Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Asus Eee PC 1000HE | Wired.com Product Reviews

Asus Eee PC 1000HE | Wired.com Product Reviews: "Netbook Gets a Heart Transplant, Crushes Benchmarks

Asus basically invented the netbook, so it didn't surprise us when the company's latest Eee PC opened a can of whoop-ass on its competitors.

From the outside, the 1000HE doesn't look much different from other models in the diminutive Eee line. But it's the machine's heart — the brand new 1.66-GHz Atom N280 processor — that makes it faster, stronger, smarter than its opponents.

Intel claims the silicon slab boosts computing power across the board, especially HD video playback — something that has been woefully horrid in past machines using Atom processors.

Intel ain't lying. Performance-wise, this netbook is the fastest we've tested (by about 7 percent) in our benchmarks. And HD video playback was noticeably smoother and devoid of chop. Yes! Finally we can take a bus trip from S.F. to L.A., watch four episodes of Lost (in HD), and still have enough power to peruse Perez Hilton when we get in.

Better video would be a complete waste without a decent battery, and fortunately Asus has that on lockdown. According to Asus, the 1000HE's six-cell battery last 9.5 hours. We're not quite sure how they got those results — in our testing the 1000HE ran about five hours till it conked out. But that's still enough time to power the PC for an entire tra"

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