Asus Eee PC 1000 Laptop Review

This is no ordinary laptop, it is a netbook and this netbook kicks the rear ends of every other netbook that dares stand up to it, well in its series anyway. It is the best equipped and largest netbook in the Eee series.

Okay before I get into the main chunk of the review I’m going to have to explain what a netbook is because even I was confused. A netbook is used to describe a category of small, low-cost and light weight sub notebooks specialized for Internet access and core computing. Hopefully that should clear everything up.

Eee have also thought about all those Microsoft haters out there that would be want to buy a netbook, so they have quiet cleverly made the netbook available in two different platforms. For those who find Windows easy to use there is a Windows XP model for £349 and those who don’t a Linux model for £369. Don’t ask me what the extra £20 is being used for.

Along with savings £20 with the Window model you also get an extra 40GB of storage space. Both models come with 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi, which means that you can connect to just about any and every popular wireless network there is.

This netbook is 225mm x 170mm x 20mm it is very portable even though it is the biggest, in terms of physical size, in its series. You can’t really complain about that but you can complain about the weight of this netbook. Why? Well because this netbook tips the scales, it seems Asus have forgotten that portable laptops need to be light weight.

Without the battery it weights 1.1kg with the battery it is 1.45kg, if you want to build your muscles but don’t want to go to the gym well I think you should buy one of these. The size and weight problem of this netbook force us to say that this isn’t really a netbook, it is more of an ultraportable laptop such as the Sony Vaio TZ series. Seeing that normally ultraportable laptops normally cost £1,000 or more then Asus are still in the clear as this netbook or ultraportable laptop is, at its most, only £369.

It does come with a keyboard to brag about. The keyboard is one of the best, if not the best, on any machine in its category. The mouse pad is quite simply perfect. It supports multi-touch inputs. Well that means you can rub two fingers vertically or horizontally to roll through documents or even use a pinch motion to zoom in and out of images. This just makes surfing the net and life so much easier.

Overall it isn’t bad at all. Its screen is of a good standard and it’s a pleasure to use. All icons and text are large and easy to read so there isn’t a need to squint your eyes or get millimetres away from the screen to read. Performance wise, well as long as you stick to web browsing, presentations, word processing and watching moves you shouldn’t be disappointed but apart from that you may start to form a frown. It also has an impressive battery life of about 4 hours – that’s enough to watch Saw I and II and get half way through Saw III, now that is a good laptop.

Okay it you might be confused if it’s a ultraportable laptop or a netbook but to put it simply it is a well equipped, well designed and well ultraportable.

Due to all of this Laptops.co.uk give it 4 out of 5 stars – not that isn’t bad at all.