Asus W5F Review (pics, specs)

by Ivan Gabric, Croatia

Overview and Introduction:

The Asus W5F is somewhere between being anultraportable and just "portable". The W5F features a 12.1" widescreen glossy display, built-in optical drive, the Intel Core Duo processor and excellent battery life. It's a well built notebook with a nice designand ismoderately priced at around $1,700.

My W5F was purchased configured as follows:

• Intel Core Duo Processor T2300 1.66GHz
• 1 GB DDR2 533 MHz SDRAM
• 12.1" WXGA Color-Shine (Glare-type) and Crystal-Shine (High brightness) LCD
• Embedded Intel 945GM
• Hard Drive: 2.5" 80 GB (5400 rpm) HDD
• Optical Drive: Built-in DVD-RW
• Communications: Modem, LAN, WLAN (802.11 a/b/g), BlueTooth
• Sound: Integrated Intel High Definition Audio chip (Azalia)
• Ports: 1.3 Mega Pixel web camera, 1 x Express card 54, 1 x Microphone-in jack, 1 x Headphone-out jack (S/PDIF), 1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin for external monitor, 1 x TV Out (S-Video composite), 3 x USB 2.0 ports, 1x IEEE 1394 port, 1 x RJ11 Modem jack for phone line, 1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert
• Dimensions: 305 x 220 x 31mm (W x D x H) (12" x 8.6" x 1.2")
• Weight: 1.6kg (3.5lbs)
• Also Bundled: Standard DVD software and a small Bluetooth mouse (Logitech rebranded to Asus) and a carrying bag

Asus W5F out of the box (view large image)

Reasons for Buying:

The most popular laptops are mainstream15.4" WXGA notebooks -- butI instead wanted a smaller notebook that I could:

• Easily carry around
• Use for prolonged periods of time without external power
• Use for the next 2 years
• Watch movies and use for light work

This meant that a 12.1" - 14" laptop would best fit my needs. I settled on the Asus W5F in the end, but it had had fiece competition in the form of theSony SZ line, IBM/Lenovo Z61t, Apple MacBook, and Dell Latitude X1.

Where and How Purchased:

Since I live in Croatia, it was a problem to get a custom built model of the Asus W5Fso I went with one offered by a company named Mikronis. It was paid forwith hard earned cash, 14,500 kn, which translated into dollars is about $2,500. In the USAyou can get the W5F for about $1,700, but with 22% tax here in Croatia the price climbs quickly on you. If I could have bought it for $1,700 I would have considered it a very fair price!

Build & Design:

The Asus W5Fdesign is very simple, it uses straight edgesand clean lines. My model is black and there are no antennas or any other external features sticking out. I don't think it'sas stylish or trendy as the Sonyand notasbusiness-like as theIBM/Lenovo ThinkPad laptops but rather falls somewhere inbetween those notebooks.I adore the simplicity and elegance ofthe blackmagnesium lid.Asus isn't flashy, it's very moderate, but given the choice between glossy piano black casing and moderate I choose this.

The laptop itself is very thin, most ports are located on the sides, while the rear is occupied by the batterypack.

The build quality is average, again not like the IBM ThinkPad level ofruggednessbut not bad overall. The plastic casing doesn't bend, the screen hinges are good, there is no screen flex, and there are no hot spotson the palm rest area or the keyboard. The screen is held down only by the hinges and there is no latch mechanism, you can open it with one hand, but it's firm enough when closed so that it willnot open by itself or under stress.

Size comparison of Asus W5F to a toy poodle -- and you decide which is cuter (view large image)

Size comparison to 8.5 x 11 paper (A4 paper) (view large image)

Screen:

The W5 series has a 12.1" glossy screen. The resolution is 1280 x 800. The screen is absolutely fabulous, the colors are vivid, there is no ghosting, video played on it looks great, the text is crisp. I use the screen set at 70% brightness during normal use. I find the glossy screen reflections are minimal and not annoying. It's allpraise for W5 in the screen department.

The light leakage is minimal and present on the bottom and the top of the screen, but in use it's not noticeable.

The screen in almost completely dark, the image is a bit fuzzybecause of the camera and high ISO value (view large image)

Light leakage test, there are2 dark spots left and right but while watching you will not notice them (view large image)

All white test, brightness is evenly distributed all around (view large image)

(view large image)

Angle views, no color distortion, the fuzziness is due to high ISO value on my camera

(view large image)

Speakers:

The W5F isa small laptop with small speakers to match, they are good enough for some basic sound needs -- maybe even listening to some music and a watching a film if you're not too picky. The speakers are loud enough but there is no bass. Considering the size and given this is an ultraportable the speakers are okay.

