ASUS Eee PC 1008HA Seashell: $429 From May 18th

ASUS have announced US pricing and availability for the Eee PC 1008HA "Seashell", first unveiled back at CeBIT in March.  Measuring just 1-inch thick and tipping the scales at 1.1kg, the ASUS Eee PC 1008HA will be available to preorder from May 18th, priced at $429.

That gets you Intel's Atom N280 processor running at 1.66GHz, 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard-drive, together with a 10.1-inch 1024 x 600 LED-backlit display.  Connectivity includes WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and two USB 2.0 ports; there's also an ethernet port hidden behind a trick swivel-down cover.  Since there's no room for a standard VGA port, ASUS fit a mini-VGA port instead; however, there's also a pull-out adapter hidden in the 1008HA's underbelly.

Other connections include audio in/out, a two-in-one card reader and the power socket to charge the integrated battery which, ASUS claim, is good for up to 6hrs runtime.  You also get a 1.3-megapixel camera, microphone, and Windows XP Home.

As we've already seen, the ASUS Eee PC 1008HA "Seashell" is a slick looking netbook; we're also expecting reasonable performance from the N280 processor, though as with most netbooks it won't come close to a decent ultraportable.  It's the super-skinny size and $429 price tag that gets the attention here; are you thinking about pre-ordering come May 18th?