X-bit labs

ASUS X51R Notebook Review: Excellent Budget Solution (page 3)

Category: Mobile

by Alexander Britvin

[ 11/11/2007 | 09:17 AM ]

The external color scheme is continued inside. There are rubber pads on the screen bezel for a softer contact with the notebook’s body. The latter is all gray except for the touchpad and keyboard.

The ASUS X51R is equipped with a widescreen 15.4” LCD matrix that has a maximum resolution of 1280x800 pixels and an aspect ratio of 16:10 (WXGA). The viewing angles look wide enough visually. The display has a glassy coating because the matrix is manufactured using ASUS’ Color Shine technology. ASUS claims that the use of this special polymer coating ensures high image quality and color saturation, resulting in a vivid and colorful image.

Besides that, the notebook features ASUS Splendid Video Enhancement, which helps quickly adjust the image using preset modes.

The modes are selected by pressing Fn + C. The current mode is indicated in the onscreen menu.

The notebook’s display offers 16 grades of brightness, but you can’t use the computer at the lowest grades because it’s hardly possible to discern anything in the screen then. The brightness setting is adjusted by pressing Fn + F5 and F6.

We measured the brightness and contrast of the notebook’s display using a Pantone ColorVision Spyder with OptiCAL version 3.7.8 software. We selected the highest brightness setting before this test, but it was considerably lowered when the notebook switched to its battery, automatically enabling power-saving technologies. The max brightness isn’t high – it should be enough for working under normal ambient lighting. The contrast ratio is rather low, too.

AC power source:

• 103.3cd/sq.m brightness, 37:1 contrast ratio

DC power source:

• 75.2cd/sq.m brightness, 36:1 contrast ratio