Reason for buying:
In early January my notebook died and I needed a new one. I decided that I wanted to save some money and use some of my parts and OS from my old notebook in the new notebook. I then started looking at barebones. I wanted a 15.4" notebook with a WXGA screen (which I prefer for 15.4" screen). About this time the new MSI and Asus Barebones were announced. I was going to get the MSI MS-1039 but the US release kept getting pushed back. When is became obvious that the Z96j(S96j) was going to be released about the same time I started to re-think my choices. I ended up going with the S96j because I really appreciate having 2 cores on my desktop computer and I wanted that same benefit on my notebook. I also really wanted 64 bit support later on and probably being able upgrade to Merom (Core 2 Duo) later is a big bonus.
Specs (as I configured):
Asus S96j W/WXGA (1280x800) glossy screen
Core Duo T2400 (1.83 GHz)
ATI Mobility X1600 Graphics Card
1 gb Corsair DDR2 667 ram
80 gb Hitachi 7,200 rpm SATA HD (7K100)
NEC ND-6650A DVD burner
Build and Design:
Build is very good. Very little flex in lid and keyboard. This notebook feels very solid. The hinge is very stiff and this is how I like it. Even though I know the materials are all plastic it does not feel like it is made out of plastic. This is my first Asus and I’m very impressed. The design of the notebook is exceptional while the looks are kind of average. It does grow on you. I like the way the notebook tapers with thinnest part facing you. I like the simplistic look with very nice lines.
Ergonomics:
The keyboard is very nice, typing over long periods of time is very comfortable. I like the placement of the ports with the exception of the VGA which I would like on the rear. I like having a couple USB ports in rear which some other recent models are moving away from. The placement of the touch pad is perfect, it is just the right distance from keyboard. I never accidently touch it when hitting the space bar. The touch pad itself is also very nice. The touch pad buttons work well but are kind of loud when clicking. I would have liked to at least have volume buttons instead of the function+F keys. I'm a little bummed that there is not a PCMCIA card slot as well as the ExpressCard slot but as more cards come out this will be less of an issue. The notebook has a lot of the weight in the rear so it can get a little tricky when actually using on your lap.
Screen:
Very nice 15.4" WXGA glossy screen with a res of 1280x800. The screen is made by AUO and has a pixel pitch of 0.259, response time of 16ms, contrast of 300:1, and brightness of 180. The screen has above average brightness, is sharp, and has decent contrast. The colors are not as saturated as some LCDs I have used and tones tend to be on the cool side. It came with zero dead pixels. The manual says that the notebook has “Splendid Video Intelligent Technology” where you can adjust contrast, brightness, skin tone, and color saturation but I can not figure out how to activate. I had never had a glossy screen before and I was worried. I really like the glossy screen once I got used to it. Viewing angles are very good.
Multimedia:
The speakers are weak. The sound is OK but the volume is low. I compared it to a Dell e1505 and the e1505 was louder at half volume. The sound from the S96j is not nearly as full sounding either. This is not a big deal for me because I use headphones mainly anyway when gaming or watching DVDs. The output on the headphone jack is loud and sounds very good with both music and DVDs. DVDs look very nice, ghosting is not overly noticeable. Black levels are fairly descent for a notebook LCD. The webcam works very well, even in low light.
Assembly:
While I recommend that people buy this notebook with at least the CPU and optical drive from a reseller, I bought the barebones and most the parts and assembled myself. Assembly could not be easier. It probably takes 30 minutes tops to do it. I took off the thermal compound that the CPU and GPU heat sinks came with and used AC5 instead. The heat sinks for both CPU and GPU are copper and touch CPU and GPU directly. Something to keep in mind is that the barebones by itself does not come with the brackets and screws needed to secure the optical drive in the notebook. In the end I could not use optical drive I had. I ended up buying the optical drive that is sold with notebook, I could not buy the brackets and screws separately.
Cooling, Heat, and Noise:
The cooling in the S96j is very efficient. While idle and browsing the web the notebook CPU hovers around 49 -53C. At these temps the fan is not on. The fan kicks in the mid 50s. The fan is very quite. My last notebook’s fans were very noticeable when they were on, that is not the case with the S96j. I really have to get close to notebook to hear it. The warmest the CPU has ever gotten was 62C and this was when running Prime 95 torture test. The right palm rest is actually its warmest when the computer is at its lower temp because the fan is not running. The right palm rest does get noticeably warm but not uncomfortable. The left palm rest and touch pad does not get warm at all for me and I’m running a 7,200 rpm hard drive which is under left palm rest. I imagine that having the fan kick in at a lower temp with a fan utility would alleviate the heat issue on right palm rest completely. The intake vents are in multiple locations and placement of them is well thought out. The exhaust vent is thankfully in the rear of the notebook so no hot air on mouse hand. The underside of the notebook stays relatively cool so you can definately use on your lap.
