ASUS U41JF-A1 Review Discussion

The ASUS U41JF is a thin-and-light 14-inch notebook with powerful Nvidia graphics and excellent battery life. Combine that with a good Intel Core i3 processor and a price tag of less than $900. What’s not to like? Keep reading to find out.

Read the full content of this Article: ASUS U41JF-A1 Review

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For some reason the build quality of the ASUS machines are going down exponentially. I don't see any F8Va (purchased in July '08) equivalent machine in the market from ASUS.

I am not planning to replace my laptop anytime soon but I think I will have to switch to another brand (i.e. HP EliteBook etc.).


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I can only say ouch...

now that words can come out of my mouth was the build quality that bad? Do you think it handles the life of a laptop? (meaning be thrown into a bag take college classes and do some gaming)

does the build quality will affect that much the life expectancy of the laptop? I dont want to go into the same issues as with the terrible chassis of the msi ex625/ge600, with the now bad power connector and the fear that i will break it in 2 if I take it everyday to uni.

 

This laptop looks great on paper but the build quality is just too low for me to recommend it. The chassis flex is severe -- just applying normal pressure to the keyboard, keyboard surround, or palm rest area causes the entire chassis to flex.
As far as how much impact that has on the lifespan of the laptop -- as always, it depends. If this notebook lives its life on a desk, it will probably last as long as any other notebook. If you're going to travel with it and throw it in a bag all the time with other stuff . . . probably not. There's a reason business class notebooks have a much stiffer chassis; to stand up to the strains of everyday travel and not-so-nice treatment.

Other than the build quality it's a decent machine. The GT 425M graphics are quite powerful, more than enough for the latest games.

ASUS laptops are hit or miss in my experience. I reviewed the U45JC-A1 late last year and enjoyed it:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5952&review=asus+u45+u45jc+a1
Very good build quality for a consumer notebook. ASUS notebooks are very inconsistent in their quality, which concerns me. I'd never recommend or buy one without seeing it first.

 

I was considering the thinkpad edge e420s due to the expected better build quality, with the magnesium/aluminum alloy chassis and all that. I had a lenovo before, and I just got the msi due to the much better internals.

Btw I do hope that you guys can get one for review, since that was an objective review, aside here I can only look for anandtech, while they improved the mobile coverage, it is still too short.

 

Why why whyyy ASUS do you have to use the lowest quality screens in the world? I am pretty disappointed lately by their new stuff.

 

Again another good and accurate write up Charles on this notebook, it’s clear from your review that in order for Asus to get to this price point compromises are made good hardware and poor build but why continue to make these types of notebooks?

Asus seems to be trying so hard to be all things…….

I’am soo tired of the great spec machines Asus has been delivering only to find out that the build blows.

I was one who could not live with the build of the U45 and returned it, from what it sounds like the u41 is worse! I wound up with the U43 Bamboo model but it has its own build quality issue although nothing like the 45, and now the 41.

Asus had a reputation in the past for some great notebooks good hardware with excellent build now they keep building the same notebook over and over again. Look at the UL, U, N, etc. etc……

Poor touchpads
Poor build quality
Poor keyboards with serious flex issues
Glossy bezel on every notebook seriously EVERY?
Poor quality LCD
the goods are always great battery and strong hardware performance.

I would pay $1200 to $1300 for a good solid built 13” or 14” with the specs that are on the U41 I often wonder whatever happened to the builds of yesterday like the Z70VA?

 

The sad part is that this notebook seems fantastic at first glance. Pretty good graphics, popular size, and great battery. If only Asus could do something about the build quality this would be one of the best notebooks on the market.

 

What a pity ... Asus should spend a little more to at least make the machines at least a little more durable imo.

 

They seem to be focusing on spec per price ratio above all else nowadays. The strategy which would work reasonably well for the company which emphasizes online-sales. But yeah, many of the recent ASUS laptops, aside from Eee and G series, seem to be sub-par at the best in term of quality -- spongy keyboard, flimsy built, and so on. Even though their laptops are good on paper, it is hard to recommend them.

That being said, the whole trend seem to apply for the industry as a whole, to some degree. It is much easier to compete on easily measurable qualities (CPU speed, GPU speed, etc) while cutting costs on more "subjective" areas (build quality, keyboard quality, screen quality, etc). With the increasing popularity of online vendors, I imagine it will only get worse.

Of course, many of us are also guilty for this trend.

 

If you didn't like the U45 then the U41 you will most definitely not like; the U45 feels much stiffer and stronger in comparison. I actually thought it had decent quality for a consumer notebook.

ASUS has yet to top the W3 it released oh so many years ago (first-gen Core Duo/Core 2 Duo platform, Radeon X1600), which was a real gem of a machine.

In general I like ASUS products (especially their desktop motherboards); unfortunately as I have seen firsthand they have no consistency at all when it comes to notebooks, which is what makes them a case-by-case recommendation. I'd feel confident recommending a Dell Latitude E-series after testing one or two, but not an ASUS.

 

I am in the same boat here....

 

So a lot of these opinions are generally coming from "computer experts". I`m interested in the U41 because of its performance-power-cost ratio.. But im not computer guy, do you think the average person would notice these things? Especially when theyre upgrading from an hp dv6000 lol?

 

Probably not. Just be careful with the laptop. The U41 isn't a bad machine, it's just not a great one.

FYI the dv6000 has a better keyboard than the U41 IMO. See if you can get an HP ENVY 14 for cheap.

 

Currently on my U41 now! so excited@

The keyboard flex is only noticeable when you are actually pushing on it. When im typing, right now, itsnot moving. So, I`m ok with that. As for the speed, its great! currently removing all bloatware now!

and last but not least..definetly not leasst!! i charged the battery to 100% while i was out tonight and came back, and just browsing this site it said 9 hours 47 minutes. YES!

will update more once i get allll my programs etc on it, or maybe a ssd is in the near future?

 

ok heres an update..the microphone picks up a loud buzzing sound on skype.. ive never had this issue and its happens with all my contacts! other than that, its still going great!

anyone know what that buzz could be or how tofix it? if i cant im taking the thing back since call quality is important as im in a long distance relatonship

 

Open the sound recorder in Windows, record something using your mic and see if you still hear it.
Then try recording something with your laptop's built-in mics; if you still hear it then it's likely the laptop. Interference is quite common in a laptop.

 

Even with the bad build quality. The U41 seems to be the only Laptop that can do decent gaming and have a 6+ hr battery life, as far as I've seen. The Acer 4820TG-6847 is the only other one I've seen on par as far as gaming power and battery combination goes.

 

I think that's Asus in a nutshell. They look great on paper...