ASUS W7S-B1B

It has been about six months since I put together my new computing setup, so I’ve had plenty of time to really break it in and see how well this gear can handle my life. For more details on the case/bag combo I’m using to carry this notebook, check out the following entries:

Maxpedition Operator
Pelican 1080 HardBack

ASUS

I’ve been without a notebook for years now, ever since my Dell Inspiron crapped out on me and Dell refused to do anything about it. Needless to say, I’d become quite accustomed to the level of performance offered by the desktop systems I’ve been using and I was not looking forward to the price of comparable notebooks, or taking a hit on performance. Nonetheless, a switch back to mobility was required. After conveying my frustration with the fact that a suitable system was going to run me $3,000 or more, AJ of Akua Solutions recommended I check out ASUS’s line of notebooks. As it turns out many of the ASUS models are virtually identical to some of Sony’s nicer models, and it is rumored that many of the Sonys are actually rebranded ASUS notebooks. ASUS is also generally half the price.

Performance vs. Weight

If I was going to do this I wanted it all: small size, light weight, desktop performance, and rugged durability. Fortunately, the 13.3-inch ASUS W7S series offers all of these and more. This particular variant comes with an Intel dual-core chip running at 2.2Ghz, 1.5 GB of memory, a 160 GB hard drive, a dedicated-memory video card (with 128 MB of memory), a LightScribe DVD burner, Bluetooth 2.0 and Windows Vista Business (which has become my OS of choice). I opted to pick up an extra gig-o-ram, bringing the total up to 2.5 GB (on which Vista runs swiftly). The end result is a 4.3-pound package I can toss in my backpack that actually outperforms my desktop (a 2.8 Ghz XP Pro unit with 2 GB of memory).

Outdoor Convenience

The W7S series features a relatively new display panel that is incredibly crisp and vibrant, and is quite viewable outside on a sunny day. In fact, I have found that the screen is easier to see with direct beating down on the screen than if you turn so it is in shadow. While this does shift the color spectrum enough you won’t want to do retouching, it does make it extremely easy to empty a camera and file photos on the road/trail. Adding to this convenience is a SD/MMC card reader built into the side, and onboard Firewire if your camera happens to support it. The small battery is good for 3 to 4 hours of moderate use (as in light Photoshop, or surfing websites over WiFi), and the included larger battery will give you 6 hours, making for very respectable off-grid runtimes.

As an interesting footnote, the W7S fits very nicely on top of a closed Pelican 1080, making for a convient, clean and comfortable riser for the notebook.

Durability

I’ll admit to cheating in this area this time around. Since I’ll also be handling my company’s finances on this unit I wanted to take as few chances as possible, so I purchased a Pelican 1080 for the notebook. The fit with this model feels like it was specifically designed for it, and if lid padding is left off the top there is just enough space to drop in a mousepad. The notebook itself has thus far held up to use in extremely dusty, windy desert conditions as well as prolonged use over rough off-roading trails. I have also had no problems using it under heavy load in 120° weather.

While a terabyte drive would be nice, I’ve tried to limit my dreams to the realm of what is currently available in a notebook form-factor. Based on that I can’t think of anything about this notebook I would do differently, all said and done I give the ASUS W7S-B1B two thumbs up.

I picked up the ASUS at NewEgg for around $1,600. For complete specifications on this and other ASUS models, visit ASUS »