Asus Z71V (Chembook 2371v)
In January, I originally purchased an Asus M6Ne (ChemBook 2060e) from Discount Laptops. Great laptop, powerful, fast with a nice design. A bit over priced though. The laptop exceeded all expectation in every area except one, the screen. Although it had great resolution and clarity, it lacked consistency in contrast from one area of the screen to another. Very limited vertical viewing angle. Photoshop was the ONLY program that this issue became a problem. In all other applications, the issue was barely noticeable. But because Photoshop is a primary application, the laptop was returned. After 2 months of continued researching the Asus z71v became the next choice.The main uses for the laptop would be audio, web and graphic design with intensive use in Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Dreamweaver, Abelton Live, Cubase, WaveLab, Reason. Very minimal game use. The final laptop requirements were screen, weight, price, reseller reliability and warranty/extended warranty.
Specification:
15.4" WSXGA (1680 x 1050)
5 USB 2.0 Ports
VGA Port
S-video Out
Internal 56k Modem
10/100/1000 BaseT Ethernet LAN
Internal IntelPRO 2915ABG Wireless Ethernet/Lan (802.11 a+b+g)
Built-in 4-in-1 card reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO)
One PCMCIA Type II slot
One 1394 Port (4 pin firewire)
SATA/PATA Support. Adapter included
(detailed specs)
Configured:
1.86 GHz Intel Pentium-M (750) Processor (Sonoma / 2 MB L2 Cache / 533 FSB)
nVidia GO GeForce 6600 w/128MB Video Memory
60GB 5400RPM HD
2 GB DDR2 (533 MHz) Dual Channel (1 GB x 2)
DVD±R/RW Dual Layer
XP Pro
2 year manufacturer warranty
+ additional 2 year extended warranty from Discount Laptops
Total Cost $2150.00
Reseller: www.discountlaptops.com
Ordering:
Easy and straightforward. The laptop was completely configurable. Ordered on a Monday and was received the laptop on the following Monday. Responsive customer service and tech support from both Discount Laptops and ChemUSA so far. In most cases same day return phone call or email.
Design & Build:
The laptop's design is fairly neutral. It is definitely pleasing to the eye, although not extremely sleek or fancy. It's rounded corners give a nice, smooth look. It's hard plastic chassis gives a feel of durability. Nice placement of ports! There is mild flex just below the arrow keys. Very mild. The LCD is fairly rigid. No creaks or funny noises during regular use, such as typing and opening or closing the lid. The AC adapter is small and light. Keeping the overall mobility of the machine high and the weight to roughly 6.5 lbs. For a 15.4” laptop that's is probably on the average to lighter side of the scale.
Keyboard & Touchpad:
The keyboard has a tight and responsive feel. The keys are not completely silent but not bothersome at the same time. What does take some getting used to is the location of the Fn and Ctrl keys but otherwise good spacing and location of the keys. The Synaptic touchpad is also responsive. Very nice feel. The mouse buttons are tight and louder than what I am used to, but not a big deal. Great customizable touchpad/button options. The stock Synaptics drivers v7.12.9 has an issue with the scroll function in Firefox but reverting to v7.10.9 resolved the issue. v7.12.7 has the same problem.
Heat & Fan:
The heat from the the keyboard is hardly noticeable during moderate use. With the HD and GPU located near the rear of the computer the palmiest area stays comfortable. The fan seems to be always on when on AC power, with drivers v76.44, but it is still very quiet at mild use. In a completely silent room the fan is not loud in the least bit. With some music on at even a low volume the fan cannot be heard. With a heavier load on the CPU the fan is louder but not bothersome.
Sound:
The speakers are a definite improvement from many other laptops. They are very listenable for laptop speakers especially at a low volume. At peak volume distortion increases. Although, if volume was the desired effect, using headphones would be a better option. Great sound when listening thru a descent pair of headphones or a nice pair of monitors from the built-in audio out, which also doubles as the SPDIF out. The sound quality coming out is good enough for sketching out ideas in a sequencer. No detectable noise from the laptop using headphones at most volumes!
Screen:
A native resolution 1680 x 1050 lends itself nicely to Photoshop work, programming and audio programs. An update from the stock video drivers, v71.14, is recommended. There is a slight improvement in screen clarity from the stock drivers to a more recent set of drivers. At the moment, v76.44 drivers are installed. For a non- Xbrite, non-Crystal View or similar screen technology the color, contrast and viewing angles are very good. The blacks are true. The whites are close but not quite true white and this may be a result of the "sparkly/grainy" screen.
There is, in my opinion, a slight "sparkly/grainy" screen effect. But how much it effects the user's experience is relative. For some people they could get used to it and for others they might be better off with Xbrite, Crystal View or similar screen technology. Personally, I did not see the sparkly screen initially. After looking for it, I could see it in certain circumstances. Solid white for example it can be seen. Although now, when using a browser or text editor I don't notice it anymore. When looking at photographs I cannot see it all. Colors are rendered well and the contrast throughout the screen is consistent. To me this is more important. I have gotten used to this effect, so the sparkly screen is not an issue. Using Photoshop on Apple's cinema displays everyday at work I am probably more critical of screens than the average user. In the horizontal viewing angle a shift can barely be seen within the last ¼" at edge of the right side, but it's very slight. The vertical viewing angle just barely passes. The screen is still very good, not fantastic, but then again it's not a Sony or Toshiba.
Battery Life:
Light use at full brightness approximately 3.5 hours. It seems undervolting to increase battery life is an option. Personally I have not tested this. Smilepak has a great thread for testing this out specifically for the z71v.
