Asus goes for the brushed metal look on the new 10-inch Eee PC 1002HA
At a media preview event Thursday night in New York, Asus showed off for the first time a new brushed-metal design for the 10-inch Eee PC Netbook. The new Eee PC 1002HA has essentially the same components as the Eee PC 1000 -- Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, Windows XP, Bluetooth, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and a few different SSD and HDD hard drive options -- but in a sturdy, upscale-looking chassis with a brushed metal lid and wrist rest.
It almost reminds us of the HP MiniNote 2133, one of the very first Netbooks, which had a similar brushed-metal design. That model was aimed at business and educational users, and the recent consumer version, the HP Mini 1000, has a plastic body.
The new Eee PC 1002HA will ship sometime in early December, and start at $499.
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan. 
