Asus W5343A-BH

Sony is the only PC manufacturer that has ever come close to competing with Apple where style is concerned, although you will pay through the nose for its products. So we were pleased to see the Asus W5, a notebook computer that looked fantastic in both a style and financial sense.

It's not just the white casing that caught our attention, but the way in which everything in this notebook seems to fit - the buttons around the screen, the completely flat trackpad and the curvy corners that perfectly join when the case is shut.

The only thing that looks out of place is the battery pack which, once attached, sticks out an inch or so from the back. Nevertheless, the PC is very small and weighs just 1.6kg.

The W5 contains a Pentium M 730 processor that runs at 1.6GHz and uses Intel's latest Sonoma platform. Sonoma is the successor to Centrino, which improves audio, allows notebooks to use faster mobile processors and offers support for PCI Express graphics while providing longer battery life and easy connection to wireless networks.

With 512Mb of memory to back it up, the W5 performed very well in our tests, excelling in office and internet tasks.

High-intensity visual work (video editing and gaming) slowed the notebook down a little, but this was to be expected because of the integrated graphics. It's a shame Asus didn't make use of Sonoma's ability to use PCI Express graphics but this would have pushed the price up significantly. It will play 3D games, but cannot handle the detail level that dedicated graphics card can.

What is nice, though, is the 12.1in TFT screen that uses a bespoke technology called Crystal Shine. Similar to Sony's X-Black screen technology, it allows for greater contrast and image definition, which essentially means a better picture.

Some may find the screen a bit too reflective at times, especially if there is a bright light source nearby, but for the most part it improves picture quality in Windows applications, games and DVD movies.

A 60Gb hard disk is fitted, which should be more than enough for this notebook's target audience of portable users. A recordable DVD drive that supports all single-layer disc formats bar DVD-RAM is also built-in, which will allow you to archive up to 4.7Gb of data on one disc.

On the top of the screen is an integrated 1.3-megapixel digital camera, which can rotate 180 degrees and will take pictures good enough to send via email and for use in video messaging. You also get some handy software that can be used to connect to Wi-Fi hotspots with no fuss.

Asus has managed to squeeze three USB 2 ports, a mini FireWire and a 3-in-1 memory card reader into the case too. It comes with Windows XP Home but no additional software, so you'll have add this to the overall cost.

Battery life was good, lasting for just over two and a half hours before a recharge, and a power-saving button above the keyboard allows you to switch between modes depending on what you're doing, such as watching DVDs, working with digital photos or surfing the web.

This notebook comes with some really good components for the price but is best suited to those on the move, and not as a replacement for a desktop PC.

Contact:
Asus 0870 120 8340
uk.asus.com