Asus Eee PC 1000HE netbook Asus was clearly stung by criticism last year that its Eee PC line-up wasn't providing the runtime punters had been led to believe netbooks would deliver. Couple that with the confusion caused when some countries got Eee PC 900s with one battery capacity, while other regions got better ones, Asus needed to look to its reputation …
I'd have to admit, that is pretty good. I'd be interested in one if they had a faster CPU (such as the upcoming 2GHz Atom) and a 1280x800 screen rather that the rather limiting 1024x600 screen it currently has.
Maybe the next version might have these features?
Until then I'll stick with my 12" Aspire 2920 (and probably get an additional battery).
Rob
To me a netbooks price tops out at £200, maybe £230 at a push.
It’s a companion computer for less intensive task.
Coming in at over £300 makes it just too expensive as a low functionality companion computer.
I’m still holding out for the real 2nd generation of the netbooks (not just an extra inch of screen with no increase in resolution), with the dual core processors and the improved graphics with DVI or HDMI out for 720p playback.. Something that can plug into a TV as I expect this will live in the TV room more than anywhere else.
I love the way this increasingly popular style of keyboard gets these new names. Face it, they are calculator keys, and we've been there before. All those early home computer owners who got laughed at by their spoilt brat friends with BBC Micros are presumably at last vindicated.
I agree with Albert regarding the price. Netbooks _have_ to be cheap. The whole point is that they are small and you can take them anywhere - this includes somewhere where it may get lost/damaged/stolen. A low price takes some of the fear factor out of using it in such environments. Its a shame, since this looks like a nice machine. However it needs to be £100 cheaper. At that price it is competing with regular laptops where it will generally come out the loser.
The whole point of getting a Linux netbook is not that Ubuntu is only a download away, it is that we're buying hardware without the Microsoft tax. I got a 701 when they first came out because it didn't have MS's software on it. I wanted to support a large company that was brave enough to jeopardise their relationship with the big red.
Do people remember that buying anything with MS software pre-installed costs them more money?
I know this marks me out as a "freetard" and that El Reg doesn't usually fall on the side of Free Operating Systems, but come on, this article forgets that if you buy this computer and then download Ubuntu (or any other OS) you're just setting fire to a four drink beer voucher at least.
It would be a great benefit for road warriors to have an integral GSM/3G SIM slot for mobile usage, without having to resort to phallic dongles drooping all over the place, which I find are unsightly and rather off-putting.
I will stick to my Tecra and public payphones should I wish to communicate with the rest of my non-digitally enhanced organisation.
"Do people remember that buying anything with MS software pre-installed costs them more money?"
Unless it's subsidised via adware/crapware, which you wouldn't want on a notebook, let alone taking up space/CPU on a netbook.
"I know this marks me out as a "freetard" and that El Reg doesn't usually fall on the side of Free Operating Systems, but come on, this article forgets that if you buy this computer and then download Ubuntu (or any other OS) you're just setting fire to a four drink beer voucher at least."
Yes, I want my beer, too! But, yes, Asus should at least have the decency to unbundle - we're not all Wintards, you know.
I don't want to start any arguments, but if you're sick of MS and want to try something new with no strings attached there's always linux. Ubuntu's got a good rep (although Debian is the closest I've used to it, which is also very good). As expensive as a download and no need for a new pc (in fact you'll be able to run it on any old heap you can find!).
The reg had a guide to installing osx a while ago but it didn't look fun. Plenty of people have done it on netbooks though.
Hmm, already have an Eee 1000H, I wonder if they'll do the battery pack as a seperate upgrade for the rest of us?
@PReDiToR - Funny, when I got my Eee (the Xp version), it was actually cheaper than the linux version on dabs by around a tenner, and has considerably more storage (160Gb HDD Vs. 8gig SSD + 32Gig HCSD card).
@Kieran Tully - The Power brick for it isnt that big or heavy, and fits nicely into the small top pocket on my bacpack when its out and about. At the very least, its no worse than a normal lappy PSU.
Daylight readable screen test please. In a good summer, we do get a dozen bright sunny days in the UK. If the office has air conditioning at all, it is broken during those days. Wouldn't it be nice to take your work outside into the fresh air? First unplug the power and watch the screen go dim; then go outside and try to make out anything on the screen at all. Until we get some reviews that say "totally useless on a summer day" backlights are just going to get dimmer.
I will match Albert's £200, and raise a Pixel Qi LCD panel and a non-Atom CPU: Via Nano for performance or ARM/MIPS for price/battery life. Atom is bad enough, but Atom+945GME is just downright silly - low power slow CPU plus ancient slow power hog chipset.
