Asus sells seashells on the sea shore

Asus was one of the original players in the netbook market back in the day (ok, only last year) when a 7 inch screen and 2 hour battery life were features to boast about. Nobody however could accuse Asus of resting on their laurels and the Seashell Eee PC is the latest in a line of capable netbook workhorses that is more than worthy of your consideration.

Apple Shmapple

The first thing you may notice is that the Seashell bears more than a little resemblance to the Apple Macbook Air, albeit the Macbook who ate all the pies but what do you expect for a full £1000 less!

The 1005HA Seashell weighs in at 1.3kg which is bog standard for a 10 inch netbook with a 6 cell battery.
Processing power for the cheaper Asus Eee PC 1005HA-M is provided by the ubiquitous Atom N270 whilst the slightly more expensive 1005HA-H model is equipped with the Atom N280 processor which has a 0.06 Ghz speed advantage over its little brother. Don’t expect to see any noticeable difference though.

An unusual Draft

Wifi is the usual 802.11b/g but also with support for draft n should you feel the need to download files at the speed of light. If you opt for the slightly more expensive 10 hour version then you also get bluetooth which is not included in the cheaper model.

Storage is provided by the increasingly popular 250Gb hard drive and we are delighted to see that Windows 7 starter has replaced XP as the os of choice.

De riguer 3 USB ports and 1.3 megapixel webcam are standard across the range.

This particular model is available in black or white.
You can get the seashell in more pleasing shades but not this particular model. With colour comes a slimmer build but significantly reduced battery life along with a heftier price tag. If you want to take a look then we have included some links at the end of the article but we will be concentrating on the 1005HA and its monochrome colour scheme.

Talking of battery life if you opt for the slightly more expensive model then you will be surfing til the cows come home with comfortably more than 9 hours battery life from the 6 cell 2800mah battery. This is a little under the claimed ten hours and falls a little way short of the Samsung N110 9 hours 50 but nonetheless is might impressive.
The 1005HA-M also sports 6 cells but only 2200mah but you can still expect around 8 hours of use.

The Seashell is all about gloss and shine which means that the lid is severely prone to greasy finger marks and the glossy 10.1 inch screen won’t be everybody’s cup of tea. It does look smart though and is useable outside although reflections can be an issue.

The Asus Eee PC 1005HA is a well put together, stylish netbook which makes an ideal travelling companion and is firmly at the top of my daughter’s christmas list. She should be so lucky, I want mine first!
The difference between the two models pricewise is a paltry £14 at the time of writing. I can’t imagine why anybody would opt for the cheaper model when such a little extra buys you an extra hour of juice and bluetooth to boot.
If your budget is that tight that you can’t afford it then sell your grandmother. You know it makes sense.