A Look at the Asus EEE PC 1000HE

Last summer I bought an Asus EEE PC 4G and was generally pleased with the tiny laptop. However, there were three things that I thought needed improvement: the keyboard, the screen, and storage. In each case, my thought was that they could be a bit larger (but not too large-after all, the main appeal of the EEE PC netbooks is their small size). The EEE PC 1000H provides those improvements and more-and for only a bit more than I paid for my first EEE PC.

The main virtue of the EEE PC 1000 H is its small size and light weight. While it is larger than my 4G, it is considerably smaller and lighter than my iBook (dimensions and weight are given below). In practical terms, it fits easily into my rather over-stuffed backpack and does not add noticeably to its weight.  Naturally, if small size is of critical importance, Asus does make even smaller netbooks, such as the 4G and more recent versions.

While small size is important, it is really not very useful to have a PC that is too small to use comfortably. While my 4G was quite usable, the 1000H is, from my standpoint, an ideal size. The keyboard is smaller than that of a typical laptop, but the key design and size allows for easy typing-much more so than the 4G. With the 4G I tended to just use one finger typing. With the 1000h I can type normally. The screen is also larger, allowing for easier viewing of documents. Of course, with a height of only 600 it does still impose some limits. I found the screen to be high quality-sharp and responsive. There is also a VGA output, in case you want to attach it to an external monitor.

My 4G had a 4 GB SSD drive while my 1000H has a 160 GB HD. The downside of the standard harddrive is that it has moving parts and is a bit slower in booting up relative to the SSD. On the plus side, it has far greater capacity. The 4GB on the 4G was enough for the Linux OS and the base applications, but I had to rely on SD cards and USB keys for extra storage. The 1000H does have the SD reader and plenty of USB ports, but it has considerable storage space. Oddly, the hard drive is partitioned and mounts as two volumes (there are are also hidden volumes as well).

While I did not buy a netbook for speed, my 1000H is quite responsive, even running Windows XP. I did not try any recent games, but it runs Starcraft and Diablo II just fine. Microsoft Office was also quite snappy. Overall, most users will find it quite adequate for their needs. Obviously, if you ant to play the latest games or edit video, you will want a laptop with more power. But, it does give a lot of power for the cost.

For a low price netbook, it does pack in quite a few extras that you’d expect to only see on something a bit higher up the food chain. These include ethernet, multiple USB 2.0 ports, wireless N, and bluetooth. Everything worked well-it connected to my wireless N network without a hitch. I’m not a big fan of Bluetooth, but it is nice to have that option.

It ships with fairly minimal software-mostly just the OS, some very basic utilities and a trial of Office 2007. I actually see this a plus-I hate pulling crapware off my PC and would rather have a nice, clean system. I did consider installing Ubuntu, but decided to stick with XP so I could run Office, Starcraft, Diablo II, and my windows based grading program. Yes, I could probably get everything going in WINE, but I decided to just keep things simple. Besides, my 4G is running Linux.

Asus claims that the battery will last for 9.5 hours. I haven’t put that to the test, but it is nice to have long battery life. After all, the main point of getting a netbook is so you can easily have it with you. Good battery life is part of this.

Mine came with a basic soft case, but I bought a more robust one. If you plan to toss your’s into a backpack or travel with it, I’d suggest a case upgrade.

Although my quadriceps tendon repair surgery has left me unable to travel for a while, I think that the 1000H will be a great travel machine. It is light and compact, yet a very capable laptop. Assuming the battery life claims are accurate, it should keep me busy on any flights that I take.

Overall, the 1000H is an excellent little machine. If you are looking for a travel laptop, an inexpensive laptop, or one to use at school, this is a great choice. I plan to use mine for both travel (once I can travel again) and at school. My backpack always seems to be packed with notes, student papers, records, my lunch, a water bottle and various other things-so small and light netbook is ideal. I did like my 4G a great deal, but it was just a bit too small for typing and easily entering grades. Hence, I mainly just used it when travelling. But, the 1000H is as comfortable to use as a normal laptop and hence I plan to get much more use from it.

So, should you get one? My experience has been that most people tend to over buy when it comes to laptops. That is, they get a machine that far exceeds their needs. After all, surfing the web, doing an email and doing word processing do not take that much power. The 1000H provides more than enough power to do all that and at a very low price (well under $400). Naturally, I’d suggest trying one in person to see if you like the keyboard and screen size; but I think that most people will rather like this machine.

Specifications:

Screen: 10” LED Backlight WSVGA screen (1024×600)
CPU: Intel CPU & Chipset Intel® Atom N270/N280
Wireless: Wireless Data Network WLAN 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth: 2.1 + EDR
Memory:  1GB (DDR2)-single chip, must be replaced to upgrade
Hard Drive: 160GB HDDs and customized software free for downloads to enhance your experience!
Camera :  1.3M Pixel
Audio : Stereo, Mic
Input / Output:  1 x VGA Port (D-sub 15-pin for external monitor), 3 x USB 2.0, 1 x LAN RJ-452 x Audio Jack (Head Phone / Mic-in)
Card Reader: MMC/ SD(SDHC)
Battery:  6-Cell Li-ion Battery-9.5 hours claimed life.
Dimensions: 266mm(W) x 191.2mm(D) x 28.5mm~ 38mm(H)
Weight: 1.45 kg