Asus U46SV Review

My first Asus this one, so first off let's kick off with some specs.

Intel Cores i5-2410M processor at 2.3GHz
4GB memory
14.1" screen
500GB 5400rpm hard drive
1GB Nvidia GT540M graphics
Wndows 64-bit
Bluetooth was included in mine

Like most others looking at buying this laptop, I wanted something mobile, but still with some 'umpf'. Several appealed to me: the Dell 15z, the Acer S3 (whenever it was going to come out) and others.
I went for the U46SV because it mostly met my minimum specifications for a mobile laptop.

First thing I noticed is that it didn't come with a "Getting Started" guide, just a small manual and a warranty. Not that I really needed it, but it would have been nice.

The laptop is made, apart from the base, almost entirely of aluminium, the keyboard has a brushed look whilst the rest has a wavey line pattern on it. The keyboard itself doesn't have much travel, but has a satisfying noise and is laid out well, apart from the fact that I often press the up arrow when I mean to press shift as the shift key is smaller than normal.

Once booted, you realised how much software Asus has put on here; Tons. I wouldn't mind so much, it's just it is all in the start-up sequence, which is really annoying. Also several of the Asus programmes didn't actually work such as the webcam app which told me I had to re-download it. Whilst on the subject of the webcam, it is very low quality, VGA. With my old 2009 Acer having 720p, and most new laptops being at least that now, I felt this was definitely not a very good job on Asus' behalf.

The laptop has a whopping 8 cell battery which supposedly does 10 hours if you're only using word processing. Haven't managed to test that, but I've done a good 4 - 5 hours writing documents and Windows still tells me I have just over half left. The battery itself sticks out the bottom of the notebook, which I kinda like and kinda don't, it gives good airflow, but it means Asus' claim that this is < 1" thick is definitely not true.

Performance I would say is quite good, I've done some light gaming and it handles it well. However, Windows Explorer has crashed 3 times in the short period that I have owned it, no idea why, unbelievable.

The trackpad is one of the best I have ever touched, so smooth and easy gestures, multi-touch works well and although not an 'all in one' affair, the buttons work well too, despite being prone to finger prints with sticky fingers.

When I was setting up recovery discs, 5 in total, the laptop rejected a few of them, these specifically Panasonic 3x speed, 4.7GB, 10 pack DVD-RAM Disc: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories so I'd avoid them when backing it up.

The speakers are awful I'm not sure if there are two speakers or one. I can only hear one and it's on the right hand side underneath the trackpad it makes me feel unbalanced and ill listening to them, they're terrible.

Bluetooth does not appear to work properly, have tried to send files to and from the laptop and although it sees and 'pairs' with other devices, it doesn't receive or send anything, really annoying. As well as this, the Intel WiFi sharing facility doesn't give my phone internet, which is also annoying.

The WiFi signal strength never seems to be as good as my old laptop around the house, don't know why this is, maybe it's the metal casing, maybe it's the size, I don't know.

The laptop is easy to modify, just 2 screws come between you and the memory which I upgraded to 6GB from its original 4GB by adding some of my old Acer's memory. I would say however that you can see the components from the outside, there's no dust filter, so maybe you should be careful there.

Pros:

+ light
+ cheap for what you get
+ good gaming performance for a notebook of this price and size
+ Optimus technology works well
+ build quality and trackpad, supreme

Cons:

- speakers are simply terrible
- built in software and the fact that the hard drive is split into Data D and OS C

Conclusion:
Would I buy it again? Yes I think I would. I like it, it feels as well built as Apple's products do and performance is pretty good, bad speakers are a small price to pay and replacement speakers aren't very expensive.

 

Thank you for your review.

I just ordered this PC myself, and was wondering if you've noticed any indication of throttling, such as the throttling that's plagued the AS4830TG, or if you haven't stressed the computer to that point to trigger it yet. Also, how is the display itself? And finally, does the laptop get uncomfortably warm at any point?

 

Hmm..., just out of curiousity, I wonder why splitting the hard drive into OS and data partitions considered to be a contrast. Isn't it a good habit to do it, so that data would still be safe when the OS partition got corrupted?

