Asus A6J Review (pics, specs)

by Kevin Yee, Singapore

Overview and Introduction:

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The ASUS A6J is categorized as a business laptop but in my opinion, is really a rather portable multimedia workhorse. It is a 15.4-inch widescreen notebook that comes with excellent performance and great build quality at the expense of battery life, heat and weight. The 2 year global warranty and the in-built webcam make travel a joy.

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ASUS A6J Specs and Configuration Options (text in blue indicates review unit configuration when there is a choice available)

• Processor: Intel Core Duo Processor T2000 Sequence: 1.60GHz-2.16GHz (T2400, 1.83GHz), 2MB On-Die L2 Cache, 667 MHz
• Wireless: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG, Bluetooth V2.0+EDR
• OS: Windows XP Home/Pro
• Screen: 15.1" XGA/SXGA+ & 15.4" WXGA (1280*800) / WSXGA+ (1680*1050)
• RAM: 1GB DDR2 533/667MHz SDRAM, 2x SO-DIMM socket expandable to 2GB
• Hard Drive: 2.5" 9.5 mm IDE HDD with Ultra DMA100 supported
  60 / 80 / 100 GB
• Optical Drive: DVD Super Multi: 5X/8X/4X/8X/4X/24X/10X/24X/8X
• Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 128MB/256MB dedicated VRAM, up to 512MB Hypermemory (shared)
• Battery: 8 cells,71Whr; 4 Cell,31.5Whr
• Ports: 4 x USB 2.0; Infrared; AC adapter; RJ-11 modem port; RJ-45 ethernet port; audio: headphone/SPDIF, mic-in, line-in; IEEE 1394 Firewire; S-Video; DVI; VGA .
• Slots: 1 x Type II PCMCIA 2.1 compliant, 1 x 4-in-1 card slot (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO)
• Dimensions: 354 x 284 x 35.2 mm (W x D x H)
• Weight: 2.85kg with 15.4" screen, 8-cell battery
• Others: Built-in 1.3megapixel webcam with mic
• Warranty: 2-year global
• ASUS A6J Product Page: http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=5&l2=24&l3=134&model=1005&modelmenu=1

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Reasons for Buying:

Every notebook user in my country owns an Acer, iBook, IBM/Lenovo or Fujitsu. I wanted to be different and yet not give up on quality and design, and ASUS laptops generally pretty much fit the bill. I settled on this model about a month ago because of the graphics card -- I play a fair amount of games, though not exactly hardcore level. I see ASUS as an emerging force in the notebook arena, given their track record in motherboards, graphics cards and ODM. Due to my need to travel to Canada in a few months time for half a year, the 2-year global warranty was very attractive, with the service centre very near my future residence. The integrated webcam was also pivotal in my choice of notebook.

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Where and How Purchased:

I got this from a retailer in my country (Singapore), for S$2898 (about US$1809). They did not have a better deal during a recent PC show here, so I figured the price is more or less fixed and went to bargain for freebies with the retailer instead. Got only a 256MB thumbdrive (in place of the pathetic Gamepad ASUS was offering), but I was happy anyway. This model is not exactly dirt cheap but value for money in my opinion, considering its specs and build quality. One of the pull factors for me.

Build, Design, and Connectivity:

The overall build quality of the ASUS A6J is excellent. It is an extremely sturdy piece of hardware and I am totally pleased with it. It is plainly good-looking with a dark grey finish to the surface; generally I would think it appears very professional and macho. (This is about the most business-related "feature" to the notebook, however.) Even the ASUS logo looks classy, and all the buttons, touchpad etc are very well made and fitted. Also, the chassis is made of tough yet light carbon-fiber material which would withstand most bumps. On the other hand, having used the laptop for about a month now, I am starting to see some slight wear on the cover, which may not be a good sign. Or maybe, I am just careless.
The notebook is so sturdy, it requires effort to open. The hinges are very well-built and tight, with no squeaks or flimsiness. Note that both hands are required to open as there are two latches on either edge at the front, probably due to the placement of the webcam. It is a little on the heavy side (2.85kg with battery) and at 354 x 284 x 35.2 mm is a tad bulky. Not one for the ladies, but still attractive for men.

