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This is a review of my 1 week old Asus M6BNe with some later updates over time. I purchased it from PowerNotebooks who brands it as their PowerPro C 3:17 Elite.
I am more of a business user than a gamer, so I am not a stickler for benchmarks and my review is written from a business users perspective.
Photos
I set up a photo gallery on my own site.
System Specs
15.4" WXGA (1280x800) TFT Active Matrix
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 w/64MB DDR
1.7GHz "Dothan" Intel® Pentium® Processor M 735 w/2,048k L2 On-die Cache
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
1,024MB (2 SODIMMS) Corsair PC2700 DDR333 Memory
Hitachi 60GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive - 7,200 RPM
Toshiba Combo 4X +/- DVD R/RW-CD R/RW
Built-in Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 b/g LAN card
Smart Li-ion Battery – 8 cell
Windows XP Professional - SP2
3 Year System Warranty - 1-Year No Bad Pixel Guarantee
You can see the full factory specs here.
Ordering
I bought this system from www.PowerNotebooks.com. Given my obsessiveness, I narrowed down to www.DiscountLaptops.com and PowerNotebooks since they both have a full return/no restocking fee policy. I opted for the “Elite” program that adds about $150 to the price. For that you get a 1 year no bad pixel guarantee, Corsair memory, Artic Silver applied, and a $50 carrying case. Total cost was $2450 before shipping.
Donald Stratton was my sales advisor, also the owner. Response, friendliness, service, etc., were all top notch. Do not hesitate to buy from these folks. They shipped 6 days from order, as promised. It was clear that they care, I have a folder on my drive that contains the latest Asus, Intel, etc. drivers. They installed the SP2 patch even though they don’t yet have WinXP SP2 distribution disks. Windows messenger was even disabled. But there was no “junk” like AOL trial or NAV trial icons.
General Appearance
The M6BNe is difficult to really get a sense of from pictures. It is close to black. Charcoal is probably a good description. Pictures I’ve seen look anywhere from middle gray to black. Pictures also tend to make it look like there is contrast between the plastic border that surrounds the keyboard/trackpad and the rest of the case (the former being darker). They are close to the same shade of black but the keyboard/trackpad border is non-reflective while the rest of the case is semi-glossy so I think the reflectivity varies the photo results.
Some have likened the Asus to IBM in its executive look. I think it has more of a space age look with the silver highlights and striking blue LEDs.
It is definitely a notebook that will be noticed and one that looks like it “means business!”
It is also notable that the black border around the keyboard/trackpad is almost like rubber and it shows oil from your fingers quite readily. I find myself wiping it off frequently. I’ll probably stop after a bit and let it take on its own “character”… kind of like you would with leather furniture.
It feels thin and light enough, particularly for a 15.4” screen. It is generally spec’d at 6.3 lbs with optical drive. I weighed it at 6.83 lbs. This is with optical drive, two memory modules and wireless card. Specs indicate 13.9" w x 10.9" d x 0.86"-1.34" h. Actual measurement is 13.94” w x 10.75 d. Height ranges from 1.44” to 1.63” if you include the feet. If you ignore the feet, you get between 1.31” and 1.50”. I don’t know where Asus gets .86” !
I like the little touches like the rubber pad on the harddisk cover, presumably for shock absorption, and the business card sized plastic sleeve for an ID tag, both on the bottom of the system (see photo). The buttons and LEDs are particularly attractive. The power button is surrounded by a blue led ring that lights when power is on. There are five buttons to the right of the power button: email, browser, wireless on/off, trackpad on/off, and power scheme selector. Then three small LEDs to the right of the buttons: harddisk activity, numlock, capslock. These light in the same blue as the power button. There is no light for optical disk activity to my disappointment. The front left edge of the system has five LEDs, from left to right: Audio DJ on (orange), Power on (green), Battery charging (orange), unread email in inbox (blue), wireless radio on (blue). The audio DJ buttons are on the left side. I don’t anticipate using these and I considered them a negative when shopping, but they turn out to be unobtrusive.
