A Consumer's Review of the N73Jq-A2

Specifications (with brand names of a few components)

Intel® i7 Quad Core™ Processor CPU (740qm)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
Mobile Intel® HM55 Express Chipset
6GB DDR3 1333 MHz SDRAM, 3 x SODIMM sockets for expansion up to 12GB SDRAM
17.3" 16:9 HD+ (1600x900) LED backlit display with edge-to-edge screen
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 425M with 1GB DDR3 VRAM
2.5" 9.5mm SATA (Seagate) Hard Drive
500GB 7200rpm (Dual HDD support)
LG CT21N Blu-Ray Super Multi Combo
Card Reader 4 in 1 SD,MMC,MS,MS-Pro card reader
Azureware Video Camera 2.0 Mega Pixel web camera, with built-in lens cover
Atheros AR9285 802.11 b/g/n wireless adapter
Bluetooth™ V2.1+EDR
10/100/1000 Base T ethernet

Interface
1 x E-SATA (USB 2.0 combo)
2 x USB 2.0 ports
1x USB 3.0 (USB 2.0 compatabile)
1 x Microphone-in jack
1 x Headphone-out jack (S/PDIF)
1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin for external monitor
1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert
1 x HDMI

Bang & Olufsen ICEpower® Speakers
Built-in microphone

Battery Pack & Life 6 cells: 4400 mAh 47 Whrs

AC Adapter Output: 19 V DC, 6.32 A, 120 W
Input:100-240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal


When discussing 17" laptops, reviewers are quick to toss in the term "desk top replacement." While the Asus N73Jq-A2 is as powerful as many of today's new desktops, it is a pleasure to carry around and set-up in a cafe, library, the patio, or most any room of the house. Battery life is not impressive at roughly two hours, but the well balanced design, solid build, versatile connectivity, trouble-free touch pad, excellent display, and impressive sound would make me miss it if I had to use something smaller.

When you think of a library, you think "quiet," right? This is one of the quietest notebooks I've used. Maybe I haven't put enough of a load to kick the fan into high gear, but I've been using this solid for a couple of days, with room temps up to 82 degrees F. I won't be self-conscious in the quiet-study room at our library. (The keyboard and touchpad buttons are quieter than average, by the way.)

My model has a 1600 x 900 dpi display, which hits my visual sweet spot in the 17.3" format. The resolution is good for touching up photos, watching videos, playing games, and working with MS Office. It is also great for watching DVD's with the Asus/Cyberlink PowerDVD 9. (I will try a Blu-Ray soon--I just have to get to the video store to rent one. The Asus version does seem to have Blu-Ray viewing enabled.)

Right out of the box, with the default nVidia and Asus settings, the screen is vivid, sharp, and accurate with colors. When I'm sitting in a dim room with a little bit of sunlight off in one corner, I have to turn the brightness down a click or two.

The color in my photos is spot on. To check movie color, I used a DVD of FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL to watch on the screen and on my Samsung HDTV through HDMI. The colors are very close. I then popped the same DVD into a DVD player and the colors looked the same as from the N73Jq's built in LG Blu-Ray player. Very impressive.

I have a ton of old comic books scanned at high-rez, and on this screen, they look every bit as rich and sharp as on paper.

Though the screen is glossy and can be quite reflective when the desktop is set to black, it handles outside and office settings quite well. I think it reflects less, and looks smoother, than the "naked" glossy LCD's (which sometimes reveal a slight "grapefruit" effect when reflecting). I also think the edge-to-edge feature makes this display easier to clean.

From side to side, the viewing angles are surprising. This is like a good LCD HDTV when it comes to the viewing angles; yes, you lose a little of the contrast, but three friends can easily sit on a wide sofa and enjoy the screen at the same time. Up and down, yes, there is a dead-on sweet spot, but I'd say I can get to almost a 25 degree angle before text becomes unreadable. Again, impressive.

I set the desktop theme to "High Contrast Black" and sat in a dark room. I didn't see any bleed-through. When I sat directly in front of the display, it was inky black.

One aspect that makes this a keeper is the build quality. The lid is made of what seems to be aluminum, but I'm not willing to scratch it yet to find out positively. Whatever the material, it feels strong when pressed down, and it does not allow the display to flex with moderate pressure. Part of the strength of the lid and display here comes from the edge to edge screen, a protective layer of an ultra-clear Plexiglas-like material.

The two hinges are one inch wide. The lid opens smoothly, but it is tight enough to feel secure at whatever angle you need. The palm rest is rigid, and has a smooth but slightly brushed finish that looks good and feels comfortable after plenty of typing.

