Discussions

It's here!!! Pre-ordered this little Asus Seashell Eee PC 1008HA on Amazon and it actually came a day earlier than the official launch day (tomorrow!) ~ so as promised here's a full unboxing and a look at all the awesome and bizarre details...

It's adorable. Sleek. Sexy. Netbooky. But damn it's glossy. I'd love to sand blast it so i won't lose my mind over the constant fingerprints EVERYWHERE... i had to literally open the box, then polish to take a pic. You'll see that i give that up a few pics into it...

SO, to start from the beginning... they really do take their Seashell thing seriously...

First thing you see when opening is the case...

As soon as i grabbed the netbook in its white wrapping and slipped it out, it was ALL FINGERPRINTS! Gah! So as with all things shiny these days, here's the cute wipey cloth that it came with... a little excessively packaged (really? logo window even?)...

Next up ~ plug it in ~ stickers and plastic off! But in case you were curious about the details they highlight...

It has these adorably roundy mounded rubber feet... and the black finish was misleading! It's not for black purists... its more like nail polish from when i was in high school... very night sky... black with flecks of dark metallic blue mixed in...

Perhaps what i thought would be the weirdest feature of all, i'm kind of liking... the mouse track pad, isn't a pad at all! Its more like a grid of braille dots... protruding from the surface of the wrist rest? And how very mac like to make it LOOK like a single button (although the current mac one could be either viewed as one giant trackpad/button, or buttonless)... you can zoom like on the mac though with the two finger pinch/stretch gestures... and scrolling on the sides, but since its hard to feel the edge of the "trackpad" i've been having some scrolling issues... maybe it will get easier over the time.

Cute! The magnetically attached usb/monitor adapter is embedded in the base! I feel like i'll lose it ~ or if it got caught on something, or wasn't put back perfectly, i'd never notice it was gone!

The magical F9 key! press it 3 times and it will restore the netbook to factory state.... one part genius, the other part diabolical? I mean what if you accidentally do it? Or do it to someone elses? Should it really be THAT easy? Or necessary? I hear it takes you to some menus... but still!

Oh, and on the keyboard, i wish it were chiclet-y!

Side view ~ sleek isn't it?

Now for those hidden ports... all ports are behind flaps... except the SD slot... and i found the ethernet one particularly interesting ~ you flip the flap to the side, then push the bottom DOWN to fit the ethernet adapter in... and while i'm not sure, i assume that it is because it is thicker than that part of the netbook, but thinner than the height off a table with the little feet?

And for the final comparison... how does it look next to my 15" macbook pro? Well it sure does make my mbp look like a bit of a behemoth next to it.

.... but it probably will fit in my purse and on my airplane tables MUCH MUCH better? Will play with it for a bit and see how it works out for my needs... and when i get back from more travelling... will definitely have to try out Moblin!!!