ASUS F6E- B1 REVIEW

The Asus F6Ve-B1 is a powerful desktop replacement laptop that delivers quite satisfactory performance at an attractive price.

Configuration
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T9550 CPU running at 2.66GHz
Memory: 4GB DDR2-800 RAM
Hard Disk Drive: 320GB hard drive
Graphics: 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD4570
Operating system: Microsoft Vista Home Premium 32-bit version.

Design
The F6Ve-B1 has a shiny, gloss black lid. The design is attractive. The palm rest is in dark gray; the rest of the notebook wears black. At 4.39 pounds, this notebook is ultraportable.

Keyboard & Mouse
One very interesting feature of the notebook is its perfumed keyboard. The ‘perfumed’ keyboard is available in two scents – Musky Black and Morning Dew. Turn it on and it will wrap your workstation in a soothingly calm scent. That said, the keyboard itself isn’t very good. It shows visible signs of flex under typing pressure. The mouse isn’t very impressive either. Buttons are stiff and the scrollpad sensitivity isn’t very good.

Display Quality
The biggest strength of this notebook is its 13.3 inch display. Colors are sharp and vibrant. Viewing angles are also good.

Connectivity
Port selection is satisfactory. There are 3 USB ports, Wi-Fi, e-SATA, Express card, 8-in-1card reader, HDMI, RJ-45, VGA ports, modem, DVD-RW drive, headphone, microphone jacks and Kensington lock. The notebook supports both Bluetooth 2.1 and Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 5100 ABGN. So getting connected to your network wouldn’t be a problem at all. There is a standard 1.3MP webcam. There is also a fingerprint reader.

Another cool feature is the Express Gate application suite. There is a dedicated button to activate this feature. Press that button and it will boot the laptop directly into the Express Gate menu which allows you access to basic features like photo gallery, games, instant messaging and a web browser.

Battery performance
3-cell, 6-cell and 9-cell battery configurations are available. With the 3-cell battery you can’t get more than 2 and half hours of battery life.

Heat and Noise
The notebook is pretty noiseless. Heat levels are within normal limits.

Performance
The performance levels are on a par with the decent hardware specifications of this notebook. Boot times are fast. As we said earlier, the display is the best thing about this notebook. Video looks are remarkably good. This isn’t quite the best gaming laptop out there, but the ATI graphics card is capable of handling most modern games.

Overall, this is a nice notebook that delivers competent performance at an attractive price of $1199.


Pros
Great display
Fast performance
Great design

Cons
Poor trackpad/buttons
Poor battery life
Average keyboard