Review It’s hard to see who Asus’s supercar laptop tie-ups are aimed at. If you have the money to buy a Ferrari, a Porsche or, in this case, a Lamborghini, will you really be going for a £1,700 portable to remind you what’s in the garage. If you drive a lowered Golf with blue neons underneath, wouldn’t you want a VW laptop? We guess the Asus VX5 is all about aspiration.
Asus’ Lamborghini VX5: more bling than luxury?
A big, Desktop-replacement laptop should be able to handle anything you would throw at its not-so-portable predecessor but, above all, it should remind you of a sports car you’re never likely to afford. Acer dreamt up the idea of supercar tie-ins with its Ferrari laptop and Asus has taken up the challenge with the VX5, which is tied in with another renowned Italian marque, Lamborghini – the Lamborghini Reventon, in particular.
The VX5 comes in black or white and declares its heritage with a Lambo bull badge in the middle of the lid and shallow louvres behind. Open it up and there are a number of other trim tweaks, such as leather covers to the wrist rests in front of the keyboard and metal trim around the edges. There’s a smooth ceramic touchpad and a conspicuous button to the left of the keys, marked ‘speed’. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Think stylish laptops, and brands such as Apple, Sony and, if you’ve a particularly bizarre sense of style, Toshiba’s Qosmio range spring to mind. Having pioneered the netbook revolution, Asus is more likely to conjure up images of small, portable and good value laptops. However, the Taiwanese giant has always had a penchant for eye-catching laptops, such as its Lamborghini range and the slightly more peculiar Bamboo model.
Asus’ UX50V: all that glitters…
The UX50V is its latest attempt at creating a laptop for those who like to stand out from the crowd. It features a glossy 15.6in display with a 1366 x 768 resolution, delivering a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. It is powered by a 1.4GHz SU3500 – an ultra-low voltage, single-core CPU from Intel’s Core 2 Solo range. A more powerful Core 2 Duo SU9300 version of the UX50V with a 500GB hard drive appears on the UK web site, yet Asus tells us this isn’t actually available in the UK, so we’re stuck with the Core 2 Solo model.
According to Asus, the UX50V’s design is inspired by that of a butterfly with the view that it, “resembles the curvature of the wings of a butterfly once opened”. Jokes aside, we’re assuming Asus isn’t serious about this butterfly thing, as the company has done well in creating a slimline chassis, measuring 29mm at its thinnest point. But at 2.6kg, it’s a long way from the realm of ultraportables, or butterflies for that matter. Read the rest of this entry »
Review In recent years, Asus has become a key player in the netbook revolution. Yet with the F70SL, the company is looking to appeal to a totally different audience. Touted as the world’s first notebook with a 17.3in display, this bulky, 4kg Desktop replacement, offers a 16:9 aspect ratio screen at a resolution of 1600 x 900.
Asus’ F70SL: bulky, but easy on the eye
With a robust chassis, the F70SL feels like a notebook that could withstand a knock or two, and there’s very little creaking to be heard when giving it a rough ride. The lid is decorated with an attractive horizontal line pattern – a theme that’s continued on the inside of the notebook.
Measuring up at 426 x 302 x 44mm the F70SL is quite a size, so it’s good to see Asus has found room for four USB2 ports – two at the rear, two on the right side – along with Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI, a memory card reader and an ExpressCard 54 slot. You also get a switch to turn Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off, along with a 1.3Mp Camera embedded into the screen’s bezel. Read the rest of this entry »