Performance:
I’m very happy with the performance of the notebook. The performance rivals my Desktop computer (Athlon 64 X2). Everything is very snappy. Super Pi to 2 million digits was in 1:20. The 7,200 SATA drive is very fast. Multitasking performance like this on a notebook is a dream, it really changes the way you use your notebook.
Gaming:
I have played F.E.A.R., HL 2, and Quake 4 and the games run great with mostly maximum settings at 1280x800 (no AA, 4XAF, and no soft shadows). I much prefer playing games at their native resolution on a LCD and this is very possible with new games on this notebook. Quake 4 with its multiple core support (in latest patch) is amazingly smooth. I got 3,921 3dmarks in 3Dmark05 with latest Omega Drivers.
Battery Life:
I’m happy with battery time. The fact that this notebook comes with the powerful X1600 obviously impacts battery time. Following is summary for regular notebook activity (without wireless):
100% brightness - 2:00
80% brightness - 2:15
50% brightness – 2:45
30% brightness – 3:30
With DVD playback I get a little over 2 hours at 80% brightness and 2 ½ hours at 50% brightness. When gaming I got 1:10 playing Quake 4 at 80% brightness and 1 ½ hours playing at 50% brightness (at maximum performance with both cores). There is a larger 9 cell battery available that extends a bit out of the notebook that has an additional 2,400 mAh (for a total of 7,200 mAh).
Pictures in next post.
Pros:
*Very well designed.
*Solid build.
*Exceptional ergonomics.
*Fantastic cooling and very quiet.
*Easy to assemble.
*Very good gaming performance.
*SATA hard drive support.
*Very likely can upgrade to Core 2 Duo later with bios update.
*Decent headphone jack output.
*Great value.
*Average looks (wolf in Sheep's clothing).
Cons:
*Quiet speakers
*Average looks
*No DVI output
In early January my notebook died and I needed a new one. I decided that I wanted to save some money and use some of my parts and OS from my old notebook in the new notebook. I then started looking at barebones. I wanted a 15.4" notebook with a WXGA screen (which I prefer for 15.4" screen). About this time the new MSI and Asus Barebones were announced. I was going to get the MSI MS-1039 but the US release kept getting pushed back. When is became obvious that the Z96j(S96j) was going to be released about the same time I started to re-think my choices. I ended up going with the S96j because I really appreciate having 2 cores on my desktop computer and I wanted that same benefit on my notebook. I also really wanted 64 bit support later on and probably being able upgrade to Merom (Core 2 Duo) later is a big bonus.
Specs (as I configured):
Asus S96j W/WXGA (1280x800) glossy screen
Core Duo T2400 (1.83 GHz)
ATI Mobility X1600 Graphics Card
1 gb Corsair DDR2 667 ram
80 gb Hitachi 7,200 rpm SATA HD (7K100)
NEC ND-6650A DVD burner
Build and Design:
Build is very good. Very little flex in lid and keyboard. This notebook feels very solid. The hinge is very stiff and this is how I like it. Even though I know the materials are all plastic it does not feel like it is made out of plastic. This is my first Asus and I’m very impressed. The design of the notebook is exceptional while the looks are kind of average. It does grow on you. I like the way the notebook tapers with thinnest part facing you. I like the simplistic look with very nice lines.
Ergonomics:
The keyboard is very nice, typing over long periods of time is very comfortable. I like the placement of the ports with the exception of the VGA which I would like on the rear. I like having a couple USB ports in rear which some other recent models are moving away from. The placement of the touch pad is perfect, it is just the right distance from keyboard. I never accidently touch it when hitting the space bar. The touch pad itself is also very nice. The touch pad buttons work well but are kind of loud when clicking. I would have liked to at least have volume buttons instead of the function+F keys. I'm a little bummed that there is not a PCMCIA card slot as well as the ExpressCard slot but as more cards come out this will be less of an issue. The notebook has a lot of the weight in the rear so it can get a little tricky when actually using on your lap.
