ASUS F6Ve Review

by Kevin O'Brien

The ASUS F6VE-B1 is a 13.3" desktop replacement notebook. Not content with making just another small form factor notebook, ASUS crammed in an Intel T9550 Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of RAM, and an ATI Radeon Mobility 4570 graphics card into this 13.3" chassis. With a starting price of$1,299 the F6VE-B1 is priced above similar size notebooks, but the performance might justify the cost. Read our review to find out how well it performs and if it is worth the high price tag.

ASUS F6Ve-B1 Specifications:

• Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1, 32-bit)
• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T9550 (2.66GHz, 6MB L2, 1066MHz FSB)
• 13.3" WXGA Glossy LCD (1280x800, 16:10)
• ATI Mobility Radeon 4570 with 512MB GDDR2 VRAM
• Atheros AR928X 802.11n + Bluetooth 2.0
• 4GB DDR2 800 SDRAM (2GB x 2)
• 320GB Serial ATA hard disk drive (5400RPM)
• DVD SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) drive
• 1.3 megapixel webcam
• Dimensions (WxDxH): 12.2" x 9" x 1.2-1.4"
• Weight: 4lbs 14oz with battery, 5lbs 12oz travel weight
• 11.1v 4800 mAh 53Wh 6-cell battery
• 90W(19V x 4.74A) 100-240V AC Adapter
• 2-Year Standard Limited Warranty, 1-Year Accidental Damage Warranty
• Price as configured: $1,299.99

Build and Design
The F6Ve has a dated design compared to more recent notebooks that we have seen come out of the ASUS lineup. For a notebook that costs almost $1,300 these days we expect a notebook with more attention to detail and innovative designs. The F6Ve has a glossy painted lid with a Spirograph-type pattern that is barely seen unless you are sitting right on top of it. The inside has a cheap feeling textured plastic palmrest, matte finish keys with a hint of sparkle, and chrome or glossy black plastic trim. I feel that even the Eee PC 1000HE has a much better looking design and is more in line with the high-end look that you expect to find these days. Another surprise was finding no dedicated multimedia keys when almost all notebooks include touch-sensitive panels.

Build quality is lacking for a machine of this caliber, with squeaky plastic trim and flexible plastic covers abound. The optical drive clicks and pops when you carry the notebook from the side of the palmrest with your hand over the drive. The plastics used throughout the chassis feel cheap, like something you would find on a budget notebook instead of a top-performing desktop replacement.

Upgrade access is easy through a single panel that covers the hard drive, RAM, wireless card, and processor. No "warranty void if removed" stickers were found on the main cover, but one was on the processor heatsink to prevent a user from upgrading the processor. Given the processor included with this configuration I doubt anyone would need to upgrade it.

Display
ASUS uses a 13.3" panel on the F6VE, using the older 16:10 screen format, instead of the slightly wider and shorter 16:9 size. It has WXGA 1280x800 resolution, which works well for a screen of this size. The panel is glossy, but not "all-glass" like some of the newer notebook designs ... which is a good thing in terms of fewer reflections and less glare shining back at you. The display is average in terms of quality, with bright and vibrant colors which is common for glossy displays. Vertical viewing angles are limited to a narrow sweet spot before colors start to wash out or invert when tilting the screen forward or back. Horizontal viewing angles are much better with colors staying true even at steep angles.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The ASUS F6VE features a mostly full-size keyboard, with shrunken keys on the right side to fit page navigation key. It was comfortable to type with smooth action key throws that give off a mild click when pressed. Keyboard support was lacking in certain areas causing some flex or trampoline feeling while typing. At times this was distracting or just plain annoying if the movement caused the keyboard to rub and "pop" against the surrounding trim.

The Synaptics touchpad is comfortable to use with no lag noticed during use. Sensitivity was great once the setting was adjusted to max to compensate for the texture-free surface. The touchpad buttons are located in a spot easy to trigger with your thumb and give off a mild click when pressed. They have very shallow feedback and require a solid press to trigger.

Ports and Features
Port selection was decent given the small size of the frame and every bit of space being used by something. The system included three USB ports, HDMI, VGA, eSATA, modem, and LAN. The F6Ve also featured a 5-in-1 card reader and ExpressCard/34 slot. The only improvement we could see is a combo USB/eSATA port to increase the amount of available USB ports, but three is just fine for this notebook.

