Especially for a laptop in this price range, Asus could have paid more attention to this. The casing is made of a cheap type of plastic in a dull gray color, which also doesn't feel very sturdy. The only positive point in this regard is the nicely designed touchpad, which forms a neat, seamless unit with the casing. Fortunately, Asus also offers the notebook in a much sleeker white version.
Comfortable
The laptop works reasonably comfortably during daily use. Especially the small size and its feather-light weight make it extremely suitable for travelers. The widescreen display has the now familiar glossy coating and is of reasonable quality, although we have seen better. A handy extra is the 180-degree rotatable webcam. The keyboard feels sturdy and does not flex, but the keystroke could have had a clearer 'click'. Of lesser quality is the touchpad; the buttons are downright stiff. Conveniently, the easily accessible WiFi switch is located at the front.
Fast enoughPros and Cons + rotatable webcam
+ compact and portable
+ design touchpad
- mediocre battery life
- cheap chassis
SCORE:
The performance is as expected given the configuration. Not the fastest in the test, but certainly fast enough for the demanding mobile user. It's a shame about the shorter battery life. During the battery-draining test (very intensive) of the program Battery Eater Pro, the Asus gave up after an hour and a half. The other laptops endured the tortures of this program for an hour longer.
CPU: Core Duo T2500 | Hard Drive: 90 GB | Memory: 1GB DDR2 | Display: 12.1-inch widescreen | Info: www.asus.com | Price: 1798,-- (excl. VAT, on 01-05-2006)
