X-bit labs

Traditions of Classical Notebook Building: Asus A8J Series Review (page 13)

Category: Mobile

by Alexander Britvin

[ 03/14/2007 | 09:42 AM ]

Conclusion

ASUS has presented its vision of a classic product in modern format. The A8Jp notebook is not only portable, but also a very advanced computer that has high-performance components under the hood. The three constituents of its success are an appealing, even though simple, exterior design, a very high performance in any applications, and mobility you can expect from a notebook. It is not easy to combine the latter two properties in the same computer, but the A8 series with discrete graphics from ATI achieves that goal. The notebook’s only downside is the short battery life, but that’s natural considering the advanced configuration.

By the way, if the aggressive power-saving options of the ATI graphics core do not satisfy you, you may want to consider the A8Js model which features the GeForce Go 7700 graphics core from Nvidia. Its PowerMizer technology doesn’t slow the graphics subsystem much when in power-saving mode.

Highs:

• Nice exterior design
• Good performance in any applications (except for the weakness of the ATI Mobility Radeon X1700 in power-saving mode)
• Large-resolution widescreen display of a classic format
• Rich accessories
• Exclusive image-enhancing technologies from ASUS
• Built-in web-camera

Lows:

• Mirror-like coating of the display
• Rather short battery life
• Fn button is placed instead of Control in the bottom left corner
• Touchpad cannot be blocked (on our sample)
• No Bluetooth module (in the particular configuration)