Front: Indicator lights

Rear: Modem, LAN, VGA

Left: AC Adapter, HDMI, 2 USB, Wireless On/Off, ExpressCard/34, 5-in-1 Card Reader, eSATA

Right: Optical drive, audio ports, 1 USB, Kensington lock slot

ASUS included a wired USB optical mouse and carrying case with the purchase of F6Ve-B1. As far as freebies go they are pretty nice if you don’t already have comparable items. The carrying case provides adequate protection for the notebook, which is vital if you are carrying it around a college campus where you run the risk of dropping it. This is the first free ASUS case that we've seen in our office that carries the "Targus" brand name ... potentially a good sign of the quality of this free bag. The USB mouse is fine as a backup travel mouse, but there are much better non-free options on the market.

Performance
System performance is what the ASUS F6Ve was designed for, with its Intel 2.66GHz T9550 processor and 512MB ATI Radeon Mobility 4570. This 13.3" notebook is fast enough completely replace a desktop if you aren't looking for something that has to run the latest games at the highest settings. It is very fast for things like decoding HD video, running many applications at the same time, or ripping and compressing music or video for a media player. Newer games work fine with some visual settings tweaked, pushing the limits of the ATI 4570 graphics card. The previous top performing 13.3" notebook of choice was the LG P300, but it had to make compromises such as removing the optical bay to handle the additional hardware; ASUS managed to pull it off without removing any hardware.

wPrime comparison results (lower score means better performance):

Notebook / CPU	wPrime 32M time
ASUS F6Ve-B1 (Intel Core 2 Duo T9550 @ 2.66GHz)	28.626 seconds
LG P300 (Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.4GHz)	32 seconds
Lenovo ThinkPad X300 (Intel Core 2 Duo L7100 @ 1.20GHz)	98 seconds
Apple MacBook Air (Intel Core 2 Duo P7500 @ 1.6GHz)	68 seconds
Sony VAIO TZ (Intel Core 2 Duo U7600 @ 1.20GHz)	76 seconds
Dell XPS M1330 (Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 @ 2.20GHz)	38 seconds

PCMark05 benchmark results (higher scores are better)

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
ASUS F6Ve-B1 (2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9550, ATI Radeon 4570 512MB)	6,742 PCMarks
LG P300 (2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8300, Nvidia 8600M GS 256MB)	5,767 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X300 (1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L7100, Intel X3100)	3,467 PCMarks
Apple MacBook Air (1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7500, Intel X3100)	2,478 PCMarks
Sony VAIO TZ (1.20GHz Core 2 Duo U7600, Intel GMA 950)	2,446 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	4,153 PCMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS)	4,591 PCMarks

3DMark06 graphics comparison results (higher score meens better performance):

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
ASUS F6Ve-B1 (2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9550, ATI Radeon 4570 512MB)	3,167 3DMarks
LG P300 (2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8300, Nvidia 8600M GS 256MB)	3,027 3DMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X300 (1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L7100, Intel X3100)	475 3DMarks
Apple MacBook Air (1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7500, Intel X3100)	502 3DMarks
Sony VAIO TZ (1.20GHz Core 2 Duo U7600, Intel GMA 950)	122 3DMarks
HP dv2500t (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	1,055 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS)	1,408 3DMarks

HDTune measures the storage performance:

Speakers and Audio
The onboard speakers are located in a great spot that won’t get blocked by anything; right on the lower edge of the display. In terms of audio quality they lack bass and midrange, sounding similar to earbuds cranked way up. Peak volume levels are fine for a very small room but get overpowered by background noise or conversations. For external music enjoyment you can connect the notebook to a stereo through the audio jacks or HDMI port. The HDMI port is the preferred solution since it supports digital audio and surround sound for movies.

Battery
Battery life was disappointing given the small size of the notebook and the extended battery sticking out the back. With screen brightness reduced to 70%, wireless active, and Vista on the Balanced profile the ASUS F6Ve stayed on for 2 hours and 56 minutes. Some of this was expected with the faster processor and video card, but we had hoped for something a bit longer, perhaps closer to 4 hours.

Heat and Noise
Thermal performance of the F6Ve was pretty good considering what was packed inside of it. Under load the fan passes quite a bit of air through the system to keep the Intel T9550 processor and ATI 4570 graphics within reasonable temperature ranges, in term making a good amount of noise. This notebook easily beats the massive W90 in fan noise, since it has a single fan spinning super fast, instead of the three separate fans spinning slower inside the W90. System temperatures were modest, getting warm under heavy loads, but not too hot.

