Worthy of attention

Today, the hero of the review was the new ASUS N-Series laptop, the “ New Generation ” that I recently wrote about .

The full name of the laptop model is ASUS N61Jv . A curious reader can refresh the rules of marking devices from ASUS and interest for the sake of self-disassemble what each symbol in the model means.

Under the new generation, apparently, I mean a number of points: the new Intel Core i5 processor ; Intel HM55 Express chipset; video system with support for technology NVIDIA Optimus ; USB 3.0 and 802.11n wireless interface.
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The dual-core Intel Core i5-520M processor runs at 2400 MHz and has 3MB L3 cache (512KB L2). It is made on 32-nanometer process technology and, like other processors from the Core family, has an integrated Intel HD Graphics video system on its board that can work with HD content on a hardware level. Other benefits of the “stone” include support for Intel Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost technologies, which allow processing 4 threads simultaneously and increase the frequency of one or several cores up to 2933 MHz (TDP is only 35W with graphics) - in general, the level of integration elements in such a small processor is really impressive, and believe me, he knows his stuff).

The role of the discrete graphics card went to NVIDIA GeForce GT 325M , which will be written later. The laptop has two strips of DDR3 memory of 2 GB each, for a total of 4 GB. On a 2.5-inch hard drive from Seagate, 320GB is available for data.

Appearance

The first time, when I saw my own reflection on the lid of the device, I was upset - “is it again a merciless gloss?” However, I almost immediately looked at it - the lid is really varnished, but it has a small dotted pattern - perhaps it is thanks to it that the prints on the case are not visible. Accordingly, nothing terrible remains in the glossy lid (reflections and reflections from the outside? Yes, let them be), especially since the inside gloss is much less.





Inside - the widescreen screen is 16 inches, with a resolution of 1366x768 (16: 9). Above it is the peephole of a 2-megapixel camera, and at the bottom is a silver metal mesh that hides the Altec Lansing stereo speakers. On the sides of the speakers are two plastic inserts that unobtrusively glow in white or blue (I wonder why). In general, this is more like a decor, although I do not rule out that such a topography of the case is needed precisely for good sounding of the speakers - check it a bit later.



On the grid on the right is the power button on the device with a barely noticeable white backlight, and on the left 5 buttons - one of them loads the device into the ASUS Express Gate, and the other 4 control the sound (it’s not clear why they are made - they duplicate the functions of the Fn + F combinations ...) .





The keyboard is full-sized, and the size of the case allowed to fit the digital unit.





Everything is fine with the layout, including Del-Ins-Home-End spaced keys. CapsLock has a small dotted indicator - this was found in some notebook models not only from ASUS, but also from Apple - a good experience, convenient for everyone and everyone)



All the space around the keyboard and under it is made of soft-touch matte material (soft-touch). The touch panel itself was also a success - it is large, also matte and generally comfortable to use. In general, for all that is below the screen - I applaud, although the screen is also beautiful (in terms of image, not gloss).





I see no point in listing connectors for the hundredth time - see photos. I will only note that the HDMI connector is immediately below the ExpressCard slot - if you shove something at the same time, there may not be enough space for something.







And yes, there is only one USB 3.0 port, it is located on the left side and is colored blue.



Some viscera:



Laptop with battery weighs 2.8kg, and dimensions are 384x265x28-37.3mm.

Performance

The device has two operating systems preinstalled - Windows 7 Home Premium (64bit) and ASUS Express Gate , which I recently wrote about. The download speed of the latter is only 5 seconds.



Initially, on the desktop there are a lot of shortcuts from various pre-installed programs and services, among which there is nothing new - I told you everything. Unless the ASUS Video Magic label appeared - a software and hardware feature that can make FullHD (1080p) from DVD-quality video (480p). In practice, I did not notice the tremendous difference between the usual full-screen viewing mode - perhaps something was wrong. Nevertheless, any films go without the slightest hint of brakes. As for the debuted audio system ASUS SonicMaster (created together with Bang & Olufsen), it is really beautiful - it is far from the quality of good individual speakers (in volume), but in quality (and, again, in volume) it will not plug one other notebook system (are there any that it doesn’t shut up with a belt?).

