Configuration

Having identical cases, the A4B00L and the A4S00G models are anyway differently positioned in the market by the manufacturer (the former is a budget notebook for working in office while the latter is a desktop workstation replacement). Of course their configurations differ and reflect their positioning.

So, both notebook models feature the Mobile Intel Pentium 532 processor (3.06GHz, Prescott core, 0.09-micron technology, 533MHz FSB, 1024KB L2 cache, support of Hyper-Threading when powered from an external power source). The notebooks are both equipped with 80GB HDDs from Hitachi with an 8MB cache buffer, but of different spindle rotation speeds (the A4B00L comes with a 4200rpm IC25N080ATMR04-0 drive, and the A4S00G is equipped with a 5400rpm HTS548080M9AT00 HDD). The similarity between the configurations ends here, though.

So, what about the difference? The A4B00L is based on the SiS 661MX chipset, while the A4S00G – on the SiS 648FX. As for the graphics subsystem, the A4B00L uses the chipset-integrated graphics core with support of shared memory architecture; the user can choose the portion of the system memory allotted for the needs of the graphics subsystem (32, 64 or 128MB). The other notebook employs a discrete graphics processor ATI Mobility RADEON 9700 with 64MB of dedicated graphics memory, which allows enjoying modern 3D games.

Besides that, both notebooks have two memory slots (the maximum memory amount supported is 2GB). One memory slot is occupied in each notebook by a module of PC2700 DDR SDRAM of 256MB (in the A4B00L) and of 512MB (in the A4S00G) capacity; the other slot is empty. To access the memory, you open the big cover on the bottom of the notebook’s case by unfastening four screws.

The audio subsystem integrated into the SiS 7012 South Bridge (the South Bridge is the same in both notebook models) provides a sound of good quality and volume; you can enjoy listening to audio and video recordings with these notebooks.

The integrated DVD-RW drives of the notebooks have the following speed formulas: 24x CD read, 2x DVD read, 16x CD rewrite, 4x DVD rewrite, 24x CD write, 8x DVD write (in the A4B00L model), and 16x CD read, 4x DVD read, 10x CD rewrite, 4x DVD rewrite, 24x CD write, 8x DVD write (in the A4S00G model). The configurations of the notebooks don’t include a floppy drive, although I think the ASUS A4B00L, being an office machine, might have come with one, as floppy diskettes are still used in many offices.

The cooling systems of both notebooks are identically noisy, but not too much. Unfortunately, both notebooks became rather hot at work, especially near the touchpad and at the bottom. I measured the temperatures of the notebooks as they were passing through the Multimedia Content Creation Winstone 2004 test:

• A4B00L: 33°C top, 39°C at the output of the cooling system, 55°C bottom;
• A4S00G: 34°C top, 40°C at the output of the cooling system, 45°C bottom.

The next table summarizes the technical characteristics of the reviewed notebooks: