Asus Eee PC 1000HE

The basics

Oh. Another Asus Eee PC 1000 model. Windows XP? One gig of RAM? A 160GB hard drive? Woo. Actually, yes woo: the Asus Eee PC 1000HE is a complete redesign, with a brand new keyboard, new Atom 1.66Ghz N280 processor and one of the longest battery lives on the market. That'll learn you to judge by a front cover.

The good

The super smudgy lid belies a complete revamp inside the Eee PC 1000HE. The keyboard's now chiclet style, with individual keyholes like the new MacBooks to make touch typing easier. Best of all though, the 8,7000mAh battery is a marathon runner. While it won't run for the claimed 9.5 hours unless you shut off Wi-Fi, dim the screen and squint at a word document all day, you'll still get over 7 hours from carrying out simple tasks, and that, friend, is mammoth.

The bad

For a netbook that goes for so long away from the mains, we'd have preferred a few more mobile internet options. Wi-Fi will do, but where's the built in 3G? You'll have to put your own dongle in and look like a numpty in Starbucks. And that beefy battery comes at a cost: at 1.45kg, the 1000HE weighs an absolute brick for a netbook.

The bottom line

Despite being yet another 10-inch Eee PC, the 1000HE somehow manages to be not just another 10-inch Eee PC. If you follow us. Sure, the specs on the inside are decidedly "meh", but when it looks so good and lasts so long, you'll wonder how you coped with a more measly netbook. Trust us, for £330, it's well worth the extra expense.