hey everyone
this is an ongoing thing and i decided to create a new topic.
i know a lot of people are in the process of choosing a laptop, and many have as a choice the laptop mentioned above.
heres a "feedback" type review where anyone can ask a question (benchmark, etc) and i will try to answer it.
to kick things off, i'll start with a brief review.
<30+ PICS COMING SOON, thats if people tell me how to add pics LOL>
Specs:
1.7 Dothan
1 Gig pc333 (2x512) Kingston
60 Gig 5k4 HD
9700 64MB video
15.4' Widescreen
Total price (canadian, includes tax): $2400
www.canadasys.com
Aethetics:
This thing is sexy. no other way to say it. low gloss finish with silver streaks. beautiful. i was worried because ppl said the armrest area was a fingerprint magnet...ive found thats its the exact opposite...it leaves nothing! no smudges, nothing.
the blue power button is so classy, and the 5 leds near the armrest make it look very space age, yet chic.
Thermal Properties:
One of the best things about this notebook. ive played Farcry so far on pretty high settings for a bit (using external mouse, of course) and i must say that this thing does NOT get hot. im a sissy, and i hate excessive heats, so id bitch if there was, believe me. when u put it on ur lap, u get warm fuzzy feelings cuz its so comfortable. the armrest gets up to around 25 or 26 degrees(celsius, as with any other temps in this review) and thats with heavy gaming/video etc.
depending on use, warm or cool air gushes out of the right side. i put my mouse pretty far away, and i dont feel anything.
Sound:
The four speakers (of which i can only find 2) are quite good, considering its a laptop. of course, they're piss-poor compared to my JBL's on my desktop.
i usually (95%) use headphones, which are on the left side(i cant tell u how good this is.. some laptops have them on the right side, and it must be a pain.)
Screen:
i couldnt have asked for a better screen. widescreen has always been a prerequisite for me, and this is SWEET. i mean the viewing angles are awesome, there are no dead pixels whatsoever, its bright...i mean there isnt much more u could ask for really.
Battery Life:
The battery life is not what i expected. on the Asus website it says 4.5-5.5. well, the 5.5 must be with the screen and harddrive turned off lol. i get 4.5 solid hours on battery saving mode, and about 3.5 on the high performance mode.
Thats not to say that im not happy. with a p4 3.0 i would get half those numbers id think.
Power4Gear is awesome, and so is Speedstep. I also use Dachsunds Hare Accelerator and Battery Doubler (both programs are a MUST if u have a laptop. go check them out, i wont say anymore)
Performance:
The only thing i really care about. well, i was scared that 64 megs would be sucky, but i was wrong.
currently im playing Farcry with high settings across the board (with the exception of Shadows, set to medium) and even in the outdoor landscapes, its still silky at most times.
i think Asus was playing very safely and had the Radeon clocked relatively low. @391.5/209.25 i achieved 2484 on 3dMark03.
Using the latest omega drivers, as well as the Ati Tool, i pushed it to the edge of oblivion, brought it down a notch, and procured a permanent OC of 478/266. I thought that it overclocked incredibly well. I used ATI tool, keep in mind, which detects artifacts that humans cant see. then i set them on Powerstrip.
When all was done, i ran 3dMark03 again, and, finishing artifact-free (phew) it gave a score of 2985.
Even though its sub-3k, im not worried. if it can run Farcry smoothly (which it does at pretty high settings, believe me) then i know i wont have much trouble with Half Life 2. O, and about D3, i didnt bother, cuz it was such a suck-ass piss poor game. give me Final Doom ANY DAY lol. Im positive it would do well in it as well.
Start up takes about 45 seconds, and shutdown is around 20, so its relatively fast. Ive already littered it with trash, so these numbers could be better.
3dMark01 wouldnt work cuz it asked for DX8.1, even tho i have DX9.0C installed (wtf?), so i didnt bother looking too far into it.
If u have any benchmarks that u need me to do, post names here and i'll try.
Any things else as well (games, etc) and i'll also try to acquire those.
Wireless:
What can i say? i bought a D-Link wireless router today, and within 3 minutes i was online. silky smooth.
Final impressions:
If you're going to university (like i am), then this laptop is for you. if you need a portable laptop (sub 1.4 inches) this is for you. if you need gaming power, this is for you. If you need smooth wireless connectivity, this is for you.
I'd also like to thank www.canadasys.com (Thomas, in particular) for his helpful suggestions and his overall attitude. this laptop, i think, is really cheap for what you recieve (2400 canadian is approximately 1800 usd).
Thats about it for now.
corrections? post.
benchmarks? post.
feedback? post.
u get the picture?
cheers.