Note (01/30/05): Thanks to Oresis82, we now have a way to disable the Audio DJ keys ===> Link.
The system came with the reseller’s badges. I removed these and attached “Built on ASUS” badges, one on the lid and a smaller one below the LCD. They are black and silver an complement the design well.
Port Arrangement
Port arrangement was one of the strong points of the Asus for me. I didn’t want plugs and wires sticking out all over the place, particularly from the front or right side since I use a mouse. It might help to look at the photos to augment this description.
Right: optical drive and a heat vent.
Front: no ports on the front.
Left: (from back to front) modem, LAN, 1394, infrared, flash card reader, PC Card (under the IR/PC Card/card reader), Audio DJ buttons, mike/audio in/headphone, Audio DJ power switch.
Rear: (from left to right as you look from the back) K-lock slot, power jack, parallel port, expansion port, monitor port, TV-out, 4 USB 2.0 ports.
Build quality
Quality is one of Asus’ strengths. This system exudes quality. The fit and finish is excellent. The buttons, LEDs, seams, etc., all are tight and sharp. The lid even clicks authoratively when closed. I’ve likened it to the feel of a German car vs. an American car. The case is solid except for one place where it flexes somewhat. That place is below your left wrist by the LEDs. If you press at the very edge, the surface gives a bit. I suspect there just isn’t quite the support above those LEDs. Still, not major. I don’t expect it would ever lead to weakening of the case or affect the LEDs. The lid also flexes some when you press on the outside surface and you can see the pressure of your fingers on the LCD image, but I’ve never seen it otherwise on any notebook I’ve looked at.
Display
The 15.4” WXGA display is bright and sharp. There are no bad pixels, no detectable variance in brightness, and surprisingly wide viewing angles from top and side. It is not a “glossy” screen. It is traditional non-glare. Much better for general text work, in my opinion. Even on AC, I’m running it at 80 or 90% brightness.
A word about resolution. I obsessed about XGA vs SXGA level of resolution. I have been running 1024x768 for some time on 15” screens. I was nervous about moving to SXGA+ and tried all sorts of methods for seeing what that would look like since I couldn’t find one to look at. I finally went with WXGA, which is 1280x800. Text is slightly smaller than on a 15” XGA screen. I find it perfect. There is more screen real estate and the text is workable. I don’t think I could handle any higher resolution.
Keyboard / Trackpad
There’s always a bit to get used to moving to a new keyboard. At first I didn’t like this one, I have working on it now for a week and I’m definitely liking the feel of the keyboard more than my previous system (Gateway 450SX4). There is a clear tactile, but not very audible, “click” when pressing the keys.
Flex: There is no flex when typing. You can get a slight amount of flex in the upper portion of the keyboard if you press hard on those keys, but it is not a practical concern unless you like to really pound on your keyboard. It is definitely less flex than most notebooks I’ve used.
Layout: You can look at the photos to see the layout. It is pretty standard for a notebook. Fn key is in the lower left, unfortunately, with Ctrl to the right of it. It has separate Home/End/PgUp/PgDn keys in a column, the way I like them. Ins/Del in the upper right. The top row (Esc/F keys/Ins/Del, etc) are narrow as are the arrow keys. There is control of brightness, volume, external video, wireless switch, and standby switch using a Fn+FKey combo. There is also a dedicated wireless on/off button as mentioned earlier.
Trackpad: About the best I’ve used. Very smooth and responsive. Some of the difference may be in Synaptic’s software. There are lots of configuration options like configurable corner taps. There is also a middle rocker button for scrolling, which I don’t typically use since edge scrolling works so well.
Heat & Fan
I’m very happy about this. Asus put in a very quiet three speed fan (quiet on the lowest speed, not unpleasant on the middle speed). Using MobileMeter, I’ve found that the CPU runs between about 43C and 47C for general word processing/internet use. I hadn’t heard the fan since I did initial installation when the processor worked harder. I ran a utility that displayed fan speed and discovered that the fan comes on at low speed (3000 rpm) at 45C. I never heard it! Now that I know, I can hear it if I put my ear to the vent, but not otherwise. I think the middle speed (3600 rpm) comes on at 60C. You can definitely hear the higher speed, but it is not at all irritating. It has a mellow “whir”. No “whine” at all, unlike my Gateway with its one speed irritating fan. I've yet to hear the highest speed (4000 rpm), which must come on at 70C or higher.
