Asus EEEPC 1000H
Well, after a week of testing and use I’ll have to say this little computer has exceeded my expectations. I have taken it to a couple of local hotspots and the wireless hooks up without a problem to any open networks that I have come across. The 802 b/g/n card is able to get a decent signal from a long way off. With my other pc’s I can see 3 networks near my house this little jewel sees 7, 2 are even open, what are people thinking. With bluetooth I suppose you could use your phone as a modem if it has that capability or use a Verizon Cellular Modem like Mike has. I have not tried either of those yet.
I did put 2 gigs of ram in it and cleaned up the startup programs and a few other tweaks, so speed is not an issue. The screen size is just about as small as I would like to go and very bright, talk about bright, at 50% it’s brighter than a lot of laptops at full brightness, so no problems using it out doors.
I don’t use the webcam but it is 1.3 megapixels so video conferencing or skype should not be a problem with a decent connection.
The keyboard is very good, the right shift key is a bit hard to get used to but you can remap it and pop off the keys to relocate it. The up arrow above the right arrow looks a little strange (after remapping and key swap) but oh well.
The track pad is unbelievable, (the left and right buttons are stiff as all get out) but you don’t even need them. You can use 2 fingers to scroll, 3 to right click, and pinch to zoom and decrease, after playing with it a while I love it.
Although I have never used vista some people have put it on this thing with 2 gigs of ram and say it is very usable. Folks this is a real computer.
It weighs a smidge over 3 lbs, the battery will last 4½ to 5 hrs with wireless on and the screen dimmed to about 50%. With wireless off you can get a little over 5½ hrs.
I bought a 10” DVD player case
(Click here).and it holds the laptop, ac charger a slim line external dvd burner, bluetooth mouse (which I very rarely use) and a few other cables. It is very compact.
All in all I am very pleased. If you need a computer that is small, powerful and easy to tote, has good wireless capabilities, and Bluetooth built in you could do a lot worse than this little dude. And if you’re scared of a mechanical hard drive the 1000 has an ssd hard drive for $150 more. They are a little pricey but you get what you pay for. I got mine for a little over $400 (see my original post), so I have no problem recommending this little gem.
Dave