ASUS Eee PC 1000 10-Inch Netbook

I bought my Asus eee soon after it was released in May 2008 with Linux version. At first the desktop menu was so simple seemed unable to be useful for complicated software, but we managed to install Linux Debian xfce4 desktop with the graphics manager x11 specifically x.org, since everything works beautifully just like every other PCs. Now I have Firefox web browser and email, open office all sorts, GNU image, Ekiga & Skype, Pidgin, Cheers and many games installed and working fine. All the software I need are all freely available and working. This highly compact laptop is the lightest also inexpensive yet well functional one I have ever had, without the trauma of everyday virus attack from windows operation system. Fantastic!

Would have given it a 4 until yesterday.

Bought this in February and use it four or five hours a day (a lot!). Wonderfully handy, easy to throw in a purse to take to a conference or on a short trip. A bit of a bother that it doesn't have "Word" (that's why the 4), but perfect for researching stuff, and, since I use Evernote as my "cloud" storage, I could access content from PCs at work or my MAC at home and change what I'd written to "Word".

But last night the left mouse click became less and less responsive, then stopped working altogether. Can still lightly tap pad to accomplish same action, but does involve reprogramming how I use the notebook and it's amazing how bothersome that can be (at my age, the programming doesn't change as easily as it used to, and reverts without warning to original). Very annoying.

I am excited about netbooks because they're living proof that mobile and pc's are converging. These affordable and very portable (my Eee PC fits in my purse!) machines are perfect for browsing the web almost anywhere. As 99% of what I do on a computer today I can do via the Web I can really see this form factor become the standard work machine for professionals.

I got my Eee PC unexpectedly for my birthday and I absolutely love it. Physically, it is light, small, and has a nice aesthetic design. It also comes in white, which I really like.

The embedded 1.3 megapixel camera is a nice feature (although I must say the software for using it isn't very good).

The network drivers are amazing. They pick up wifi signals very well and connect you almost automatically and extremely fast. I rarely have connectivity problems.

If you are looking for more than a Web browsing tool, this might not be the right product for you. But if you want a hassle free, portable, reliable netbook, I strongly recommend the Eee PC.

So why not give it a 5?

The mouse click keys are poorly designed - they only work if the pressure is applied in the middle. They're also a little tough to press down on.

One aggravating flaw is in the keyboard. They placed the right side SHIFT key on the far end of the Up/down/side arrows which isn't ergonomic (the little finger has to stretch out far constantly) and causes you to make many mistakes while typing.

This is really a nice little computer. I don't do a lot of heavy computing on it, but for web-surfing and word processing it's actually very nice. The keyboard is very accommodating once you get used to it, although the right 'shift' key is placed in a bad spot (next to the arrow keys).

Unlike what some others have said, I think it actually runs better with XP than with Linux. Xandros is, in my opinion, horrible. I also tried it with Ubuntu, which is fine, but if you want too install anything or play some simple Windows-based games, it can be a real pain.

If you do install Windows, though, you need to make sure it's on the smaller of the two SSDs. the larger one is the slave drive, so if your OS has to go through the larger one, it will freeze up. I accidentally installed XP on the larger drive at first (made sense to me at the time) and it was horrible. I re-installed it on the smaller drive and it runs smoother than on my desktop and I can play a few simple games when I'm wasting time without a problem.

Anyway, I think that for most of what people do on a computer the Asus Eee PC 1000 is a very nice little machine. If you want to do heavy computing, get something else. Otherwise, get one of these.

Out of the box, it worked great and I was very pleased. The Linux system was great and the keyboard really does work out great.

But I ran into problems when I reformatted the hard drive, installed Windows XP, and upgraded the RAM to 2GB (as opposed to the 1GB included). From this point on, it booted once or twice, and then the next time I turned on the computer it just ran silent. The screen was on but black, I could not access the BIOS, and the hard drive was not spinning. I thought it could be faulty RAM so I put the original 1GB back in, and still same problem.

When it did work, I really did like it. But after two weeks and it broke, I am just skeptical of the longevity of this laptop. I didn't want to replace it because why deal with the same problem a year or two down the road. But otherwise, its a decent laptop for the price, but just be aware it may have some problems down the road in regards to hardware.

Don't buy this one if your intent is to install and run WIN XP PRO SP/2. It's a nice little Linux computer but I needed to run some Windows-only compatible programs and I installed WIN XP PRO SP/2 as per instructions, installing the WIN drivers from the disk packed with the computer. Windows opened and ran incredibly slowly and hung up repeatedly on such simple commands as clicking on My Computer. I reinstalled WIN XP PRO and tried again, but no use--the same thing happened. I sent it back to Amazon and bought a Samsung NC-10 instead, which is a superior product with the same specs and costs about the same.

I short, I love it. The folks who don't love it are trying to make it do something other than what it intended to do. I love the fact that it's light. I love the fact that the keyboard is just big enough to touch type on (not so with the 8.9 inch machines). I love the fact that it comes set up and ready to go with all the software you need (and lots more). I love the fact that this particular model comes with a spacious solid-state drive! No hard drive to fail at the most inopportune moment, yah! So, it is what it is, but what it is is perfect for me.

This is a *very* good product. I tried a couple of netbooks with different sizes but this 10" works best for me. The screen and keyboard are nice and small but still big enough to work with.

I bought this version because I wanted a SSD, not a harddisk. The linux distro is kinda limited. I immediately replaced it with XP. Works like a charm!

There are a number of things you have to realize though:
1) in order to install a new OS you'll need an external USB CD drive. Although I assume you can also install a new OS with an USB drive

2) you HAVE to buy the 2GB memory upgrade if you want to run XP smoothly on a SSD. Keep in mind that this netbook only supports 2GB, so if you buy the 2GB module you have to replace the 1GB by the 2GB module. You can't install 3GB.

3) Tune your XP system. SSD doesn't work well with lots of harddisk writes. This is probably the reason why this SSD version only ships with Linux (don't know for sure). Disable the paging file, create a 256 MB ramdrive and set the environmental temp variables to point to this ramdrive. Also, don't forget to tune your browser to use this ramdrive for tempfiles. Google for instructions.

Initially I bought this "gadget" for fun and I intended to buy a new "normal" laptop for day to day work. But after I hooked up an external monitor (1280*1024) keyboard and mouse, I didn't need another laptop at all. It works perfectly well!

At my work there was someone who bought a *very* expensive Sony mini laptop. This Asus is just as tiny but much, MUCH cheaper. And it works great!

+ easy to use default Xandros system, wireless network working out of the box (though I've replaced it w/ Ubuntu already)
+ pretty OK keyboard and display size
+ battery feels like it does not end (compared to my notebook..)
- way too NOISY! What's the point of whisper-less SSD when the CPU fan is like a tractor, noisier than both of my other computers together.
- cheap feeling, display cracks when you move it, touchpad buttons a bit too hard.
- 1GB RAM.. why not 2? The reflection of it in the price would be insignificant.
- costly: it is not worth the nearly $500 I payed on it.