Battle of the Netbooks : Asus Eee PC 1000HE
2. Asus Eee PC 1000HE
The Screen
The winning formula for the bulk of today's netbooks seems to be a 10'' screen with a 1024 x 600 pixel resolution, and Asus' latest effort is no exception.
We measured a maximum brightness of 136 cd/m², which isn't very high. Blacks came in at a minimum of 0.15 cd/m², and the contrast ratio was about 906:1.
We won't say anymore about the quality of the screen as the model we were testing was seriously damaged, with red and blue bands down the left third of the screen. Production models shouldn't be affected by this defect, but it's impossible to say any more about the quality of the hardware in this condition.
The Eee PC 1000HE is Asus' update of the 1000H. This new version includes a faster Intel Atom N280 processor, as well as a bigger battery. Asus is certainly pushing this aspect in its marketing, claiming that you can 'enjoy all-day computing' with the Eee PC 1000HE.
Handling
We were infuriated by the keyboard on the 1000H, which was not only loud but also sagged in the middle. The new keyboard, with spaces in between each key, is not unlike the one on found on Apple's MacBooks.
Asus has clearly put a lot of effort into improving the keyboard, and it has certainly paid off. Compared to a 9 inch netbook, the improvement in comfort while typing is substantial. In front of the keyboard is a large, responsive trackpad. Like on the 1000H, the two buttons sit flush with the edge of the computer and are a little stiff.
The webcam is guilty of Asus' usual faults: a reddish tint and visible flickering, especially in dark environments. The microphone is reasonably good.
Around the outside of the computer are three USB ports, an Ethernet connection, a pair of mini-jacks for sound, a multi-format card reader and a VGA video output. Asus has all the usual bases covered. Underneath the netbook, undoing two screws gives access to the 2.5'' hard drive and 1 GB of DDR2-667 RAM.
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| VGA video ouput | Audio output and input |
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| Trackpad | Ethernet and USB |
Processor Power
Our new test procedure for notebooks and netbooks was partly inspired by the tools we use to test CPUs. We focus on practical, real-life tests, like editing photos, compressing files or playing video.
On all of our tests, the N280-based 1000HE was faster than N270 based netbooks by 7-10 percent. The only exception was handling audio in Cubase, where, inexplicably, the 1000HE was 31 percent slower. Alongside full-size notebooks, we found this netbook to be anywhere between two and nine times slower, depending on the task in hand. Booting up is very fast and only takes around 40 seconds.
The video chipset still doesn't support demanding HD content like Blu-ray, but you can enjoy some less resource-hungry HD videos. One of our test clips would have left a desktop PC struggling just three years ago but was perfect on the netbook's screen, and just as good at 1920 x 1200 on an external monitor.
Audio
The speakers are good enough for watching a film in a quiet environment, but you're better off with a pair of headphones to get the most of the soundtrack.
Portability & Battery Life
For a netbook, the 1000HE is a heavyweight at nearly 3.2 pounds. Fortunately, the extra weight ensures that this netbook has the best battery life we've ever measured: 5 hours 54 minutes of continuous video playback, using our standard conditions (screen at 100 cd/m², headphone plugged in and WiFi turned off. That puts it a good hour ahead of the Samsung NC10, which is only 5 ounces lighter.
Online Storage: 10 GB
Asus is now including access to its online Eee Storage system with the 1000HE. Along with its 160 GB internal HDD, you get 10 GB of online storage. The space is free for the first 18 months.
| Asus Eee PC 1000HE | |
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| Pros | Cons |
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This is our new favorite netbook, thanks to its six hours of battery life and the Intel Atom N280. Nevertheless, at 3.2 pounds, it's amongst the heaviest of the netbook family.
why is it that tom's always leave out the acer aspire one?
Hmmm, this just reinforces my decision to buy an eepc 901a.
Some of the articles pages are cut off.
the article is linked from DigitalVersus so goin there you can read the pages that were cut off
Shouldn't the last page have a CHART that shows Score, battery life, HD size, etc. Obviously, they all have 3 USBs, Audio and video ports.
Many of the reviews are cut off. Please fix this.
You need a chart at the end of the article, and you need to fix, as mentionned by ddelrio, some of the reviews that have been cut off
A chart with all the netbooks side by side would be nice.
It would then, for example, be easier to compare weight with batterly life.
Yeah I'm clicking around trying to find the conclusion, where's the end of the article?
Acer Aspire One... how could you leave this out?
As others have mentioned, some kind of chart or summary is needed. I've noticed that recent multiple-product reviews have been lacking in that area. Being able to jump to the summary, then backtrack to individual reviews would be much better.
Jeez, has it only been 18 months?
gateway LT31XX series at about 399US leave all these in the dust,1366*768 hi-def led display,athlon64 1.26ghz,sturdy noiseless keyboard,Hd dolby surround sound,250gb hd,ati mr1270 gpu,2Gb ram,Atheros wifi,multicard reader,home vista(yuck :-P )but is still snappy and runs great,flyes with linux(tested with pclinuxos,ubuntu and mandriva 2009 kde 4,....still to try win xp though....70sec to boot to desktop on vista....esxp index on vista...proc=2.7,mem=4.5,graph=2.7,games=3.0,disk transfer rate=5.6
just my 0.02.....
Why, why does Intel tie the hands of manufacturers?!?!?!
I'll wait till AMD comes up with some sort of ATOM alla style product, but Dual Core. When that will happened only then I'll consider a NetBook.