 

Nice review.

I´ve had this machine a couple of weeks now, and i´m really impressed with it.
I´ve upgraded to 8gb ram and switched the hdd to a 120 gb kingston hyperX ssd.
It´s really snappy and quiet, but!!! the speaker(s?) is (are) horrible. Anyone that can confirm that it´s actually 2 speakers in there?
Also i can´t get the power4gear to save my new settings. I´ve been trying to set it up to do nothing when i´m closing the lid in entertainment mode. But it goes in sleepmode regardless. Any thoughts?

 

Hi guys,

@ahlkid1213 haven't pushed it too much, but I haven't noticed any yet, according to Task Manager, I've had points at high percentage CPU rates with no problems on battery.
The display I find is a bit glarey, and overly white, annoys me in dim lighting conditions. it has fairly average viewing angles, nothing special
I has once when I put it on my bed for quarter of an hour when it was installing Office 2010 then put it on my lap, apart from that, no.

@mahara by default, your libraries and files are all stored on the C drive, I didn't realise this until too late, rather annoying if I might say so, but you're probably right I suppose.

@Benhurra thanks, I will upgrade it to 8GB soon I think, the only thing stopping me getting SSD is the price when you get 512GB - expensive.
I'm glad it's not only me having the one speaker trouble, horrible
I've uninstalled all the Asus stuff and I use the Windows power options, they work a lot better

 

Thanks for your quick responses. Are you able to report any temperatures on the computer, be it at rest, stressed, or is it too early?

 

I'll download Everest in the morning, bit tired at the moment, live in the UK. However I wouldn't say they're very hot or particularly cool really

 

there's the temps from Everest and Speedfan. The laptop has been sitting on my bed with no airflow underneath it (normally provided by large battery) will update in and hour or so with airflow

 

I´ve fiddled around with Everest and GpuZ.

I ran Everest for approx. 15 min. and the cores where about 77-78 degrees C.
It wasn´t hot on the bottom, just a little warmer than usual.

Then i started GpuZ and ran LOTRO for 10 min. In the log you could clearly see
the Nvidia gpu kick in when the game started, so the Optimus works

The gpu temp didn´t rise over 72 degrees C at any point.

The fan obviously ran at full speed when stressing the machine.

Overall i´m really pleased with this machine, but why make such a great laptop and forget to install a god speaker?

 

I've placed an order with xoticpc for the U46SV-DH51. I'm looking forward to sticking my Vertex SSD in there. Glad to see that the OP is happy with the laptop. Hopefully I'll be able to contribute to this thread once I run the laptop through the wringer!

 

Owners of the U46SV:

What kind of battery life are you getting with this laptop? Please include under what kind of conditions you were running the laptop too please....THANKS!

 

whatever I'm running on the laptop, I seem to get through the day ie a good 7 - 10 hours battery life. When all you're doing is browsing the internet and word processing even with a 'power saving' mode not enabled I'd give it a 9 hour rating.
It's consistently enough to give you peace of mind and I've never yet taken it to college and though "I should have brought the charger"
But then again I don't play games at college or much at all really.
NB: I'm using the biggest battery Asus do for this laptop, the 8 cell one, this came as standard with my model

Windows Explorer crashing has become monumentally annoying now. has anyone had this problem or found a fix?

 

Not sure how much of the ASUS software you unistalled, but in the bloatware thread it says to be careful when uninstalling the games from Oberon media, as that causes all sorts of problems. I've not uninstalled them and have absolutely no problems with the laptop (apart from the horrible speaker.)

Hope this helps,
Peter.

 

arh fiddlesticks really? well I did uninstall that... I might just buy a clean Windows Ultimate 64-bit anyway because I'm a student so it's only 59 quid and I rather fancy the bitlocker.
Until I do that, is there any way you can fix the problem without reinstalling Oberon games?

 

I'm not sure, try having a look at this thread.

 

well that says uninstall is not recommended... dingbats. I'll find a way

 

let us know how it goes bro.