I saw firsthand the benefits of a netbook earlier this year at SXSW. My friend Shawn Morton had one and another conference goer sat next to me with a Dell running Hackintosh. I was intrigued but last week I had lunch with an entrepreneur friend who brought in a small black case with what I thought was a paper notebook. Shockingly, he unzipped the case to reveal a netbook running Hackintosh. With my MacBook Pro (MBP) dwindling every day I figured I was due. After quite a bit of research, here’s what made me select the Asus Eee PC 1000HE netbook.
- Big keyboard – Possibly my biggest concern was typing on a small keyboard, but with 92% of the full size of a regular keyboard, I’m content.
- 9.5 HOURS! – Yes, the battery (normal size) lasts 9.5 hours. This was a MAJOR upgrade from my MBP and I still try to charge it unnecessarily.
- Only 3.2 pounds – I don’t travel too often, but I carry my MBP everywhere I go. My shoulders are already thanking me for buying the Asus 1000HE and I don’t even have to carry my bag everywhere because of the insane battery life.
- Perfect 10 – Granted, it’s not huge, but the 10″ screen is better than I thought, especially compared to other netbooks.
- MacHackintosh friendly – I’m not saying I’d install it today, but it’s nice to know I could go down that road.
- Multi-touch keypad – The two finger scroll is a favorite of mine with the MBP, but the Asus 1000HE also allows me to two-finger zoom which is nice.
- Quick reboot - Close the laptop for a bit on pc laptop and be punished with a few minutes of waiting to start back up. The Asus 1000HE has a fast boot system and while it’s not as fast as a Mac, it’s very quick.
In a world where people want many things super sized, I decided to buck the trend with the purchase of the Asus 1000HE netbook. If you’re wondering… I’m not giving up my MBP. However, I do have to give it back to Apple for a couple weeks for repairs so check back then to see if I’ve moved on.