Processor and Performance:

I love theIntel Core Duo equipped in this notebook --it's excellent. I'm not a power user but sometimes when I do need some CPU power this processor has got it. My desktop machine (dual core AMD Opteron 165 @ 2.6 GHz) is only a bit faster when compared to the Core Duo in CPU demanding operations. The memory speed department for the W5Fisn't that great, memory reads are quite slow, but more that enough for most users and applications.

The hard drive performanceis what would you expect fromnormal 2.5" drive, slow but passable.

Overall performance in Windows and CPU related applications is great, almost excellent, graphics benchmarks are not includedbelow because there is nothing to expect from anintegrated graphics solution notebook. However,somenon-high end games are certainlyplayable, for example I play chess master with 3D chess sets without any problem.

Benchmarks:

PCMark05

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Asus W5F (1.66GHz Core Duo)	2,839PCMarks
Fujitsu N6410(1.66GHz Core Duo)	3,487 PCMarks
Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60)	5,597PCMarks
Sony Vaio SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)	3,637 PCMarks
Dell Inspiron e1405 (1.66 GHz Intel T2300)	2,879PCMarks
Asus V6J (1.86GHz Core Duo T2400)	3,646 PCMarks
Toshiba Satellite M70 (Pentium M1.86GHz)	1,877 PCMarks

Super Pi Results

Notebook	Time
Asus W5F (Core Duo @ 1 GHz - power save mode)	2m 8s
Asus W5F (Core Duo @ 1.66GHz - normal speed)	1m 23s
Gateway M255 (2.0GHz Core Duo)	1m 15s
Lenovo Z61m (2.0GHz Core Duo)	1m 16s
IBM ThinkPad T43 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 45s
IBM ThinkPad Z60m (2.0 GHz Pentium M)	1m 36s
Fujitsu LifeBook N3510 (1.73 GHz Pentium M)	1m 48s
Dell Inspiron 6000D (1.6 GHz Pentium M)	1m 52s
Dell Inspiron 600M (1.6 GHz Pentium M)	2m 10s
HP Pavilion dv4000 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 39s
Asus V6Va (Pentium M 1.86 GHz)	1m 46s
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core Duo)	1m 18s

HD tach

Average Read: 28.7 MB/s
Burst Read: 81 MB/s

(view large image)

Everest Ultimate Edition 2006

MemoryRead: 3841 MB/s
MemoryWrite: 3020 MB/s
Memory Copy: 2931 MB/s
MemoryLatency: 99.2 ns

Heat and noise:

Thermal managementkeeps the CPU at around 50-51 C. Thisseems a lotto me because I am used to 35-45 C from my desktop Opteron processor. All the same, it's quite satisfactory, as it's not warm for me to hold the W5F inmy lap. Only when you put your hand on the exhaust do you feelwarm air.During full load usage you can see processor temps up to 65 C, but it's still only hot air coming fromthe vent --there is NO heat rising to the keyboard area and the palm rests, andit'sstil comfortable to hold inthe lap at these temps. Under full load and when using alower CPU speed (battery performance mode)the temperature stays around 55-57 C. The fan is very quietfor temperatures upto 55 C, afterthe system reaches that temp the fankicks in faster andit's audible but not irritating.

Keyboard and Touchpad:

(view large image)

The keyboard is very good, there's almost no flex at all, it's very nice to type on it. Not as good as a ThinkPad keyboard butgetting there. My model has an additional letter so I have a smaller Enter key but for a laptop of this size it's quitea good size. The FN is the leftmost key -- I like it that way but some people don't (sometimes the Ctrl key comes before the Fn). The top-row F keys all have a function: volume, screen, sleep, wlan, switch output and kill touchpad.

Wireless switch and Power4Gear button (adjusts processor speed) (view large image)

The touchpad is in line with the case (as in it'snot lowered into the case), but it's meshed so you have very good control. It's fast and precise -- one of the best touchpads I have used. The only thing I miss is the IBM/Lenovo light for thekeyboard so I can type in the dark (I actually don't need it but it's cool)!

The touchpad has the function of horizontal and vertical scroll and I have become addicted to this feature, it works perfectly and is a very natural way to scroll.

Input and Output Ports:

Front:

Front view of Asus W5F (view large image)

Back:

Back view of Asus W5F (view large image) -Kensington lock, USB, SVHS, DC in

Left:

Left side view of Asus W5F (view large image)- Modem, LAN, USB, Firewire, DVDRW, Card Reader

Right:

Right side view of Asus W5F (view large image) -Express card, volume knob, Mic in, Headphones/SPDIFmini, USB, and VGA

Underside

(view large image)

Wireless:

The W5F is equipped with the Intel 3945a/b/g mini wireless card. Nothing special here: it hasgood reception and good throughput --around 20Mbit when close to the access point and around 12-14 Mbit when on the other side of my flat. That's with WEP encryption.

