Update: 06/07/09: We have adjusted the score of the 1002HA from five to four stars.  This is because its 2 hours 50 minutes of battey life is a long way behind the stars in this field which are beginning to reach six hours.

Asus has added yet another netbook to its collection with this Eee PC 1002HA.  It's essentially an updated version of the 1000H, with both hardware improvements and a few aesthetic refinements too.

The basic configuration remains the same though: Windows XP running on an Intel Atom processor, a regular hard drive and 1 GB of RAM.

Given that this is now something of a standard set of options for a netbook, and that the 1002HA won't be available until the start of next year, we're left wondering how Asus plans to differentiate itself in the marketplace.

Handling & Connectivity
Asus' ten-inch netbooks are really a notch above the competition's when it comes to ergonomics and handling, with a big, comfortable keyboard.  The noise problem we noted on the 1000H has been corrected here, and typing is no longer so loud.

Typical webcam shot

Asus has clearly made an effort with the case, and the whole thing now looks a lot more professional thanks to a gray frame with metal trim.  The only letdown is the cheap-looking black trim around the glossy screen.

There's plenty of room on the touchpad, which nicely fills the space that's left for it under the keyboard.  Just in front is a single metal bar that offers a left or a right click, depending on which end you press.

The built-in webcam can give a pretty blurry image, which is probably down to the refresh rate being too low.  As on the A1000H--and on most of Asus' netbooks, in fact--video can tend towards the red.  Frustratingly, it's hard to correct for this problem as the screen itself is dominated by blues.

Along each side of this netbook, you'll find 3 USB ports, one Ethernet port, a VGA output, a pair of mini-jacks and a memory card reader.  If plugging things in isn't your thing, it can also connect to Bluetooth devices.

The speakers are pretty powerful, and are as good as those on the new version of MSI's U100.  Having said that, though, you'll probably still want some headphones.

2 USB	USB, 2 mini Jack
VGA, RJ45	Webcam

Processor Power
The hardware is the same--160 GB hard drive, 1.6 GHz Intel Atom, 1 GB RAM--and so, naturally enough, are the results: very little distinguishes the 1002AH from the 1000H.  

Once again, Asus can boast an excellent boot time of 35 seconds, and the hard drive manages read speeds of up 70 MB/s, although this figure gradually slows down to 35 MB/s as the disk fills up.

The upshot of all this is that programs launch very quickly, and even large files can be copied at around 21 MB/s.

The one problem faced by the Intel Atom/945 Chipset hardware configuration is that it just can't handle HD video.  You wouldn't get a lot out of high resolution stuff on such a small screen though, and other videos work fine.

Battery Life & Portability
The 1002HA is significantly lighter than the 1000H, weighing just 1.2 kg instead of 1.45 kg.  

Unfortunately, though, the extra weight doesn't seem to have gone into the battery which now lasts less time.  In fact, in our battery life test--looping video with the screen brightness at 100 cd/m² and sound playing through the headphones--saw a fairly spectacular collapse, falling from 4 hours 42 minutes to just 2 hours 50 minutes.