|
ASUS W3VSlick looks outside, nice graphics inside. Price: $1,899
The ASUS W3V is a sleek thin-and-light notebook that successfully bridges the gap between work and play. Featuring Intel’s latest Sonoma platform, this sub-six-pound system performs office tasks at a brisk pace, and ATI Mobility Radeon X600 graphics give it plenty of multimedia punch. Priced at $1,899, the W3V includes other high-end features like a dual-layer DVD-RW drive and Bluetooth, but the lack of battery life tempered our enthusiasm.
At 5.5 pounds and 13 x 9.7 x 1.3 inches, this laptop is certainly portable enough to take on extended trips. It’s handsome to look at, encased in an aluminum alloy chassis that sports unique hand-painted hairline stripes. The battery is concealed in the hinge of the system and sits flush against the back, a clever way to incorporate it into the design. The keyboard is sporty looking and solid to the touch, but has a few keys that are hard to hit: the half-width, double-length Enter key and the tiny Shift key on the left. The mouse buttons are made of the same painted metal as the lid, adding to the overall aesthetic appeal of the system. Asus throws in a Logitech cordless optical mouse for those who shy away from touchpads. The W3V has all the connectivity bases covered with three USB 2.0 ports, a Type II PC Card slot, and a 4-in-1 memory card reader. Digital camcorder owners will like that there’s a FireWire port and a dual layer DVD burner, plus a copy of PowerDirector V.3.0 for easy video editing. The drive comes in a hot-swap bay for adding on extra batteries or another hard drive. The quick launch buttons (located flush against the edges of the keyboard) can be used in conjunction with the Audio DJ feature to play music without booting the OS. The ASUS W3V’s 14-inch widescreen is bright, and looked great with almost no glare when playing DVDs or checking e-mails. Playing Far Cry was a great experience due to the combination of this display and the ATI Mobility Radeon X600 graphics card with an ample 128MB of dedicated memory. There was none of the choppiness that we usually experience with thin-and-light systems with integrated graphics. If you need a larger view, the S-Video and VGA ports will connect the W3V to most modern TVs and LCDs, respectively. Our 3Dmark2001 test agreed with our generally favorable assessment of the W3V with a score of 10,268. The W3V performed decently in the productivity department, notching a good MobileMark score of 174. With a 5,400-rpm 60GB hard drive, programs loaded quickly. In fact this machine handled every task we threw its way with finesse, from disc burning to juggling several documents at a time. Those who like to work and play away from an outlet will be disappointed in the W3V’s battery life. The system fell short of three hours, which is below average for this class of system. The good news is that ASUS includes Power4+ Gear and a power management utility with eight preset yet adjustable configurations, which can help you squeeze out a little more endurance when doing office work, watching DVDs, or playing games. The W3V includes Intel’s 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi adapter, which delivered respectable throughput at 5 feet (14.9 Mbps) and exhibited strong performance even from 50 feet (10.5 Mbps). Included Bluetooth technology allows you to sync your PDA wirelessly, swap files with other Bluetooth devices, and use select Bluetooth cell phones as a wireless modem for your notebook, among other convenient applications. ASUS includes a great multimedia software bundle, including ASUS DVD, Nero Express, PowerDirector, and MediaShowcase (for creating and sharing multimedia presentations). Unfortunately, none of this software is preinstalled. Even nicer is the two-year global warranty and toll-free tech support. The ASUS W3V manages to separate itself from the thin-and-light pack with style and discrete graphics. We wish it offered more battery life, but it’s a worthy purchase for those looking for a portable with an edge. Compare Prices | ASUS W3V Specifications
Featured Site Sponsors
|
 |
|
