With Asus's new offering in the Eee series, I couldn't pass this up. While the 1000HE had some minor issues, it is all-around a strong product sure to please anyone without impossible expectations.
Delivery and Price: $383 is a bit pricey in today's competitive Netbook market, but for the price, you are getting your money's worth. As for delivery, which has no impact on my overall review, Amazon got it to me efficiently and for free.
For all the people who receive their Netbook seemingly DOA, note this: Your hard drive probably got messed up somewhere along the way. If your Netbook doesn't turn on at all, you should probably call Asus. If it turns on and makes clicking and beeping noises, shake the Netbook lightly before giving up and calling Asus. This worked for me.
Appearance: I personally like the blue color. Whatever color you get, it will look very slick and slim, and will have a "cool" appearance. It is a fingerprint magnet, however. Overall score: 9.5/10.
Weight: At 3+ pounds, it isn't the most competitive against other Netbooks, but it still is a big change especially if you are coming from the laptop market to the Netbook market. Overall score: 8.5/10.
Hard Drive: Other than the problem mentioned above, the hard drive is fine. At 160 GB, it is spacious for a Netbook, but it isn't an Solid State Drive, so speed won't be incredible. Overall score: 9/10.
Memory: The memory (RAM) is standard for the Netbook market. While 1 Gig is good for casual browsing, for noticeable improvement, upgrade your 1000HE to 2 Gigs. I personally suggest the "Crucial 2GB 667 Mhz CT25664AC667 DDR2 200-Pin SODIMM Laptop Memory", which is in the "frequently bought together" area on the page. Upgrading is easy and takes 10 minutes for a non-technical person. A quick Google search will show you how to accomplish this. Overall score: 10/10.
Mouse and Keyboard: The "chiclet-style" keyboard is very tactile, and keys are well spaced for optimum use. No complaint here, but as for the touch pad, I have some criticism. The touch pad is like any other laptop touch pad, but Asus has introduced some multi-touch gestures for different tasks like zoom and scroll. These gestures activate much too often, and I still can't find where to set the sensitivity.
As for the click keys on the 1000HE, the keys are located in the curve on the side, so it takes a hard press to activate these. No other complaint here. Overall score: 8/10.
Other aspects: *The Wi-Fi (B/G/N) and the bluetooth have exceptional ranges. I was sitting downstairs and my Netbook recognized the bluetooth receiver on my desktop upstairs. *The monitor has a switch to turn off. Big energy saving plus here. *Power-saving and performance modes allow for optimum battery use. *The battery lasts 7.5 hours (not entirely the 9.5 Asus claims) for normal browsing tasks, a big plus when comparing choices. *The webcam, at 1.3 Megapixels, has excellent quality (not compared to your giant camera, of course). *No optical drive, but there are several cheap external ones you can buy. Overall Score: 9.5/10.
Final thoughts: Netbooks aren't for the hardcore gamer, or the grandma who thinks the World Wide Web is a giant spider web. If you want a strong-featured but excellently portable device, the Eee PC 1000HE is definitely the way to go. Get more detail about ASUS Eee PC 1000HE 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9.5 Hour Battery Life.
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