To help us provide you with free impartial advice, we may earn a commission if you buy through links on our site. Learn more

Asus Eee PC 1000HE review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £316
inc VAT

Specifications

10 in 1,024×600 display, 1.4kg, 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, 1.00GB RAM, 160GB disk, Windows XP Home Edition

http://www.lambda-tek.com/componentshop

Asus’s latest model in its Eee PC range makes a number of improvements on its predecessors.

The 1000HE uses the new 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 processor, which doesn’t sound much quicker than the 1.6GHz N270 found in the other netbooks here, but it has a faster 667MHz front side bus, which is a 25 per cent increase over the N270. This gives quicker access to the memory, hard disk and other system devices. The performance improvement isn’t huge, but is noticeable.

The screen’s matt finish reduces reflections from overhead lights and sunlight. We liked the strong contrast and it’s reasonably bright, but images look grainy and viewing angles are tight. The screen tilts back quite far so it can be used in tight quarters more easily.

The keys are a little smaller than those on the other 10in netbooks here due to their widely spaced, tiled design. They also don’t give quite enough feedback when pressed. Although not uncomfortable, we prefer the keyboards on Asus’s Eee PC S101 and Dell’s Inspiron Mini 10.

The accurate and responsive touchpad is large for a netbook, but we’d prefer an even larger one since it also supports multitouch gestures. Two- and three-finger swipes and taps perform various functions, but can be hard to perform in such a small space. The touchpad buttons feel a little stiff, but are still more responsive than those on previous Eee PCs.

We were impressed by the 1000HE’s battery life of almost seven hours in our light-usage test. Its 1.4kg weight is a little heavier compared to the other netbooks in our round-up, but the chunky design feels robust, so we’d happily take it travelling.

The 1000HE’s long battery life, decent application performance and sturdy build quality are impressive, but we would have preferred a keyboard with larger and more responsive keys. If you can stretch your budget by a further £42, then Samsung’s N120 has dramatically better battery life and a more responsive keyboard.

Basic Specifications

Rating ****
Processor Intel Atom N280
Processor clock speed 1.66GHz
Memory 1.00GB
Memory slots 1
Memory slots free 0
Maximum memory 2GB
Size 40x267x190mm
Weight 1.4kg
Sound Realtek High Definition Audio
Pointing device touchpad
Power consumption standby 1W
Power consumption idle 11W
Power consumption active 15W

Display

Viewable size 10 in
Native resolution 1,024×600
Graphics Processor Intel GMA 950
Graphics/video ports VGA
Graphics Memory 128MB

Storage

Total storage capacity 160GB
Optical drive model none
Optical drive type N/A

Ports and Expansion

USB ports 3
Bluetooth yes
Wired network ports 1x 10/100/1000
Wireless networking support 802.11n
PC Card slots none
Modem No
Supported memory cards SDHC, MMC
Other ports none

Miscellaneous

Carrying case Yes
Operating system Windows XP Home Edition
Operating system restore option restore partition
Software included none
Optional extras none

Buying Information

Warranty two years collect and return
Price £316
Details http://uk.asus.com
Supplier http://www.lambda-tek.com/componentshop

Read more

Reviews