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Moving on to the ports, we have the PCMCIA and memory card slots, Infrared, Firewire, audio jacks, S-video, modem and ethernet ports on the right side. I would have though an Expresscard slot would be more appropriate, but as I personally see no use for expansion currently, it is not an issue. Yet it is a sign that ASUS has yet to update their chassis, but only the internal parts of the machine. The memory card slot has a solid spring action, and is protected by a dummy card. There is Bluetooth available as well, adding to the wealth of connectivity options. For WiFi connectivity it uses Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG, which I have had no issues with thus far.

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At the back are 4 USB 2.0 ports, DVI, VGA, heat vent and notebook lock hole. It is a poor design to lump the USB ports together, which means no easy access for thumbdrives and such. The redemption factor is that there is a separation between the ports, so there is a fair ease of multiple use. The heat vent is well located though, as it will neither bother your mouse hand nor colleagues sitting beside you.

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On the left is simply the optical drive, which is a Super-Multi drive which can write/re-write the various DVD formats. Even the eject button on this drive feels pretty good.

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At the top of the keyboard layout lies 5 silver buttons, for (from left to right) Power4Gear, Email, Internet Browser, Touchpad Enable/Disable and Power. These metallic and stylish buttons are cool to look at and stiff to touch. The Power4Gear is for choosing the power level you want the notebook to run at, Email for accessing the default email client, and Internet Browser similarly as well (whichever program is set as default in your WindowsXP). Touchpad can be easily disabled if you use a mouse and the Power button is for, well powering your notebook on and off. Below this set of buttons are light indicators (from left to right) for CPU Processing, NumLock, CapsLock and ScrollLock.

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Further down are the metallic CD controls, which allows playback of CDs without booting. In Windows, these can be used to control Windows Media Player or ASUS DVD. Again, they look good, but are not so good to use, requiring some effort to press due to their size. On the right of the controls are more indicator lights, for (from left to right) Power, Battery charge, new email and wireless connectivity. Note that the email indicator works with only Microsoft Outlook.


Screen:

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The screen is a Transflective TFT, bright and clear with no dead pixels, looks like a job well done. It is widescreen, which is perfect for DVDs and opening multiple windows side by side (no sweat for the Duo Core processor). However, the resolution is a merely satisfactory 1280*800, but almost yesterday if you ask me though still pretty mainstream currently. Another downpoint for some would be its reflective nature, a trade-off for the nicer display, but does not bother me much. There are neither light leaks nor uneven backlighting -- further proof of the high quality ASUS is churning out.

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At the top of the screen is a Bison in-built 1.3megapixel webcam and microphone. The webcam works fine but requires third-party software to capture pictures at 1.3mp -- the default maximum is VGA. This is very curious and shows a lack of software capability on ASUS's part. Also, it is unfortunate that the webcam cannot swivel, turn nor zoom, so basically it can only see the user, some background and not much else. The mic comes with a noise suppression feature. The convenience of a webcam may be useful for some, as it really beats having another item to carry.

Speakers:

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The audio quality is supposed to be of high quality, given that it used built-in Intel High Definition audio compliant audio chip from Realtek, with 3D effect & full duplex. My verdict is that while it does sound pretty good and the 3D effect gizmo impressed me a bit, the speakers are still laptop speakers at heart, a little tinny and unimposing. With decent headphones though, this machine sounds above average. The same jack can also be used for S/PDIF output for supposedly even better results.

The position of the speakers is open to argument, they are located on either side at the front-bottom of the notebook. My guess is that this would not hinder performance when the notebook is closed, essential when you play from CDs without booting up (a feature of the A6J). More importantly, as long as the notebook is placed on a hard surface which ensures that the speakers would not be blocked, the output is just fine. Using the controls located at the front, you can pop in a CD and play instantly while saving on battery. A media player with an interface would be so much better, but I cannot complain with this bonus addition.

