MacandPcStore.com

Windows 7 starter exceeds my expectations

Customer Rating:
Given all the bad press received by Windows 7 starter, my expectations were beat down before I ever bought the Asus 1005HA netbook. I was resolved to load up a linux ubuntu OS even before I received it. But hey, Win 7 is working just fine. I use mostly open source software like VLC and Open Office. Youtube works well within Firefox. Here's the best part. I've been streaming Netflix vids in Firefox to my big screen's VGA over a wireless N connection. It's not HD, there an occasional stutter, but heck this is a netbook! :)

Micro$oft hurt its already shaky reputation by advertising that they distributed a flawed OS. I ran into a Microsoft rep at the loacl FRYS store and even she was bad-mouthing Win 7 starter and said "you can't play any media on it". Ha. I guess they give out all that propaganda thinking that people would just automatically shell out for the upgrades? No me. I bought the netbook because it was cheap and functional, and paying extra for some marginal OS features just makes no sense for a netbook. What am I missing?

I've got no complaints with the Asus hardware after several weeks. The battery life is great, there's no need to lug around a power supply. I can even use the touchpad and I always disable it on my laptops, though I do carry a USB wireless mouse. The audio jack is getting flaky, but that's solved with a USB audio gadget.

Save your money. Use it out of the box, as is until something really breaks.

Disappointing

Customer Rating:
On January I bought this netbook for my wife. I was glad. The netbook is amazingly light, it`s easy to work with, it runs fast. I recommended it to some friends of mine, who eventually bought Asus EEEs. Suddenly, last Wednesday it stop working. As I am abroad at the moment, I tried to find a place where to have it repaired (using the worlwide warranty), but there are no service places in Uruguay. We needed it badly, we had very important information in it, so we went to a PC-reparation service. They told us that the motherboard needed to be changed, that it is a very common problem and that it would cost us USD 75.

Great deal!

Customer Rating:
Don't listen to what the others say. I got this item USED and have no problems with it at all. YouTube loads fine and there is no problem with charging. It does great with 1 GB of RAM for typical browsing/documents. I use this as a replacement for my desktop while I'm at school. The battery life is AWESOME! Realistically you're going to get about 8.5 hours instead of the listed 10.5 doing the normal screen brightness and WiFi. The best part of this netbook is the almost full size keyboard. You don't have to be typing with 2 fingers... The two things I can complain about are poor image resolution and all the pre-installed programs while just take up space. Otherwise you're looking at relatively decent performance, an AMAZING energy conserver, all at a VERY REASONABLE price.

Keyboard Failure

Customer Rating:
I purchased this netbook in November 2009 and the keyboard just stopped working (August 2010). Despite the fact that the item should still be under warranty I'm getting the run-around from ASUS customer support. The telephone support reps are in a hurry to get me off the phone and keep insisting I need to wait for their "head office" to clear me to send the item back for repair. It has been 5 business days since I sent them my invoice and they say that they need more time to process the request (but are unable to give me an estimate of how long that is). Buyer beware!

Too Fragile - Manufacturer Warranty is not Worldwide

Customer Rating:
I live in Brazil. I've bought this netbook less than a year ago while on a trip in the U.S. because it's cheaper over there. Although it is said the the warranty is worldwide, ASUS in Brazil states that they only accept items bought in Brazil through their official dealers. The warranty booklet says that it is International. But this is statement is tricky, because you have to send it abroad, which would cost more than the netbook itself. So it is not a reliable company. Nor their products. The LCD screen came with a defect (A vertical line right in the middle of the screen). I didn't have time to get it fixed while in the US, so I decided to bring it home, hoping that I would get it fixed over there...no way...so I kept it as is. I use it mostly just on my trips, so I used it very lightly. Its appeareance now is like new. Even though using it so rarely, I got a keyboard problem which makes any typing a nightmare. I am used to the robustness of Lenovo's (IBM) notebooks that I use daily for MANY Years on my work and I NEVER got such problems. I actually bought a Lenovo netbook to my son at the same time and he is very happy with his, no problems up to now. So I do not recommend ASUS in General and this netbook in particular. I'll never buy their products again.