ASUS N71JQ-A1 17.3-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Dark Brown) Review
I purchased this laptop at a local retailer, though I did check the reviews on Amazon first. Some of the reviews here informed my decision to purchase this laptop, but I found after I got the laptop home that some of the reviews are misleading (especially some of the 5-star reviews).
So, here's my (hopefully balanced) review.
First of all, the screen. Yes, it's 1600x900, so it has the correct aspect ratio for HD content. It's also an odd resolution -- it has more pixels than a native 720p display, but has fewer pixels than a native 1080p display. It's pretty decent, though not as bright as some other screens I've seen in similarly specced laptops. Three things you should be aware of: 1. It is NOT an LED backlit screen, but a CCFL backlight. The fluorescent lamp contains mercury, and in fact a big warning sticker is pasted on the box informing you of this, and that you must recycle or dispose of the lamp properly. Some reviews and ads incorrectly show this laptop as having an LED backlight, and I believed those reports; thus, I was a little disappointed when I got the laptop home and realized. 2. The LCD is a TN panel, not an IPS panel, so the picture quality won't be quite as good. 3. The screen is NOT covered in glass, but in plastic. The plastic flexes easily when you press on it. It is also a dirt and dust magnet, and will attract all kinds of debris because it seems to hold a static charge. No, I did not forget to peel off the protective plastic cover on the screen when I unpacked the laptop. The laptop includes a microfiber cleaning cloth. I recommend you buy several more, because you'll be using them non-stop.
On the plus side, there were no pixel defects whatsoever in the model I got. I tried playing Gran Torino on Blu-ray, and my fiancee and I both watched about a half hour of the movie to get a good feel for the screen quality. Our impression was that the video quality was very good -- you could see fine details on people's clothes, skin tones were very good, etc.
Backing up the restore partition took 4 DVDs instead of the 5 that the app predicted. I noticed that ExpressGate was installed, but was disabled. I've used ExpressGate before because my desktop PC was built with an ASUS motherboard, so I know it's supposed to be the first thing you see at boot after POST. Will have to play around with that some more, but it may not be a big deal for me.
There's a restore partition on the primary drive that I left as-is (about 12 GB), a small partition with Windows 7 (~ 80 GB), and the remainder was partitioned as a data drive. I wound up deleting the data partition and expanding the partition holding C: to occupy the rest of the primary disk.
The secondary drive is the same size as the primary (320 GB), and is partitioned in half. This I blew away so I could install Ubuntu 10.4 Lucid Lynx. The Ubuntu install was flawless, and nearly everything worked perfectly out of the gate -- WiFi and Bluetooth worked perfectly, something that shocked me. A Microsoft Bluetooth mouse needed a little extra tweaking to get working under Ubuntu, but my fiancee found a quick fix to make it work. There's also a problem getting the laptop to sleep or hibernate under Ubuntu 10.4, which seems to be an issue with the controller chip for the USB 3.0 port; there's a fix for that too, which I have yet to implement. The default free/OSS video drivers worked great for 2D, and enabling the proprietary ATI fglrx drivers let me run things like Emerald Viewer and Nexiuz with ease.
Yes, 3D performance is more than acceptable in Linux!
On the Windows 7 side, I can confirm that World of Warcraft runs fine with Ultra settings enabled, though the frame rate drops just below 30 fps in some really busy areas. Steam games, especially the Valve ones, seem to run great with settings maxed out or very nearly maxed out. Mind you, this is with the ATI drivers that shipped with the laptop. I have not yet installed more recent ATI Mobility Radeon drivers, but I plan on doing that soon. (Definitely set up a restore point before installing such generic drivers!) The Radeon 5730 in this laptop seems quite capable and stable. Emerald Viewer can run with settings maxed out under Windows, but I discovered that enabling realistic shadows (a special checkbox setting in Emerald Viewer) causes some rendering bugs with certain avatars, such as the eyes disappearing.
The trackpad is mult-touch capable, and I use the two-fingered swipe gesture to scroll both horizontally and vertically on web pages. Spread and pinch also work for zooming in and out, respectively. The two-fingered swipe is identical to that used on my old MacBook Pro, which made this an easy transition for me.
I actually like the keyboard, and find it very comfortable to type on. I also find that I fat-finger the keys far less than on keyboards with less gap between the keys, or with keyboards that have "sculpted" keys that slope on the sides. The numeric keypad is usable, but the 0 key is awkwardly placed and should be larger instead of sharing some space with an arrow key.
This laptop actually runs pretty cool, even when heavily loaded running a 3D game that gives the system a good workout. I can keep the thing balanced on my lap without burning my thighs; the only part that gets hot is the exhaust port on the left rear. The palm rest really does stay cool, which is an advertised feature.
After the first 2-3 days of ownership, I discovered that the power brick would occasionally turn itself off. The green light on the brick would just turn off, and the laptop would no longer receive power -- the "on battery" indicator would come up in the system notification area (aka the system tray). This may be a problem with the outlet I'm using, or with my house's wiring, or we may simply be having a fair number of power spikes or other issues since it's summer in Phoenix. The only way to work around the problem is to unplug the power brick from the AC mains power and plug it back in. (Unplugging and re-plugging the jack connecting the brick to the laptop won't do anything, so the issue is not with the laptop itself, but with the power brick.) I'm going to do some experiments tonight to see if I can resolve the issue by trying a different outlet, such as on a surge suppressor or an UPS. If I can't get resolution, I will either try to get a replacement part from the retailer, or return the laptop in its entirety.
ASUS N71JQ-A1 17.3-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Dark Brown) Feature
- 1.6 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.8 GHz
- 4GB of DDR3 1066MHz SDRAM, 2 slots, 8GB Max
- 640GB Hard Drive (5400 RPM); BluRay Drive Combo; Wi-Fi 802.11 bgn
- 17.3-Inch HD+ LCD Display; 2.0MP Webcam; Bluetooth; HDMI Port; ATI HD5730 Graphics Engine with 1 GB DDR3 Dedicated VRAM
- Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit) Operating System
ASUS N71JQ-A1 17.3-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Dark Brown) Overview
Enjoy true entertainment and real sound with the ASUS N71JQ. Equipped with Intel’s new Core i7-720QM processor and an ATI 5730 graphics engine with 1GB DDR3 VRAM, the N71JQ brings users true-to-life images for games, movies and videos. The exclusive ASUS SonicMaster improves sound quality via 20mm-wide paper-foam cones. Dedicated resonance space arrangement provides sound layering and enhanced detail. With 2.5 watt TV standard sound output and a 21cc amplifier, the N71JQ improves and balances audio reproduction across different sonic ranges, particularly for vocals and low-band bass. Together with Altec Lansing speakers supported by SRS Premium Sound, the N71JQ provides crisp, clear audio reproduction and a truly surreal audio experience while on-the-go. A multi-touch touchpad allows users to scroll, rotate, as well as zooming-in and out while surfing the web or browsing multimedia intuitively. Lastly, the sunken-hinge design of the N71JQ provides a more comfortable view by providing users with a wider and more ergonomic viewing angle. The notebook comes with the ASUS 360 service program that includes a 2 year global warranty, one month zero bright dot guaranty, free two-way standard shipping, twenty-four hour tech support seven days a week, and a one year accidental damage warranty, protecting the notebook from drops, fire, spills and surge.
Available at Amazon Check Price Now!
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 02, 2010 16:30:33
Friends Link : Best Buy Compare Price LCD LED 3D HDTV Best Buy Core i7 laptop! http://i7laptop.clickpicknow.com/ best buy server
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น