Asus 1008P Seashell Karim Rashid Edition – first look and some pictures
The first day of work in the new year came with a nice surprise, as I got my hands on the Karim Rashid Collection edition of the Asus EEE PC 1008P Seashell. You’ll find below some pictures and a couple of first impressions. A more comprehensible article (perhaps a review) will follow shortly.
On the inside, there’s nothing too special about this netbook over the regular 1008P: Intel Atom N450 processor, 2 GB of RAM, 250 GB hard-drive, Wi-Fi N + BT, 1.3 MPx camera and Windows 7 . Still, the specs are above what standard netbooks offer these days and also, this is the first netbook with the new Intel PineTrail processor inside i get my hands on, so I am pretty excited and I really am looking forward to give it a live spin (later today).
On the outside, i can say this is the best looking EEE PC ever launched, and I’ve seen almost all of them. I got the Dark Brown version, as you can see in the pictures below, but it will also be available in Black, Pink and White. The Black one will surely be amazing. The best part is that the new case is not glossy anymore, and that’s a huge relief for me, at least. There are some nice design details, like special covers for side ports and Karim’s signature engraved on the body. Opening the lid, you’ll spot the chiclet style keyboard and the 10 inch display (i would have loved if Asus adopted a matte screen also, but…). And one more thing: there’s also a very classy leather case with magnetic lock in the package, a perfect fit for this netbook.
That’s it for now. Enjoy the pictures and stay tuned for a review also check out the review, with more details and detail about availability and prices.
Tags: Asus netbooks, designer laptop, Pine Trail, Windows 7
Asus 1008P-KR review – Karim Rashid Collection special edition
ASUS Eee PC 1008P with Intel Pine Trail – first look
Asus EEE PC 1008HA – a fancy 10″ Seashell netbook
Karim’s Asus 1008P-KR is now available in stores
On the nordic market (Sweden, Norway,Denmark Finland) ASUS delivers a modified retail package that regrettably has excluded that ‘very classy leather case’ and instead adds one more battery slice ! Probably a move to take care of that battery whining in test articles.
I checked out a pink 1008P KR last night and for quite alot of hours it kept on working relentlessly on a single battery, one of the apparent most power saving laptop I have used. And then I had one more fullly charged battery slice to swap in had I chosen to continue until the next morning..
Very impressive, runs cool and quiet. Only flaw that really got to me was the microphone. ASUS really?? As is somebody have forgotten to remove some protective tape in front of the mic before fitting it ?? A muted treble-free sound of very bad quality. I’m surprised given Asus long history of perfectly sounding mics in both laptops and desk machines. I hope this gets rectified. Other than this fresh look and uses little power.
I actually haven’t tested the mic. As for the offer you’re talking about, it’s nice that it comes with 2 batteries . But too bad there’s no case, that one was actually the one i liked best in the entire package.
Same problem with the mic here, so back to Amazon. Second one has a defect button (Express Gate) so again back to Amazon. Last one now seems to be OK (1 day use).
Any idea where to buy this “very classy leather case with magnetic lock” ?
sry Peter, from what i know, Asus ain’t selling the case on its own. So you can only getting together with this netbook.
I’ve seen this case out in several shops as accessories on the web, likely in the U.S.
I haven’t found any online shop so far who is willing to ship these outside the U.S (Except with silly 75 dollar shipping fees and such).
I will order a bunch for my swedish e-shop as soon as I find a supplier.
For example the pink one is shown here:
http://www.compsource.com/pn/90XB0JOASL00020/Asus_46
These are part number 90XB0JOASL00020.
There happens to be some logic so that black is
90XB0JOASL00000
White is
90XB0JOASL00010
If you see a good source for shipping to Sweden let me know.
Thanks Gunnar. I’ve missed this info. $28.99 for that case sounds very fair to me.
Looks nice, thanks for the info. Hope the will send to Austria too.
i’m curious at the mention of four colours being released. were the other two colours (black and white) cancelled, or are they being released at a later date?
From my knowledge, they’ll be released later. Not sure when though…
thanks mike.
it’s the most interesting netbook i’ve seen in some time. improve the battery and perhaps put in a HD screen like the HP mini210 HD, and its pretty much the perfect netbook.
not sure whether to buy the brown, or wait and see if the other two colours may improve on the battery situation.
(or just get the HP).
still have problems with the third KR. Mic continue to have a very bad quality. In the moment I use an external one (2 €) with a perfect modulation.
Battery life is ok given they ship them with two slices (at least over here). That gives probably over 12 hours total at light use. With charger attached you can look upon the laptop as being a battery charger where you can easily slip the batteries in/out at runtime to charge any of them. While on battery only, you then need to hibernate the machine before switching to the next battery, then turn on.
Would like to buy a netbook, this model seem not bad as i read thru several website. btw what is the battery life?
The screen inch is always 10.1 inch, singapore nv sell 11.6 inch netbook?
The battery life is only 3.5 hrs?
It’s around 3.5, could be less, could be more, depending on what you plan to do on this machine. Check out the review in here: http://www.netbooklive.net/asus-1008p-kr-review-1623/
Hi thanks mike for your answer. Then i think i wont be getting this netbook. Battery life is very important? Maybe 1005ha is a better choice with 10hrs battery life.
Or even the 1005PE with up to 14 hours (more like 11 in real life). that’s the best right now in terms of battery, next to the MSI Wind u160
That review at netbooklive.net presumed that the machine shipped with only one battery slice, thus running at full throttle they only achieved some over 3 hours and made a big fuss out of that.
ASUS did take note and before launch removed that leather bag in favor of two battery slices, so now with the combined set of batteries you get a runtime from 7 to 12 hours depending on load. In more recent tests/reviews I haven’t heard anybody mentioning battery life on the negative list.
It was a big deal
I still am not satisfied with the idea of having to swap the batteries in order to use and recharge them, but since a better solution could not be find, that will do. And you will never get 12 hours out of that machine with 2 batteries. maybe like 9-10, but definitely not 12 
Hey all,
I am also looking for a new netbook at the moment, obviously my attention was drawn to the KR edition, but same here carrying and swapping batteries is def not an option for me:) Which netbook u consider best?Was looking at the eee 1005 PE which seemed to be a good package deal, but doesn t have to be a asus. what do u think?
Most important criteria for me:
1. very light
2. long batterie
3. good looking
4. windows 7
5. use for social media and office
cheers B
Benita, if weight is the most important factor for you, check out this post: http://www.netbooklive.net/lightest-netbook-best-options-for-light-mini-laptops-3216/ . All in one though, the 1008P-KR for here is one of your best choices at the moment. Unless you can afford 1500 bucks for the Vaio X…
Nowadays Ï swear by the SU7300 machines (Intel ULV CPU) such as Asus UL50VT. I chose that machine to replace my old office laptop and it gives some 10 hours worktime. Not bad for a 15.4″. If you want smaller the UL30 is a shrunk down model with about the same performance spec.
Gunnar, I too like those Asus machines. However, they are pretty heavy. I don’t know about the UL50VT but I’ve tested the 13.3 and 14 inch versions, and while great in terms of power and looks, they are pretty heavy…
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