Asus Eee PC 1000HE netbook

[Jeffrey]

Asus to be the indisputable record of bringing to market first Netbook: the Eee PC 701 models have long been the only solution available in market. Then, several other manufacturers have tried to collect the opportunities offered by this new and unexplored area of the market. Everything happens for a moment more on the particular economic and the assumption of the low purchase price that has always characterized them, or should characterize, is well accepted by the public.

Several researches reported as Eee PC, this is the brand chosen by Asus for its Netbook, is a brand well known to the public, a synonym of unquestionable success achieved by Asus in this segment. Despite the drop in some large sizes, such as Acer and HP, trap very closely the success of the Eee PC range. It should be noted, however, especially not by a little: while competitors offer a few products Netbook Having thus the main objective of the sales volumes Asus has built a wide range of products.

Over time Asus has proposed solutions with diagonal display with between 7 and 10 inches, has introduced variations in hardware that offers an even wider keyboard, or marketed Eee PC able to differentiate themselves from the crowd: Eee PC S101 is a good example, as well as the recent Eee PC 1008HA or T91.

In this review we will model 1000HE Eee PC that features a new keyboard elements isolated and the envelope of a particular battery. The self-declared by the producer speaks well of 9.5 hours, of course we go to check during the test.


Model : Asus Eee PC 1000HE

Processor : Intel Atom N280

Chipset : Intel 945GMS

Memory : 1GB DDR2

Display : 10-inch 1024x600 pixels

Hard Disk :160 GB to 5.400rpm

Interface I / O : 3 USB 2.0, Mini D-sub 15-pin

Connectivity : Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11bg

Weight : 1.46 Kg

Battery : 8700mAh

Among the main technical characteristics of 'Eee PC 1000HE deserves to be mentioned the cpu Intel Atom N280, a real novelty of the product hardware. In fact, as we will see the following pages, the real benefits today from this component are not of particular interest, while all attention is catalyzed by the 8700mAh battery.

[Jeffrey]

The Eee PC 1000HE differs from previous series for a few interesting details, and news affecting the hardware configuration but also the appearance and usability of the product. The cover of the display has a glossy finish created with Infusion technology, whose main advantage lies in scratch resistance. Asus, as other producers, has long been introduced this technology on their notebook lines and now has decided to introduce this innovation on the Netbook, products that by definition should be low cost.

The same finish was used on all surfaces of the chassis except the keyboard, something that Asus has been working a lot. Seeing the 'Eee PC 1000HE for the first time you will hit the keyboard: Asus has decided to introduce this model a solution to elements isolated following a trend typical of products of higher carats. By way of example, note that one of the solutions presented in the market was the VAIO Z series from Sony last year.

This type of keyboard, which offers an extension of about 92% compared to a typical solution for notebooks, provides better ergonomics and offers a good accuracy when typing, even in long sessions. On the engineering Asus has done a good job: the keys have adequate travel and symbols shown on the individual elements are clearly visible, a feature perhaps obvious although some recent evidence we have had unpleasant surprises. Unfortunately we have noticed a slight decline of the central elements, as if all the keys were not sympathetic to the chassis but based on an internal panel.

One of the main characteristics of 'Eee PC 1000HE is the 6-cell battery from 8700mAh. This component has been integrated sull'Eee PC 1000HE with some new mechanical clearly visible in the back of the product, the adoption of such a battery, of course, has a significant impact on the weight that goes up to 1.45 Kg

As for the multitouch-sensitive surface has generously sized and multi touch already seen on other models are also sull'Eee again 1000HE PC using a single finger touchpad will behave like a common pointing device, while using two fingers you can zoom in and zoom out on images, or browse through a photo album. These little gesture can certainly be improved.

The selection keys offer a very precise touch and are made with a shiny metallic finish, the same one used to create a thin frame around the touch pad and buttons to add some convenience in use near the hinge of the display. Through 4 buttons Asus offers access to some basic but useful functions: the element marked with the symbol X can turn on and off the display so immediate, useful function to optimize the battery and you quickly to hide what is displayed on the third monitor. A second component allows to change the resolution of the display from the native (1024x600 pixels) to 800x600 or 1024x768, but in this case the display will show only part of the desktop and you need to make a scroll.