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Processor and Performance:

Without statistics, the ASUS A6J feels like a pretty good performer, and with good reason. Sporting a Dual-Core T2400 (1.83GHz) with 1GB SDRAM and ATI Mobility RADEON X1600 with dedicated 256MB memory expandable to 512MB shared, it had better be fast. Compared with my Pentium 4 2.53GHz desktop, it can multitask at a very significantly higher rate. I cannot be more pleased. It still takes about 15 seconds to start up Adobe Photoshop CS2 though, a program I dread using.

I am a medium-core (if there is such a thing) gamer and was looking forward to see the gaming performance. Using F.E.A.R. v1.0's test mode at medium settings but maximum resolution of 1280 * 800, I got playable frame rates of min 22, ave 36 and max 73. For Call of Duty 2 at the recommended (medium) settings at 800*600, the frame rates averaged 30. It is playable and decent, but hardly spectacular.

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Benchmarks:

I've tried to disable most of the running programs before doing the tests. First, the Super PI (2m digits) result. It's not the best but very respectable, shows that Core Duo counts for little when you're not multi-tasking:

Super PI

Next, PCMark 05 and 3DMark06. I don't know how the folks at Alienware achieve that number, but still an excellent performance from the A6J.

PCMark05

Notebook3DMark06 Score

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Heat and Noise:

Heat is also not a plus point of the ASUS A6J. It gets rather hot after extended use, especially near the right palm rest area, where I think the harddisk is located. It is ok for me though, perhaps because I live in the tropical area where it is hot anyways. But you might think twice about putting this baby on your lap, it's more a notebook than a "laptop". The adapter takes the cake -- it gets too hot even for me, and makes me wonder if it is spoilt. Still, assuming it does not malfunction, adapter heat should rarely be a problem.

Noise, on the other hand is well taken care of. The machine runs with practically no sound, and I am very happy with this aspect, except for the times when you are running a DVD or CD. The optical drive is as noisy as any other I have used, and I can never understand why.

Keyboard and Touchpad:

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The keyboard is great to use in my opinion. The buttons may be stiff to some, but personally I need the physical feedback. It comes with Fn-button shortcut buttons for Standby, Wireless/Bluetooth on/off, brightness, LCD on/off, monitor toggle, and volume mute/adjust. Pretty much standard stuff, but take note that after turning off the LCD with Fn-F7, you need to press the keys again to get it back, as opposed to any-button revive, which I think most people are used to. Also, the Fn key on the left is on the left of the left Ctrl button, which FPS gamers may not be used to initially. However being one myself, I have become more or less accustomed to it already, but I think having the Ctrl button on the extreme left edge would be ideal still.

Next is the touchpad, which looks really nice. The buttons look and feel great, and are stiff (which I like) as usual. It also sports a scroll at the side of the touchpad, easy and convenient to use yet does not hinder normal use of the pad. It is overall well-designed.

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Battery:

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The battery performance is nothing to shout about at all. It lasts a decent 2 hours 30 mins on office tasks, and about an hour less in more intensive environments. The manufacturer's Power4Gear is a necessity if you are running on battery, and thank goodness it is competent. Generally the A6J is not one for the long road, unless you have another battery or two to spare.

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Operating System and Software:

The system comes with ASUSDVD XP 6.0, Power Director V3.0 DE, Medi@Show V2.0 SE, Symantec Norton Internet Security 2005 (with 3 months subscription), Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0, NERO Express V6.0 and Microsoft Works 8, all with CDs. Of course, there is the original Windows XP home as well. Quite decent stuff.

The ASUS utility software, however leaves much to be desired. For one, the ChkMail utility works only when you have MS Outlook open. I would prefer if it would alert you of new mail (through the indicator lights) whether the email program is open and work with any client rather than just Outlook. Next, the Hotkey software does not allow customization of software. Pressing the CD Power Switch or Play button inevitably opens the ASUSDVD program, and the only alternative use for the controls is Windows Media Player. Fortunately there is a third-party software at http://power4gear.bk-kicks.com/hcontrol.htm which can allow some customization. Mine works with iTunes now. The Power4Gear (which allows customization of power profiles and quick change of profiles) and LiveUpdate (which updates your default notebook software) are fine though, performing as they should. A minor detail is for the shortcut keys for brightness, on/off Bluetooth etc., they come with cute notification icons on your screen when you use them. And I like the ASUS screensaver, it makes use of the sounds, animation and even the webcam to conjure a cool effect.