Overall, the system is incredibly cool. Heat on the surface is barely detectible. When the fan is running at high speed, it blows out of the right side of the computer. If you use a mouse, this is mildly distracting, but it rarely happens with normal use. If you have high processor demand applications and use a right handed mouse, this might be a consideration for you. On the bottom of the unit, there is notable heat, primarily where the harddrive and the memory is. You can feel it on your lap, but not uncomfortably. If you were gaming, it would probably get pretty hot underneath. The engineering is impressive given the lack of heat on the keyboard/wristrest. I don’t know if they use insulation, designed component placement well, or if the carbon fiber has something to do with it, but it’s a good thing!
Note (01/21/05): There have been some discussions on both Notebookforums.com and Notebookreview.com about problems with the cooling/fan operation of this model. Evidently some have had higher temp reports from Asus Probe and Mobilemeter and varying fan behavior that has been less than satisfactory. A later BIOS (0507, I think) seems to have addressed this some, but there are still complaints. If you order this unit, you may want to do what I did... order from a reseller that will take returns... or one that will check this aspect of operation for you before shipping.
Sound
Sound is typical for a notebook. Tinny. Given the four speakers, you can get decent volume out of it, but it is still tinny volume. I use external speakers pluged into the headphone jack that do just fine. No discernable noise.
Wireless access
Don’t have much to say here. Connected fine right off the bat. I get about the same signal strength around my house (Netgear FM114P 802.11b router and in my office (SMC 802.11b router) as I did with my Gateway. Steady signal. The Intel ProSet software is pretty friendly.
Battery
During installation I got 3 hours 45 minutes after completely discharging then charging. This was with a lot of disk access and rebooting and screen at 80% brightness. I will update this section after I get a chance to do regular work at lower brightness and do a DVD run down test.
Update: 3.5 - 4.0 seems typical if the wireless radio is on and I'm running at more than 60% brightness. I just came back from a trip and it looks like I can get 5 hours if I turn of the wireless radio and run brightness at 30% or less. This is not bright but it is still very usable if you are not in a bright environment. In fact, I can type and read at 10% brightness on an airplane since the environment is pretty dark.
Performance
I’m not one for benchmarks. The system is definitely responsive. The harddrive makes a noticeable difference in program loading. Even web pages load faster. I’m coming from a 1.6 gig Pentium-M with integrated graphics and a 4200rpm harddrive. This is much snappier. If anyone has a particular test to run let me know and I’ll update the review. I’ve got Sandra and will download free or trial benchmarking, but I don’t have any high performance games.
09/07/2004 - Added Benchmark at the request of Blazing Pascal: 3DMark2001 at default settings. Most applications exited including antivirus.
This benchmark gave me a chance to see what happens with temp and noise under load. I am assuming the system works hard during this test. Processor was at 1.7 the whole time. Temp as high as 63C (typically runs 43-47 with light tasks). Fan ran constantly and I was pleased to find that it is pretty quiet for high speed.
10/24/04 - Ran 3DMark05 at default settings. Better score with screen in 1024x768 mode. Overall was 746. Not so good. From reading others' posts, it looks like this benchmark is severely impacted by VRAM but does not correspond meaningful to real game graphic results... FWIW.
Overall
I like this system a lot. The screen is excellent with just right resolution for me. It is a snappy performer. Build quality is excellent with tight fit and finish. Appearance is great given the black and silver motif. I would prefer more gray and silver, but I’ve adapted well. Port arrangement is much better than most with the exception of the vent on the right side. I also wish there was a CD activity indicator light. All in all, my complaints are minor and I can’t think of a different machine I would rather have right now.
