Asus W3N Review

The Asus W3N series is a somewhat special series as it’s physically small and still has the performance to be a desktop replacement. The notebook is clearly targeted for people on the go that don’t want to compromise with either speed or features. This is possible with the Centrino technology and a powerful graphics chip. The potential is definitely there so let’s see how it actually performs.

Asus isn’t known for sparing the accessories and they haven’t done it this time either:

- Quick-start guide in 15 languages (including Danish, Norwegian and Swedish)
- User manual in English
- Installation guide (drivers and utilities) in English
- Modem cable
- S-Video to composite cable (for TV-Out)
- Recovery CD
- Driver CD
- Asus DVD version 5.0.1107
- Asus PowerDirector DE SE version 3.0.1208
- Asus Medi@Show 2.0
- Nero OEM Suite version 6.3.1.25
- Games Power (CD with game demos including Splinter Cell, WarCraft 3 and Colin McRae Rally)
- Gun Metal – War Transformed (Game Demo)
- Battle Engine Aqulia (Game Demo)
- Notebook Warranty Card
- Chart with telephone numbers and contact information for Asus-Service
- Wireless optical mouse (produced by Logitech)
- USB Dongle for the wireless mouse
- Shoulder bag in nylon
- Travel Drawer (dummy module for replacement of the optical drive)
- Primary battery (8 cell, 4800 mAh)

Processor	1700 MHz Mobile Intel Pentium-M 735 (Centrino)
RAM	512 MB DDR RAM
Hard Disk	60 GB 4200 RPM HD
Optical Drive	DVD+/-RW Dual Layer
Graphics Chip	ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 with 64MB DDR-RAM
Display	14" TFT WXGA (1280x768) Color-Shine LCD
Communication	V.90 modem, 10/100/1000 Mbit Ethernet, Bluetooth, IEEE1394 Firewire, 802.11g WLAN
Battery	Li-Ion
Operating System	Windows XP Pro DK
Pointing Device	Touchpad
Weight	2,2 kilo
Other	Card Reader
Price	DKK 12.795

I’d like to add a little note to the listed weight. If you carefully read the specifications from Asus you’ll notice that the 2.2 kilos are measured with a travel drawer and a 4-cell battery. This explains why the notebook weights 2565 gram on our own weight as the notebook is shipped with an 8-cell battery. You can also discuss the relevance of weighting the notebook with the travel drawer. It’s true you can replace the optical drive in times were low weight is necessary though it seems as a little too creative way to list the weight in our opinion. After all the notebook does come with an optical drive and therefore it should be included in the official weight. It measures 33.0 cm wide, 24.7 cm deep and 3.0-3.27 cm tall.

The keyboard in this notebook is a full-size one with the special Windows hotkeys. The keyboard has a really good keystroke and I’m delighted that Asus have upped themselves in this regard as they’ve previously used keyboards that were below their line of quality. It seems tight and doesn’t have that wobbling feeling like some other models suffers from. The Function button is located in the lower left corner of the keyboard which I’m not personally a fan of though it’s something you’ll quickly get used to. The Function button is used for various hotkey purposes like standby, hibernating, WLAN on/off, brightness, backlight, toggle from LCD to an external display, mute, volume controls and of course scroll and num lock. The biggest complaint about the keyboard is the placement of the Home/End, Page Up/Down and Ins/Del buttons. They’re placed on the rim to the right while I’d prefer a placement along the lines of the more regular keyboards or that of IBM’s though you’ll get used to this setup rather quickly too.

The hotkeys on this keyboard is a very positive surprise and in addition to being placed anonymously in the side they have some good points too. They’re located like this:

Right side:
- Asus Power4Gear
- Bluetooth on/off
- Internet hotkey
- WLAN on/off
- Touchpad on/off

Left side (Media Control):
- Media Player
- Rewind
- Stop
- Play/Pause
- Forward

As it appears from the list the left side of hotkeys it dedicated to the AudioDJ system. It’s a really smart feature that enables you to play CDs without having to boot the notebook. Instead you simply press the CD button which allows you to insert a CD and listen to it without having to boot the notebook – very clever. If the notebook is booted they’re used for the Media Player.

The right side has two buttons that I’m particularly fond of – the touchpad on/off and Asus Power4Gear. To be able to disable the touchpad with the press of a single button is very handy in my opinion. The Asus Power4Gear button is also very handy and the system is quite simple. You have some preset battery modes you can easily cycle through with the press of a button. The smart part about the Asus Power4Gear program is they’ve developed it so you can adjust these settings. For example when you’re choosing the presentation mode the program automatically activates the external VGA port and changes resolution to 800x600 or 1024x768 to fit with the projectors and similar equipment.

Full size | Medium size

Note! We’re sorry we haven’t been able to take a decent picture of the keyboard. Please refer to the review of the Asus W3V which is the successor to the W3N.

Widescreen displays are being more and more popular for the home user as well as the business user. This development naturally results in more notebooks being shipped with widescreens and this model is no exception. We’re dealing with a 14” Colour-Shine display with a native WXGA resolution of 1280x768.

