First impressions with the Eee PC 1000HE and its delectable keyboard
We were pleased to see Asus responding to its critics by unveiling the new 1000HE at CES, offering a far more pleasant keyboard that finally moved the right shift key just a bit to the left. With the new model about to ship, Laptop Magazine has been able to stack one up against an older 1000 model and play a little game of "One of These Things" to spot the differences between the two. There weren't many, just that chiclet-style keyboard, which was rated as "just better," and the new 1.66GHz Atom N280 CPU, replacing the elder's 1.6GHz N270. Unfortunately the slight bump in clock and bus speed (from 133MHz to 167MHz) didn't make any noticeable change in performance, but if this thing can deliver on its promise of 9+ hours on a charge we don't think anybody will mind.






















Saying they rated the keyboard as "just better" makes it seem like there was barely any improvement over the old one. If you were to read (or quote) the full paragraph about the keyboard, you would realize that Laptop Mag's review of the keyboard wasn't "just better":
From the article: "The difference between the keyboards on the Eee PC 1000H and the 1000HE is like night and day. Firstly the keys on the chiclet-style 1000HE keyboard feel sturdier. And because it uses an island layout, there is no flex to the panel which was the downfall of the Eee PC 1000H. Overall, the manufacturing quality on the 1000HE keyboard is just better."
See? Now you get a different feel for their review. It wasn't simply a "meh, it's just a tiny bit better".
I didn't read it that way. I read "just better" as meaning simply better, or better in some unspecified but unquestionable way.
There's two different kinds of "just better". What you are thinking of, is it was barely better, just better. The context they are using it in is: "I can't pinpont what's so much better, but it's just better."
I suspect they meant 'just better' as in 'just plain better', not 'marginally better than'. But it's a very poor phrasing either way, I agree.
The more emphasis you lay on adverbs such as "quite" and "just," the weaker the adjective comes across, and vice versa. In cases like this one it's the voice in your head that does the emphasizing for you. However, writers usually avoid this kind of ambiguity.
I forget, which one is this again?
Engadget love to take things out of context, spitefully if it's not Apple related.
I can't believe it's not better.
I don't have any issues with my 1000h keyboard other than the layout of the shift key on the right side. I'm a left-shifter most of the time, so it's not so bad for me than for others. I upgraded RAM to 2 GB and got the hammerhead 10-cell battery and I get about 8-9 hours, now, so I don't have much reason to switch. Oh, and strider gets comment of the day, imho. It's going to take a day for my keyboard to dry out.
HA! This looks just like my Vaio TZ keyboard, i mean EXACTLY! Spacing, placement, color, raised keys.
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_pics/13857/Sony_Vaio_TZ_15.jpg
you beat me to it!
"imitate don't innovate"
Image doesnt work :\
Why can't they make a large SHIFT key? Can they not just copy another netbook's keyboard layout? Nobody will even notice. It's a keyboard.
Absolutely. I am sure a keyboard without the little cutout for the arrow keys is a little cheaper to design, but the end result is worse for the consumer. If Asus would just use a cutout, like the NC10, Aspire, and others, they could fix their keyboards immediately.
This layout is definitely better though, and I could probably live with the keyboard to get the better processor and much better chipset. That really is the news here, not the 60 MHz faster CPU, the chipset should offer better video performance, and much better power usage than the positively ancient 945 that was used in nearly all netbooks before. That is what is going to bring that hopefully real 9 hour battery life.
Nine hours is no laughing matter.
Love the Fry. Futurama FTW.
i pre-ordered a blue one, my first netbook. w00t!
I'm going to hold off until they add the touchscreen, and this comes in SSD format (I own a 901 eee), before I plunk down the cash.
I still wish I could add more memory.
It looks like macbook keyboard, no doubt Apple is the innovator here.
Sony released these types of keyboards way before Apple did. Who is the innovator ??
I wish Apple innovated more in that respect. It saddens me that they challenge so many assumptions and then disregard the wellbeing of your fingers like that
http://colemak.com/
http://code.google.com/p/networkpx/wiki/Using_Colemak
*Beats the troll with a very large stick*
yeah, if innovation = stealing it first.....
you must be new here
Am I the only person who could tell you comment was facetious?
How could Engadget not like that keyboard? With all your Macs.
C'mon, iKurt, even I, Apple Fanboi Extraordinaire, find that ludicrous.
The Apple keys are slightly further apart.
What I want to know if they replaced the godawful trackpad and those stiffer then pornstar's hard-on mouse keys.
Laptop says it doesn't have multi-touch, so I'd assume the answer is "no".
Does that mean the current mouse keys have a 'fluffer' accessory?
Is there any news on the 1000HAE? Thats the one I want, its cheaper because it doesnt have wifi-n or bluetooth.
I remember when chiclet keys were something you DIDN'T want in a keyboard. IBM PC Jr., anyone?
Still don't. Too bad they ruined this by at least not giving an option to have concave keys.
cant wait to get this keyboard into my 1000H
It looks very nice. I might consider getting this one, especially if the battery uptime is close to what was said.
I'd get it if I didn't already make the switch to an HP Mini. Sorry Asus, too late to fix that shift key and HP's full keyboard is 90% the size of a standard one.
Where can I buy just the keyboard for my EEE PC 1000? I love the little thing except for the unfortunate placement of the right shift key.