I did my initial 1201HA review on Decmeber 19th.  While I only looked at it in a vacuum I’ve learned a lot in the span of 30 days.  In that time period the 1201N, 1005PE, and 1001P have all come out with prices ranging from $300 to $500.

This left me with the desire to reflect and wonder – “If I had $330 to spend, what netbook would I buy?”

After some careful consideration my answer is “yes.”

The appeal of the N450 processor is tremendous.  Even the 1201N with the N330 Dual Core Atom processor sounds exciting but neither of those are light years away from the Z520 processor in the 1201HA.  It’s true that you don’t get an HDMI input with the 1201HA, but you don’t get one with the any of the smaller netbooks either.  Aside from the occassional deal, HDMI netbooks typically start at $400.  Most people don’t have a spare $70 for a computer.  They may not even need it since there are way to hook up a netbook to an HDTV by using the VGA port.  For everything you may not get, here’s what you do:

- 12.1 in screen with 1366 x 768 resolution
- 160GB hard drive
- 1.3 megapixel webcam
- 6 cell battery

My sites are set slightly higher and I’m waiting until the ION 2 netbooks come out before I decide to trade in my 1000HE.  I realize everyone may not like the appeal of shopping at Best Buy, but this just might be the one reason to do it.

1. Asus 1201HA Netbook Review – Overview – Part 1

2. Asus 1201N, 1201T Netbooks Get Compared

3. 1201T Asus Congo Netbook Specs Get Spotted

4. Asus 1201HA Coverage From Around The Web

5. Top HDMI Netbooks Under $500