Asus Eee PC 1000H

It's been of the best-selling netbooks for a while now, but we've only just had a chance to put the Asus EeePC 1000H through our labs.

With a 10'' screen, an 80 GB hard drive and Windows XP as its OS, this computer can easily be considered 'large' for this diminutive product category, especially given that a 160 GB version is on its way too.

Having already tested the EeePC 901 from the same manufacturer, we had high expectations for this new netbook.

Handling & Connectivity
The back of the 901 and the frame around its keyboard are wrapped in a glossy black case, while the area around the screen is matte.

A large, sturdy hinge between the two parts gives the impression that this is a solid computer despite its small size.

Although the keys are large and typing is easy enough, they often feel stiff and make quite a lot of noise, which is one of this netbook's main failings.

At the front, the touchpad has a matte surface which makes it easy to slide your fingers across, in a brushed metal frame which extends right to the edge of the case to form the left and right click buttons, which are both quite noisy too.

Above the screen, a built-in webcam is the same model that Asus uses elsewhere in its range, and it tends to produce skin tones that appear too red, as you can see below.

There's also quite a bit of blurriness, especially if you're using it in a dark room, and you'll probably have to shout to make yourself heard on the internal microphone.

All of the same inputs and outputs as were on the 901 are provided, namely: 3 USB ports, 1 Ethernet port, a memory card reader--fortunately slightly faster this time--and a VGA output.

New to the party is a Bluetooth adaptor allowing you to pair the 1000H with your mobile phone or a wireless keyboard or mouse.

We were again pleasantly surprised by the speaker, which provides a lot more power without any of the distortion that music suffers from on the MSI Wind U100 for instance.

Touchpad	Mini jacks for mic and headphones
2 USB, VGA	Webcam

Typical webcam shot

Processor Power
Booting the 1000H is very fast, leaving you with a useable PC just 35 seconds after you press the power button.

A very fast hard drive offers more even results than the flash memory in the 901 which is much faster at reading data than it as at writing it.

Nevertheless, it doesn't quite reach the blistering speeds of Acer's Aspire One A150.

Using the HdTach benchmark, the 1000H started at 45 MB/s, falling to 22 MB/s at the edge of the disk, compared to the more impressive 65 MB/s with 30 MB/s at the edge of the disk notched up by Acer.

In practice, though, the slightly slower speeds of the hard drive in this netbook compared to the very best of the competition don't count against it.

Every application we tried launched quickly and we never found ourselves frustrated by the performance of the hardware.

It doesn't perform anywhere near like a 'normal' laptop, of course, but as a netbook, its speeds are entirely acceptable.

Battery Life & Portability
When it comes to staying the course, the 1000H is almost as impressive as our current record-holder, its cousin, the 901.

We left it running a film for 4 hours 42 minutes before the battery ran out, using our standard conditions (brightness 100 cd/m², headphones plugged in).

In terms of portability, we're glad to report that the charger only weighs 200 g, but the 1000H itself is 1.45 kg, which is relatively heavy for a netbook and has to count against it when it comes to lugging it around.

901 vs. 1000H
The 1000H is bigger and heavier than the 901, but is more comfortable to use because of the extra room.

80 GB of hard drive space also bring it closer to a regular notebook, making it more realistic to carry music and video around with you as well as your personal files.

When it comes to figures, you're looking at gaining 400 g in weight and losing 20 minutes of battery life.

There's no such thing as the perfect netbook any more than there's a perfect example of any other kind of product, so it's up to you to decide.