Great Ultra-Portable.
Written: Sep 23 '04
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Quality of Tech Support: |
 |
|
|
Pros: 3.4 lbs, 802.11b, made of carbon fiber, 3 usb 2.0 ports. hahah basically the specs
Cons: Not very powerful. RAM is new and costly. Keyboard tad akward
The Bottom Line: Great for travelers, students, and for everyday activities. If you're an avid gamer, or serious programmer, you should look elsewhere/
|
|
|
| ericwcha's Full Review: ASUS M5N Combo PC Notebook |
Some quick background about this notebook; due to the ability to be upgraded (better processor, better ram, better harddrive, etc) many other companies will take this model as their base model, customize it and then sell it under a different name.
The specs on my laptop are as follows:
1.5 Pentium M Processor
256 RAM
40 GB Harddrive
802.11b/g WAN -got "g" installed for free
Size, Screen, functionality
Well, I am presuming the main reason someone would want to get this laptop is because of its size. It is very difficult to find a lighter laptop with an internal cd-rom/dvd drive with a weight and price lower then 3.4 lbs or $1300 respectively. Going from a Compaq Presario I did notice the drastic reduction in weight. The laptop is supposedly constructed of carbon fiber (this allows the laptop to be %120 stronger than the standard material and much lighter) although there really isn’t a way to tell unless one scratches off the paint to look underneath (which I did not attempt.)
So given that the laptop is so small, what about the keyboard? Is it too small where one’s hands are completely cramped when typing? The answer to this is… sorta but not really. The arrow keys are integrated into the main keyboard and the up arrow key is jammed between the question mark and shift. The enter key is also a tad bit smaller than usual. The M5N’s keyboard does register when pressed on at a reasonable force (unlike some other ultra-portable laptops.) Also the volume, end, home, keys are "function keys" (require you to press the func key.) Basically, the keyboard will take a little getting use to, but it still functions quite well.
The next question one must be wondering is: the screen is a little over 12”, will I be squinting at the screen? The answer to this is no; I made the transition from 15” to 12” quite easily and this certainly had no big problems for me.
I do not suggest playing graphic intensive games with this laptop, (ie Doom3, I don’t even think its possible to play Doom3 on this laptop). This little guy simply was not made for gaming. In my humble opinion it is designed for people “on the go.”
Speed
This is a very hard thing to judge in my opinion. The RAM, Harddrive speed, and processor speed must all be weighed in. Personally, the speed of this laptop is reasonable but a tad bit slow for my standards. This being that I only have 256k of ram in it. (For those of you wondering what RAM is or does, its an acronym for random access memory, and basically allows your computer to perform multiple functions at once more quickly. More RAM = More programs can run at once much faster) A BIG ISSUE ABOUT RAM. This computer uses a new type of technology where one can only place one RAM chip in at once (usually laptops allow a user to use two) and most of the new RAM chips are sold out to this date 9.23.2004.
So basically, I do not have any big complaints here. I use the computer mainly for word processing and some programming in C++ and Matlab. Definitely not that fast for programming, but it still works nevertheless. Like I said before, if one wishes to do some heavy duty programming, get yourself a more powerful laptop or desktop.
Batteries and other Cool Stuff
I am only using the battery that comes with the laptop. Supposedly it can run at 2.5 hours, whereas it’s more like 2 hours. The laptop’s display and speed can be changed to maximize battery life.
Other cool things that come with this laptop are: 3 usb 2.0 ports, and different card readers (mmc, sd, etc). The touch pad is at the same level as the rest of the laptop. This means that there are no lines on the touch pad, and thus making it look very sharp. This laptop is very similar to the S5N but the cd/dvd drive is incorporated into the laptop for the M5N. Personally, I find this much more convenient than having an external cd/dvd drive.
Other Thoughts
One of the things I liked the most about this laptop is that it seems like I can upgrade it (processor and all) in the future. So instead of changing my laptop every 2 years, I can try to at least change the processor once, and thus be able to save a bit of money. I do not know how feasible this is, but it’s my plan.
The laptop comes with a free laptop bag which is pretty sleek too. In case you do decide to buy this laptop, make sure you are wary when putting the laptop into this bag because the top of the laptop can get scratches from the zipper from the bag.
Supposedly from other people, their M5Ns have dead pixels when they receive it. All I have to say to this is, dead pixels are not that uncommon with any lcd monitor nowadays (luckily I did not get any.)
There are websites that show how to install Linux onto this thing which is pretty nifty. I haven't done so, so I can't quite comment on that. If you don't know what Linux is, then don't worry about it ;)
Finally, I want to reiterate that this laptop is a nice powerful laptop for any traveler or anyone that simply wants to use their computer at a coffee shop, in lecture, or other mobile activities. I do not recommend this laptop for gaming, programming, or heavy graphics design or related activities. Quick Plug: I bought my laptop from www.4linkcomm.com. They're a great company and have GREAT customer service.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1300
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 12 inches
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
ericwcha
|
|
Reviews written: 18
Trusted by: 1 member
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.