Well, kids, it looks like the
Asus Eee PC 1000HE has started making the rounds and so far the reviews have been rather favorable.
PC Review was so taken by the machine, in fact, that they declared it the “best one yet… dethron[ing] the MSI Wind as the leader of the pack.” Their enthusiasm is stoked by the fact that the machine’s been designed around its new six-cell battery (making for something less bulky than, say, the 10-inch Aspire One or the NC10-14GB). Also in the win column are the obvious design improvements over its
predecessor, and its hard to beat $400 street price. That said, it is a netbook: the new Intel Atom N280 processor offers “no real performance benefits” over the N270, the features are pretty standard for a machine of its class (160GB HDD, three USB ports, a webcam, VGA out, 4-in-1 card reader and the usual ethernet and WiFi connectivity) and testing failed to find “any performance differences between the 1000HE and systems like the Wind, the Aspire One (10-inch), and the HP 2140.” Also according to the magazine, the new software-based overclocking feature is no great shakes.
Laptop Magazine feels pretty much the same way, loving the new keyboard, the new battery, and the fact the easy-access panel (for HDD and RAM upgrades and the like) is still intact. On the other hand, they point out that the thing’s a little heavy (3.2 pounds) — but what do you expect from a machine that boasts over 7 hours battery life?
Notebook Review singles the thing out for its design: “Build quality,” it says “is very good with strong, durable plastics used throughout the body,” and the new keyboard and gloss black paint “really adds another level of class and style to this netbook.” But don’t take our word for it — hit the read links for the full reviews, and be sure to check out the gallery below.
Read – PC Review
Read – Laptop Magazine
Read – Notebook Review
Who knows what dark, unreliable alleys the Commercial Times prowled to get this information, but the Chinese newspaper says that Lenovo is planning on shipping 11.6-inch and 12.1-inch NVIDIA Ion-based “netbooks” sometime in the future. Given the currently strained relationship between NVIDIA and Intel, it’ll be interesting to see if Intel comes through on its promise to sell Atom chips separately or if that was just the empty PR speak. We’ll see how this plays out — right now all we’ve heard is that Ion will launch on the desktop, so we wouldn’t hold your breath.