Conclusion
The ASUS F6Ve could have been a much nicer notebook if the same hardware were inside a more attractive chassis. The design looks dated, build quality isn’t up to par, and overall doesn’t feel like what you would expect to get for spending $1,299 on a 13.3” notebook these days. Hardware performance is excellent without any doubt, but it feels really out of place compared to the current ASUS offerings like the N81, W90, or even the 1000HE. If you really need a compact gaming notebook, move up barely one inch to the N81Vp. It outperforms the F6Ve in nearly every category, gets double the 3D performance, and looks a heck of a lot nicer.

The ASUS F6Ve-B1 is a performance king among 13-inch notebooks, but there is room for improvement.

Pros:

• Great performance for a 13.3” notebook
• Keyboard is comfortable to type on
• Snappy Synaptics touchpad

Cons:

• Design feels dated
• Quality is not what you would expect on $1,299 notebook
• Tiny speakers

 

looks good IMO

 

Great review! To be honest, the battery life seems on par with what I expected from Asus - which is unfortunate. How did you find the weight relative to other 13.3" notebooks and to the 14.1" alternative you suggested (N81Vp)? Did it "feel" heavy/light? Also, is there a 9-cell battery available for this notebook?

 

Is it really a sub-par battery life? My system (see specs) managed around 3h30 with a 6-cell battery, although at the time I had done very little to do a proper test (i.e. I had a USB mouse plugged in, etc).

 

For me weight varies on a day to day basis. The F6Ve was as light as a feather compared to the W90 I was working on only days before it. Compared to the N81Vp the weight was within about a pound or so, which inside a backpack is hardly noticed. To be considered a super lightweight or super heavy compared to my T60 we would have to be comparing it to something like a MacBook Air/netbook or X305/W90. Anything closer and it gets really hard to notice any difference. If you are on the wall between the two notebooks, suck it up and buy the one that gets double the performance

 

Well it was somewhat expected given the configuration, but we had really hoped for something longer. Too much to ask for 1000HE battery performance in a normal notebook?

 

i like the use of an 80 shader ATI chip in a 13.3" chassis,

just needs a better chassis that flush integrates a six cell battery.

then i'd be tempted.

 

Too many stickers...

 

then you know your first mission if you get one into your hands

 

Is the ATI Mobility HD4570 GPU in the MXM configuration and removeable ?? Can you show us any pictures of it ???

 

This is disappointing -- I was strongly considering this notebook as a gift for someone, but now I'm not so sure anymore. I have a question though. The review says:

Weight: 4lbs 14oz with battery, 5lbs 12oz travel weight

On newegg, it says that the weight it 4.3lb which is not the same thing as 4lbs 14oz. The former is borderline accepable while the latter is not, particularly since it'll be almost 6lbs with the power brick. Where does the difference come from? Did newegg not include the battery? That would be absurd, possibly to the point of it being false advertisement.

 

Graphics card is soldered to the board, not enough space for MXM cards.

Without the battery it comes up as 4lbs 2.3oz.

For reference my full diet coke can measures as 13.1oz on my scale.

 

The looks may be dated to some, but for me thats a plus. The cheap build quality on the other hand is a major turnoff as after using my dell for so long I need a solid build/chassis. As always great review!

 

nice review

good to know that some hi-end thin and lights aren't quite so solid as their price would indicate===

whats the thickness of the unit 1.1 "?

 

Pity about the build quality. If they could have put that hardware in a chassis similar in style/quality as the W7s, it'd have been amazing.

 

Why not test battery life with less screen brightness? Lets say 3 notches out of 16 on ASUS`s OSD?

 

Nice review. Unless ASUS' sole goal with this notebook was to produce the best-performing 13.3" on the market, then it seems they missed the bar. It has great performance yet that doesn't make up for the lackluster quality, keyboard, screen, and battery life. I agree, for $1,300, it should have far more attention to detail, not to mention a better-quality screen and keyboard. For me, the keyboard would be a deal breaker, regardless of all other factors. The machine not only looks boring but cheap as well. All in all, not something I would spend $1,300 for. When you can get notebooks as cheap as $350 - $400, a lot more is expected when you get to the $1,000+ range.

 

It's more about appearance than anything else, but it's still a nice notebook.

 

Can't these manufacturers, for the love of God, put lit keyboards. People do use their Laptops in the dark!

 

Why anyone wouldn't pay $100 more for the n81 is beyond me.

 

With the obsession that notebook and LCD mfgrs have with 16:9 ratio displays these days, it's good to know that Asus has introduced a notebook that still uses a 16:10 ratio screen. Kudos to Asus on that one.

