A little refresh in the Seashell line-up; today we have Asus' latest 1005P netbook for review, which is remarkably similar to the 1005HA we reviewed last year. The Seashell styling and design is still retained from the original model and it looks pretty much similar to the 1005HA, except for the internals that have undergone a slight overhaul. Instead of the Atom N280, we have the new Pineview N450, a 250GB hard drive instead of the puny 160GB and Windows 7 Starter edition. Our review unit came with a 48W/h 6-cell battery, so let's see how much battery life we get with that. If priced right, it could be a nice advance from the 1005HA, which was very popular for quite some time.
Bundle
The 1005P comes with the following accessories;
Bundle
The 1005P comes with the following accessories;
- Instruction manual
- Windows 7 recovery DVD
- Travel charger
Even though our review unit only had these bundled, you could expect a cleaning cloth and pouch as well.
Design
Instead of the 'Eee' logo that was used on the 1005HA, we now have an Asus logo. The entire lid surface is glossy, which attracts a lot of fingerprints and makes things quite messy.
Instead of the 'Eee' logo that was used on the 1005HA, we now have an Asus logo. The entire lid surface is glossy, which attracts a lot of fingerprints and makes things quite messy.
At the rear we have a single compartment for changing the RAM and that's it. There is no way to remove the HDD without removing the entire base. Another thing you'll notice is the plastic used for the base is not of great quality compared to other Asus models. But due to its low price Asus had to cut corners somewhere I guess.
On the left is a single VGA port, USB port and some exhaust vents.
The right-hand side houses the rest of the ports; two USB, microphone and headphone jack, and a LAN jack. At the front is the memory card reader.
Once again, the keyboard is designed correctly with an appropriately sized shift key. Other than that, the feedback of the keys is not great. Just below it is a dimpled trackpad that serves no real purpose other than adding some texture to an otherwise plain flat surface. This does hinder smooth movement of your finger and I wish they had omitted this in the new model.
Overall, both the 1005HA and the new 1005P are identical in terms of design, except for the internals. Let's see how the N450 compares to the older N280.
Performance
You must remember that the older 1005HA came with Windows XP, while the N450 has to handle Windows 7, which could be the reason why the performance difference isn't much. Even so, Windows 7 on the older N270 did not offer the best experience, so the fact that the N450 gives similar performance as the older Atom on XP says quite a lot. I'm sure if we were to install XP on the 1005P, it would give better results. The memory bandwidth is better compared to the older Atom, which is evident from the scores.
General and Multimedia use
The keyboard is similar to the one on the earlier model, which means the keys are a bit small if you have large fingers. The keypad is really annoying since it has the same glossy finish and a ribbed design, which doesn't make it very convenient to use.
The netbook handles Windows 7 Starter quite well, although it tends to lag a little when opening multiple tabs in a browser. Our unit only had 1GB, which is quite low, so you might want to settle for 2GB at the time of purchase.
Battery life
The 1005P has two battery options, 23W/h 3-cell and a 48W/h 6-cell. Our unit came with the latter due to which we easily got around 8.5hrs of backup time. This is with 'Balanced Mode', WiFi On. With our 720p video drain test, we maxed out the brightness and WiFi On, and managed a respectable 4hrs 51min.
Pricing and Verdict
The base model of the 1005P starts at an MRP of Rs.16,999 and comes with a one-year global warranty. For this money you get 1GB ram, 160GB hard drive, 802.11 b/g (no 'n'), 6-cell battery and no OS. You might want to put in a little more money and get the 2GB memory option. The omission of 802.11 'n' is not a deal breaker and since you don't get any OS, you are free to install anything of your choice.
The 1005HA will not be available anymore, as the 1005P is replacing it. Overall, we liked the netbook just like the 1005HA, since it's essentially the same thing, just rebranded with bumped up specifications. However, all the things we didn't like the first time around are back in this netbook, like the overly glossy finish, the response of the keys and the sticky trackpad.
We wish Asus would have spent a little more time on the drawing board and fixed these issues before launching it. If you don't mind these and are in the market for a netbook with good battery life then the 1005P is a good choice.
Specifications
The base model of the 1005P starts at an MRP of Rs.16,999 and comes with a one-year global warranty. For this money you get 1GB ram, 160GB hard drive, 802.11 b/g (no 'n'), 6-cell battery and no OS. You might want to put in a little more money and get the 2GB memory option. The omission of 802.11 'n' is not a deal breaker and since you don't get any OS, you are free to install anything of your choice.
The 1005HA will not be available anymore, as the 1005P is replacing it. Overall, we liked the netbook just like the 1005HA, since it's essentially the same thing, just rebranded with bumped up specifications. However, all the things we didn't like the first time around are back in this netbook, like the overly glossy finish, the response of the keys and the sticky trackpad.
We wish Asus would have spent a little more time on the drawing board and fixed these issues before launching it. If you don't mind these and are in the market for a netbook with good battery life then the 1005P is a good choice.
Specifications