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ASUS M6BNe
This is a review of my 1 week old Asus M6BNe with some later updates over time. I purchased it from PowerNotebooks who brands it as their PowerPro C 3:17 Elite.
I am more of a business user than a gamer, so I am not a stickler for benchmarks and my review is written from a business users perspective.
Photos
I set up a photo gallery on my own site.
System Specs
15.4" WXGA (1280x800) TFT Active Matrix
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 w/64MB DDR
1.7GHz "Dothan" Intel® Pentium® Processor M 735 w/2,048k L2 On-die Cache
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
1,024MB (2 SODIMMS) Corsair PC2700 DDR333 Memory
Hitachi 60GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive - 7,200 RPM
Toshiba Combo 4X +/- DVD R/RW-CD R/RW
Built-in Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 b/g LAN card
Smart Li-ion Battery – 8 cell
Windows XP Professional - SP2
3 Year System Warranty - 1-Year No Bad Pixel Guarantee
You can see the full factory specs here.
Ordering
I bought this system from www.PowerNotebooks.com. Given my obsessiveness, I narrowed down to www.DiscountLaptops.com and PowerNotebooks since they both have a full return/no restocking fee policy. I opted for the “Elite” program that adds about $150 to the price. For that you get a 1 year no bad pixel guarantee, Corsair memory, Artic Silver applied, and a $50 carrying case. Total cost was $2450 before shipping.
Donald Stratton was my sales advisor, also the owner. Response, friendliness, service, etc., were all top notch. Do not hesitate to buy from these folks. They shipped 6 days from order, as promised. It was clear that they care, I have a folder on my drive that contains the latest Asus, Intel, etc. drivers. They installed the SP2 patch even though they don’t yet have WinXP SP2 distribution disks. Windows messenger was even disabled. But there was no “junk” like AOL trial or NAV trial icons.
General Appearance
The M6BNe is difficult to really get a sense of from pictures. It is close to black. Charcoal is probably a good description. Pictures I’ve seen look anywhere from middle gray to black. Pictures also tend to make it look like there is contrast between the plastic border that surrounds the keyboard/trackpad and the rest of the case (the former being darker). They are close to the same shade of black but the keyboard/trackpad border is non-reflective while the rest of the case is semi-glossy so I think the reflectivity varies the photo results.
Some have likened the Asus to IBM in its executive look. I think it has more of a space age look with the silver highlights and striking blue LEDs.
It is definitely a notebook that will be noticed and one that looks like it “means business!”It is also notable that the black border around the keyboard/trackpad is almost like rubber and it shows oil from your fingers quite readily. I find myself wiping it off frequently. I’ll probably stop after a bit and let it take on its own “character”… kind of like you would with leather furniture.
It feels thin and light enough, particularly for a 15.4” screen. It is generally spec’d at 6.3 lbs with optical drive. I weighed it at 6.83 lbs. This is with optical drive, two memory modules and wireless card. Specs indicate 13.9" w x 10.9" d x 0.86"-1.34" h. Actual measurement is 13.94” w x 10.75 d. Height ranges from 1.44” to 1.63” if you include the feet. If you ignore the feet, you get between 1.31” and 1.50”. I don’t know where Asus gets .86” !
I like the little touches like the rubber pad on the harddisk cover, presumably for shock absorption, and the business card sized plastic sleeve for an ID tag, both on the bottom of the system (see photo). The buttons and LEDs are particularly attractive. The power button is surrounded by a blue led ring that lights when power is on. There are five buttons to the right of the power button: email, browser, wireless on/off, trackpad on/off, and power scheme selector. Then three small LEDs to the right of the buttons: harddisk activity, numlock, capslock. These light in the same blue as the power button. There is no light for optical disk activity to my disappointment. The front left edge of the system has five LEDs, from left to right: Audio DJ on (orange), Power on (green), Battery charging (orange), unread email in inbox (blue), wireless radio on (blue). The audio DJ buttons are on the left side. I don’t anticipate using these and I considered them a negative when shopping, but they turn out to be unobtrusive.
