A multimedia machine with flair, the F50Sv-A2 marks ASUS’ entrance into the emerging category of 16-inch notebooks. Thanks to its fast Core 2 Duo processor and Nvidia graphics, this $1,149 system provides stellar performance and graphics punch. Add in a compelling design and included Blu-ray optical drive and you have a serious contender. The sub-2-hour battery life is a definite turn-off, but this desktop replacement offers a lot of bang for your buck.
Design and Ports
Sporting a gray and white pinstripe infusion styling on its scratch-resistant lid, the F50Sv-A2 has an attractive look. The pattern extends under the hood to the palm rest and touchpad where a swirl-like pattern, reminiscent of HP’s Imprint finish, stretches across the deck. Surrounding the display is a glossy black bezel; both it and the palm rest pick up their fair share of fingerprints and smudges. We recommend keeping the included polishing cloth handy.
At 15.0 x 10.4 x 1.7 inches and 6.3 pounds, the system isn’t as svelte or thin as the Lenovo IdeaPad Y650 or the Samsung R610-64G, but we were still able to fit it in an average size laptop bag and take it with us to Starbucks for the day. The extra girth accommodates a number of ports: its left side has three USB 2.0 connections, ExpressCard/54, microphone, headphone, Ethernet and modem ports. The back has one more USB 2.0 port (bringing the grand total to four), HDMI, VGA and the right side a Blu-ray drive.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The full-size keyboard on the F50Sv-A2, like that on the ASUS N81Vp-C1, isn’t the best we’ve encountered, but it gets the job done. The individual keys offered decent feedback, but the overall feel was a bit too soft and mushy. We also would’ve liked the keys to have a glossy coating to match the other areas of the machine, like that on the Acer Aspire 6930G or HP Pavilion notebooks.
Below the keyboard resides a spacious touchpad that allowed us to navigate the desktop smoothly. However, its single, fairly stiff mouse button took some getting used to; we prefer two dedicated buttons. Above the keyboard is strip of silver shortcut keys for turning on the power, switching power settings, and dedicated buttons for launching Windows Media Center, Internet Explorer, and turning off the touchpad.
Updated Express Gate
The leftmost button above the keyboard activates ASUS’ Express Gate instant-on environment. After pressing the button—a lightning bolt–emblazoned circle—the home screen appeared in just 10 seconds. ASUS has updated the look of Express Gate; the icons that launch the various applications (Chat, Music Player, Online Gaming, Photo Manager, Skype, and Splashtop Browser) cycle horizontally around a virtual axis; the icon in the center is the largest.
Overall, Express Gate looks a lot more polished than the previous version. The six icons also appear in a dock along the bottom of the screen, along with icons for configuring system settings. Tapping the touchpad while the cursor is hovering over an open app’s icon, the program’s window will either minimize or maximize. It’s a nice feature to keep the desktop from becoming cluttered.
Unfortunately, Express Gate doesn’t remember settings that have already been entered in the Windows environment, such as Wi-Fi passwords. Configuring this software to connect to access points in our office was difficult and much less intuitive than in Vista. Once we were up and running, the Splashtop Browser (which is based on Mozilla) loaded in 20 seconds; the Music Player took 5 seconds to launch. So, from a cold boot you can start surfing the Web in 30 seconds, or you can wait for Windows to load, which takes 30 seconds more.
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