If Asus want to bundle XP, then I want real evidence that Microsoft are paying them to take it away. By now, Microsoft must be desperate enough to hide Linux that the price of XP is negative.
Why buy a netBook with no 3G?
When I take out my Advent One netBook out and about to different places to do presentations, it is access to the Internet I need.
I don't want a add-on USB dongle 3G device as these get lost or broken.
The Advent One by PCworld has one built in.
But its battery life of 2.5hours is limiting over the course of a day.
I'd love to know why some netBooks seem to have a much longer battery life than others. It's not just the battery. Can the Reg find out?
Looks ok apart from that and the price..
I have a 14" aspire laptop with a 4hour battery that I picked up for NZ$600 NEW. Sure it doesn't have the portability but I can't help but feel that since this eeeeeeeee is costing more then its really a small laptop rather than a netbook
@PReDiToR, I agree completely.
@anonymous coward regarding crapware, I don't thin it covers costs. Look at the Dells.. same specs, the Linux one is $40 less. And this is dell, so I assume the XP copy was plenty crapped up.
@Mikey, SSDs are expensive. Asus's way of not making the Windows netbooks hideously expensive was to mask WinXP's costs by putting in a cheaper hard drive. I don't know why they don't provide a Linux + hard disk option.
But, in both cases, I don't care. I have no intention of using Windows, and so don't want Microsoft to get paid for a copy and count my purchase as a Windows sale. It's not about the money, it's about not wanting to help this convicted monopolist (falsely) prop up market share by counting my Linux systems as Windows sales. This computer sounds VERY nice, but I'm taking a stand on this, bundled Windows = no sale .
I would not be would be without my Eee 1000 (20 Gig Linux Flash version).
Remember guys that people do pay for portability and that saying "oh it should be 100 quid cheaper" or "I can get a second had Cray with a 32 inch scree and pull it around on a power cord for half the price" does not cut it.
The power pack is very small and portable.
The only grumble I have is the touch pad buttons are rubbish (to hard to click) and that the Xandros repository's are a small subset and infrequently updated.
..on Sat 14th March. Very pleased with it. bought the white one, as the piano black shows every finger mark.
I'm getting a good 3G speed over bluetooth to my SE-W880i handset - but prefer to use the cable, as it recharges the 'phone, too!
XP is fast starting and it has proved ideal for me, using StarOffice (open office, of course) , Dia (visio type programme from Open source) and an open source project manager.
The video playback of avi files is great, too, on the 16:9 screen.
The power supply (matching white) is quite small - with a cool blue LED. The built in webcam and microphone also works well - tried that out over the home wifi this week - probably won't use it over 3G.
Why XP? because I want to use my 'standard' business utilities without having to faff about with Linux. And I'm getting close to the advertised battery life, too - and I've wrecked enough laptop batteries in my time ;^)
Ah, stuff your built-in (wired in) 3G -- I'm typing this on a 1000HE that's BT to the big I via my AT&T Tilt's wireless/dongleless/cableless tether. Next phone, next carrier, same story -- must have BT 2.x EDR so my work luggable and my Eee stay connected (whenever I run out of free access WiFi)...
Power pack is 36watt, decent AC cord and very long DC cord. Tiny plug.
Pickedup a Samsung USB-powered TruDirect for US$80 last Saturday, comes with pouch similar material to the non-slip grip Eee zipper bag. Yes, the Eee bag has an inside-out wetsuit feel to it.
Tried a TON of current Netbooks at Microcenter, none of them had a decent keyboard. Tried the HEand bought it. BIG difference, and together with the battery life, the determinator.
Cost? Caught the 5 hour daily special at ZipZoomFly for $349 with free shipping (yes, they sold out in 5 hours).
"Using the Wi-Fi and backlight judiciously"
You mean turning it off from time to time? That would improve the battery life, although you'd have to be doing something else for around 4 hours to get the life up from 5 1/2 (actual) to the claimed 9 1/2 hours!
I'm not going to believe hyperbolic claims like that unless/until somebody succeeds in making it do useful work for that length of time. A less power-sapping OS would probably help - I wonder if they've thought of using Linux..?
Ran it with Ubuntu till I got bored and decided to try Hacketoshing it.
I have the 1000 HA version running Leopard, I doubled the ram, and swapped out the Etheros wireless card for a 1490 Broadcom. "$10" Its a great mini machine, the battery life is incredible and I don't have to worry about someone spilling coffee in My Macbook Pro.
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