Dell vostro 1520 Battery |
Posted: October 28, 2014 |
The overall feel on the keyboard is solid, the keys have a good amount of travel on them for a notebook. Asus has however relocated a couple of keys from their usual places such as the Ctrl key which instead of being at the easy to locate bottom left of the keyboard, is replaced by the Function key and is instead moved over one to the right. The other moved key is the Delete key, which is moved to the unreachable top right corner. Other than those two grievences the keyboard is fine for normal word processing and everyday use, though it takes a little getting used to. The included ports on the W3V are 3x USB 2.0, 1x Firewire, 1x PCMCIA, SD/MMC & Memory Stick slot, VGA out, S-Video out, Headphone/ (s/pdif) and Line In, Microphone built in, Ethernet, modem. All ports seem to work just fine, though it would have been nice if there was a DVI out and a PCI Express slot, but I have a feeling that I wouldn’t need those too often. There are USB connectors on both sides of the notebook, two on the left and one on the right for ease of connectivity.I bought this laptop because my old laptop, a Compaq Presario 2500 (Pentium 4 2.8Ghz, 512MB), was very unstable and could not handle two programs at once. Specifically, when I had a video chat session going with my girlfriend and a browser running at the same time the computer would slow to a crawl and almost beg to be put out of its misery. During my days at the University of Washington, I could do most of my gaming at the school computer lab, but after graduating it became obvious that my Compaq was falling woefully short. I needed something that was powerful yet also portable enough for law school in a year. I considered purchasing the Sony VAIO SZ, the Asus W3J, and the Asus A8Js. The Sony SZ seemed underpowered in terms of graphics capabilities compared to the other candidates and the W3J seemed too expensive and lacked a webcam. The A8Js was a prime candidate for me because of its integrated webcam, powerful video card, and excellent resolution for a 14” screen. The ELAN touchpad is also below average with limited driver functionality and few setting options to improve cursor movement. Its glossy surface is difficult to track on and the single-piece button is somewhat noisy and difficult to press with shallow feedback. You will have to apply pressure at the far left and right edges of the touchpad button to get clicks to register.Unfortunately the function and Ctrl keys are swapped, but it isn’t as bad as I thought it would be, and I am slowly getting used to their positions. I can’t understand why Asus keep changing the layout of these 2 keys across their range, for example the 15” version of this laptop has the keys in the correct position.Otherwise there is an 8-in-1 card reader, although why manufacturers always leave out Compact Flash cards from these ports baffles me, maybe due to the size of them they are restricted but CF is a widely used format and should be accommodated. In use the card reader works as intended, and I have had no issues with it. This notebook supports 802.11 a/b/g and from what I have experienced, works flawlessly. As I type this review I’m at the library using the wireless internet and the setup took less than a minute and the speed is very quick. Windows XP defaults the download speed at about half what it should be but after the settings are changed the adapter works at full capacity. The two wireless antennas are located on the top of the screen.I have not had occasion to utilize Asus Customer Support but the support and involvement at MilestonePC.com was phenomenal. I was very happy with their level of communication and prompt responses. Their Group Buy program just sweetened the deal in an altogether very enjoyable buying experience.
The Z96 comes with a few extras. Among these are an integrated 1.3 MP camera, an SD card reader, TPM security device, and shortcut buttons. There are also the previously mentioned media keys on the keyboard. The integrated camera works fine. While not the best quality(1.3 MP does not even come close to modern digital cameras) it definately does its job. The camera can be used as a webcam to chat with other people or to take videos, etc. Definately nice to have while traveling if you use a webcam on an ordinary basis. The TPM security device allows a user to password protect their hard drive, and to create an encrypted and password locked drive within the hard drive. Comes in handy if you have valuable information to protect. The Asus WL-530g is truly a pocket-sized router. Initially I was worried because it appeared as though I had not received the US power adapter but it was in the package and installation was simply a matter of snapping on the US power adapter, attaching the antenna, and plugging in the router. Setup was a breeze and it’s been chugging away happily ever since. It has four LAN ports and includes basic security features such as WEP and WPA. This bonus from the MilestonePC Group Buy program was a nice perk especially since I was in need of a wireless router. For most people who already have a wireless router, this will be a novelty item because of its size but not necessarily something that will be particularly useful.The hinge has a good grip on the screen and does not feel overly loose. There’s no clip or latch holding the cover when closed, instead, Asus uses a magnetic strip to hold the top and bottom together. The Apple Powerbook is often praised for its sturdy construction. It claims to be able to survive a drop at waist level. But realistically, you don’t buy a laptop so you can drop it. When considering build and