Asus Eee PC 1005 HA Seashell

It might seem at first that it is just another Eee PC from Asus but if you give it a closer look you’ll find very delicate improvements or rather, I should say, refinements of their popular lineup of products. This one is fine tuned for excellent battery life and also offering standard performance, nice keyboard and standard build quality which you should expect from a portable netbook. Though it feels to have a higher resolution screen and better graphics, the configuration that you get is worth its price tag.

Processor, RAM and HDD

It uses Intel Atom N280 Processor 1.66GHz (667MHz FSB) Processor with 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM (667 MHz). The N280 processor is slightly faster than the N270 CPU which is commonly being used in many other netbooks available. Though it is not exactly a speed demon, it would be enough for normal computing tasks such as web browsing, watching movies or working with some office softwares and so them simultaneously. There is also an option to over clock or underclock the CPU which you can use to run it faster or use less power. The 160 GB 5400 rpm SATA HDD is also fast enough for normal usage.

Graphics

As with many other netbooks, this system also comes with the same Intel GMA 950 graphics, so don’t expect to play games on this device. But you can enjoy web videos from Hulu or YouTube and even HD movies on it. Though it can play 720 p videos in number of formats, the bitter truth is it chokes on 1080p videos. Also it should be noted that this netbook is not made for watching full 1080p videos in its 1024X600 screen.

Ports

On the front and back, there are no ports. On the left side there is power jack, VGA Out, USB 2.0 port, security lock slot and a heat vent. On the right side there is a 4-in-1 card reader, a headphone jack, a microphone jack, two more USB 2.0 ports and a Ethernet. The total list of ports is very satisfying for a netbook.

Battery Life

Battery is the main feature of this netbook. Though it may sound crazy but it is true that the 1005 HA can deliver as much as eight hours of runtime under normal usage in power saver mode with its six cell battery. Under heavy usage expect it to run at least six hour with continous net surfing over WiFi in full bright screen. Unlike the Asus Eee PC 1008 HA, this battery is removable which means you can carry in an extra battery if you still need some extra life out of your system.

Pros

• Build quality is good for budget netbook
• Battery life is amazing
• Port Layout is good for a netbook

Cons

• Thick for a modern netbook
• Weak integrated graphics
• Bad touchpad buttons

It's selling at SGD688 locally in Singapore, and the price is 10% cheaper in Tebrau City, Johor.