14 DAY TRIAL // Although no official word has yet arrived from ASUS, the first Eee PC netbook to boast a discrete graphics solution, the Eee PC 1000HV, has already been put through its paces. The netbook, as we reported a couple of days ago, was made available for order on the website of an online retailer. Just days after the listing was reported all over the Internet, we now have the very first benchmark results of the Radeon HD 3450-powered machine. As it was to be expected, the performance delivered by the discrete graphics chip is significant, allowing the Eee PC 1000HV to top all of its competitors.
As a quick reminder, the Eee PC 1000HV has been designed on the same Intel Atom N280 processor that was featured in ASUS' 1000HE, which was launched earlier this year. However, unlike most netbooks in its class, the 1000HV model makes use of a discrete ATI Radeon HD 3450 graphics processor, featuring 256MB of dedicated memory. The additional specifications remain in the same guidelines as on most netbooks, with 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, WiFi 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.0, and the usual array of connectivity ports.
The Eee PC 1000HE has not yet been officially launched by ASUS, but there's a good chance it will be making an appearance at this year's Computex show. However, for those who can't wait for the official reviews to come online, the fellows over at eeepc.it have scored some early results of said netbook. As it turns out, the extra graphics power makes the difference, when it comes to the user's computer experience.
The test was performed while the netbook was using ASUS' Eee PC Super Hybrid Engine (SHE), which takes the system's Atom N280 to its full performance potential. The result was that the netbook scored 37,430 points in CrystalMark R3, compared to the 28,923 points for the Eee PC 1000HE.
Unfortunately, we still have no details as to when ASUS plans to officially take the wraps off its new netbook, but for users in Italy the system is already available for €449 ( approximately $624), featuring a 6-cell battery.