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a single USB3.0 device, so out of despair I put flash drives into it with the previous version of the interface. It's funny, but in almost all cases, the read speed was 2 MB / s higher - that's it, progress) USB 2.0 vs USB 3.0

Surprisingly, none of the versions of the CPU-Z information program initially agreed to work on this notebook - they all hung at the initial stage of initialization. The problem is solved by holding the Shift key while starting the program. On the Intel Core i5 processor, the utility displayed the following information:



It was a power saving mode, but what happens to the system when it requires higher performance:



As I already wrote, NVIDIA Optimus technology found use in this notebook - moreover, ASUS managed to get the right to use this technology first in the world on its laptops. The essence of the technology is that a laptop can independently decide for each application when and which video system to use. If greater performance is not required, then only integrated graphics work - in this case, this is a good Intel HD Graphics; otherwise, the laptop switches to a discrete graphics card without restarting the system, providing more options. This approach allows you to significantly save battery life of the device, reduce the level of heat and noise from work.
And the indicators on the sides of the speaker grille, it turns out, show which video card is being used. The blue color of the integrated graphics indicator changes to white when switching - simply and clearly!



The fact that the technology really works was found only after the launch of the film:



And after all there will be people who will think that only integrated video is inside. And so, everything is an adult - NVIDIA GeForce GT 325M with a gigabyte of DDR3 memory, which on the default settings in the 3DMark05 test the laptop scored 10596 marks, and in 3DMark06 - 6056.

Speaking in a more understandable language, such a laptop performance will be enough to watch movies, in the license) photoshop process a huge photo and just kill time even in the most modern toys. Of the games I tried only NFS Shift - you can play quite ..



The noise from the laptop is acceptable, the keyboard or the case almost does not heat up. Although under the load on the left enough hot air comes out - in the near future with a similar phenomenon will only have to accept, or get some kind of cooling pad.



Disk performance was formally evaluated in HDTune:



Strangely enough, the performance index in Windows 7 HP rested against the video card - however, it turned out long ago that Intel Core i5 processors manifest themselves in the best possible way not only in such abstract tests, but also in harsh realities. Predictably behind the video goes hard drive.



Oh yeah, I forgot about the time of work. On the battery from the kit (6 cells, 4400 mAh, 48Wh, 10.8V) the laptop works 2 hours with Wi-Fi turned on, or 3 hours with minimal backlight and with wireless interfaces turned off.

Check weighing

Excellent build and practical case (not brand);
Large screen, USB3.0 port and 802.11n interface;
A lot of memory, high performance - will fit almost in any case;
The ability to balance performance and time, thanks to NVIDIA Optimus;
Headphones are preferable, but the sound of the ASUS Sonic Master is really good;
Comfortable keyboard (sorry, no backlight) and touchpad with a soft click;
Availability of alternative OS - ASUS ExpressGate;
Adequate price.
Glossy screen - not so scary in this case, but if you want you can slap;
Short battery life;

The price of a laptop starts from 36 thousand. Rubles and apiece. The price may increase depending on the greed of the store and the configuration of the laptop - it can be with a 500-gigabyte disk, as well as with a BluRay-drive.

findings

Absolutely such a normal laptop, almost devoid of significant shortcomings, however, having a huge number of positive points. Starting from the modern processor in the face of Intel Core i5 and a powerful video card with a gigabyte of memory, ending with a large screen, practical case, such seemingly inconspicuous "trifles" as 4GB of DDR3 RAM, 500GB of hard disk and all 802.11n-modules, as well as a new perspective interface USB 3.0. Therefore, the name of the series (N - New generation) laptop justifies one hundred percent - this is not a revolution, but a new generation, which absorbed everything new and corrected the previous minor shortcomings.



Dimensions and weight allow you to carry a laptop with you, however, it seems to me that this is a more stationary device for solving a wide range of tasks, which may well be a good substitute for a bulky desktop.

Do not forget to join the ranks of fans of the company on Habré.

Successes!