Customer Support:

I have yet to try out the customer support, and am hoping that I would not need them! But their provision of global customer support for 2 years is excellent and they have a nice little wallet-sized card with worldwide support telephone numbers.

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Extras:

I've yet to see a review that talks about the included laptop bag and mouse, so here's a first.
Bag: Not much to look at, and not exactly good to use either. It is too flimsy and thin for my liking, providing just adequate protection at best and not much space to put anything else. Worse, it isn't beautiful. Be prepared to fork out extra for a better carrier.

Mouse: Excellent in my opinion, a Logitech product. Looks stylish, not too small for proper use, and works fine. Also, the wire is not too long and can be wound round the mouse and the USB plug clips firmly only the bottom. Nice.

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Conclusion:

Summary of Pros and Cons:

Pros:

• Excellent build quality - keys, buttons, and screen firm and well built
• Great Duo Core and graphics performance
• Classy look
• Beautiful screen
• Carbon fiber material
• Inexpensive
• Wealth of connectivity options
• I like the mouse!

Cons:

• Heavy
• Too hot for lap use, and warm around palm area as well
• Extremely hot adapter
• Keys, buttons, and screen may be too firm for some
• Clustering of USB ports
• Poor ASUS software for controlling webcam and shortcut keys
• Poor battery life
• No security features
• No expresscard slot

To summarize, the A6J is not a business notebook as touted, except for its looks. It is heavy, gets hot, doesn't last long without AC power and there are no implementations for securing your data. In fact, mine came with Windows XP home! Women generally should also avoid this machine -- it's too bulky, heavy and manly. However, it is a great product for students, casual-hardcore gamers, and power users. It is low-cost for its specs yet feels and looks expensive and performs well. If you can overlook all the mentioned disadvantages as I have, I would fully and sincerely recommend this product.

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Very nice and informative review! Too bad about the heat issue and the short battery life. This is a powerful machine, I was a bit surprise at it not scoring higher on the 3DMark06 test. Did you update any new/different drivers?

 

yah, nice review, was surprised on the 3dmark06 and was surprised you din't get better FPS for gaming... i suggest you rebench on 3dmark05 and see if it scores close to 4000+ something like that.

Awsome pics.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

Nice review. Is the A6J available in the US?

 

Great review Kevin. A lot of thought went into that, thanks for your efforts.

As far as the notebook goes - the X1600 is a wonderful graphics card, the 3DMark06 score shows that. Can't beat it in a mid-size notebook. I also like the addition of a DVI-D port, that's a rarity on notebooks. For some reason, 99% of laptops lack them.

I like your description of the keyboard. My Sager's keyboard is somewhat stiff, but it can be good. You definitely know when a key is pressed down.

The free bag is nice, I got one with my laptop - alas, it is pretty bad. No padding, and mind barely fits in it. Yours seems to be the same way - nice that it's included, yet it is pretty pathetic. I didn't get a free mouse though, Asus is nice to include that.

Great job, enjoy the notebook.

Chaz

 

is your cpu set to dynamic switching? and did you test the battery life at full LCD brightness?

 

One of the better reviews I've read in a while. Good job
I'm definitely a huge Asus fan... and it looks like the A6J is a great consumer-minded workhorse. Probably not so much a business notebook... (that category is probably better left for the V series)

However, all in all, the A series is looking solid to me!

 

the asus a6jc is available in the u.s. but not this model (a6ja).

 

Great Review, but not a good laptop. I mean, with so much cut throat competetion now a days, why do venders even bother making these things. Asus sure knows it stuff and churns out arguably some the best laptops now, but now an overheating, lesser battery life 15.4" that isn't renovatively good looking at all is a big downer, not to mention the really poor port arrangement. I wouldn't buy this for sure with so many other options out there in this catagory.

