Asus' Eee PC 1008HA Seashell (not to be confused with the Eee PC 1000HE) is a small, light and sexy device aimed at the fashion-conscious netbook fan who puts portability slightly above performance. It's available to buy now for around £375.
Design
Let's get one thing out of the way. The Seashell doesn't look anything like a mollusc -- not even remotely. It's shiny, we'll give you that, but, if anyone can find one bit of this netbook that looks even remotely like a seashell, we'll give them a tenner and recommend them for membership in the Marine Conservation Society.
One thing that's definitely not up for debate is that the machine's styling is beautiful. We love absolutely everything about this device. The glossy black finish, the gently tapering lid, and the wedge-shaped profile all contribute to an overall design that's more aesthetically pleasing than that of rival netbooks. We're not sure whether it's quite as gorgeous as the Eee PC S101, but it makes most other netbooks look like they were cobbled together by blind goat herders.
The Seashell is one of the thinnest and lightest netbooks on the market. It's a mere 26mm at its thickest point and tips the scales at just 1.1kg. That might not sound much lighter than the 1.4kg 1000HE, but the difference is significant when carrying the Seashell over the course of an entire day. It's simply easier to manage than other 10-inch machines.
Because it's so svelte, Asus has had to make some sacrifices with the machine's connectivity -- the Seashell has just two USB ports, instead of the three we'd expect from this sort of device. Also, in an attempt to maintain the sleek lines, all its ports are recessed slightly and hidden behind flaps. This makes them slightly trickier to access, and some larger USB keys simply won't fit without an extension cable.
Behind other flaps are mic, headphone, Ethernet and mini VGA ports. That last one means Asus has had to 'do an Apple' and use a mini VGA to VGA adaptor. Rather than leaving the user to carry the dongle around in a pocket or bag, however, Asus has rather thoughtfully provided a dedicated slot underneath the chassis, via which the dongle is magnetically secured. That reduces the chances of it going missing.
Asus has done an Apple in other ways, too. The Seashell doesn't have a user-replaceable battery. It uses a lithium-polymer battery pack, which has the advantage of being cheaper to manufacture and more resilient to physical damage. Crucially, such a battery pack can also be moulded into just about any shape. That last fact plays a big part in the Seashell's thinness.
Asus has plenty of experience in creating netbook keyboards, and it shows. The Seashell has one of the best keyboards we've tested on any device of this size. It's 92 per cent the size of a full-sized keyboard, but the travel and spring are perfectly implemented, so it's actually more comfortable and accurate to use than many full-sized laptop keyboards. The dimpled mouse trackpad is also a joy to use, as are the rocker-style selector buttons.
Features
The main component inside the Seashell is an Intel Atom N280 CPU clocked at 1.67GHz. This is theoretically quicker than the Atom N270 seen in most netbooks, thanks to its faster front-side bus (667MHz compared to 533MHz).
According to Asus, the N280 reduces Windows XP's boot-up time by 8 seconds, and can open Microsoft Office files 2 seconds faster than the N270. The Seashell also has 1GB of RAM, which is pretty standard for a machine of this type.
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User reviews2
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dire5577 15 November 2010
Good: Light weight. Clear screen. Nice Keyboard.
Bad: Highly reflective Screen, the case attracts those finger marks !
Comment: I have been using this netbook for 9 months now. Generally I find it very adequate for the sort of use a netbook is made for. Shame about the oh so shiny screen,which makes use in certain light conditions very trying. Also the Hot Key operation of the Volume Control lasted about two weeks before throwing in the towel, it's annoying to have to keep accessing the control in the Task Bar.The flaps covering the USB ports etc, seem rather flimsy,but haven't broken off yet ! With a 250 gig hard drive & Win 7 Basic it's a good machine,but would be better with more Ram. Battery life can be eked out with careful use of the settings, if you can get 4 hours,you're doing well. For the money it's a good buy.
Ollie Lucas 7 November 2010
Good: Excellent design, price, portable generally good performance.
Bad: Performance CAN sometimes be slow and sluggish but only for a short period, volume keys stopped working very quickly.
Comment: An excellent netbook, one of the best out there at the moment, so easy to carry around (ideal for school) The Screen is very nice, and if you get the windows 7 edition, you can get a 250GB model with 500GB online storage, which is obviously extremley handy. The biggest complaint i would have is sometimes performance drops and becomes slow, btu generally it's a good one, especially if you upgrade the RAM to 2GB. Another really quite anooying thing is that the fn volume keys stopped working after about three weeks of usage, which can be a seriously big pain, having to click ont he volume button on the taskbar often takes a while and can be extremly annoying. generally an awesome product and thoroughly good purchase!!
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