Mythic
this is an ongoing thing and i decided to create a new topic.
i know a lot of people are in the process of choosing a laptop, and many have as a choice the laptop mentioned above.
heres a "feedback" type review where anyone can ask a question (benchmark, etc) and i will try to answer it.
to kick things off, i'll start with a brief review.
<30+ PICS COMING SOON, thats if people tell me how to add pics LOL>
Specs:
1.7 Dothan
1 Gig pc333 (2x512) Kingston
60 Gig 5k4 HD
9700 64MB video
15.4' Widescreen
Total price (canadian, includes tax): $2400
www.canadasys.com
Aethetics:
This thing is sexy. no other way to say it. low gloss finish with silver streaks. beautiful. i was worried because ppl said the armrest area was a fingerprint magnet...ive found thats its the exact opposite...it leaves nothing! no smudges, nothing.
the blue power button is so classy, and the 5 leds near the armrest make it look very space age, yet chic.
Thermal Properties:
One of the best things about this notebook. ive played Farcry so far on pretty high settings for a bit (using external mouse, of course) and i must say that this thing does NOT get hot. im a sissy, and i hate excessive heats, so id bitch if there was, believe me. when u put it on ur lap, u get warm fuzzy feelings cuz its so comfortable. the armrest gets up to around 25 or 26 degrees(celsius, as with any other temps in this review) and thats with heavy gaming/video etc.
depending on use, warm or cool air gushes out of the right side. i put my mouse pretty far away, and i dont feel anything.
Sound:
The four speakers (of which i can only find 2) are quite good, considering its a laptop. of course, they're piss-poor compared to my JBL's on my desktop.
i usually (95%) use headphones, which are on the left side(i cant tell u how good this is.. some laptops have them on the right side, and it must be a pain.)
Screen:
i couldnt have asked for a better screen. widescreen has always been a prerequisite for me, and this is SWEET. i mean the viewing angles are awesome, there are no dead pixels whatsoever, its bright...i mean there isnt much more u could ask for really.
Battery Life:
The battery life is not what i expected. on the Asus website it says 4.5-5.5. well, the 5.5 must be with the screen and harddrive turned off lol. i get 4.5 solid hours on battery saving mode, and about 3.5 on the high performance mode.
Thats not to say that im not happy. with a p4 3.0 i would get half those numbers id think.
Power4Gear is awesome, and so is Speedstep. I also use Dachsunds Hare Accelerator and Battery Doubler (both programs are a MUST if u have a laptop. go check them out, i wont say anymore)
Performance:
The only thing i really care about. well, i was scared that 64 megs would be sucky, but i was wrong.
currently im playing Farcry with high settings across the board (with the exception of Shadows, set to medium) and even in the outdoor landscapes, its still silky at most times.
i think Asus was playing very safely and had the Radeon clocked relatively low. @391.5/209.25 i achieved 2484 on 3dMark03.
Using the latest omega drivers, as well as the Ati Tool, i pushed it to the edge of oblivion, brought it down a notch, and procured a permanent OC of 478/266. I thought that it overclocked incredibly well. I used ATI tool, keep in mind, which detects artifacts that humans cant see. then i set them on Powerstrip.
When all was done, i ran 3dMark03 again, and, finishing artifact-free (phew) it gave a score of 2985.
Even though its sub-3k, im not worried. if it can run Farcry smoothly (which it does at pretty high settings, believe me) then i know i wont have much trouble with Half Life 2. O, and about D3, i didnt bother, cuz it was such a suck-ass piss poor game. give me Final Doom ANY DAY lol. Im positive it would do well in it as well.
Start up takes about 45 seconds, and shutdown is around 20, so its relatively fast. Ive already littered it with trash, so these numbers could be better.
3dMark01 wouldnt work cuz it asked for DX8.1, even tho i have DX9.0C installed (wtf?), so i didnt bother looking too far into it.
If u have any benchmarks that u need me to do, post names here and i'll try.
Any things else as well (games, etc) and i'll also try to acquire those.
Wireless:
What can i say? i bought a D-Link wireless router today, and within 3 minutes i was online. silky smooth.
Final impressions:
If you're going to university (like i am), then this laptop is for you. if you need a portable laptop (sub 1.4 inches) this is for you. if you need gaming power, this is for you. If you need smooth wireless connectivity, this is for you.
I'd also like to thank www.canadasys.com (Thomas, in particular) for his helpful suggestions and his overall attitude. this laptop, i think, is really cheap for what you recieve (2400 canadian is approximately 1800 usd).
Thats about it for now.
corrections? post.
benchmarks? post.
feedback? post.
u get the picture?
cheers.
Mythic
I mounted my small badge just above the power button. 
