Asus Eee PC Seashell 1101HA - hands-on review

Along with the opportunity to dribble over cars costing more than our houses, this morning’s Asus Lamborghini launch also gave us the chance to play with the Taiwanese company’s latest Eee PC netbook – the Eee PC Seashell 1101HA.

This 11.6-inch machine features copycat styling that mimics the ultra-suave and skinny Eee PC Seashell 1008HA, but offering a slightly larger screen, keyboard and user interface. The bigger screen also offers a higher resolution, at 1366 x 768 pixels, promising to make this an ideal tool for browsing the web.

Unlike the Eee PC Seashell 1008HA, the battery on the 1101HA is removable, making it easy to upgrade in future or swap should you need longer battery life. The downside of this is a slightly chunkier chassis – although it’s still thinner than many of its rivals.

The components within the Seashell 1101HA are standard netbook fare – with an Intel Atom processor (albeit one running at 1.33GHz, rather than the more regular 1.6GHz), 1024MB of memory and a 160GB hard drive.

Usability is better than most, with a large and comfortable keyboard. It could be slightly firmer – rattling under use – but it’s responsive and large enough to type at speed. The touchpad is also big and comfortable, featuring gesture support than makes zooming slightly easier.

Features include 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, three USB ports and a VGA-out port for hooking up external displays. There’s also an integrated memory card reader, and a webcam neatly integrated into the top of the display.

We’ll be getting one in for a full review in the next week, so check back here for more info. Available from early July, prices for the Eee PC Seashell 1101HA start at £379 (inc. VAT).