Asus Eee PC 1000HE Netbook Evaluation
Power Consumption and Battery Life
The big question on everyone's mind is likely this: does the high
capacity battery on the 1000HE really make that much of a difference?
After testing this thing out for hours on end with no AC outlet in
sight, we can safely say "yes." Asus claims that you can get up to 9.5
hours out of a full charge under ideal conditions, and we believe it.
With Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on, we were able to squeeze around 6 hours and
20 minutes out of a completely full battery, and that was under typical
working conditions. Surfing the Web, typing emails and documents,
listening to a few tunes and zoning out on occasion to grab a bite to
eat. 6 hours and 20 minutes is a long time, and if you weren't working
almost nonstop, you could probably break the 7 hour barrier without
much issue.
And, mind you, this is all with a battery that's no bulkier than previous versions. There's no huge two-inch long bulge poking out of the rear, and there's no gigantic hump underneath. Maybe it's magic, but whatever keeps this thing going so long, we appreciate it, and we get the idea that serious road warriors will too. It should be noted that this measurement was achieved with "Power Saving Mode" active, but our experimentation with "High Performance Mode" showed only a five to ten percent decrease in battery life, which isn't a bad trade off if you really need the horsepower to churn through 480p media clips.
It's not often that PC companies actually keep their extreme promises, and while we weren't gentle enough to get 9.5 hours out of the 1000HE, that figure is totally within the realm of feasibility. A new netbook benchmark for battery life has been set, and we're excited to see everyone else attempt to match it (or better yet, exceed it).
And, mind you, this is all with a battery that's no bulkier than previous versions. There's no huge two-inch long bulge poking out of the rear, and there's no gigantic hump underneath. Maybe it's magic, but whatever keeps this thing going so long, we appreciate it, and we get the idea that serious road warriors will too. It should be noted that this measurement was achieved with "Power Saving Mode" active, but our experimentation with "High Performance Mode" showed only a five to ten percent decrease in battery life, which isn't a bad trade off if you really need the horsepower to churn through 480p media clips.
It's not often that PC companies actually keep their extreme promises, and while we weren't gentle enough to get 9.5 hours out of the 1000HE, that figure is totally within the realm of feasibility. A new netbook benchmark for battery life has been set, and we're excited to see everyone else attempt to match it (or better yet, exceed it).
