ASUS made the idea of the netbook fashionable with its Eee PC range and since then the Eee production line has been in overdrive. The company's relatively new SeaShell collection will probably turn out to be its most popular yet, thanks to a mixture of portability, chic good looks and exceptional battery life.

If you already own the 1008HA SeaShell model (or have just admired it from afar), then you might think that there's little to choose between that and its new successor, the 1005HA. Both have that soothing iPod shade of creamy white exterior and keyboard with a black bezel surrounding the 10.1-inch, LED-backlit, WSVGA, 1024 x 600 resolution screen. They also share the same Intel Atom N280 CPU (although the 1005HA also has an N270 version, which is the one we reviewed) with 1GB of DDR2 memory and almost identical dimensions (262 x 178 x 25.9 to 36.5mm).

However, one of the telltale differences between the two is the weight, as the 1005HA weighs 1.27kg as opposed to its predecessor's 1.1kg. The reason for this is principally due to the 1005HA's 6-cell, 63Wh Li-ion battery which officially extends unplugged work life from 6 to a massive 10.5 hours. And unlike the 1008HA's battery it's replaceable, so if you put a second battery in your backpack you can remain wirelessly powered for a day.

As IT companies have had a habit in the past of, shall we say, embellishing the facts, we put ASUS's new baby through its paces and with e-mails flying by, YouTube on virtually constantly and tapping through a few documents, we still managed a remarkable 7.5 hours without breaking a sweat. ASUS attributes much of this success to its so-called Super Hybrid Engine which is aimed at maximum power saving and, based on this performance, it's definitely doing its job.

The near full-size keyboard will be greatly appreciated, as will the three USB 2.0 ports, VGA port and multi-card reader. Newcomers to this series might take a while to get used to the touchpad, which can only be found, literally, by touch as a series of raised bumps, but you can scroll and zoom quite easily once you get over your surprise. One handy extra is a 'touchpad off' button for when you're using an external mouse or maybe chatting on Facebook.

You get the same storage capacity as the 1008HA: 160GB internal (although this is a conventional HDD rather than SSD) and 10GB free online storage for the first 18 months. If you can spare the time from feverish online socialising, there's also a new Eee Docking software suite which drops down from the top of the screen and offers all kinds of juicy extras like access to radio stations, visual and audio enhancements, syncing with desktop PCs and a font resizer.

Connections are via Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1 and ASUS throws in a 1.3-megapixel webcam and stereo directional microphones to help with conferencing.

If you're willing to shell out (pardon the pun) a little bit more, you can have a slightly larger 11.6-inch screen with a brighter 1366 x 768 resolution, as ASUS has brought out the 1005HA's marginally bigger brother, the 1101HA, at the same time.

Verdict
Probably ASUS's finest Eee PC to date, the 1005HA boasts much of the style and performance of its predecessor but with an enviably enhanced battery life, user-friendly keyboard and unobtrusive touchpad.

Company: Asus

Contact: 0870 120 8340

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