Asus Eee PC 1008HA Seashell: The “Air” of the Netbook Market

Photo courtesy of Asus

The…

Asus Eee PC 1008HA (Seashell) (product page)

…is the “Apple Air” of the netbook product genre with a much more affordable price. Its wedge shape starts out at 0.7 inches and maxes out at 1 inch at the rear (where the battery is). Compare this to my 1000HA model that starts at 1.1 inches at the “thin” end and flares out to 1.5 inches at the battery business end. This, of course, is a perfectly good size for me. So, the Seashell’s dimensions just make a good thing better.

There is a trade-off, of course. And, the trade-off is battery life. The 1000HA has an estimated 7 hours of battery life (I get about 4 to 4.5 hours running Windows 7 Release Candidate). The Seashell (1008HA) has an estimated 6 hours of battery life. So, figure on 3.5 to 4 hours running Windows 7 under normal conditions (WiFi on 100% of the time, etc.).

It comes with the newer Atom N280 processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, 10-inch 1024×600 display, 1.3 megapixel webcam, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi (nice to have 11n!) and a Bluetooth radio.

You can find a nice detailed review with lots of photos over on TrustedReviews.com.

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