ASUS Announces New Laptops

ASUS silently announced a new group of laptops this weekend, reminding consumers that ASUS makes full-featured notebooks in addition to their popular Eee PC netbooks. The all new F6V, F8Vr, B50A, G50V, and G71V come in sizes ranging from 13 inches to 17 inches and have something to offer everyone from serious students to hardcore gamers.

The new F6V is being offered as a "personal laptop" in your choice of four unique designs that use plastics with "infused scents." No, we didn't just make that up. The F6V is a reasonably well-equipped 13-inch laptop that should meet or exceed most consumer expectations ... but something smells. We haven't taken a whiff of these notebooks yet, but you might be able to guess what these notebooks smell like based on the design descriptions.

F6V

"Floral Blossom"	"Musky Black"
"Morning Dew"	"Aqua Ocean"

F6V Specifications:

• Intel Core2 Duo Processor T9400/P8600/P8400
• Mobile Intel PM45 Express Chipset
• Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN Network Connection
• Genuine Windows Vista (Ultimate, Business, or Home Premium/Home basic)
• DDRII-667/800 DRAM support, up to 4GB
• 13.3" WXGA Color Shine LCD
• ATI Mobility Radeon HD3470, external 256MB DDR2 VRAM
• SATA 120/160/250/320GB
• 31.2 x 23.19 x 3.2-3.52cm

The 14-inch F8Vr is the next step up for ASUS, and while it might not come with infused scents it does look like a versatile travel companion that offers some personalization in the form of five available colors. Most of the technical specifications listed below suggest the F8Vr will be a solid performer, but the really interesting news here isthe inclusion of the latest generation of "Express Gate" that promises an 8-second boot-up time for rapid access to both multimedia and online applications.

F8Vr

F8Vr Specifications:

• Intel Core2 Duo Processors T9400/P8600/P8400/P7350
• Mobile Intel PM 45 Express Chipset with ICH9M
• Intel WiFi Link 5100
• Genuine Windows Vista (Ultimate, Business, or Home Premium/Home basic)
• DDR2 800 MHz, up to 4GB
• 14.1" WXGA+/WXGA Color Shine LCD; ASUS Splendid Video Intelligence Technology
• ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470, with Ext 256MB VRAM
• SATA 160/200/250/320GB
• 1.3M Pixels 240° swivel webcam
• 34 x 24.4 x 3.72cm, 2.6kg (6-cell battery pack)

The B50A is being billed by ASUS as the "new flagship of business computing." We're not completely certain of the validity of that statement at the time of this writing, but the B50A does offer a list of very impressive specs for business professionals. A spill-resistant keyboard, "Express Gate" 8-second boot-up,biometric fingerprint scanner and TPM (Trusted Platform Module) for secure login and encryption, and detachable docking station are just a few of the features that we're interested in seeing.

B50A

B50A Specifications:

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processors T9400/P8600/P8400/P7350/T5850/T5750
• Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate, Business, Home Premium, or Home Basic
• Mobile Intel GM45 Express Chipset
• DDR2 800MHz, up to 4GB
• 15.4" WXGA/WXGA+ Color Shine, ASUS Splendid Video Intelligence Technology
• Intel GMA X4500HD
• SATA 120GB / 160GB / 250GB / 320GB
• DVD Super-Multi Light Double Layer
• Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 5100
• Built-in 1.3 M Pixel camera
• 36.3 x 26.3 x2.5-3.57 cm, 2.7kg; 3kg with 8-cell Battery

The G50V (15-inch) and G17V (17-inch) are the latest gaming notebooks from ASUS. As part of the new "ROG" (Republic of Gamers) product line-up, the G50V and G17V promise to provide enough processing and graphics horsepower to help you frag your opponents. The technical specs are all most hardcore gamers really care about, but as an added bonus ASUS is also including a "gaming kit" with a Republic of Gamers backpack, professional-grade 1600dpi gaming mouse with real-time sensitivity adjustment and a Siberia Steel Gaming Headset.

