Hands-On with ASUS Eee PC 1101HA
June 3rd, 2009 by Joanna Stern 
While we thought ASUS might get off clean by not announcing or showing any new Eee PCs at this year’s Computex, we knew that seemed nearly impossible. Today we stumbled upon ASUS’s first 11-inch Eee PC on the Computex show floor.
The Eee PC 1101HA is part of the Seashell family so it has a similar design to the Eee PC 1008HA, however it isn’t as thin and its ports are exposed. It also has a larger build to accommodate the 11.6 inch 1366×768 resolution HD widescreen display. (See the hands-on video below and check out the full review.)
Under the lid, the 1101HA has a spacious keyboard given its extra length, however that same old ASUS netbook keyboard appears to be alive and well on the 1101HA. The Shift key is not full size and located to the left of the up arrow. Did we not fix this already ASUS!? The touchpad is similar to the one on the 1008HA – flush with the palm rest and it has a single mouse bar.
On the inside, ASUS has gone with Intel’s Atom (Menlow) 1.3GHz Z520 processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive and Windows XP. While ASUS chose the Menlow platform for its added battery savings, it does not pack the same performance punch as the N270 or N280 processors. In our tests the Z520 has had a hard time handling 720p video, so we aren’t exactly sure what good that HD screen does, unless you are streaming HD content of some sort.
The 1101HA on display also was running ASUS’ new software dock which consists of Eee @Vibe (a entertainment portal for music, movies), Eee Download (a portal of applications), and Game Park (a site for Eee specific games). The interfaces of the programs were quite flashy.
We ran into an ASUS U.S. representative at the booth who was uncertain if the 1101HA would make its way over to the land of the free and the home of the brave. Nevertheless, check out the video below of the largest Eee PC to date.
13 Responses to “Hands-On with ASUS Eee PC 1101HA”
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June 3rd, 2009 at 4:13 am
It’s so good to see the Netbook market and related technologies “grow up”.
However, the poor keyboard design – specifically the right-shift key – continues to baffle me. The misplace and misshape of the right-shift key has been an issue since day one, yet (most) manufacturers continue to make it that way.
There must be a good explanation to the resistance or reluctance to “fix” this. I refuse to believe that they’re not aware or unable to correct this.
June 3rd, 2009 at 7:26 am
Is the screen glossy?
Cannot guess from the video.
Thx in advance.
June 3rd, 2009 at 11:26 am
I wonder what is the size of it ? length depth width ?
I am just thinking that if its to be very big then why not just going for a proper 12″ computer for the same money !!
June 3rd, 2009 at 1:25 pm
What’s the purpose of having a netbook that’s 2 inches away from actually being a laptop??!!?!? You got me.
June 3rd, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Another pointless 11″ netbook. Bad keyboard. Slow CPU. Don’t much care whether they bring it to the US or not. How about somebody does the obvious–an 11″ netbook. A 1.6GHz N-series Atom. A full size right shift key. I don’t see what’s so hard about this…
Sure the display is bigger so uses more power. So you have to put A BIGGER BATTERY IN IT. But guess what, the DEVICE IS BIGGER. Jeez.
June 3rd, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Dear Netbook God,
Can you please create the following for us:
A netbook with:
__Size__: no bigger than 1008HA and same thickness too.
__Screen__:
i) well as much possible within the frame of 1008HA (dont need the frame anyway) so somewhere between 10.1 and 11.6.
ii) Also HD please
iii) Brightness and contrast to be considered including viewing angles. There is a comparison somewhere (possibly eee user) between the 1000H and 1000HE and the owner found that 1000H is brighter than the 1000HE.
iv)Matte rather than Glossy
__Right Shift Key to be corrected__
__3G or other internet connection to be included “within”__
__Battery to last 10-14 hours__
__(and less important but still) external finish matte rather than glossy__
__Slightly illuminated keyboard__
__Very decent speakers__
__1.1kg Max__
These all can be done with the current technology.
I am sure there are ideas for adding more to it such as photovoltaic surfaces, vibrating touch pad, embedded GPS, lighting back surface (a technology with led’s behind the screen that projects light similar tho what you see in the screen), a small embedded projector (simmilar to 3M), wheels etc
July 4th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
I suppose having one with an 11.6 inch screen will fit the guy with the
slightly poorer vision and slightly bigger fingers !
Its a pity that they have used the slower chips and insistede on the
terrible right shift key.Just shows that there is no such thing as a
perfectly designed netbook
July 21st, 2009 at 8:00 pm
*sigh* it’s really such a bummer that intel won’t allow their n series or a higher z(530, 540, 550) series processor in any netbooks bigger than 10.2-because the lack of a DECENT processor shuts me out of buying the slightly larger netbooks which i WANT! there needs to be some meeting where everybody agrees that a netbook is 12 inches and smaller so we can get nicer processors in these 11.6’s!!