Colour-Shine, Glare-Type, Crystal Clear and High-Glare are all fancy words for the same expression meaning the surface of the LCD screen is a blank display. It gives the image a crisp quality and cleaner colours. Unfortunately there’s the downside that the blank surface naturally reflects far more light and it’s especially true in well-light rooms. Many prefer this type of display though I personally prefer the matte coating that gives the display a more uniform light especially in well-light rooms or in the sunlight. Though there’s no denying that the Colour-Shine display has some very vibrant and sharp colours.

The display also has a very fine angle of perception both vertically and horizontally. Of course the colours decline the closer you get to the side but you have to look at a pretty steep angle before it’s a problem.

Despite its smaller physical size the Asus W3N features lots of connectivity options that are reasonably placed on the notebook and I’d like to highlight the placement of the USB ports in the right side and the remaining two in the left side. This is by far the kind of setup I’d prefer as it’s easier to have the USB ports spread out a little bit in order to better keep track of the gear. The only port which placement I find lacking is the TV-Out port that’s been placed in the middle right side between the USB ports and the FireWire ports.

3 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x Infrared (FIR)
1 x External monitor port
1 x 32 bit Type II PC Card slot
1 x S-Video Out (NTSC/PAL)
1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
1 x RJ-11 jack
1 x RJ-45 jack
1 x Line-In jack
1 x Line-Out jack
1 x DC-in jack
4-in-1 Card Reader
Bluetooth

Full size | Medium size

Full size | Medium size

Full size | Medium size

Full size | Medium size

As we’re used to the noise level from the Centrino based notebooks are pretty low. The noise level is fully acceptable even in resource intensive applications like games. In the notebook there’s a Hitachi TravelStar 80GN 4200 RPM hard disk that’s also contributing to making it a low-noise notebook.

The bundled software is what you can expect from a quality vendor like Asus. There’re the obligatory drivers and recovery CD plus game demos and DVD software in addition to various multimedia programs like Asus PowerDirector and Asus Medi@Show.

Asus gives a full two-year warranty on all of their notebooks including this one as well. In addition to this there’s also a full one-year warranty on the battery which is more than most. A battery is only governed by law for six months which is what most manufacturers use for warranty. It’s worth noting that the warranty only applies in the case of a complete collapse and not by gradual deterioration. If you can’t charge it or the notebook shuts itself down when unplugged the warranty will cover.

All service is being handled by Asus themselves and they also have a hotline for hardware related issues. The repairs are being taken care of in Asus’ central headquarters in Holland and it’s fancier than it sounds. By doing things this way Asus can almost guarantee they have ALL spare parts ready at all times. The service typically takes about 5-10 working days including the shipping. You don’t have to return the notebook as Asus takes care of this too both upon delivery and return. They’re using a known company like DHL or TNT.

Overall the service Asus is offering is splendid and could only be better if they offered software support and onsite service too or other more special service solutions.

Once again it shows a notebook doesn’t need 128 MB of RAM on the graphics chip to be able to compete at a reasonable level. With over 100 FPS in Far Cry it’s performing quite well for such a small notebook.

The battery life is also quite fair and is slightly above average when considering the performance. 239 minutes isn’t a record but it’s definitely in the higher end. The high performance rating shows the notebook is also delivering a nice performance across the line.

A SYSmark 2004 score of 147 is also remarkable well – in fact it’s the fastest we’ve measured thus far. It’s especially well when you consider the fact it’s only equipped with a 4200 RPM hard disk. Along with the Acer TravelMate 8003Lci it goes to show a slower hard disk doesn’t necessarily imply lesser performance.

All tests results are available here.

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Overall the Asus W3400N has been a pleasure to test. Not only is the design great but it’s also built upon the quality a giant like Asus is known for. The only finger I can point at the design is the placement of the ventilation fan in the right side. If you’re using the mouse close to the notebook it results in the warm air being blown directly at your hand. It’s not something I see as a problem though it may bother some.

The test results speaks for themselves as they’re overall very good for a notebook of this size and they’re perfect for its intended market segment which are the people who want it all in a suitcase. As previously mentioned the notebook weights only about 2.5 kilos when it’s fully equipped which is actually in the higher end for the spectrum for a 14” notebook. A large part of the extra weight comes from its big battery that Asus has chosen to bundle the notebook with namely a 4800 mAh 8-cell battery. It’s also the reason for its fine battery life even under heavy load. Four hours for an official MobileMark 2002 score is certainly approved for a notebook these days.

In addition to this the DVD test in MobileMark 2005 has shown you can easily watch a full-length DVD movie on this notebook without worrying about plugging in the power. It hits the market spot-on and we can only recommend it for those wanting a notebook with a fine performance while being physically small.

+
Fine battery life, excellent performance in games and office applications, nice keyboard, excellent quality and design. Warranty and service is above the competition.

-
Placement of the ventilation fan, slightly higher weight when compared to its physical dimensions





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