Asus EeePC 1000h
I recently grabbed an Asus EeePC 1000h netbook.
The idea is an ultra small laptop that addresses the vast majority of people’s mobile computing needs. Most people don’t use lots of processor intensive applications, and don’t really need the computing power of modern multicore processors for mobile use.
The first thing that strikes you is how truly small this thing is. With a footprint smaller than an actual notebook and weighing in at around 3#, it’s amazingly portable.
(Yeah, that’s a Vista login screen, I’ll get to that later)
The included sleeve seems pretty well padded, and leaves enough room for the charger.
The outside does seem to attract fingerprints, but the included cleaning cloth does a pretty good job of cleaning it up.
The 1000h comes with 1gb of ram and a 1.6ghz Intel Atom processor with XP Home. A Linux version is also available. The newer units come with a 160gb HDD, though mine, which shipped in July, came with the 80gb drive. The processor is very efficient from a power point of view, which is one of the big selling points of the 1000h. Most people report 5-6 hours on a full battery with normal usage. Another big plus is the ease with which the 1000h can be upgraded. It uses standard DDR2 ram and a standard 2.5″ SATA laptop drive. I replaced the 1gb ram stick with a 2gb stick, and the 80gb drive with a 320gb drive. I also installed Vista Ultimate, after slimming it down with vLite.
After it’s all said and done, and even before the upgrades really, it’s pretty much ideal for email and web browsing. It lasts forever on a charge, freeing you from having to be tethered to power outlets, and unlike WindowsMobile/iPhones/hiptops/etc, it’s a real computer, running a full desktop OS, and capable of anything any other computer can do.
Ultimately, I wouldn’t suggest it for an only laptop, something a bit bigger and with more processing power and an optical drive would likely be a better fit.
Of course, it’s not designed to be an only laptop. As an ultra portable device for email and web browsing, it’s absolutely perfect.
Here’s how it compares to a 17″ laptop.
Overall, as long as you’re aware of it’s limitations and keep it’s design goals in mind, I think you’ll be very happy. I know I am.
Verdict – Sig says buy it!
Rating: 
I added the entire EeePC line and lots of accessories to my EeePC Amazon Store.
[...] loving the competition in the netbook market. Since it’s introduction, the 1000H has been dropped nearly $200 while the HDD capacity has doubled and everything else has remained [...]