Note (01/30/05): Thanks to Oresis82, we now have a way to disable the Audio DJ keys ===> Link.
The system came with the reseller’s badges. I removed these and attached “Built on ASUS” badges, one on the lid and a smaller one below the LCD. They are black and silver an complement the design well.
Port Arrangement
Port arrangement was one of the strong points of the Asus for me. I didn’t want plugs and wires sticking out all over the place, particularly from the front or right side since I use a mouse. It might help to look at the photos to augment this description.
Right: optical drive and a heat vent.
Front: no ports on the front.
Left: (from back to front) modem, LAN, 1394, infrared, flash card reader, PC Card (under the IR/PC Card/card reader), Audio DJ buttons, mike/audio in/headphone, Audio DJ power switch.
Rear: (from left to right as you look from the back) K-lock slot, power jack, parallel port, expansion port, monitor port, TV-out, 4 USB 2.0 ports.
Build quality
Quality is one of Asus’ strengths. This system exudes quality. The fit and finish is excellent. The buttons, LEDs, seams, etc., all are tight and sharp. The lid even clicks authoratively when closed. I’ve likened it to the feel of a German car vs. an American car. The case is solid except for one place where it flexes somewhat. That place is below your left wrist by the LEDs. If you press at the very edge, the surface gives a bit. I suspect there just isn’t quite the support above those LEDs. Still, not major. I don’t expect it would ever lead to weakening of the case or affect the LEDs. The lid also flexes some when you press on the outside surface and you can see the pressure of your fingers on the LCD image, but I’ve never seen it otherwise on any notebook I’ve looked at.
Display
The 15.4” WXGA display is bright and sharp. There are no bad pixels, no detectable variance in brightness, and surprisingly wide viewing angles from top and side. It is not a “glossy” screen. It is traditional non-glare. Much better for general text work, in my opinion. Even on AC, I’m running it at 80 or 90% brightness.
A word about resolution. I obsessed about XGA vs SXGA level of resolution. I have been running 1024x768 for some time on 15” screens. I was nervous about moving to SXGA+ and tried all sorts of methods for seeing what that would look like since I couldn’t find one to look at. I finally went with WXGA, which is 1280x800. Text is slightly smaller than on a 15” XGA screen. I find it perfect. There is more screen real estate and the text is workable. I don’t think I could handle any higher resolution.
Keyboard / Trackpad
There’s always a bit to get used to moving to a new keyboard. At first I didn’t like this one, I have working on it now for a week and I’m definitely liking the feel of the keyboard more than my previous system (Gateway 450SX4). There is a clear tactile, but not very audible, “click” when pressing the keys.
Flex: There is no flex when typing. You can get a slight amount of flex in the upper portion of the keyboard if you press hard on those keys, but it is not a practical concern unless you like to really pound on your keyboard. It is definitely less flex than most notebooks I’ve used.
Layout: You can look at the photos to see the layout. It is pretty standard for a notebook. Fn key is in the lower left, unfortunately, with Ctrl to the right of it. It has separate Home/End/PgUp/PgDn keys in a column, the way I like them. Ins/Del in the upper right. The top row (Esc/F keys/Ins/Del, etc) are narrow as are the arrow keys. There is control of brightness, volume, external video, wireless switch, and standby switch using a Fn+FKey combo. There is also a dedicated wireless on/off button as mentioned earlier.
Trackpad: About the best I’ve used. Very smooth and responsive. Some of the difference may be in Synaptic’s software. There are lots of configuration options like configurable corner taps. There is also a middle rocker button for scrolling, which I don’t typically use since edge scrolling works so well.
Heat & Fan
I’m very happy about this. Asus put in a very quiet three speed fan (quiet on the lowest speed, not unpleasant on the middle speed). Using MobileMeter, I’ve found that the CPU runs between about 43C and 47C for general word processing/internet use. I hadn’t heard the fan since I did initial installation when the processor worked harder. I ran a utility that displayed fan speed and discovered that the fan comes on at low speed (3000 rpm) at 45C. I never heard it! Now that I know, I can hear it if I put my ear to the vent, but not otherwise. I think the middle speed (3600 rpm) comes on at 60C. You can definitely hear the higher speed, but it is not at all irritating. It has a mellow “whir”. No “whine” at all, unlike my Gateway with its one speed irritating fan. I've yet to hear the highest speed (4000 rpm), which must come on at 70C or higher.
