ASUS Eee PC 1000HE 10-Inch Netbook Review – Page 4

Is There Really a 9.5 Hour Battery Life?

Featured very prominently in the marketing material for the Asus Eee PC 1000HE is a claimed battery life of up to 9.5 hours. This is supposed to provide you with “all day computing,” letting you surf the web, work on documents, and watch videos without being tethered to a wall outlet. Does this Eee really last that long?

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As you may suspect, there are several caveats in mind. The Eee PC 1000HE comes with a new “high-density” six-cell battery, and you are able to extend some of that battery life using the Super Hybrid Engine power modes that are built into the software. There are higher performance modes (which use more power) and then there is the battery conserving mode (which offers lowered performance). To achieve the claimed 9.5 hours, you’d have to dial everything down.

In my highly unscientific trial, I set the screen’s brightness to about 50% and set the power mode to auto. This way, it could automatically dial up the performance as need and conserve battery when possible. I also disabled the screensaver. Going through some general web surfing and a couple hours of video streaming, I was able to get between 6 and 6.5 hours of battery life. Your mileage, of course, will vary.

Connectivity and Noise Levels

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You’ll find the usual assortment of input and output options here. I like how there are USB ports on both sides, aiding in accessibility. The speaker output was reasonable, but I’d recommend using a set of headphones instead. I did find that the fan turned on quite often with this Eee, even though the design does allow for some airflow through the underside. It doesn’t help that the fan can be quite loud as well, but I’d prefer a louder fan over an overheating netbook.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

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Is the Asus Eee PC 1000HE particularly revolutionary? I wouldn’t say that. It doesn’t offer the same kind of shock to the system or innovation to the market as something like the Eee PC Tablet that we saw at CES 2009 in Las Vegas. Instead, this Eee PC is just supposed to be the best at what it does.

By and large, I think it’s fair to say that Asus has achieved this goal. The extended battery life and LED backlighting are definitely pluses, as is the inclusion of the chicklet keyboard (with the repositioned right shift key). Performance is adequate, build quality is great, and the aesthetics are quite good. It’s still got room to grow, like upgrading the screen’s resolution, but it’s among the best of what’s out there right now.

Listed with an MSRP of US$399.00, the Asus Eee PC 1000HE is the netbook to beat in today’s market. Of course, the netbook market being what it is, they’ll be new dogs in the yard tomorrow, so Asus will need to keep providing us with new innovations. I hear that they’ve got an Eee with an optical drive on the way. That’s different.

Pros