asus eee pc 1000he

[FamousAmos]

This is a pretty decent netbook for the money it costs, about $400 dollars.

Hardware:
-Chicket keyboard...the keys aren't tapered on the keyboard. Which allows for more surface area to type on. I haven't had too much trouble accurately typing on it. It offers acceptable tactile feedback. The (F) function keys are helpful. For example, you can turn the wifi on or off, put it to sleep, change the brightness of the screen, controll the volume of the netbook and turn off the touch pad.

The only thing I don't like about it is the up down keys are small and close together and I often use them to scroll down web pages when I read posts on forums such as this one.

-touch pad...the the left and right click buttons are tough to press, but if you click on the angled sections, it's alot easier. You'll know what I'm talking about if you try it. It does support multi touch and it's kind of hit or miss. So far, I've learned you can use two fingers to scroll up or down, use a pinching motion to decrease font size or do the opposite to increase font size. Apparently, you can also use a swirling motion of you finger(s) to rotate the screen, but I haven't been able to do that.

-battery...I've been getting 7hours or so out of it. That"s usually with brightness below 50% with WIFI on and bluetooth off. I love tghe battery strength.

-screen...it's a matte finish which is kind of dull. I'm kind of meh on it. It's alright but it could be better. However, it really does well outside with full brightness on.

-the exterior itself... Finger print magnet. But who really cares, you can wipe them off.

-I'm not tech saavy at all. But I upgraded my RAM with zero problems. There are vids of youtube.com that show you how to do that.

-I commented before I like the aesthetics on this. the blue color is really nice, the metal stoppers on either end of the hinge is a nice touch.

I do not like the hot keys. I think thats what they are called. They are made out of cheap looking chrome plastic. There are four of them plus the power on button. You can program two of those, I believe, but I really don't have use form them yet.

Software

-Bloatware isn't terrible.

Here are the software applications I run on my netbook:

-CCleaner
-DVDfab 6... I use that to rip my DVDs
-Easus Partition Master 4.0...the 1000he comes with a 160GB hard drive partitioned into two approx. 80 GB partitions. C: and D: drives. I partitioned them by allocating about 40 GB to the C: drive and the rest for the D: drive. I did this because if the computerfouls up and you need to do asystem recovery or whatever its called, it'll only effect the C: drive, which wis where XP is located. If oyu put all your files such as music, data, pics and vids on your D: drive, they won't be touched at all.
-EEEctl...for controlling brightness and fan
-KM player... for DVD playback
-REVO uninstaller...priceless. This thing uninstalls most programs and anything attached to them. It's not perfect though.
-Avast! virus
-I use both Firefox and Goggle Chrome Browsers. I prefer not to use Windows Explorer 8
-Foxit Reader instead of Adobe
Picasa 3...for photos
-rocket dock...application launcher
-7 Zip File Manager
-transparent taskbar...I like it cuz I hate looking at the task bar. It's ugly in XP
-start killer...temporarily removes start button from taskbar
-pidgen...for instant messaging


I think that's it.

Anyone have suggestions for any of the Asus eeePC 100X models?

[FamousAmos]

I used quintessential player for my mp3s.

I had some trouble with importing mp3s I ripped from my previous computer, using windows media player. I tried putting those mp3s onto this computer but the quintessential player wouldnt recognize them. I though that was odd.

Conversely, I used quintessential player to rip a few CDs and when I tried using Windows Media player to play them, it wouldnt recognize those files.

I'm not sure if it is due to the location where I am storing them. I have all my music files in the D: drive.

I'm a 1000HE owner/user. I understand what you are saying about partitioning the hard drive to 40/120. Have you ever done a restore? The software I received with my 1KHE sets everything back to half/half plus a small restore partition. I put in a 64GB and the restore made it 32/32. I put in a 500GB and the restore made it 250/250. I lost all the data/settings.

I live near a store that sells netbooks. It has dozens of models on display, ASUS and others, to try them out. I found a 1008 and 1002 and tried them. No 1005HA which looks to me to have a better keyboard layout. Still recommend the 1KHE.

I use VLC to play music and store the files on a SD card.

I don't use a mouse so the Smartpad is important to me. I've used a variety of drivers, even some from other makers, to try to control the ElanTech Smartpad. I've considered swapping for a Synaptic trackpad. There is very little about other computers to tempt me to give up my 1KHE however the Smartpad is a big weakness IMO.

[netkid]

I do not like the hot keys. I think thats what they are called. They are made out of cheap looking chrome plastic. There are four of them plus the power on button. You can program two of those, I believe, but I really don't have use form them yet.

The hot keys aren't that bad, its pretty useful. I use it to change the power setting like while I'm watching a video- if its choppy I use the hotkey to get super-performance. The same for changing the resolution. For the personal hotkey I use it for my webcam chat.

Have you tried windows 7 yet? I think it really a huge upgrade over xp and nullifies the need for rocket dock and transparent taskbar. Since you've upgraded the ram, wins 7 will fly quite nicely.

One of the hot keys turns off the monitor. That's handy while listening to music so the screen power can be reduced, for use by the blind using voice controls, and for choosing do nothing when the lid is closed so the monitor can still be off without the computer going to sleep.

I understand that some computer features may not be used at all by one specific user but in the broader computing audience the features are helpful. Choice and control are two good things in my world.