Adrian’s Blog

Here I am reviewing my Asus notebook. Bought it on 10th of December 2006 at Evernew, Imbi Plaza. A 2006 Christmas present for myself. Exactly 12 days have I played around with it. Here comes my full review.

Spefication

Model———> Asus F3F

CPU———–> Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo T5500

—————-> Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 CPU T5500 @ 1.66GHz

RAM———–> Kingston 1GB DDR2, PC2-5300 (333 MHz)

Core Logic—> Intel 945GM

HDD———–> 80GB 5400RPM SATA

Drive———> DVD/CDRW

Graphic——> GMA 945 Chipset

Screen——-> 15.4” WXGA Colour & Crystal Shine Glare-Type

Comms——> Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG

Camera—–> Integrated 1.3MP webcam/mic

Port———> 4xUSB 2.0, 4 in 1 Flash Card Reader, Headphone,

————–> SPDIF, Mic-in, IEEE1394, Kensington Lock,

————–> Express Card, TV Out, Modem, LAN

OS———–> Microsoft XP Pro SP2 (Vista Capable)

Colour——-> Silver/Black

Asus F3F

Looking at Asus F3F, it looks much like an elegant machine spotting a 15.4” WXGA LCD in what Asus calls a Colour Shine (glare type) and Crystal Shine (high brightness) model. These provide great contrast, sharpness and colour saturation but viewing angle is diminished due to the glossy surface.

The button above keyboard which access media as well as Asus Utility quick launch are nicely placed.

Experiencing with widescreen is something new to me and it looks GREAT! The Asus F3F is quite big as a notebook and weighing at 2.7kg. (I love big screen) I would say it sits firmly in the middle range of the market.

Wolf in sheep clothing

Open the hood (err lid) and there is elegant exterior design carries right over into the interior as well. I like the black keyboard and clean lines of this notebook. Inside, this baby runs on the latest Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo processor and utilizing a 512mb DDR2 ram slot. *Upgraded another Kingston DDR2 512mb to 1gb of ram. (To be ready for Vista Ultimate)

The keyboard has good textile feedback and all the key are well placed with FN key as well. The touchpad has scrolling at the right side as well as a piece of join left and right click. Not very used to it yet. I have been using mouse for too long. Hehe…

Then, there is a 4 in 1 card reader. It’s clearly written Ms/Pro/Sd/MMC. Don’t you ever dare to stick your MSPD (pro duo) inside that card reader. I plug in my 1GB MSPD into it and GUESS what? It’s too small and stuck inside. After trying for many time at last I got it out by using a small piece of cut board and masking tape. Don’t ask me how I did it but phew, it’s out now. Just remember to plug in MSPD adapter next time.

Connectivity wise, there is wireless 3945ABG but no Bluetooth presence in this Asus F3F although there is a Bluetooth icon crafted nicely on bottom of the keyboard. According to Asus, it’s only on selected model only. Duh..

The Pros

Unlike most notebooks which have USB port concentrated all on the sides, this Asus has two USB 2.0 port on the right and two behind, which is actually quite good as I can opt to have external mouse plugged into the back (so cable are out of way) while other peripherals can be plugged in to the right side ports away from the DVD drive. Neat indeed!

The built in 1.3MP webcam is great for VOIP application like MSN Messenger or Skype, providing very good quality images. Love the elegant design of the webcam!

Battery life is good for a notebook of this size. Tested once before in Starbucks running wifi for about 3+ hours before it goes down to 40%. I guess doing 4 or 5 hours surfing is not a problem. (I guess Power4 Gear utility by Asus really helps) I must say that it beats down hard on battery life on other notebook competitor.

15.4” Widescreen XGA aspect ratio is great for DVD movie and with a 1200×800 resolution, its ideal for any office application.

The Cons

What I didn’t like much on this F3F is the low speaker quality. Audio quality is not very good. Lacking in bass I would said. Harmon Kardon speaker keeps running in my mind. I am not sure how good the quality is but Toshiba notebook comes with it while Compaq with Altec Lancing brand. This Asus I believe bearing their owned Asus speaker. *Upgraded to Altec Lansing V2110 external speaker. Btw, the output jack/heaphone is infront. So it’s a little bit uncomfortable.

Another thing which actually I don’t bother much is Intel Mobile 945GM chipset which is pretty standard for Core 2 Duo based product. The GM suffix also means that on board graphics solution is used; the Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 945 is not too shabby, but dun expect to be able to run latest games. Of course preferable an ATI Radeon X1600 or Nvidia Geforce Go7400 will be a lot better but the price of this GC could shoot up an additional Rm1200 to this existing price with same spec. Anyway, I dun play games on my notebook. PS2 is enough.

This machine bundled only with DVD/CDRW and not DVD+/-RW. Would love to burn not only CD but DVD as well.

Software

Tested Photoshop CS2 rendering high 70% feather on selected area and running at best quality radial blur filter, and still able to run Illustrator with a little hiccups while listening to WMP 11. So called multi tasking. There is no slouch when comes to performance thanks to the Core 2 Duo Processor. Adding another 512mb of DDR2 ram into an empty slot will be better thus utilizing dual channel memory.

This Asus come bundle only with Dos OS. Got to add another RM500 for the genuine Microsoft Xp Pro.

Worth it?

Overall, Asus F3F is one good looking design and up to par machine. Another positive point is that it’s quite reasonably priced for what it offers. It is sturdily built and the hinges feel rock solid. However, should anything goes wrong; there is always Asus dependable 2 year’s international warranty. I guess that’s all for my Asus F3F review.

Pros: Nice design, well placed keyboard, button and ports, good battery life, built in 1.3MP webcam/mic, latest Core 2 Duo processor.

Cons: Low speaker quality, Standard GMA, no DVD+/-RW burner.

* Upgraded on 27th December 2006