REVIEW – ASUS EEE PC 1000H – the ultimate Netbook/Mini-Laptop so far!
There is so much rage in the netbook arena. With so many companies jumping into the Netbook arena, it definitely becomes difficult for the number one netbook manufacturer, ASUS to stay as the leader. With the ASUS EEE 1000H, it seems like they have made the ultimate netbook so far. Combined with fast processor, ample storage space, great upgrading options and EXCELLENT battery life, they seem to have got everything right
A little HISTORY
Last year, ASUS was the first one to introduce netbooks into the market. It was due to the Asus, the term netbook became popular. ASUS first came with the EEE PC 70x series which included 700, 701 and 702. Those models became very popular due to their low price tags; good build quality and ruggedness. After few months, it launched ASUS 900, which was similar to EEE 701 but with bigger(8.9″) and better screen(1024 x 600). Size increase was marginal too. After a month, they came out with EEE 901, which sported Atom processor and bigger battery. 901 is still selling very well. Some even said that the EEE PC 901 is the best balance of power and mobility.
I personally own two EEE 701s. They work very nice for me. I upgraded to 900, but returned it as it also had the exact keyboard as 701. It is not that I hate the keyboard of 70x series. It is great for 15min data entry but definately not for prolonged durations. I didn’t upgrade to 901 just due to one reason. The reason was that I have been yearning for a better keyboard. Sooner, my wish was answered by ASUS when they introduced the ASUS 1000H. According to ASUS, the keyboard of the 1000H is 95% of the normal laptop size keyboard. This makes me a happy camper for sure!
Bootup
The EEE PC 1000H boots up very quickly. Definately, it boots faster than my 701 which has my personal nLited verson of XP professional. The EEE PC 1000H comes with Windows XP Home edition(too bad they don’t have XP professional option).
KEYBOARD = Perfect for typing and great for the bloggers
The size of the keyboard of the ASUS EEE PC 701 was just ok. It is perfect to enter small URLs and do some basic editing. If you had plans to write a lot on the keyboard, then, I would really not prefer you to write on the small keyboard of the 701.
On the other hand, the keyboard of the 1000H is simply fantastic. Infact, I’m writing the whole review on the keyboard of the ASUS 1000H. I feel like typing on the full keyboard. Asus claims that it is 95% of the full keyboard. The first time I started using this keyboard, I’d to make no adjustments at all. The keys are of good size and they have excellent tactile feedback.
1000H keyboad
701 keyboard
Screen
The screen is 10.2″(25.9cm) screen which sports a resolution of 1024 x 600. It is clear and bright. The resolution is adequate for this screen size though I wish they could have packed a few more pixels into it. 1280 x 800 would have been great. But, seriously no problems with current resolution at all.
Here are some comparison pictures of EEE 1000H with 701(first pic) and Acer 14.1″ laptop(second pic)
Size of the 1000H = Just right!
The size of the EEE PC is optimum for taking to the college or to a business meeting. It can also a dream come true for the people who loved the size of the SONY TZ series, but were unable to buy it due to it’s lavish price tag.
The size of the EEE PC lies between the 12″ tablets/laptops and the 70x series, which have 7″ display.
Here is the picture of the EEE PC with includes HTC Diamond on top; Sandisk Sansa; ASUS EEE PC 701; ASUS 1000H and below it, is my good ‘ol and very reliable ACER 3620(a typical 14.1″ laptop).
Benchmark
wPrime – 32M – 158.234 seconds @ 1.710.1MHz (super performance mode)
Battery Life
THe EEE PC 1000H comes with a 6600mAH battery.It truely shines in this department. The ASUS often advertises the EEE 1000H as a “whole day” device meaning that you can run it contuniously without charging for ~6-7h. Those figures are great for such a small device which is also so light when compared to similar sized notebooks/tablets. In the battery life department, I am impressed. Seriously impressed.
Basic tests of the popular applications
I installed the Photoshop CS3 extended on the 1000H and as expected, it ran fine. The fast processor really helps here. The Office 2007 also ran fine. No problems here. I went ahead and installed Visual Studio 2005. I first thought that it would be an overkill for this little thing. But, the 1000H proved me wrong! It ran faster than my 1.5GHz celeron laptop which also has 2GB of RAM. Youtube videos played without a problem even on full screen.