The third component allows you to select the profile of energy saving more in the activities taking place: High Performance Auto provides that the internal electronics of 'Eee PC commute the best profile in terms of processor load, while Super Performance and High Performance profiles provide energy management more or less parsimonious. The Power Saving option offers the best settings for saving energy but sacrificing performance.

The button to the right from Asus is preconfigured for access to Skype, but the user can access these settings to meet their specific requirements by configuring the last two buttons described above.

Among the options entered by Asus also point out an interesting, accessible from the keyboard shortcut: press Fn + F9 is activated immediately the task manager, obviously with the operating system Microsoft Windows XP. In relation to this option indicates the Asus implementation of an automatic restore function of which, however, we did not find documentation and we do not understand in detail the operation. Would say: in case of panic press Fn + F9.

[Jeffrey]

In terms of connectivity 's Asus Eee PC 1000HE offers ample opportunity: in addition to the Ethernet connector located on the left side there is a Bluetooth 2.1 module, and access to Wi-Fi networks is secured by a module that supports the standard IEEE802 .11 b / g / n. With regard to this component is to be noted that the Asus Eee PC 1000HE is one of the few Netbook to offer support to the latest 802.11n, this standard incorporates MIMO technology and is therefore able to offer better performance in terms Stability of the signal and speed. The wireless control functionality using keyboard shortcuts: the adoption of a mechanical switch would be a most effective solution.

Unfortunately, and it is good to remember not to get too many illusions, one of the conditions necessary to exploit the MIMO option is that all devices connected to a specific SSIDD support the 802.11n standard, in fact, just a single device 802.11g module to degrade the performance of the entire wireless network.

1000HE The Eee PC has 3 USB 2.0 ports, a Mini D-sub for connecting an external display and taken 3.5 mm jack for connecting headphones and microphone. Furthermore, on the right side is a useful card reader that supports the formats (MMC, SD and SDHC, Memory Stick and MS-PRO.

The display has a diagonal of 10 inches with native resolution of 1024x600 pixels, a feature that is common to all the latest Netbook. On the top of the frame is complemented by a 1.3 Mpx webcam and the microphone is located on the lower edge of the frame, closer to the keyboard.

The reserve components inside a single surprise: compared to the multitude of Netbook and Eee PCs based on Intel Atom N270 CPU, Asus for this model has a newer Intel Atom N280 processor with a clock frequency but with virtually identical FSB running to 667MHz. In terms of performance is expected behavior identical to that seen with the Intel N270 predecessor.

As well described in this study dedicated, interesting news and benefits will be seen only by replacing the Intel chipset 945GSE with GN40.

For data storage Asus has provided a hard disk tray rotating 2.5-inch 160GB of capacity. As usual, users of Eee PCs can support the local storage available from hard disk with 10GB available from online Eee Storage service.

[Jeffrey]

With 1000HE Asus Eee PC is able to propose a new solution and able to differentiate itself from many recent products have come on the market. The novelty of this model are apparent on two specific fronts, on the aesthetic and the functional. Infusion finishing the new design offers a new and promising Asus, durable over time.

The keyboard on isolated elements is another essential element of this new Eee PC: This type of keyboard, with a spacing between the individual elements, it offers good usability and a comfortable use. Furthermore, on the aesthetic elements in the keyboard is a pretty isolated novelty, especially in Netbook in which the economic factor is crucial.

From the hardware point of view, the new Eee PC1000HE offers no great novelty, the Netbook is different from previous versions only for the adoption of the latest Intel atom N280. As described in the preceding pages, this cpu will be able to propose interesting novelty only in combination with the next-generation chipsets.

Asus offers the main features of the Eee PC 1000HE autonomy record: Well 9.5 hours. During our testing we have found that value even if the result is remarkable: 8h 15 minutes with the Power saving active, Wi-Fi turned off and a slide show of images running in loops. Turning on the wireless card, enabling Skype and raising the brightness to 70% autonomy decreased to about 7:20 a.m..

The 6-cell battery has led to a significant weight gain: l '1000HE Eee PC weighs 1.46 kg, are far from poor kilogram solutions measured on the first Eee PC. It 'true that more than 7 hours of battery life are a result of all respect,and then aligned with the previous solutions in the market.

At the recent CeBIT in Hannover have been other interesting news: thinner chassis, new interfaces and a tablet PC. All these advances, which give ample space below, proves that the Eee is constantly being developed and in the coming months will be able to bring to market new products.