G50V

G50V Specifications:

• Intel Core2 Duo Processor T9600/T9400/P8600/P8400/P7350
• Mobile Intel PM45 Express Chipset +ICH9M-E
• Intel WiMAX/WiFi Link 5100
• Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate or Home Premium
• DDR2 800MHz SDRAM, up to 4GB
• Nvidia GeForce 9700M GT, with 512MB GDDR3 VRAM
• Intel Turbo Memory Technology with 2GB NAND Flash(optional)
• 15.4" WXGA+/WSXGA+ Color-Shine
• 15.6" WXGA Color-Shine
• Dual hard drive & Single hard drive (optional); 640G(320Gx2) 5400rpm; 500G(250Gx2)
• 5400rpm; 400G(200Gx2) 7200rpm; 200GB,7200rpm
• DVD Super Multi Double Layer/ Light Scribe/ DVD combo / Blu-ray DVD writer
• 2 Mega Pixel swivel web camera
• Built-in Bluetooth V2.1+EDR(optional feature)
• 37.5 x 26.5 x 3.43 - 4.06 cm (W x D x H)
• 2.8 kg (with 6 cell battery)

G17V

G71V Specifications:

• Intel Quad Core QX9300
• Intel Core2 Duo Extreme Processor X9100
• Intel Core2 Duo Processor T9600/T9400/P8600/P8400/P7350
• Mobile Intel PM45 Express Chipset +ICH9M-E
• Intel WiMAX/WiFi Link 5100
• Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate or Home Premium
• DDR2 800MHz SDRAM, up to 4GB
• Nvidia GeForce 9700M GT, with 512MB GDDR3 VRAM
• Intel Turbo Memory Technology with 2GB NAND Flash(optional)
• 17" WXGA+ Color-Shine
• 17" WUXGA, High Brightness, Color-Shine
• Dual hard drive & Single hard drive (optional); 1 Terra Byte(500Gx2) 5400rpm; 640G(320Gx2) 5400rpm; 500G(250Gx2) 5400rpm; 400G(200Gx2) 7200rpm; 200GB,7200rpm
• DVD Super Multi Double Layer/ Light Scribe/ DVD combo / Blu-ray DVD writer
• 2 Mega Pixel swivel web camera
• Built-in Bluetooth V2.1+EDR(optional feature)

 

We have a review system of the G50V-A2 in house right now and will be posting a review of it this week.

 

Awesome. Look forward to the review.

This is kinda old news as far as the G50V is concerned

 

wow
quad core laptop

 

Something for serious students eh? I see no mention of better battery life....

 

I dont like the idea of scented notebooks - They may very well prove to cause allergies or something like that (just as most fragranced stuff).

 

Actually, it's not. This is the new A2 version of the laptop.

Main differences are a Blu-ray optical drive and dual 7200RPM HDDs.

 

i cant wait to see a review on how the F6V will smell. a new section in the reviews. a smell section . it would seriously be funny seeing people in stores smelling their laptop before buying them. i could probably watch that for a while

 

The scented laptop concept is unbelievably dumb. They're going to alienate a lot of people with that. Personally, I have a fragrance allergy and cant' even be around anyone who owns one.. great job Asus.

 

I've already seen the G50 as Best Buy a few days ago. It looked very nice, though the touchpad buttons were rather loud and clickey IIRC. Too bad the G17 isn't more powerful than the G50.

The B50A looks a bit underspec'd for my taste (I prefer a dedicated GPU and a higher-resolution display), but is otherwise quite nice, if not a bit boring in the design. But that's how a business-class notebook should be.

The F6's lid designs look very cool, but too 'girly' for my tastes. But what is up with them being scented?! You have got to be kidding me!

The F8 is also a bit too girly for me, too, but at least they aren't scented...

 

LOL a musky smelling laptop.
Tim

 

hmmm, i'm surprised they didn't put a better graphics card in the G17V like a 9800 GTS,

 

More like you're unbelievably dumb for saying that. And no, it's not going to alienate a lot of people as this "fragrance allergy" you speak of is hardly common. Geeze, I wonder what you would do around your girl friends with perfume.

 

Hey, let's not all get hostile.

Scented laptops are not a bad idea, but I seriously think you should be able to choose a lid and a scent seperately. For example, I like the design of musky black, but I'd imagine I wouldn't enjoy the scent much. I'd much prefer the ocean smell.

[sarcasm]And I love how ASUS continues to use top of the line graphics cards in their notebooks.[/sarcasm]

 

I like the "Musky Black" design of the F6V. Bad names though .

 

wow, r u guys serious about the scented lids? If this is not a joke, I'm wondering how they made these lappies smell, I would imagine the smell would only last for a week or two, otherwise according to physics laws the laptop would lose its weight over time ... or maybe they come with a "recharge" for the smell generator, lol

 

Scented laptops.

Ugh, whoever thought of that one needs a new job.

 

i don't think they ever wanted that as the selling point. i think it's cool, but i definitely wouldn't buy it just because it smells great. it's a cool "addon", and something new once in a while.

 

Can you get a warranty replacement of the scent when it goes out?