The keyboard, after I straightened out a ribbon cable underneath, is moderately flexible, but easy to get used to quickly if you are coming from something very rigid. Lifting up the keyboard allowed me to get a peek inside and have access to one of the SODIMM's and the screws that hold on the bottom access plate. The tight workmanship of the exterior is matched by what I could see inside.

There are many good pics available online already, so you can decide if you like the design. I think the lines, especially the profile with the lid open, are elegant and classy. The trim, most notably the speaker grill, is more subdued than on the previous N71J.

I particularly like the layout of the ports. Having two USB's and the Ethernet jack in the back is great.

Battery life is only about two hours.

Surface temperatures are room temperatue even after hours of use plugged in. (My ambient temp right now is about 75 deg F.) This is definitely no warmer at any point than the Core i5 Acer I mentioned a moment ago, and it is cooler than the N71Jq, especially at the exhaust vent. Plugged in and doing everything, I haven't seen "Core Temp" go over 64 deg C.

For now I'm satisfied with the Atheros wireless card. It works very well in my house with my S-Link DIR-655 router, effortlessly giving my DSL max speeds all around our single story house and out on the patio. (I'll add a note here tomorrow about how it works "out in the wild.") Data transfers with the default settings and in the same room as the router are about 6 MB per second (a 670 MB folder took two minutes to transfer). I think I can boost these speeds a little later.
[Edit 10/18/10---My laptop's wireless connection in three different spots at a public library is the same as it was on four other laptops I tested there. Note that I did get up to 8 MB per second on a file transfer at home by setting my router to "n" only.]
The HDMI out to my HDTV is a pleasure to use. Apparently the nVidia software chose the correct resolution of 1080p, because all I had to do was plug in the cable. I have some old TV series on my desktop, and they stream beautifully through the N73Jq to look sharp and smooth on the big screen. When the semester is over, we'll try Netflix.

For a notebook, sound is fantastic. Think of a good, small-screen stereo TV, say a Sony. These speakers don't go as loud, but they are as rich and clear. Easily fills our living room. I imagine this would be fine in a smaller classroom or a conference room.

The Elan touchpad is smooth and precise, though I wish I could speed up the pointer a little more. I'm used to a smaller touchpad, so I have to get used to covering more ground.

The built-in mic is just average for a notebook. The N71JQ-X1's mic did work better. This one is ok in a pinch for a Skype call, but it does have a bit of that synthesized, digitized sound when you play back your recorded voice. Without "noise reduction" checked in the RealTek properties box, there is a very annoying electronic whine in the background.

The Webcam is surprisingly sharp and bright, and the colors are good, but it does lag about a half second. You can blink and then see yourself blinking. The included LifeFrame 3 utility does have quite a few options, but getting rid of that lag is not one of them. It does perform better in a brightly lit room.

Sorry, gamers, but, um, the only game I've tried so far is Pinball from Windows XP, so I can't report on that. I can say that streaming video from cspan.org, and other sources is fantastic.

I know this review is weak on the performance scores, but I was trying to get this out fast (after having it only 48 hours), and give a consumer's perspective. Many more knowledgeable members will be putting up more benchmarks (and Ken Lee from GenTech already has), and if anybody wants me to run a test that I can run, I'll be happy to do so--just tell me what to use.

The fact is, I haven't done anything with this to make it break a sweat. I know that Halo 1 and Far Cry 1 will be smooth as silk (they're, what, five years old?) I'll treat myself eventually to Bad Company 2, but I'll be running some video conversion and heavier photo processing apps soon. I'll be sure to post my results.

When flying coach (long enough to actually need a notebook) or expecting other cramped spaces and a need for better battery life, I'll carry my wife's 15.6" Acer TimelineX 5820T, which she uses for grad school. Otherwise, hotspot hopping around town, or staying in motels or with friends, I'm happy to to lean back and enjoy the great visuals, sound, and performance of my N73Jq-A2.

(By the way, I'm using a CaseLogic neoprene pouch which fits just right, and a Targus XL backpack. The Swiss Gear 17" computer case we already had doesn't fit.)

Highlights of Good and Bad:

Good: Display, build, performance, layout of ports, cool temps, great sound, style

Bad: Short battery life [Edited 10/18/20 after using Power4Gear](2.00 - 2.5 hours); built-in mic quality just average

[EDIT--I've removed all but the first sentence of the paragraph on battery life. Even with the Power4Gear settings at their most aggressive for power saving, I can't get more than two hours. That's it, even with the new Intel Advanced-n 6200 wireless adapter. ASUS, please get some spare batteries in stock!]