 

Because the N81 weighs nearly 6lbs. The issue isn't price, it's weight -- I personally don't care, but the request was as close as possible to being under 4lbs while having a decent processor (P9600 if possible, T9550 if not). This looked pretty close to fitting the bill, but I guess it doesn't and the build quality doesn't measure up anyway.

Kevin, thanks for the review. I guess I will have to keep looking.

 

Why would you categorize this notebook as a desktop replacement? It's not even close to a desktop in terms of size and performance.

 

Bummer about the build quality
Even with the great performance of this laptop spending $1300 for inferior build quality is not for me, now if this laptop was cheaper $$$ I would be able to forget it.
Hey at least it looks nice

 

As already posted on a thread in the ASUS forum, the build issues are worrying me.

However, I strongly disagree with the review on the looks. I prefer notebooks that look "bland"/subdued and not gaudy/flashy. I will also take the "cheap-feeling textured plastic palmrest" anyday over a glossy palmrest like in the N81, which means fingerprint galore. Similarly, I am very happy that the "Spirograph-type pattern [...] is barely seen unless you are sitting right on top of it" -- I dislike this type of LCD cover art. But this is all a matter of personal preference.

Of course, I may be just a little bit biased by the fact that I already purchased this notebook.

 

I totally agree. Now put a 1440x900 res screen in this and its near perfect.

I agree on the bland looking laptops. I love how my dell is a flat black magnesium chassis. Looks plain and simple but has what I need to get the job done. I always get upset when a sweet notebook comes out with the perfect setup for me but comes in a flashy design that wouldn't pass in my office.

As for the build quality, I guess they had to sacrifice a little for packing so much power in such a small chassis.

 

I think it looks fine for a 13" notebook i mean alot of the 13" are bought for the size right? Still a good review im interested in seeing what other 13" notebooks will get this GPU.

 

I like the design of the F6Ve far better than the N81Vp. The HP-esque design of the N81Vp is just way too plain and ordinary (so average and mainstream looking), and just too curvy and shiny. Not to mention the fact that the N81Vp has a 16:9 screen, ew.

All in all, I think the F6Ve looks like a really really really good laptop. I'm glad I learned about it. I thought the 13.3" laptop with the best GPU was the Dell Studio XPS 13, but I'm glad there's something better out there now.

Really, from solely reading this NBR review, the F6Ve seems to have almost no flaws considering its cheap price.

 

Good performance laptop for a 13.3"

 

You must of missed the part where they said this is not a cheap price.

 

Given the components in the laptop, I think it is. The problem with it is not price, it's weight and build quality.

 

The LG P310 has a 9600M GT GDDR3...

 

Just in case if someone is looking for some in-game performance samples, GenTechPC has made a couple videos for the F6Ve.

<object width='480' height='295'><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yPY0IjThoAA&hl=en&fs=1&ap=%2526fmt%3D22"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yPY0IjThoAA&hl=en&fs=1&ap=%2526fmt%3D22" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='480' height='295'></embed></object>


<object width='480' height='295'><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/35bdkfdZXBc&hl=en&fs=1&ap=%2526fmt%3D22"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/35bdkfdZXBc&hl=en&fs=1&ap=%2526fmt%3D22" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='480' height='295'></embed></object>

 

Nice. Thanks, David and GenTechPC!

 

I think both games ran fairly well when you consider that this is a lower end card. I especially liked how COD 4 played

 

F.E.A.R plays fine,but COD4 you can see the FPS get a little to low, (for me anyway) if this had the N81's GPU then that would be something, and the price would be justifiable.

 

I don't know about that it would be kind of tough to stuff a 9650gt in a 13" then it would probably run hot.

Im interested in seeing who is gonna attempt to put a 46** GPU in 13" factor it should be possible. Also i think the CPU this thing has for the price is uncomparable for most notebooks out there.

 

The 9650M GT is 55nm and has the same TDP as the 9600M GT. It would be physically possible to put it into a 13.3" but the difference in performance would not be significant.

 

I was talking about the ATI version (HD4650)of the M81-VpC1 Dragon

 

I'm torn between this and the U6Vc. I've been going back and forth for weeks now and can't make up my mind.

 

The part about the design should be discarded entirely--design itself is highly subjective. I myself, like it--conveys a professional, powerful, no-nonsense attitude (reminded me of a ThinkPad at first glance--actually bears a thin resemblance to my own lappy sorta).

As for the low-quality speakers......this is a 13" notebook priced under $1500. The reviewer IMO should be a bit more realistic......good performance gets more and more expensive as you move into smaller and smaller form factors. Considering the price, I would give Asus a tad bit more leeway here.

Overall, a good read as always