??: I notice that the indicators like HDD, Wireless, battery etc are just printed on top of the LEDs. At night time, how does one identify what LED is corresponding with what function?? Does the LEDs have a relevent masking on them?

 

My gf has a A3H. It looks pretty similar to this laptop except the position of indicator lights and the config is 15', Celeron 1.5 and intel inergrated graphic. The webcam and the screen's quility are pretty good. The only complain is touchpoint is too stiff. For a laptop with X1600 GPU, I think its normal to produces some heat. Nice review by the way!

 

This laptop is the only choice if you want a laptop with X1600 and Core Duo for a good price. If you begin to look at Acer or Dell you have to go down to a X1400, and thats pretty bad. This laptop doesnt have more overheating problem than any other laptop with a decent gfx card.

Porr port arrangement? Jesus, how many laptops today got a VGA and a DVI-D output? I can live with some USB ports being placed on the back...

The indicators got different colors, not a problem. And well, how can you not identify them right? Power on status, batter charging status, email status and wireless activity status is hard to not understand.

Fan of this laptop, yes, but i think i got all reasons to be it. Its really a great laptop.

One thing is bugging me, i got the same model, but with 1.66 GHz Core Duo and still i get the same result in SuperPi. You should get a better result. Btw i get 4071 3DMark05 points with some overclocking so this laptop got some more to give

 

Has anyone had a chance to run Oblivion on this laptop yet? I'd really like to see how it performs!

 

Great review...

Too bad about that heat, why dont you send back that adapter, maybe it is a manifacturing fault?

Good luck

Charlie-Peru

 

Wel, if the LEDs have an overlay and glows in the shape of a battery, wireless, HDD etc, then it would be easy. Else, in the dart, one would first have to learn the color coding to identify what is happening.

So does it have an overlay, meaning, does the LEDs glow in the shape of the relevent aspect it is indicating?

 

Theres no overlay. But you dont have to learn the colors because its easily to undestand whats happening, is the laptop powered on? Okay thats why the LED to the left is shining green, do i have the AC plugged in? Okay thats why the orange LED is shining. Do i surf the web thru wlan? Okay thats why the LED to the right is showing some activity. You see theres not really a problem

 

Why would you even really have to look at the lights to know whats happening. i mean they are just their they dont serve much of a purpose.

 

It performs great and looks incredible! I play it on native resolution (1280x800) with HDR enabled and some settings set to high and some to medium. I didn't measure FPS but the game is totally playable and loading times are pretty short as well. Notebook does get pretty warm though, and cooler kicks in more often than in other games like BF2 for example.

I got the same configuration as the reviewer, only difference is that mine has 2 GB of RAM and 7200 rpm HD.

 

so I have to ask again, is this model of the a6j going to be on sale in the usa anytime soon?

I dont see it upcoming on the asus resellers sites I looked at, but maybe because they already have the different version with the lower gpu, a 7400 I think, I hold out hope.

I mean I dont understand, this is the model that you would think most consumers are looking for...

 

Thanks for clarifying David 86 - that's what I thought when I first saw the 3Dmark score ~ so low! With an X1600 256MB DDR?

 

Hey all, thanks for the kind comments, glad you like the review. I will try to answer some of the questions posted so far.

drak0n/stamar:
Sorry I don't live in the U.S., anyone retailer/customer from there care to reply when this model might be available, if at all?

jujube/MysticGolem/David86:
I'm too lazy to download/install 3DMark05, so I scoured the net for some other benchmarks instead (specs different from mine are in brackets):

3DMark05: 3514
(2GHz Duo Core, 2GB RAM, x1600 with 128 VRAM)
http://sg.vr-zone.com/?i=3114&s=8

3DMark05: 2546
3DMark06: 1446
(1.66GHz Duo Core)
http://www.cnet.com.au/mobilecomputing/notebooks/0,39029096,40059621
,00.htm

3DMark05: 3317
(1.66GHz Duo Core, 512GB RAM)
http://older_past.soit.com.cn/evaldetail-23169.html

I ran 3DMark06 once more, and got exactly the same score (1819)! Irrefutable, imho


Notice there are some discrepancies but generally, they don't go over 4000. Like ChazMan421 said, probably a 3DMark06 score of 1819 is pretty good already. Unless of course you overclock it as David86 did... I like his score. (Oh yeah David86, I ran Super PI immediately after running 3DMark06 and got 1m 19s, whereas for the review I did it after a clean reboot and was 3s slower. Pray tell me why!)

