Shop For ASUS Eee PC 1008HA Seashell 10.1-Inch Pearl Black Netbook - 6 Hour Battery Life

I've always liked the idea of a netbook, but never got one because everything out there was, to put it frankly, fugly. They looked cheap and clunky, disproportionately thick, more like toys than real computers. So when the first photos of this machine surfaced on the internet, I knew at once that I would finally be purchasing a netbook.

And it didn't disappoint. It was the first - perhaps still the only - netbook that can honestly be described as 'beautiful'. It's by far the best-looking laptop I've ever owned, and for a netbook of all things to claim this honor is a truly impressive accomplishment on Asus' part.

Anyway. Onto the bulleted list:

Pros:
- It's beautiful, and thin, and light. Nothing at the moment beats its form factor and 2.4lbs in the 10" category. And it's by far the best-looking netbook available today.
- Extremely fast startup, shutdown, and standby times. I don't know if this is standard on eeepcs nowadays, but the machine gets past the XP logo in less than 10 seconds and loads the desktop in less than 30 from poweron. It enters standby nearly instantly, around 1 second. In these respects it cleanly beats any computer I have ever owned by a long shot.
- Keyboard. Keys feel nice to type on, not cramped, and fullsize right Shift key.
- Battery life: around 5 hours continuous use. I can bring this thing to work without the charger and leave it on the whole day easily. 1000HE has its 10 hours, sure, but at a much bulkier (uglier) form/weight.
** I don't consider nonreplacable battery an issue. This computer being a netbook and all, by the time the battery wears out a new one would probably cost nearly as much as the machine itself! And no one carries spare batteries for netbooks.
- 802.11n, bluetooth.
- Power cable: the oft-dreaded power brick is quite small and the cables have attached velcro ties. Minor plus.
- Stereo speakers and stereo microphone: definitely an unexpected (pleasant) surprise on a netbook. Minor plus.

Cons:
- Non user upgradable RAM. With its form factor I honestly don't expect it to be upgradable, but lack of a 2GB option makes this an issue. As detailed [...] you need to remove the keyboard, chassis, and motherboard just to get to the RAM bay.
- Ubuntu network issues: should you desire to load linux, be aware that Ubuntu (and most other linux distros, I'd imagine) does not include the drivers for the Atheros Ethernet/Wlan controllers in this machine. Ethernet can be enabled by [...] and Wlan after that by [...]
- Partitions and multibooting: the hard drive comes formatted with 2 large NTFS partitions and two small hidden partitions, probably for recovery/fastboot purposes. They are all primary partitions, which means that with maximum 4 partition limit you will not have more than 2 usable primary partitions without destroying the hidden partitions. I was hoping to tripleboot XP, Ubuntu, and Win7, but it seems this is not possible.
- Price: you pay a small premium for its form factor, but without sacrificing any specs compared to other netbooks. Nowhere on the order of, say, a Macbook Air.
- No 3G radio: not really expected, but it would have been nice all the same. A usb modem would be awkward with the port flaps.


Overall a great little computer, definitely a great first netbook for anyone who's yet to try one. If aesthetic objections have kept you away from netbooks until now - too nerdy, too ugly, too unprofessional - this machine is what you've been looking for.Get more detail about ASUS Eee PC 1008HA Seashell 10.1-Inch Pearl Black Netbook - 6 Hour Battery Life.