Eee PC 1101HA review

The 1101HA sports integrated 10/100 Ethernet, which gives it a slight advantage over machines such as the MacBook Air, and also gets high-speed, long-range 802.11n Wi-Fi, which is a step up over the 802.11b/g you get on the majority of netbooks. It has a maximum theoretical throughput of 300Mbps -- an improvement over 802.11n's 54Mbps, though you can only realistically expect around 100Mbps.

There's the netbook standard ports, including three USBs, Ethernet, mic and headphones

The 1101HA comes with the Windows XP operating system (Asus has a scheme that allows users to upgrade to Windows 7 when it's released) and includes a one-year global warranty, which states -- in the EU, at least -- that Asus will collect the machine, repair it, and return it to you in full working order.

Doesn't exert the battery
The 1101HA lets itself down with mediocre performance. Its Intel Z530 CPU could only manage 891 in PCMark 2005, which is pretty poor, even by netbook standards. The machine also struggles with tasks most of us take for granted -- running even basic video on BBC iPlayer often seems like too much exertion, and even basic multitasking results in annoying slowdown.

The upside of this pathetic processing power is long battery life. The Eee PC 1101HA lasted a whopping 6 hours 44 minutes in our intensive BatteryEater test, which is the longest we've seen from any netbook. In the much less intensive BatteryEater reader test, the 1101HA lasted 10 hours 19 minutes -- stunning.

Conclusion
The 1101HA could have been a great machine. Its large, high-res screen, excellent keyboard and superb battery life would, ordinarily, be enough to secure our affections, but its rubbish performance means you're better off with alternatives such as the Eee PC 1008HA.

Edited by Nick Hide