Costly Eee 1000HE netbook to get the chop

I suppose it was inevitable that Asus would at some point be forced to pare down its ever-growing catalog of Eee netbooks. Anyone who has looked closely at the specifications of some of the Eee netbooks has probably walked away wondering what the difference was between a few of the machines.

The paring of models will start with the Eee PC 1000HE according to Asus France. It's more than a little surprising that the top-end Eee with a whopping 9 hours of battery life is the rig that finds itself on the chopping block while some of the Eee's from the launch of the series with tiny 7-inch screens labor on.

The 1000HE is reportedly going the way of the Dodo after new Eee models hit the market. Asus' netbook marketing chief John Swatton said that the most popular Eee models in the UK are the 100H and the 100HE and that those two products would not be discontinued. Swatton also says that the company will not be shedding the 7-inch 701 or 9-inch 900A, 901, or 904 from the Eee line. I'd say there are probably a few more models that could be pared from the line. Asus recently unveiled the 1008HA seashell netbook.

At the time of writing, the 1000HE was selling for $AU899 in Australia -- though it can be found online for as little as $754. That's not the most expensive netbook on offer -- that prize currently goes to the MSI Wind with built-in 3.5G mobile broadband, selling on the street at $966. However, it is certainly at the top end of netbook pricing, no doubt due to its beefy nine hour battery pack. The 1000HE's discontinuation in France suggests that netbook buyers are less interested in the pricey models; not a long bow to draw, given people were initially drawn into the netbook form factor by the sub-$400 price of the original Eee PC.