Screen:
Very nice 15.4" WXGA glossy screen with a res of 1280x800. The screen is made by AUO and has a pixel pitch of 0.259, response time of 16ms, contrast of 300:1, and brightness of 180. The screen has above average brightness, is sharp, and has decent contrast. The colors are not as saturated as some LCDs I have used and tones tend to be on the cool side. It came with zero dead pixels. The manual says that the notebook has “Splendid Video Intelligent Technology” where you can adjust contrast, brightness, skin tone, and color saturation but I can not figure out how to activate. I had never had a glossy screen before and I was worried. I really like the glossy screen once I got used to it. Viewing angles are very good.
Multimedia:
The speakers are weak. The sound is OK but the volume is low. I compared it to a Dell e1505 and the e1505 was louder at half volume. The sound from the S96j is not nearly as full sounding either. This is not a big deal for me because I use headphones mainly anyway when gaming or watching DVDs. The output on the headphone jack is loud and sounds very good with both music and DVDs. DVDs look very nice, ghosting is not overly noticeable. Black levels are fairly descent for a notebook LCD. The webcam works very well, even in low light.
Assembly:
While I recommend that people buy this notebook with at least the CPU and optical drive from a reseller, I bought the barebones and most the parts and assembled myself. Assembly could not be easier. It probably takes 30 minutes tops to do it. I took off the thermal compound that the CPU and GPU heat sinks came with and used AC5 instead. The heat sinks for both CPU and GPU are copper and touch CPU and GPU directly. Something to keep in mind is that the barebones by itself does not come with the brackets and screws needed to secure the optical drive in the notebook. In the end I could not use optical drive I had. I ended up buying the optical drive that is sold with notebook, I could not buy the brackets and screws separately.
Cooling, Heat, and Noise:
The cooling in the S96j is very efficient. While idle and browsing the web the notebook CPU hovers around 49 -53C. At these temps the fan is not on. The fan kicks in the mid 50s. The fan is very quite. My last notebook’s fans were very noticeable when they were on, that is not the case with the S96j. I really have to get close to notebook to hear it. The warmest the CPU has ever gotten was 62C and this was when running Prime 95 torture test. The right palm rest is actually its warmest when the computer is at its lower temp because the fan is not running. The right palm rest does get noticeably warm but not uncomfortable. The left palm rest and touch pad does not get warm at all for me and I’m running a 7,200 rpm hard drive which is under left palm rest. I imagine that having the fan kick in at a lower temp with a fan utility would alleviate the heat issue on right palm rest completely. The intake vents are in multiple locations and placement of them is well thought out. The exhaust vent is thankfully in the rear of the notebook so no hot air on mouse hand. The underside of the notebook stays relatively cool so you can definately use on your lap.
Performance:
I’m very happy with the performance of the notebook. The performance rivals my Desktop computer (Athlon 64 X2). Everything is very snappy. Super Pi to 2 million digits was in 1:20. The 7,200 SATA drive is very fast. Multitasking performance like this on a notebook is a dream, it really changes the way you use your notebook.
Gaming:
I have played F.E.A.R., HL 2, and Quake 4 and the games run great with mostly maximum settings at 1280x800 (no AA, 4XAF, and no soft shadows). I much prefer playing games at their native resolution on a LCD and this is very possible with new games on this notebook. Quake 4 with its multiple core support (in latest patch) is amazingly smooth. I got 3,921 3dmarks in 3Dmark05 with latest Omega Drivers.
Battery Life:
I’m happy with battery time. The fact that this notebook comes with the powerful X1600 obviously impacts battery time. Following is summary for regular notebook activity (without wireless):
100% brightness - 2:00
80% brightness - 2:15
50% brightness – 2:45
30% brightness – 3:30
With DVD playback I get a little over 2 hours at 80% brightness and 2 ½ hours at 50% brightness. When gaming I got 1:10 playing Quake 4 at 80% brightness and 1 ½ hours playing at 50% brightness (at maximum performance with both cores). There is a larger 9 cell battery available that extends a bit out of the notebook that has an additional 2,400 mAh (for a total of 7,200 mAh).
Pictures in next post.
Pros:
*Very well designed.
*Solid build.
*Exceptional ergonomics.
*Fantastic cooling and very quiet.
*Easy to assemble.
*Very good gaming performance.
*SATA hard drive support.
*Very likely can upgrade to Core 2 Duo later with bios update.
*Decent headphone jack output.
*Great value.
*Average looks (wolf in Sheep's clothing).
Cons:
*Quiet speakers
*Average looks
*No DVI output
i just ordered one
