Review for Hercules eCafe EC-1000W

Introduction

The mini-laptop or netbook is pretty much ubiquitous these days. People are turning up to meetings with them. They're appearing in train carriages everywhere. They are all around you. Someone you know has one. So is it time you got one?

The Hercules eCafe is something that you've probably never heard of before, but it's a very credible entry into this crowded market.

Set Up

It's a doddle to set up. Get it out of the box. Plug the power in. Open the lid. Switch on. Good to go.

Windows 7 Starter is pre-installed, and is easy to get started with. If you've used any version of Windows, you'll still be at home with the latest one. You have a choice of wired ethernet or wireless (up to 802.11n). Take your pick, configure what you need to and you're on the internet.

Install Avast, AVG or your choice of anti-virus software. Add on Microsoft Update and Secunia PSI, get everything patched up (replace IE 7 with 8), and you're ready for serious use. You can do all of that in about two hours with a decent connection.



There are also some eCafe tools that you can use, including eCafe Email Centre (manage all of your e-mail accounts and contacts, and download them locally), eCafe Connect (connect to networks of your choice), eCafe Update Manager (keep up to date with updates), eCafe Webcam Station + Xtra Controller Pro (do things with your webcam and microphone) and OpenOffice (the free alternative to Microsoft Office).

In Use

It's small, it's light, it's portable. Whilst you probably can't use it as your main machine, it's pretty good for jotting down notes in meetings, capturing your thoughts on a train, or just gentle internet browsing in the evening.



As with most netbooks, the only thing missing is some form of optical drive. But you can pick up USB units cheaply nowadays, so if you want/need to use one, it shouldn't be a problem for you.

Whilst a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM and a 250GB hard-drive aren't going to win this awards for power and speed, it's more than enough for its target audience. Web browsing is fine. Working on documents is fine. Even when it's running in power save mode (lower brightness, lower CPU speed etc.) it's still adequate for most normal tasks.

So it won't replace your super pimped out performance gaming laptop, but it's a fine little workhorse. And the battery life is very good. It's good for a couple of evenings of web browsing, hanging in there for more than 7 hours in power saving mode. If you want faster performance all of the time, the battery life is less, but still good.

Conclusion

This is a cracking little netbook. Obviously it's not a big name like Samsung, Dell or Sony. But it's a nice little device. The battery life is good, the performance is perfectly acceptable. Most of the netbooks around use the Atom N270, so what you get under the hood is pretty similar. It looks nice too (not always a consideration for people, but there are lots more fussy netbook buyers out there nowadays!)

Despite not being a "big name", it's all very well put together and doesn't feel cheap. The keyboard is fine, the touchpad works nicely. The power saving features mean that this should get you through a working day without the need to hunt out a charger.

Recommended!