee PC User Manual Windows XP Edition Eee PC 1005 / 1001 Series.”

Asus has also posted an official product page on its Chinese portal. From that page we learn that the Eee PC 1001HA has a 10.1 inch display. 160GB hard drive, 802.11n WiFi, a 92% full sized keyboard, and weighs 2.4 pounds. The only noticeable difference between the Eee PC 1001HA and the 1005HA is that the 1001HA has a textured pattern on the lid and palm rest, while the 1005HA has a smooth, glossy finish.

I also don’t see any information about the battery, so I don’t know whether the Eee PC 1001HA has the same 10.5 hour battery as the Eee PC 1005HA-PU1X, the 8.5 battery found in the Eee PC 1005HA-VU1X, or the 5 hour battery of the Eee PC 1005HAB.

via Eee PC Italia

Asus has a pretty good track record of putting access panels on its netbooks that let you upgrade the RAM. But while some models also include hard drive access panels, the Eee PC 1005HA does not. That means if you want to swap out the hard drive or tweak the WiFi module, add a Bluetooth device to a model that doens’t already have, it or perform other minor surgery, you’re going to need to open the computer up and access the motherboard.

EeeUser Forum member wacou has put together a handy set of instructions for removing the laptop’s casing and futzing around with the Eee PC 1005HA’s insides. Basically you’ll need to pop out th ebattery, undo a bunch of screws and open a few tension clips, remove the keyboard, and take off a few more screws. The end result should look something like the picture above.

Hopefully if you’re brave enough to take your netbook apart you’ll also be smart enough to save all the screws and be able to put the thing back together again when you’re done. Remember kids, this is a potentially warranty-voiding procedure.

fnac

Italian retailer fnac has started taking pre-orders for three Asus Eee PC models with Windows 7. The interesting thing is that while some of the models run the stripped-down Windows 7 Starter Edition, all three models get spec bumps. This is likely due to the fact that Microsoft has changed its hardware restrictions for cheap Windows licenses. To qualify for a low cost Windows XP license, netbooks need to have no more than 1GB of RAM and 160GB of storage. To qualify for Windows 7 Starter Edition, a netbook can have a hard drive with up to 250GB of storage.

Keep in mind, Asus often makes different configurations available in different parts of the globe, but here are the three models up for pre-order in Italy:

• Eee PC 1005HA: Windows 7 Starter Edition, 1GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive, 1.66GHz Atom N280, 10.1″ 1024 x 600 pixel screen for 299 Euros or $442 US
• Eee PC 1008HA: Windows 7 Starter Edition, 1GB of RAM, 250Gb hard drive, 1.66GHz Atom N280, 10.1″ 1024 x 600 pixel screen for 399 Euros or $590 US
• Eee PC 1101HA: Windows 7 Home Premium, 2Gb of RAM, 250GB hard drive, 1.33GHz Atom Z520, 11.6″ 1366 x 768 pixel screen for 399 Euros or $590 US

The US prices are converted from Euros. It’s likely that these computer will be cheaper when they hit the states.

Another interesting thing is that all three models come with 500GB of web-based storage. That’s 50x more than the 10GB Asus provides for online storage and backup now.

via Eee PC.it

The Asus Eee PC 1005H Go is basically the same computer as an Eee PC 1005HA with one key difference — it has an integrated 3G modem for connecting to wireless broadband networks. Netbook 3G reports that the 1005H Go is now available in France, where telecom Orange is selling it for 399 Euros (about $571 US). That’s the price for the netbook without a subscription. If you sign up for a service plan you might be able to shave the up-front price a bit.

The netbook has a HSUPA modem capable of data transfers up to 7.2MB/s. It also packs 802.11b/g/n WiFi, a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a 160GB hard drive. It also has a 10.2 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display. Orange says the netbook should run for up to 7 hours with 3G enabled, and 10 hours with 3G turned off.

The Asus Eee PC 1005HA is available in black, white, blue, and pink. But it looks like Asus isn’t done dressing up this popular mini-laptop. Netbooked discovered that a silver model is due out in Japan next month, apparently with a brushed metal lid.

The silver model is available for preview from Japanese retailer Kakaku for 47,700 yen, or about $509 US. No word on if or when this model will be available in the states.

Pegatron has been showing off pre-production prototypes of its upcoming smartbook prototype with an ARM processor for a while. But IT Pro Portal has some of the first photos I’ve seen o the prototype hanging out next to the popular Asus Eee PC 1005HA. And in terms of size, there’s no contest: The Pegatron smartbook is thinner and lighter, weighing just about 1.87 pounds.

The Pegatron protype also has a smaller display and keyboard than the Asus netbook (both have 1024 x 600 pixel displays, but the Pegatron smartbook has an 8.9 inch screen compared with the 1005HA’s 10.2 inch display). And the Pegatron has just a 2 cell, 4400mAh battery, but because of the computer’s low power 800MHz Freescale i.MX515 processor, Pegatron says the computer can squeeze out about 8 hours of battery life, which is comparable to the Eee PC 1005HA.

The Pegatron smartbook supports 2D and 3D graphics as well as 720p video playback.

On the other hand, the ARM-based processor is a bit slower than your typical Intel Atom chip, and I’ll be curious to see how it handles real-world tasks like opening multiple web browser tabs while listening to music or watching Flash video. And since Windows XP, Vista, and 7 don’t support ARM processors, the smartbook will have to run Linux, Google Android, Windows CE, or another supported operating system. Of course, if Pegatron can actually bring the prototype to market for the promised $200 or less, I think a lot of people might be willing to overlook any flaws. And if telecoms bundle the smartbook with 3G service plans, you might even be able to pick up one of these little guys for free, much the way you can get a free cellphone when you sign up for a long term service contract today.

via Netbooked