A look around
Now, here's where it gets interesting. ASUS offers the consumer a choice of three batteries, encompassing 23WHr, 48WHr, and 63WHr models. The larger batteries offer greater on-the-go usage, naturally, but have the downside of increasing the bulk of the netbook, as well as the weight.
As a battery-less machine, the Seashell 1005HA-M weighs in at 981g. Our review model was equipped with the middle-capacity (48WHr) battery that weighed 312g and pushed up overall weight to a still-reasonable 1,293g. The battery, whilst protruding a touch, doesn't push out farther than the rubberised feet. Open up the screen and the netbook feels well-balanced and secure.
ASUS intimates an 8.5hr battery life for this model, 10.5hrs for the 63Whr battery, and 6 hours for the slimline model. That's some boast that we'll put to the test.
Remove the battery and you'll see a SIM slot that's handy for mobile broadband without a dongle. There's a similar slot on a bevy of newer netbooks, including the HSDPA-equipped Wind.
ASUS drops the all-white look and uses a black frame, complete with webcam, for the LED-backlit display that's clear and crisp, even at 30 per cent brightness. The black frame pays dividends when playing movies with top-and-bottom borders, as the picture seems to be larger than a Wind's. The screen isn't anywhere near as reflective as some, and we view that in a positive light.
Carrying on the comparison, the alphabetical keys are just a touch bigger than MSI's, making faster typing easier and more fluid. The 'flat' keys take a bit of time of getting used to but should be fine for the majority of users. The inclusion of a large (right-hand) shift key requires that the page up/down buttons are miniaturised; that's no big compromise in our opinion.
The touchpad is hard to see but features a raise pimpled section that accepts multi-touch gestures.
Wind on the left and Seashell on the right. The ASUS netbook seems thinner at the front but a touch thicker at the back.
And a second shot highlighting the two. Both machines are practically silent when in battery-powered mode and reasonably quiet when set to high performance, probably because they feature near-identical components inside.
ASUS ships the Seashell with a standard one-year warranty. Windows XP Home is pre-loaded, and ASUS adds in a bevy of its own software under the Eee Dock GIU, including Eee Splendid (display settings); Eee Storage (10GB online storage), and Font Resizer - handy for netbooks.
