ASUS Z71V Review:
Reseller: ISTNC was/is great to work with. Any questions I had, Rick was very happy to answer. There were some problems getting the order to go through, however it was all my banks fault (so ISTNC is in the clear). There was one problem in the computer they configured for me. They sent me (2) 512mb sticks or ram instead of the (1) 1GB stick of ram that I ordered (and also sent me the abg wireless instead of the bg that I ordered, but that doesn’t annoy me as much
). However, I do not foresee any problems getting this issue resolved.
Screen: This thin has a killer resolution (which I nice IMO). There is no glare and the ALS (Ambient Light Sensor) is awesome. The screen “sparkle” was more evident then I would of hoped… but if you’re a gamer, you wont notice it while fragging. There is a dark spot on the bottom right, but there are no dead pixels.
Keyboard: It’s a pretty solid board. I can’t say there isn’t any flex whatsoever… because there is some slight flex on the top right. Unnoticeable in everyday use for me. The touch pad is high quality (and matches nicely). I can’t get the scroll bar to work in Fire Fox, but I’m sure that’s an easy fix. The buttons are louder then I had hoped, but not extremely loud. However, they are loud enough to make me not what them to use them.
The layout is pretty nice. The only grip being the function key. Im sure it will no longer be an issue once I get use to it.
Performance:
I haven’t had time to buy a game in the store, but HL2 is coming on wed., so I’ll be posting those results when it gets here. 3Dmark05: 1806. Pentium M’s rock… This thing is quick as hell and I’m loving it. I’ll post some CPU benchmarks when I get to it.
The two fans on the bottom are always on. They are pretty quiet and I don’t even really notice them anymore. Sometimes they spin higher and lower randomly, but it doesn’t bug me.
Something everyone should know:
I don’t know if anyone else has used the 4-in-1 card reader, but I thought I’d be a cool feature. I took some pictures and they were put on a Memory Stick Pro. I put it in the reader and everything transferred just fine. When I went to remove it, it wouldn’t come out! There wasn’t any spring loaded feature where you push it and it pops out enough for your to grab it. I had to take some PLYERS to get it out. I don’t know if it is supposed to have a spring in it, but mine doesn’t. If yours is anything like mine, DO NO USE IT.
Overall:
I’m happy with this purchase. It was either this or the i9300 (with its 6800go), but the 17” screen was just way to big for me. This size is perfect. Not heavy at all and no problems carrying around. What a great notebook…
Pros: Performance, solid feel, resolution, 5 USB ports
Cons: Sparkle is more evident then I’d hoped and a dark corner, and 4in1 card reader.
Pictures to come!
Reseller: ISTNC was/is great to work with. Any questions I had, Rick was very happy to answer. There were some problems getting the order to go through, however it was all my banks fault (so ISTNC is in the clear). There was one problem in the computer they configured for me. They sent me (2) 512mb sticks or ram instead of the (1) 1GB stick of ram that I ordered (and also sent me the abg wireless instead of the bg that I ordered, but that doesn’t annoy me as much
). However, I do not foresee any problems getting this issue resolved.Screen: This thin has a killer resolution (which I nice IMO). There is no glare and the ALS (Ambient Light Sensor) is awesome. The screen “sparkle” was more evident then I would of hoped… but if you’re a gamer, you wont notice it while fragging. There is a dark spot on the bottom right, but there are no dead pixels.
Keyboard: It’s a pretty solid board. I can’t say there isn’t any flex whatsoever… because there is some slight flex on the top right. Unnoticeable in everyday use for me. The touch pad is high quality (and matches nicely). I can’t get the scroll bar to work in Fire Fox, but I’m sure that’s an easy fix. The buttons are louder then I had hoped, but not extremely loud. However, they are loud enough to make me not what them to use them.
The layout is pretty nice. The only grip being the function key. Im sure it will no longer be an issue once I get use to it.
Performance:
I haven’t had time to buy a game in the store, but HL2 is coming on wed., so I’ll be posting those results when it gets here. 3Dmark05: 1806. Pentium M’s rock… This thing is quick as hell and I’m loving it. I’ll post some CPU benchmarks when I get to it.
The two fans on the bottom are always on. They are pretty quiet and I don’t even really notice them anymore. Sometimes they spin higher and lower randomly, but it doesn’t bug me.
Something everyone should know:
I don’t know if anyone else has used the 4-in-1 card reader, but I thought I’d be a cool feature. I took some pictures and they were put on a Memory Stick Pro. I put it in the reader and everything transferred just fine. When I went to remove it, it wouldn’t come out! There wasn’t any spring loaded feature where you push it and it pops out enough for your to grab it. I had to take some PLYERS to get it out. I don’t know if it is supposed to have a spring in it, but mine doesn’t. If yours is anything like mine, DO NO USE IT.
Overall:
I’m happy with this purchase. It was either this or the i9300 (with its 6800go), but the 17” screen was just way to big for me. This size is perfect. Not heavy at all and no problems carrying around. What a great notebook…
Pros: Performance, solid feel, resolution, 5 USB ports
Cons: Sparkle is more evident then I’d hoped and a dark corner, and 4in1 card reader.
Pictures to come!
Regarding scrolling in Firefox, this was posted on my review thread. I switched to the 7.10.14, and it works fine.
