Asus started the netbook craze with its tiny, 7-inch Eee PC. Shortly thereafter, every notebook manufacturer except Apple produced at least one tiny and inexpensive laptop just like it. Nowadays, netbooks are not that tiny anymore - little by little they have increased in size from 7" via 9" and now the standard screen size of a netbook is 10 inches. Even a couple of 12-inch models have been released.
Hardware
What they all have in common is the hardware - with a few deviations it consists of an Intel Atom CPU at 1.6GHz, 1GB or RAM, a 160GB hard drive and integrated GMA950 graphics. The Eee PC, however, has been upgraded with an ever so slightly faster 1.66GHz Atom processor and a higher 667MHz FSB speed instead of earlier models which had 533MHz.
The speed increase is not big enough to be noticeable, but you might feel better purchasing an upgraded model. Asus' main selling point with the 1000HE is the battery life. According to the manufacturer, you should be able to keep it alive for 9.5 hours without resorting to an outlet. To achieve this formidable battery life, you need to use aggressive power-saving schemes, no Wi-Fi and turn the brightness all the way down. In our general usage test it still delivered more than 7 hours, which is still more than acceptable.
Design
As far as the design goes, the Eee PC 1000 HE stays with the concept we've seen in previous Eee netbooks. The keyboard is almost full size (92%) and the trackpad buttons are slightly tilted in the front. The entire casing of the netbook is glossy, which enhances the overall look but also attracts fingerprints easily.
On the whole, the design of the 1000HE focuses on usability; it's not spectacularly thin like some of its siblings, such as Asus S101 netbook, but it certainly gets the job done with flying colors. Besides, keeping the design simple also helps keep the price to a minimum, which is often the deciding factor for a netbook buyer.
Connectivity and Features
The ports have been placed on the left- and right-hand sides of the laptop - none at the back. On the right is a memory card reader, 2 USB and VGA and on the left is another USB port, Ethernet, and audio line in/out.
Summary
While there are better looking netbooks on the market, the Eee PC 1000HE comes at a very attractive price point and offers excellent battery life. It's also very easy to use thanks to the large keyboard, and has all the features that the competition offer plus a little extra. Combine these aspects and you have one of the best netbooks currently available.
Asus Eee PC 1000HE Technical Specifications
* Processor Atom N280 1.66GHz
* Memory 1GB DDR2
* Harddrive 160GB
* OS Windows XP Home
* Weight 3lbs
* Screen 10 inches
* Screen resolution 1024x600
* Graphic Card Intel GMA 950
* Battery Life 7.5 hours
