Asus Eee PC 1000HE review

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.