Btw, my tests were done at default settings, i.e. Resolution 1280 x 800, Anti-Aliasing: None, Filtering: Optimal. And ATI is not providing new drivers for Mobility cards after x800 yet, I don't know why. So I assume mine's the newest available, same as the on on the ASUS support site.

SRD: My apologies, I am not a notebook deity and don't know what's dynamic switching. Maybe you can enlighten me on that. But yes, battery life was tested at full LCD brightness.

Cerebral_mamba: As David86 replied, there's no overlay but personally I think you'll be familiar with the location/colours of the lights in no time.

smajky/David86: You both have similar models right? Do post some benchmarks/FPS if you have time, better to have a second opinion.

Hitman: Nah, the adapter is hot but not a problem. Useful when my mom runs out of gas when cooking.

 

as for the dynamic switching. power4 gear has multiple settings. some run the CPU at full speed wich will kill battery life. dynamic switching is when the cpu is in a mode that it will run at 800mhz to 1.86 or whatever your cpu full speed it. when not needed it run at slower speeds and as soon as you need more cpu the mhz jumps up. saves battery life. or you can run it at 800mhz completely saving even more battery life. Most on this forum use centrino hardware control. But i dont think they have a version out for the core duo yet. But it gives total comtrol of cpu voltage and speeds and other features. Monitors heat and battery life. and allows to extend what juice you have left.

 

whats the Difference or advantage between the A6j and MSI-1039?

 

Whats the difference or advantage between the A6j and MSI-1039 ?

 

They're two different manufacturers for one. The MSI-1039 uses an AMD Turion processor versus the Core Duo in the Asus. They aren't direct competitors.

 

Ah... I see, thanks for explaining. I've always been running on full CPU speed then, not the battery saving mode kind. Maybe that's why the battery performance isn't great.

 

Dear reviewer stated that the lack of Expresscard is a real con.. but I think - for now - when there is almost no Expresscard devices, PCMCIA is an advantage!

 

i have roughly the same laptop as urs, and im glad to haf this laptop

 

Oh personally I am slightly worried abt the Expresscard slot cos of MIMO/802.11n routers... I might wanna upgrade in forseeable future and am not sure if they're Expresscard only. But yeah for now, PCMCIA is great

 

duepeace, thanks for the great review. after reading it this laptop has quickly jumped to the top of my list. on paper anyhow it appears to be exactly what I am looking for.

one question I have though is around the soundcard. does anyone know what the make/model or full specs of the card are? I may be using my laptop for some computer music stuff so I'd at least want a decent soundcard in it.

if anyone has links to additional reviews that would be great also. I found the one on PCWorld but that's it so far. I'm curious what others think of the battery runtime and the heat relative to other modern laptops?

Thanks,
Brian

 

if you like A6J ... you might also want to see the reviews on the following asus models:

A6JA - built-in 256MB on X1600 (A6J only have 128MB)
A6JC
A6JM

A8 models 14inch

S96J - much cheaper version..

 

Great review, I just got one myself, it's excellent. I use Adobe Creative Suite CS 2 and it runs everything perfectly, far better than my old comp.

One question though - is there a way to adjust the brightness, contrast and colour temperature on the screen?

I have only found how to adjust the backlight with FN5/6, but not brightness, contrast and colour temp.

I am impressed with the screen, it's clear and sharp, however it is very bright, and it also seems a little cold, too much blue. I need my screen to look more natural, so I can get an idea of what something is going to look like when printed.

Thanks,
RS

 

Oh and one more thing that's puzzling, is without running asus power gear 4, the CPU clocks in at only 1.0 ghz :S

To get it full speed I need to enable asus power gear and select super performance etc.

It seems odd to me, without being controlled by APG, and without being able to edit the clock speed in the BIOS, I thought it would clock at the maximum by default.