HP was kind of late to the Netbook scene, but that didn't mean they were out of touch. In fact, the HP 1000 is a noteworthy contender, offering a unique feature that is difficult to find on any other Netbook currently made. This feature has nothing to do with the performance, as the specs are largely familiar. The HP 1000 has a 1.6 Ghz Atom processor with one gigabyte of RAM. The hard drive is large, offering a beefy 60GB of hard drive space, although it is a mechanical drive rather than a SSD. And as you might expect, the HP 1000's performance is similar to the Eee PC 1000 40G (and nearly every other 10 inch Netbook), with the 60GB model costing about $450.
But go to a retailer, open it up, and you'll see exactly why the HP 1000 is unique: the keyboard. By making the overall size of the Netbook a little wider than most competitors, HP has managed to fit a nearly full-sized notebook keyboard onto this tiny PC. This, more than any other piece of hardware, is what determines if a Netbook can be used for long trips as a serious substitute to a more expensive business-oriented Notebook. The extra keyboard space is paid for with a smaller than normal trackpad, but simply turning up the sensitivity makes this trackpad feel as large as a normal-sized one. For anyone who does a great deal of typing, the HP 1000 is the Netbook of choice.
The Eee PC is what started the entire Netbook trend. Asus hasn't choosen to lay back as the market unfolds, and instead has taken an active role. Obviously, they know the monster they've created. As part of their attempts to capitalize on the success on the Eee PC name, Asus has debuted numerous Netbooks, including the Eee PC 1000 series, an Eee PC with a 10 inch screen.
Which means, of course, it is larger than the original. But Netbooks aren't just about small size anymore, and while the Eee PC 1000 40G is not as tiny as it the first models, it is still very small. The extra size is put to good use, allowing this Eee PC to fit a larger 10 inch screen with a resolution of 1024 x 600, which is useful when web-surfing, and a larger keyboard, which is better for marathon typing sessions. The Eee PC 1000 40G also has a 40 GB solid-state drive, a full gigabyte of RAM, and an Atom processor running at 1.6 Ghz. Like most Netbooks, the Eee PC 1000 40G won't be winning any floating-point drag races, but these improvements make the Eee PC 1000 40G less of an accessory and more of a fully-functional system.
And it gets better. To top off its larger screen, keyboard, and hard drive, the Eee PC 1000 40G has a 6-cell battery which can provide a whopping 6 to 8 hours of battery life. Asus calls this "One Day Computing," but calling it incredible would work just as well. Don't worry - at only $399.99, the 1000 40G remains at a Netbook price.