construction in a laptop, the main thing that I look at is the keyboard and touchpad, because typing and touchpad gliding are the only impact/friction related mechanical wear-down that your laptop is ever likely to see. What deters me away from the Acer Aspire 5504 is the flimsy keyboard and grainy touchpad. It seems too much like a disposable laptop that is likely to retire the same time its technology go out-of-date. The Asus does not disappoint. Touchpad is of a fair size, not overly crowded like the Toshiba Satellite M55; keyboard is solid, no warping or bending no matter how frustrated you type. The widescreen dimension gives it a full size length, with plenty of room to stretch without having your hands constantly falling off the keyboard like I did when I tried out the Dell Inspiron 600m. It’s more than just adequate. It’s just right. Asus W3V features an AudioDJ mode that launches with the built in hot keys and does not require windows to boot-up, similar to the theatre mode in HP/Compaq’s DV1000 series. I don’t know if this feature is unique to the Asian Asus, because I haven’t seen this mentioned in other W3V reviews. The feature itself is not a particularly useful one given that most people who own a laptop would have some sort of portable audio device. But it’s the dual boot nature that might allow some potential for hacking. I bought the A8Js from MilestonePC.com as a part of a group buy program the company offered. They offered a discount off of the going rate of $1,599 and threw in a bonus of an additional pocket-sized Asus router, the WL-530g, which will be covered later on in this review. This was in addition to the Asus carrying case and optical scroll-wheel mouse that is included standard. In my opinion, the benefits to cost ratio is very high for this laptop. I think the benefit derived from this purchase would have outweighed the cost even if I had paid full price. The main competitor in the Asus lineup to the A8Js in terms of size and performance was the Asus W3J. The W3J’s main attraction was that it was made of brushed aluminum and so I was a little glum when I decided on the A8Js because I knew it would be plastic. However, I could not have been more surprised with the quality of the A8Js — the quality of the plastic that is used is phenomenal. It feels almost metal-like and there is certainly no flex in the area surrounding the keyboard. The A8Js feels extremely sturdy and the difference when compared with my Compaq is like the difference between an S-Class Mercedes Benz and a Daewoo (although I read that Daewoo is making a turnaround — albeit not in the United States). The Asus V6800V comes equipped with a Pentium M 750 1.86GHz processor, and for using standard work applications this is absolutely more than enough for what you’ll need. In general, with a 5400RPM hard drive and 512MB of RAM you’ll be very happy with the overall V6V speed performance. Running programs such as Microsoft Visual Studio, Adobe PhotoShop, Microsoft Word and Media Player at the same time, and flipping between them, were common tasks performed and never made the V6V hiccup. With the dedicated ATI X600 64MB graphics card you’ll be able to do some gaming as well. Half Life 2 will run well on this notebook for instance and other such 3D games will not be a problem. Now that’s very nice to have with a thin and light notebook, there just aren’t too many such notebooks out there that give you the necessary graphics performance to play 3D games in this notebook category.The Asus V6000 comes with built-in Bluetooth and 802.11 a/b/g wireless. It’s great that Bluetooth was included, so few notebooks offer this in the U.S. I had a problem initially getting Bluetooth to work because upon receiving the notebook it appears the drivers were note completely installed for the internal bluetooth card. Ooops. So I had to step through the process of using the drivers disk included by Asus and installing the Bluetooth manager, but it all worked after that. Now I’m able to pair with my phone and use the cell phone as a means of connecting to the web via GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) if I’m out of range of Wi-Fi or some type of landline internet connection.
Overall I am happy with the Asus Z99SC, I know I could have waited a little longer for more graphics card options, but as is the way with IT, if you hold off waiting for the next best thing you will never buy anything. Its perfect for what I wanted, a great screen, low noise, plus a reasonably fast processor. Some unbiased comments from friends have been that some didn’t like the design to start with but it has grown on them and they actually quite like it. I can agree, its certainly wont win any fashion contests but it has a subtle look about it that grows on you. I would say its more a business orientated laptop, with excellent connectivity options but can also be used for some light gaming or movies, just be sure to use some headphones or external speakers due to the poor onboard speakers and don’t be too far from a power socket.le surfing the Internet and only enough space to view about one-half of a page in a Microsoft Word. The K40IN has Altec Lansing speakers located underneath the palm rest. Simply put, the K40IN has two of the worst speakers I have heard on a notebook; my ears cringe every time a sound gets played. The speakers are muddy, tinny, and too quiet. Using the included SRS WOW software enhancer distorts the sound and put this odd pressure on my eardrums that I cannot stand. The headphone jack is fortunately static-free and the best way to get audio signals out of the notebook.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|