Overall, I am pretty sure that most of your win32 applications will install and run without any problem.
Touchpad – here comes the magic of multi-touch on a netbook!
Other things I liked about the EEE PC 1000H was it’s touchpad. Well, it is not just another touchpad. It supports multi-touch. You can configure it to launch applications by doing some gestures. eg: two finger tap to launch your favorite web browser. In a web browser, you can use two fingers to scroll up and down. There are many gestures and I’m still learning how to use them.
The 1000H comes with a nifty 1.3MP camera which is great for Skype video and video conferencing. I tested it and the results were more than satisfying. It takes decent pictures too. The built quality is great. The hinge seems very solid and durable.
VISTA?
Many people have praised EEE 1000H regarding it’s ability to run vista quite nicely. Though most of them have said that one needs to upgrade the unit with 2GB RAM to enjoy running vista on it. I am not a big of running vista on a small device like this but it is nice to know that it runs it incase in future I want to run it.
Final Thoughts
The EEE PC is great for the people who travel a lot and want a powerful companion with them all the time. It is also great for the programmers who want to do programming-on-the-go. The keyboard is great for typing long documents.
Since it has ample storage capacity(80GB or 160GB), I also recommend it to the photographers. On the top of the icing, it runs photoshop CS3 great too!
Specifications:
- Processor type: Intel Atom
- Processor speed: 1.6 GHz
- Operating system: Windows XP Home
- Webcam: Yes
- RAM: 1GB
- HDD capacity: 80GB/160GB
- Dimensions: 20 x 225 x 170 mm
- Screen Size: 10.2″
- Resolution: 1024 x 600
- USB ports: 3
- LAN: Yes
- Dialup modem: No
- Claimed Battery life: 8H
- VGA out: Yes
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That was a nice informative review. I’ve a 900 and I may upgrade to the 1000h as i find its processor a bit of compromise
can u please tell me the easiest way to get windows office 2007 installed on the 1000H with 160 gb drive?
Thanks
Wade
@ Wade, the best way to install office 2007 is from external CD drive. If you don’t own one, you can copy it’s contents to some other media like USB drives and then you can proceed with the installation from there.
You can also install from your other computer if you are on a network(LAN or WLAN) inserting CD into the laptop containing CD drive and sharing that drive over the network
will this work for me?
PNY – 4GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive???
thanks
Wade
Wade, yes it will work without any problem
Hi, what is the maximun capacity of HDD for the 1000H, at this moment my 1000h has a 80G, is possible install 160 or 250 or 320?
Thank you.
You can install any laptop HDD in 1000H. Even SSDs will work.
Please see the following link for more information
http://gadgetmix.com/index/?p=943
Yes, but is possible 160g / 250g /320g or more ????
This is my question.
Yes, but i want other hard disk, 250g is possible?
Yes, both 250GB and 320GB are compatible :)
Ok, thank you.
Does the hinge allow the 1000H to open flat (180 degrees)? That would be nice for GPS in airplane.
Hi, I am a CS Student and am contemplating between a Rs.25,000 ASUS 1000HE and a Rs.40,000 DELL Inspiron
I don’t play games or other graphic intensive tasks
My programming needs are C, C++, Python, Ruby on Rails, Perl, Java, Visual Studio.
Typing Documents , Presentations and Surfing would be the other things I would use it for.
The new 1000HE also comes with a MacBook type chiclet Keyboard so typing won’t be a pain.
I wanted to ask about it’s performance in handling the softwares, the screen size is ok for programmers ? and about spending 15,000 more and geting a Dell Inspiron ? I already own a Desktop which is my main coding horse. This one would be for portability and maybe for some months at a stretch my only coding companion
Thanks !
Dhairya, for all of your queries, the answer is yes. I also do programming in C, C++, JAVA and VISUAL STUDIO 2005 on my EEE 1000H.
The review of eee 1000he is here:
http://gadgetmix.com/index/asus-eee-1000he-review/
Thanks Kamal !
What would be your choice :
Spending 15,000 more and getting a Dell Inspiron ?
And on emore thing – Would you be knowing where can one get the eeePC 1000HE at a good price in India esp. Mumbai ?
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