While I certainly have reason to believe that netbooks are already obsolete, it is good to see that the market isn’t getting too stagnant. The manufacturers are constantly upping the ante, granting us access to new features and better performance. One of the more recent examples of this is the Asus Eee PC 1000HE, a netbook that improves on the existing Eee PC line in just about every way.
On the surface, the Asus Eee PC 1000HE 10-inch netbook may appear to be remarkably similar to the Eee PC 1000HA that I reviewed last year, but Asus has made several noteworthy improvements that make latest product a worthy consideration.
Updating the Netbook Features
So, how do the features on the new Eee PC 1000HE stack up against the MSI Wind, HP Mini, and other Asus Eee PC netbooks? While much of the core spec sheet looks remarkably familiar, there are a few notable highlights that should catch your eye.
- Genuine Windows XP Home
- 10″ LED Backlit WSVGA (1024×600) screen
- Intel Atom N280 processor
- 1GB DDR2 RAM
- 160GB hard drive
- 10GB Eee Storage (free for first 18 months)
- 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
- Integrated Bluetooth 2.0
- 1.3 Megapixel Camera
- Six-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (up to 9.5 hours of life)
- Dimensions: 266mm(W) x 191.2mm(D) x 28.5mm~ 38mm(H)
- Weight: 1.45kg (3.20lbs)
- Available Colors: Pearl White, Black, Blue, Golden, Pink
The 10-inch widescreen display is a sort of hit-and-miss. On the one hand, it’s great to see the LED backlighting. On the other hand, it’s just a WSVGA screen when there are several new netbooks out there, like the Gigabyte M912X that offer WXGA (1320×768) resolution displays.
The Asus Eee PC 1000HE is the first netbook, to my knowledge, to rock the new Intel Atom N280 processor. This improves on the popular N270 both in clock speed (1.6GHz vs. 1.66GHz) and Front Side Bus (533 vs. 667).
There’s also the new chicklet keyboard and the claimed 9.5 hour battery life, but I’ll approach those two items in further detail in just a moment.
Looking Inside the Same Box
The box and packaging for the Eee PC 1000HE remains largely unchanged from the Eee PC 1000HA. In addition to the netbook itself, you get the power supply and cable, a protective sleeve, software CD, warranty card, user manual, and cleaning cloth. There are no real surprises here. The cleaning cloth certainly comes in handy, since the top shell is glossy (and a fingerprint magnet). The bezel around the display of the netbook is now glossy as well (it used to be matte), so you’ll need to do some fingerprint-wiping there too.
MacBook-Style Chicklet Keyboard
One of the reasons why people like their MacBooks so much is because of the keyboard. There is just enough key travel to provide the right kind of tactile response while still being incredibly comfortable. It also looks great to boot.
Well, one of the upgrades that you’ll find on the Eee PC 1000HE is the inclusion of a very MacBook-esque chicklet-style keyboard. As with the Apple variant, this keyboard looks great and feels great. It also exudes a better sense of class and prestige. But there is one other reason why I am so excited about this keyboard.
One of my biggest complaints against the Asus Eee PC 1000HA was the placement of the right shift key. They had it waaaay on the far right, making for quite the pinky stretch. With the 1000HE, Asus has thankfully relocated the right shift key to the left of the four directional keys. Thank you, Asus. You have no idea how much of a difference this makes.
Multi-Touch Trackpad for the Win
While the trackpad looks largely unchanged, this slick little number hides a few great secrets. Possibly once again borrowing a page out of Cupertino’s book, Asus has included multi-touch functionality into the Eee PC 1000HE. I’m still not a fan of the super stiff buttons, but given the multi-touch trackpad, I don’t even need the buttons anymore.
A single tap on the trackpad is the same as a left-click. Using two fingers, you can do both horizontal and vertical scrolling through webpages, documents, and anywhere else where you would need to do some scrolling. To do the same thing as a right-click, tap the trackpad simultaneously with three fingers. Very nifty.
It is also possible to do click-and-drag on the trackpad. Essentially, you do a double-tap where the second tap is sustained and dragged. This works for selecting multiple items, moving windows, and so on. Very cool.
Webcam Supports Streaming Video
One of my favorite tests for netbooks is whether they can handle outbound streaming video to a site like Ustream. Even though they may have the same or similar specs on paper, the actual performance can vary considerably. Sometimes, it has to do with drivers and updates. Other times, it could be a hardware compatibility issue.
Well, I can quite gladly say that the Eee PC 1000HE and its 1.3 megapixel camera was able to stand up to this test. I had no trouble streaming decent quality video, including the audio streaming from the integrated microphone. This helps to solidify the Eee PC 1000HE’s role as a handy companion for vloggers and podcasters.
Benchmarks
As we do with all the netbooks we review on Futurelooks, I put the Asus Eee PC 1000HE through its benchmark paces using the same battery of simple tests. This helps to place the netbook in a quantitative perspective against its direct competition. Let’s start with HD Tune.
HD Tune
The included 160GB hard drive offers a performance level that is pretty much on par with other comparable netbooks with “real” hard drives. You get an average data transfer rate of 52.1MB/sec and an access time of 21.7ms. The generated chart does appear to be a little more haphazard, but this isn’t really outside of the normal range.
3DMark 06
As with many other netbooks in this range, the Eee PC 1000HE struggled through 3DMark06: A test setup to gauge the 3D gaming worthiness of a system. When I tried putting it through the entire battery of tests, it would once again reach a certain point where the screen would go black and the computer would cease to be responsive.
The systems that we’ve tested seem to freeze on the Batch Size Tests, so I tried running everything but those tests and came up with the 90 3DMarks shown above. By comparison, the older Eee PC 1000HA only produced 68 3DMarks, so Asus is moving in the right direction.
PCMark05
PCMark 05 is a benchmark that simulates everyday productivity. On the PCMark05 side of things, I once again was not able to get a graphics score and, hence, I was not able to get a final PCMark score. The CPU (1550), Memory (2506), and HDD (4241) scores are about the same as what I found with other similar netbooks.
Surfing the Web and General Performance
Even though the specs are slightly upgraded over previous iterations in the Eee PC lineup, you really shouldn’t expect the 1000HE to do much in terms of heavy lifting. You may be able to get away with a little Windows Movie Maker action or an older version of PhotoShop. That said, most casual users will be able find a suitable level of general performance here.
Navigating through media-intensive websites didn’t seem to cause too much trouble, but the Eee PC 1000HE did start to falter when I tried to do any real multi-tasking. If I started loading one program, I couldn’t really expect to keep doing much in Internet Explorer until that program was fully loaded. You’ll want to keep a light load here. I should also note that the lower resolution display makes for a fair bit of scrolling.
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?
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
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
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
- Improves on the Eee PC 1000HA in just about every way
- Great chicklet keyboard with relocated right shift key
- LED backlit display
- Super Hybrid Engine for battery/performance modes
- Plenty of battery life
Cons
- Still a WSVGA display when others are doing WXGA
- One big fingerprint magnet
- Struggles with multitasking
Overall Rating: 9.5/10.0
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