 

i think its like one of those scent things you plug into the wall. eventually you will need a new bottle of it. i guess you can buy recharagable packs off their site or something. just take out the old scent bottle and put a new scent bottle in there or something like that.

genius marketing strategy

 

Musky Black? That's an interesting name from a marketing point of view. Is it going to smell like the back of my grandmother closet or something?

 

Dear god those are ugly... and scented?????
I'm just..... no words to describe it....

 

I am no ASUS fanboy but I must applaud them for trying. Right now everyone is using the same angles:

Cheeep notebooks (pun intended)
Colourful Lids, Flashy lights

But no one is doing scented. Some may say for a good reason but why do we love new cars so much? That new car smell! Now we can talk about that new notebook smell And let's face it... some of us could use some fresh scents in the dorm room cuz the laundry has been piling up in the corner next to the pizza box collection.

Now Musky Black needs some work. It also sounds a little politically incorrect.

 

When I saw DDR2, I close the browser window.

 

The ranges of notebooks looks quite impressive. I know fellow students with room smell issues who could do with some help...Good to see a manufacturer offering both ATI and NVIDIA cards across their range.

 

Nvidia 9700's and ATi 3470's? For the gaming notebooks in particular, I don't think that's enough power. I really would have liked to see the 9800 series since there does seem to be such a performance gap between the 9800 series and 9700 series. This is what makes me want the recent Gateway model instead of the Asus models. I am in the market for a new gaming notebook and I'd love to go Asus, but I'm disappointed.

 

These scented laptops are designed by old hippies while smoking something it seems.At first i thought it was a ridiculous idea but it's genius now that I think about it.It's a gimmick but it will get people's attention and people talking about it.Sets itself more apart from the Dell Studio line.I'd like mine in green apple pls.

 

woah so you closed the window, then went back here to make that post? sad...

 

I personally hate/abhor/am utterly repelled by new car smells . Makes me wanna puke.

Any bets on how long the scent's gonna last?

And do tell what is wrong with ddr2 800 ram? ddr3 1066 ram has awful timings currently so there's barely any difference

 

To be honest and frank, I HIGHLY doubt these notebooks are scented with a smell... Asus calls them infused with scent, because they are have a lid design based off a scent or something to that effect.

Many brands use their own name for putting colour on the lid, like Dell's Tuxedo Black color for the XPS line...Dell could have easily called it scented with Black Lickerish but it only refers to the colour, or colouring of the lid.

If these notebook are truly scented with a smell, well that just doesn't make sense no matter what Asus marketing says...I honestly believe "INFUSED SCENT" means they have coloured the lid to imitate a particular design.

You don't see the HP "Wave" design laptops literally "Waving a hand" at you, it is simply a cosmetic design, and I'm sure JerryJ knows this and is teasing you all. (Wondering why he hasn't commented yet in this thread regarding the scent) LOL!!!

Anyways these new Asus notebooks look good, and I find the "infused scent" designs (not the smell, because there is NO SMELL" very nice, a little girly but a nice clean design that's not too overpowering.

I also would like to see a more powerful GPU, Asus seems to like to use the highest Mid-Range GPU, like the 9700 GT instead of the High End GPUs like the 9800 series and etc.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

if it is true and it has a scent I will NEVER buy it... i too have a scent allergy.


No DDR3? what? yes DDR3 has bad timings but that is NOW, now they match DDR2 in speed dispite having bad timings wait till the timings improve then we will see.

 

i was expecting asus to announce an additional 50 eee pc models...

 

i did ask this question before in asus forum that is the g50v have intel turbo memory capabilty and can it upgraded to the 4gb module

 

Mystic that is all not true. These notebooks are infused with a scent! It is some special process that infuses the scent into the plastics used in the notebook lid. Scent infused plastic will keep the scent longer than scented oils, but even in the ASUS disclaimer they say this:

"*The lifespan of fragrance depends on actual usage."

http://www.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=12431

I wonder what this actual usage means. Depending on how often you sniff the notebook? Depending on if you leave it under your dirty laundry?

 

Too bad all the scent would have escaped by the time you get to BestBuy to try it out.

Is it me or are the laptops thicker than average?? 3.5cm for a 12" laptop?? 2.5cm = 1", it should be too far off 1".

 

Hi folks,

1st of all THANKS A BUNCH to you JerryJ for the trouble of writing this Article!

Everytime I look at a "New" ASUS laptop ... and it's specs ... I get a feelignthat ASUS is trying to sell the "Older" specs machine ... kinda like Dell's discount on last year's model.

Or is it just my imagination!?!?

G!

 

Stinkpad????

Now that 14" F8Vr, on the other hand, I could go for that.