Overall, the system is incredibly cool. Heat on the surface is barely detectible. When the fan is running at high speed, it blows out of the right side of the computer. If you use a mouse, this is mildly distracting, but it rarely happens with normal use. If you have high processor demand applications and use a right handed mouse, this might be a consideration for you. On the bottom of the unit, there is notable heat, primarily where the harddrive and the memory is. You can feel it on your lap, but not uncomfortably. If you were gaming, it would probably get pretty hot underneath. The engineering is impressive given the lack of heat on the keyboard/wristrest. I don’t know if they use insulation, designed component placement well, or if the carbon fiber has something to do with it, but it’s a good thing!
Note (01/21/05): There have been some discussions on both Notebookforums.com and Notebookreview.com about problems with the cooling/fan operation of this model. Evidently some have had higher temp reports from Asus Probe and Mobilemeter and varying fan behavior that has been less than satisfactory. A later BIOS (0507, I think) seems to have addressed this some, but there are still complaints. If you order this unit, you may want to do what I did... order from a reseller that will take returns... or one that will check this aspect of operation for you before shipping.
Sound
Sound is typical for a notebook. Tinny. Given the four speakers, you can get decent volume out of it, but it is still tinny volume. I use external speakers pluged into the headphone jack that do just fine. No discernable noise.
Wireless access
Don’t have much to say here. Connected fine right off the bat. I get about the same signal strength around my house (Netgear FM114P 802.11b router and in my office (SMC 802.11b router) as I did with my Gateway. Steady signal. The Intel ProSet software is pretty friendly.
Battery
During installation I got 3 hours 45 minutes after completely discharging then charging. This was with a lot of disk access and rebooting and screen at 80% brightness. I will update this section after I get a chance to do regular work at lower brightness and do a DVD run down test.
Update: 3.5 - 4.0 seems typical if the wireless radio is on and I'm running at more than 60% brightness. I just came back from a trip and it looks like I can get 5 hours if I turn of the wireless radio and run brightness at 30% or less. This is not bright but it is still very usable if you are not in a bright environment. In fact, I can type and read at 10% brightness on an airplane since the environment is pretty dark.
Performance
I’m not one for benchmarks. The system is definitely responsive. The harddrive makes a noticeable difference in program loading. Even web pages load faster. I’m coming from a 1.6 gig Pentium-M with integrated graphics and a 4200rpm harddrive. This is much snappier. If anyone has a particular test to run let me know and I’ll update the review. I’ve got Sandra and will download free or trial benchmarking, but I don’t have any high performance games.
09/07/2004 - Added Benchmark at the request of Blazing Pascal: 3DMark2001 at default settings. Most applications exited including antivirus.
This benchmark gave me a chance to see what happens with temp and noise under load. I am assuming the system works hard during this test. Processor was at 1.7 the whole time. Temp as high as 63C (typically runs 43-47 with light tasks). Fan ran constantly and I was pleased to find that it is pretty quiet for high speed.
10/24/04 - Ran 3DMark05 at default settings. Better score with screen in 1024x768 mode. Overall was 746. Not so good. From reading others' posts, it looks like this benchmark is severely impacted by VRAM but does not correspond meaningful to real game graphic results... FWIW.
Overall
I like this system a lot. The screen is excellent with just right resolution for me. It is a snappy performer. Build quality is excellent with tight fit and finish. Appearance is great given the black and silver motif. I would prefer more gray and silver, but I’ve adapted well. Port arrangement is much better than most with the exception of the vent on the right side. I also wish there was a CD activity indicator light. All in all, my complaints are minor and I can’t think of a different machine I would rather have right now.
