What I read from your post is that, since you have both of these computers and both batteries actually last the same amount of time, why do reviewers give the Asus credit for longer battery life when you don't get a difference in real experience. Is that right?

Asking that question goes to the heart of specifications versus testing programs so it's an appropriate question. You just have to make sure the conditions are the same.

Manufacturers have special knowledge of their own equipment and know how to make them do things that seem unbelievable. Battery life of 6, 8, 10 or 12 hours is reached using controlled lab conditions. Reversing the screen to black with white type minimizes its use. They can change the testing procedure moment by moment with temperature or which program is running to get the extreme results or, and I like this, extrapolate to a theoretical result.

On the other hand, some reviewers use special battery testing programs that are fixed to perform the same way all the time for comparison purposes. Did you notice any battery program names like Battery Eater or UserBench Battery 2008? Sometimes switching a battery program from XP to Windows 7 will change the results because battery programs are not designed to be OS independent. Some of them are not appropriate on netbooks which are at the bottom end of their testing range.

Some reviewers set up their own testing and dim the screen plus turn off wi-fi to get maximum results or on the other hand run what they call real world programs like movies to get a time.

So, why do reviews give different ratings? Writers create endless theoretical differences so they can write more. It's what they do. Specification density is not related to real world use except in the most narrow sense. Your own use proves that.