Asus Eee PC 904HD review

The Eee PC 904HD is Asus's latest attempt to refine the concept of the 'netbook' design the company has championed since the launch of the original Eee PC 701 in October 2007.

The 904HD uses the same larger case as the 1000 series, which means the keyboard is more comfortable than the earlier 900's and 901's. However, it uses the same 8.9in screen, surrounded by a thick bezel and a pair of speakers, which makes the display look too small, as with the 701.

At 1.4kg the 904HD is slightly heavier than the 1000, but still light enough to carry around. The 80GB hard disk is welcome for those who want to store lots of files on their Eee PC without resorting to external storage. However, this contributes to a shorter battery life compared to an SSD. At nearly five hours, the 904HD will outlast many laptops but both the 901 and 1000 last longer between charges.

The 904HD's Intel Celeron M processor runs at a slower clock speed than the Atom and doesn't use HyperThreading, Intel's virtual dual-core technology. However, it managed a reasonable score of 52 in our Shopper benchmarks, compared to the 36 scored by the Eee PC 900. The only significant difference is the hard disk, showing that hard disks can give better performance than low-capacity SSDs. The 904HD also compares well with other Atom-based models such as the MSI Wind and the Advent 4211. Office applications run fine, and we saw smooth full-screen playback of BBC iPlayer HD content.

The screen, although smaller than that of the 1000, has the same resolution. Colours lack impact and there's some banding and uneven brightness when viewing solid colours. Viewing angles are good and the matt finish reduces reflections from lights and sunlight.

The keyboard, using the full width of the 1000-series chassis, improves greatly on the cramped keyboards of the earlier 900-series machines. However, as with the 1000, there's flex in the centre of the board. The touch pad is wide and accurate, except for the tap function for clicking, which wasn't sensitive enough. This is annoying as the buttons themselves are stiff and awkwardly angled.

The 904HD strikes a good balance compared to previous models by including a decent-sized hard disk, a comfortable keyboard and respectable battery life. The screen isn't as good as the 1000's and there are still issues with the keyboard and touch pad, but at £255 it's great value. If you can live with even shorter battery life, Advent's 4211 is better value thanks to its bigger screen, while the Eee PC 1000 has a large screen and a whopping seven hours, 45 minutes battery life, albeit for around £80 more.

Author: Barry de la Rosa