The Rabapab Blog

So I broke down over the past few days and did a complete Windows 7 re-install on the netbook.  I had done it already on the laptop, but had not done it for the netbook.  It has went well so far and everything seems to be running smooth.  I was able to get away with installing only 2 drivers from the Asus site, the most important being the ACPI driver, which it took forever to find.  Everything else so far has been running as expected, the battery life is right where it was when I had 7 installed the first time.  I really like the power management features in Windows 7, it is able to make the most out of the 6-cell battery on the Asus  Eee PC 1005HA, in low power mode I am able to get around 8 hours out of the battery and around 5 hours in balanced.

So far I am extremely impressed with Windows 7, it seems to deal with the shortcomings found in Windows Vista, and in most cases dramatically improve the user experience.  I do have to agree with the common complaint that there will not be any Windows XP upgrade paths, but considering that I always do Full Install versions of Windows I am not too concerned.  Upgrades in my experience never seem to run as good as a fresh install.  Files that are worth keeping are usually easy to backup, and most software that you may have purchased can either be downloaded easily or you will have disc copies of.

So no matter if your on Vista or XP, if you meet the system requirements for Windows 7, you should definitely make the jump to Windows 7.  I will be putting a copy of Professional on this netbook when the OS officially releases.  I don’t think I really need the Ultimate edition on the netbook, since I don’t do the BitLock stuff nor do I have a need to switch to any other language than English.  That will save me a little bit of money, but I will still be able to do all the things that I want/need to be able to do. 

Next article I will be going over the things I hope to see improved in the final release of the Windows 7 OS.  Most of which I am sure we will not see, of course keeping in mind that I have not as of yet seen the RTM release of Windows 7.  Once I have a chance to check that out then I will have a better idea of what issues I see still needing to be fixed shortly after release.  Until next time, everyone take care.

Oh my goodness, I am not really sure why I did not pick up a netbook sooner than I did, but am actually glad I waited.  I ended up getting a very nice one, and so far it has worked out wonderfully for me. 

I have quickly gotten used to the smaller keyboard and am now able to breeze thru quick posts like these.  I won’t lie and say that if you have never used one before that it won’t take some time to get used to.  But with the Asus that I got it is not much smaller than a normal laptop keyboard anyway.  And unlike some other netbook keyboards this one has full size shift keys, much nicer than the smaller ones found on other netbooks.  As much as one can say about a keyboard the touchpad is actually very nice as well, once it gets a proper dose of sensitivity reduction.  Otherwise it is fairly difficult to type because the cursor keeps jumping around or you are clicking where you shouldn’t and completely mess stuff up. 

Battery wise it is actually doing pretty good so far.  I have not really sat down and messed with the Power settings to find that perfect long battery configuration while still allowing the device to functional and connected.  With Windows 7 it doesn’t seem like it would be too difficult to get closer to 9 hours of life out of the battery.  The manufactures claims 10.5 hours of battery life, but most reviews that I have seen indicate the number is more like 8.5 – 9 hours max with power saving settings.  Since the netbook came with Windows XP I would like to compare the life I am getting with Windows 7 to what I get with Windows XP.  I plan on doing a clean install of XP Pro which I already have a license for here within the coming months to really get a good comparison between the Power Saving settings built into XP coupled with the Super Hybrid Engine software from Asus against the Power Saving settings built into Windows 7.  I have to say I am impressed with the life I am getting with just Windows 7.  I have been on this thing since 5:30 PM today, and it is still going, 33% (2 hours 45 minutes).  Mind you I started off at around 98% or so on the battery.  So not bad all things considered.

Overall I am very pleased with my purchase and would certainly recommend the Asus Eee PC 1005HA-P to anyone looking for a compact yet well endowed netbook.  This thing has it all and comes with room to grow.  Definitely look this sweet little PC up if you are in the market.

Planning on keeping this post short and to the point.  I am writing it on the new netbook and it is obviously going to take me a little while to get used to the compressed keyboard.  This is really the first thing I have actually typed on it since I got it.  I have spent most of the day getting Windows 7 all setup and my favorite software installed.  I am now trying to wear the battery down so that I can give it a complete discharge.  Today was its first real charge so, I want to make sure that I try to cycle the battery as best as I can.

So far the netbook is very nice, not sure where the battery life is going to be with Windows 7 installed instead of the Windows XP install that came with the PC.  I will be using this configuration until Windows 7 goes live, I am hoping that I can find a nice set of battery settings to give me the most out of my battery before then.

Well that is going to be it for now.  I will try to get some more info posted on my review of this netbook, once I have a chance to really play with it and see how much I really like working on something so small.  If I go back to XP I will be using Pro instead of Home.  But I seriously doubt that will happen anytime soon.  The only way that will happen is if the battery life on Windows 7 is so bad that it is not worth running it on this machine.  XP may very well be a better fit right now until Asus can make Windows 7 versions of all their drivers and software.