Performance:
After about 2 weeks of light use with graphics and audio programs, the z71v's processing power has been exceptional so far! Handles multiple programs effortlessly.
Video - Since gaming is not much of a interest, my opinion on the video card is not very critical. It works great for 2D apps with plenty of opportunity for growth if I do decided to use this laptop for 3D apps or games. As mentioned earlier, an update from the stock video drivers, v71.14, is recommended. There is a slight improvement in screen clarity from the stock drivers to a more recent set of drivers. The drivers in use at the moment, v.76.44, opens up the possibilities to overclocking. If overclocking is an interest, this thread has great references.
ALS - Nice feature. Works well. There has been only one situation where the auto-brightness adjustment was bothersome enough to turn it off. The dimming and brightening of the screen was slightly noticeable. In most cases it is smooth and unnoticeable.
DVD/CD - Nero Express comes pre-installed. It is a descent and easy to use program for burning DVD's and CD's. Approximately 20 minutes to burn 4.3 GB DVD-R @ 4x. For watching DVD's, ASUSDVD also comes pre-installed. It has nice options for adjusting screen brightness/color and sound. Not having watched to many DVD's on a laptop my opinion may not be so objective. But in all honesty, at full screen it is not as clear and crisp as a I thought a DVD would be on an LCD. It's not bad or even mediocre, I was just expecting a wow factor. Setting expectation aside, it is still an excellent portable movie theater.
Instant Launch Keys - The launch internet browser button seems to launch the default browser, Firefox, only when it feels like it. Most times an error window pops up. There was a hack to fix this problem in the Asus M6ne but I have not been successful at applying that hack to the Z71v. It would be a nice feature if these buttons were assignable. The wireless on/off button does work and is very handy.
Audio DJ buttons - Haven't really run into the situation when I would need a CD or DVD player when the computer was turned off. In a great effort to make these buttons more useful, BklynKid created a fantastic mod . It allows Winamp or a player of your choice to become the default player when the play button is pressed. Having quick key controls for Winamp is a great feature! The placement of the buttons on the laptop are good. They are in a location where they are not accidentally pressed.
Wireless - Works flawlessly so far. Connects quickly. Good range.
Card Reader – Having a camera that uses Memory Sticks is an added bonus. It definitely is a nice feature not to have to plug in the camera thru USB in order to transfer images. No problems
Benchmarks:
Not much of a benchmarker so if the number look off, any suggestions would be good. In the future I may get into overclocking and undervolting, but for now it performs beyond any current needs.
SiSoftware Sandra
CPU Arithmetic
Benchmark Results
Dhrystone ALU : 8013 MIPS
Whetstone FPU : 2582 MFLOPS
Whetstone iSSE2 : 3307 MFLOPS
Memory Bandwidth
RAM Bandwidth Int Buff'd iSSE2 : 3024 MB/s
RAM Bandwidth Float Buff'd iSSE2 : 3032 MB/s
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.
Int Buff'd iSSE2 (Integer STREAM) Results Breakdown
Assignment : 2971MB/s
Scaling : 2981MB/s
Addition : 3094MB/s
Triad : 3052MB/s
Data Item Size : 16 byte(s)
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement Used : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 71% (estimated)
Float Buff'd iSSE2 (Float STREAM) Results Breakdown
Assignment : 2987MB/s
Scaling : 2981MB/s
Addition : 3078MB/s
Triad : 3083MB/s
Data Item Size : 16 byte(s)
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement Used : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 71% (estimated)
CPU Multimedia
Integer x4 iSSE : 17762 it/s
Float x4 iSSE2 : 19551 it/s
AquaMark3
With the v76.44 drivers stock (250/400 clock)
GFX – 3642
CPU – 8840
FPS – 30.21
30209
3DMark05
With the v76.44 drivers stock (250/400 clock)
1787
Other:
Boot Time : approx. 30 sec.
Shutdown Time : approx. 6 sec.
Encoding WAV to MP3
Using LAME v.3.93.1
699 MB encoded at 320 kbps, stereo ( -b 320 -m s )
Time to complete encoding : 3' 17”
Issues:
- Kerio Personal Firewall v2.1.4 has the same problem as the Asus M6ne. This program keeps the computer from waking up properly when resuming from standby. Uninstalling Kerio and using a different firewall fixes the problem.
- The launch internet browser button seems to launch the default browser, Firefox, only when it feels like it.
- The screen's color, contrast and viewing angles are very good for a non-“extra bright” screen
- It's ability for overclocking and undervolting
- Price
- Warranty & extended warranty
- A 6-pin firewire would be equal if not more useful than the 4-pin
- DVI-out would be great
- Compared to some of Asus's other designs, aesthetically this one falls a tad short
- The standby lights would be less bothersome if they did not flash
An extremely well rounded machine. The CPU will probably perform just as well as any other laptop with the same specs. The video card's stock settings is adequate for most users and moderate gamers. Avid gamers at least have the option to overclock for maximum performance. Designers, programmers and the everyday computer tweaker looking for something smaller than 17” screen would would be happy with this laptop. Regarding the “sparkly/grainy” effect, it's more of a subjective thing. To some folks it will not be a problem, to others it will. The buyer ends up saving a couple hundred dollars on a laptop with a non-carbon fiber case, non- “extra bright” screen technology, average design and non-name brand. The z71v does not excel in just one aspect but rather performs up to par and beyond in most areas, especially considering the price point.