The Bluetooth 2.0 is excellent and works perfectly. No WAN adapters here.

Battery:

I got 2 batteries in my pack --a 3-cell and6-cell battery. The 3 cell is in line with the back of thelaptop while the 6 cell sticks out about an inch and raises the machine slightly, which is actually good for typing.

lid closed with 3-cell battery in (view large image)

lid closed with 6-cell battery in (view large image)

The 6-cell model can supply power for up to 3 hours and 45 minutes if WLAN is on and screen brightness is set to 60%. With WLAN off and screen at 60% I get 4 hours and 20 minutes out of the 6-cell and 1h and 50 min out of the 3 cell. Maximum load drains the 6-cell in 2h and 30 minutes. If you use wireless and have your screen brightness at a moderate level then using both batteries you can go up to 5.5 hours without recharging.

Watching DVD's I get some 3h and 30 minutes from the 6-cell. You canimprove the batterystamina by reducingCPU power. I use 1 GHz per core at 1V. Instead of Power4gear supplied by Asus I chose Notebook Hardware Control to manipulate the CPU speedbutboth programsare basically doing the same thing.

Overall battery performance is very good. And the batteries charge up quite fast.

The power brick is quite small and light and never gets warm --a big plus for Asus (actually it's made by delta electronics). It's rated at 65W but NHC reports max usage power at 40W so there is a lot of headroom for the power brick.

Operating System and Software:

My model came without an OS but using the supplied driver CD and my own Windows CD I had the machine up and running in under 2h.

Customer Support:

The W5F I bought has a24 months standard warranty. You can upgrade theRAM without voiding the warranty but that's about it -- everything else you doto change the laptop configuration voidsthe warranty. Asus has all the drivers on their web page andso a clean install is quite easy even with out the supplied CD.

Conclusion:

Asus W5F is a definitive best buy foranybody looking for a small, slim, portable, durable and powerful notebook under $2,000!

Pros:

• Good design
• Solid Build quality
• Good battery life
• Very good performance levels
• Well priced (outside of Croatiaat least) --$1,700 in the U.S.
• Quite small and portable

Cons:

• No fingerprint reader (not for me but for some people it's a problem)
• No cute little light to shine on my keyboard when in the dark
• No trackpoint pointing stick
• No serial port (I need it to use JTAG interface)
• No Gigabit LAN
• No Infrared port (but you get Bluetooth so it's not a big problem)

 

Great review....but love the poodle more, but then I also have one so maybe Im biased...looks almost the same as yours!
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ST labs have a pc card that creates a serial port , maybe they have one in express format as well - I use mine to hook up a serial tablet .

That poodle looks mean ...

 

I think ASUS really spoiled the look of the system by having that super thick bezel around the screen.

 

Nice review! The W5F is a nice ultraportable to use. Cute poodle, btw.

 

Great review. I'm on the market but so far only the Dell M1210 and the Macbook are the most interesting to me. I do want one of those Silence of the lambs poodles though. I would name her Precious. A poodle review would be cool...

 

nice review

but do both the 3 and 6-cell batteries come as standard? If the 6 cell battery drains in 4hours 20, isn't that fairly ordinary for a 12" laptop?

 

Great review!

I agree with this, I really dislike how thick the bezel is. I don't know why they have to add so much width just to include the webcam.

 

The Dell M1210 uses just about the same look. I don't mind it so much at it does give the machine a more "muscular" look, which is sort of cool (and ironic) on an ultraportable. I do agree it's not as sleek looking as a thin bezel though.

 

Well the poodle is not mine it's my gf's but its always around so i used the poodle for size comparison

I didn't like the thick bezel at first but if it were any smaller then the keyboard woudl be smaller too and that would be a problem cos the keyboard is very well sized... If Asus had put the 13'3" screen then the bezel would be a lot smaller.

@canonyau

Both batteries came in my pack. I didn't pay for 2.

 

Lol, cute poodle. The W5 is probably my favorite ultraportable. It's so cute. ^^;

 

Thanks for the review,

One question, you mentioned 4:20h of batery life with the processor at 1.66 Ghz,correct?

Any guess of how much improovement can the powersave mode to 1ghz make?


Thanks

 

you only gave the build quality an average rating? you said it's no flex, no bending, good magnesium lid, strong hinges, how much better can it get? nothing stacks up to Thinkpads, so the W5F should be pretty good...right?

i've seen reviews w/ build quality mentioned as "excellent" when there's slight flex and ripples on the screen!