ASUS Eee PC 1005HA Seashell Netbook Preview

Introduction, Specs and Bundle

With today’s economy, everyone is becoming more and more budget-conscious, and the computer manufacturers have been responding to this economic hardship with the creation of budget-oriented (sub-$400), lightweight, portable netbooks. ASUS just sent us one of their newer models, the 1005HA netbook from their Seashell line, and we decided to give you a little preview of it before putting it through the paces in a near-future review.

A long battery life in a netbook is very crucial. When buying a netbook, consumers want to know that it is going to get the job done without shutting off mid-surf. According to ASUS’s website, the ASUS EeePC 1005HA (Seashell) has a long-lasting battery of 10.5 hours!! I don’t know about you, but staring at a computer screen for that long would certainly make my eyes go buggy. It certainly sounds like ASUS is responding to consumer demands, and we’ll find out for sure how they did when we compare the Eee PC 1005HA to other ASUS and MSI netbooks including the N10Jc, Eee PC 1000HE and MSI U100 netbooks in our follow-up review.

Specifications

Processor	Intel Atom N280 Processor @ 1.66 GHz
Operating System	Windows XP Home
Memory	1 GB DDR2 SO-DIMM
Display	10.1″ LED Backlight WSVGA Screen (1024×600)
Video Card
Hybrid Storage	160GB HDD 10GB Eee Storage (complimentary at first, then must register to extend)
Card Reader	MMC/ SD(SDHC)
Webcam	1.3M Pixel.0.3M Pixel
Interface	2 x Audio Jack (Headphone / Mic In) 3 x USB 2.0 1 x VGA Port (D-Sub 15-Pin for external monitor) 1 x LAN RJ-45 WLAN 802.11 b/g/n @ 2.4 GHz Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Audio	High Definition Audio CODEC Stereo Speaker Digital Array Mic
Battery	10.5 hrs, 6-cell 63Wh Li-ion Battery 8.5 hrs, 6-cell 48Wh Li-ion Battery 4 hrs, 3-cell 23Wh Li-ion Battery
Weight	1.27kg (2.7lbs) (with 6-cell battery) 1.1kg (2.4lbs) (with 3-cell battery)
Dimensions	262mm(W) x 178mm(D) x 25.9mm~ 36.5mm(H) 10.3″(W) x 7″(D) x 1″~ 1.4″(H)
Warranty	1 Year Limited Warranty

Bundle

The box that the EeePC 1005HA-PU1X (Seashell) comes in has a picture of the netbook lying in sand next to a seashell, which goes along with the theme. When I first looked at the box, I thought the seashell was a wireless mouse, which would have been unique to have a seashell-shaped mouse to go along with the Seashell netbook…

As we opened the box, we saw the black netbook sleeve wrapped and packaged right on top, with everything else securely packed underneath.

The ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-PU1X (Seashell) comes with the AC power adapter, a protective sleeve, user’s manual, warranty card and a support DVD. The DVD contains the drivers, software applications and utilities.