I was not so sure about this stuff, never having heard of "laver" (though I'd had the sheets of crispy green nori lots of times before), and have been pleasantly blown away by it on several levels.
1), the taste; it's like the smell of the sea, a bit salty and mineral-y and if you like that seaweed smell, you will be pleased with this stuff, though its not as strong as some kelps or some of the seaweed I've had from Korea.
2) texture; it's kind of like chewing on a piece of tough jerky, but one that tastes like the sea. The pieces are not as thick as kelp (think more like a frondy leaf of butterleaf lettuce). I find that they chew up more easily than the thicker kinds out there.
3) the color; dry, it just looks like a mass of dry crunchy dark-colored vegetation. Wet it, though, and you see that it's a beautiful jewel-tone purple.
4) the surprising one for me, the energy: I get shaky if I get too hungry. Chomping on this stuff holds that off.

Lastly, of all the packages I've eaten of this stuff, I have only had crunchy "shell-like" things once (they were stuck-on barnacles, tiny; no more than about 4 millimeters wide; there were three in that bag on two different fronds. This granola-esque Alaskan crunched them up and ate 'em. No taste. The texture was akin to eating canned salmon (or perhaps herring or sardines) with the bones still in; somewhat crunchy, but oddly nice in their chalky calcium goodness. =]

Excellent quality, great flavor, & perfect in salads, soups, or really whatever you'd like.

This is the product I always try to buy! I use it in a morning drink, so flavor is not an issue here. This brand works best for my purposes.

It's always available and I use it all the time.

The seaweed is quite delicious, but I really disike periodically crunching on the baby snails lodged in the folds of the seaweed. Despite tearing and sifting through every piece of seaweed, I still chomp on one in my homemade miso soup, which is why I purchaed this product.