Eee PC 1000HE With Intel Atom N280 Available Soon

Asus is more or less the company responsible for the whole netbook thing taking off, what with the Asus Eee Pc (and its seventy-three varieties), so what would another week (give or take) be without a new Asus Eee PC netbook to talk about? Well, it’d be a shame, that’s what. Anyhow, the Asus Eee PC 1000HE netbook is now available for pre-order. Sure, I don’t usually go into this sort of thing (though you can expect it when the Samsung NC20 netbook becomes available for pre-order in the States), but I figured it was worthwhile for a few reasons.

First, and perhaps most obviously, is the rated battery life. At 9.5 hours (yeah, damn near ten hours), this netbook is sporting a hefty battery, complete with what Asus calls its Super Hybrid Engine, which is marketing speak for things that computers already do, but this time the user has some control over it (again…). Really, I’m not complaining, just pointing out that it’s not exactly revolutionary. Still, I wouldn’t sneeze at damn near ten hours of computer time, so really, I’m throwing them some props here.

Secondly, the Asus Eee PC 1000HE netbook is sporting the Intel Atom N280 and, presumably, the Intel GN40 since the two go hand-in-hand. The N280 is going to set any speed records, but it’s an evolutionary step in what is a damn fine processor, so anything that squeezes out a little more speed while conserving a little more power is a good thing, especially where netbooks are concerned. And if it does include the Intel GN40? Well, then the Asus Eee PC 1000HE netbook is setting itself up for strong sales based on having some other than a completely useless video card. Sure, the Intel GN40 may not be on par with the nVidia Ion solution, or even the Intel Pineview Atom/PineTrail-D platform, but it’s an improvement.

Thirdly, just because people should know by now that it’s the keyboard that sells me on a netbook, Asus has included a chiclet style keyboard that Apple has made so damn famous. (Yes, Apple isn’t the only one, but they made it popular, and quite frankly, I love my chiclet keyboard that I’m typing on right now.) It appears as though Asus has used damn near every millimeter of space available to them when designing the Asus Eee PC 1000HE netbook’s keyboard, and I applaud them for that. Even though I’m looking forward to the Samsung NC20, I may give this netbook strong consideration.

Of course there’s other marketing bits to go along with it, but those are the salient points. If you’re interested in pre-ordering one, then hit Asus’s promo page and grab it for $399 (minus $25 for a limited time — that’s a damn good deal!).

Thanks SlashGear for the heads up on the Asus Eee PC 1000HE netbook’s imminent release.