My Asus Eee PC 1000HE Review

12 May 2009 39 views View Comments

So, I went ahead and ordered my 1000HE and even though I ordered the ground shipping it came in two days. Whether you like BuyDig.com or not, their service was phenomenal. It came in a small brown box and I began opening everything up and decided to turn it on for the first time.

When I read the reviews, a lot of the things people said were right on. The keyboard is phenomenal. I’ve tried using an Acer Aspire One and it scared me. I don’t know if my hands are too big or if the keyboard was just too small but it wasn’t a good fit. I’m able to type on this keyboard without looking at the keys, and everything is within reach. If I had to wish for anything different in the keyboard, I’d wish that the keys lit up. Frequently I write in dark, or watch TV through Hulu or TV.com and being to see the keys make it difficult for the few times when I actually need to see them. A secondary thing I’d mention which is probably limited to my own personal feeling is that the buttons below the trackpad take some getting used to. It isn’t that they’re too small, but it takes getting used to if you’re familiar with a stardard sized notebook.

The system starts up in a flash. I haven’t timed it, but it can’t be more than 15 or 20 seconds.

The 1024×600 screen is adequate and most web pages fill it just fine. Between using Google Chrome, and IE – I’d give the edge to IE for my netbook browsing purposes. For everything Chrome does great it has these wierd things it does and I refuse to get used to them. IE renders pages beautifully and seems plenty fast.

The battery works great, but being able to get 9.5 hours doesn’t matter unless you’re actually getting that. I know getting 5 hours of worktime with bluetooth and wifi on is about what I’m getting on average. To get any higher I’d imagine that I’d need the screen to the lowest brightness setting, using a wired network connection and only browsing the web. Video can be difficult, and if you watch a lot of video online make sure you increase the RAM. Smoothness of the video wasn’t horrible, but I can see how it could irritate some people.

Having bluetooth is incredible. I hook up my Sprint phone and I’m able to tether, and tranfer files without a problem.

I haven’t used the SD card slot, or the USB ports but for everything I need it for, this netbook has been great. Below are some images I took when I first got my grubby hands on it.

I recommend ordering your own 1000HE. If you already own one, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

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