July 22nd, 2009 at 3:58 am
Finally Asus released eeePC with 1366×768 screen, but they forgot about the HDMI output, which a LOT of people wanted, for example, connect to 52″ LCD TV to watch HD movie…
Also…the video GMA500 can’t handle true HD movie seems like a BIG Let Down for those really looking up to Asus Technical Leadership…
I think Asus eeePC department has lost touch with the general public…
As we see in h.p. arena, 1 slip, now it’s iPhone era, this can be proved by an example I encountered: one of my lady friend who really Dislike touching PC.. but she LOVE to fondle iPhone all the time… synching to PC is peanut for her…but she still don’t like PC of course.
Watch-out Asus, when apple enters netbook market, the world will fix their eye on Apple’s product…
July 22nd, 2009 at 4:03 am
Ooops, forgot to mention GPS, is it so difficult or costly to put in the GPS ?
with GPS and maps included, I bet thousands or millions more could be sold easily…
I surely will be a satisfied eeePC 1101HA buyer if it got GPS and maps that I want…
August 14th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
install Windows 7 on 1101HA and you can run HD 1080p! http://blog.pcnews.ro/2009/08/14/eeepc-1101ha-run-1080p-with-hw-decoding/
September 30th, 2009 at 5:34 am
I have to confess to feeling a strong sense of deja vu when I opened the box containing the new Asus Eee PC 1101HA. The simple styling, solid build quality and budget prices are all reasons that the Asus Eee PC line remains popular among many retailers. The various parts of the chassis come together with tight build tolerances like a higher-priced laptop. The bottom of the netbook looks very clean and smooth with an easy-access RAM cover, heat vents, and the battery
Screen and Speakers
The new Eee PC 1101HA Seashell uses a reasonably impressive 11-inch LED-backlit display panel with a 1366×768 native resolution. The glossy screen in the 1101HA offers good color and contrast. Glare and reflections indoors under strong lights or outdoors under direct sunlight can be a problem because of the glossy surface, but the LED backlighting is usually strong enough to overpower any reflections on the screen. The built-in speakers, like those found on virtually all netbooks, are pretty good
Keyboard and Touchpad
The 1101HA uses a new 95% full-size keyboard that is marginally larger and more comfortable .The keys on this netbook keyboard are still slightly smaller than the keys on an average notebook and the spacing between the keys is a little cramped. If you prefer the shape and feel of traditional keys then you’ll probably like the new keyboard.
The Synaptics touchpad used on the 1101HA allows you to use multi-figure gestures such as “pinching” your fingers together or “pulling” your fingers apart to zoom in or out. You can also use a “three-finger tap” as an alternative to a right click on a mouse. The Synaptics control panel in Windows also allows you to customize these gestures as well. The touchpad surface is covered in dots that provide a clear indication of the edges of the touchpad, but this also makes the touchpad surface too rough for quick finger movement. The left and right touchpad buttons are located beneath a single rocker-style button.The 1101HA lacks a dedicated wireless on/off switch, but ASUS did include a dedicated touchpad on/off button as well as FN keyboard shortcuts for wireless, screen brightness, video output, volume, and Windows task manager.
Input and Output Ports
The 1101HA features three USB 2.0 ports, a 4-in-1 media card reader, headphone and microphone jacks, Ethernet port, and the return of a standard VGA out port.
The 1101HA also features the “Eee Docking software”. In much the same way that the Apple OS X dock or ObjectDock from Stardock software allow you to use quick shortcuts to utilities and applications, the Eee Docking software provides an easy way to locate utilities, software and digital content. It consists of the following: Eee Vibe (music/media application and Eee download website), Sharing (Data sync, messenger, and Eee Storage), Xperience (Voice Command) and Tools (Parental Control, Font resizer, and Settings), and all of these suites are easily accessed from the top of the screen and is semi-hidden when not in use.
Performance and Benchmarks
The 1101HA is equipped with a Intel Atom Z520 processor running at 1.33GHz compared to most .On a positive note, ASUS includes a proprietary overclocking application on the 1101HA called the “Super Hybrid Engine” that allows you to cycle through pre-set power profiles to maximize battery life by underclocking the processor, keep the processor at stock speed or overclock the processor by roughly 30 percent (from 1.33GHz to 1.74GHz).
Battery
ASUS claims that the 1101HA provides “all-day computing” with up to 11 hours of battery life on a single charge. I am able to get closer to 9 hours and 20 of battery life!
Pros:
• Nice build quality
• Good screen
• Easy to overclock
Cons:
• Has to be overclocked
November 29th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
I would suggest everyone to go with Asus Eee PC 1101HA it has three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA connection, a LAN (RJ-45) port and audio portsand with latest mobile hardware so pleasant that gets you started with all possible applications. You cam also get 1GB of memory, a 160GB hard disk and windows xp operating system.