ASUS U5A Notebook

Price: Rs 80,000 (2 yrs warranty)

Key Specs:752 MB RAM, 80GB HDD, multi format DVD writer

Contact: ASUSTek Computers, Mumbai. Tel: 022-40058894. Email id: info_india@asus.com.tw RQS# E26 or SMS 130326 to 9811800601

This notebook is meant for executives who travel

frequently. It's a Centrino having a 2 GHz Pentium M CPU, a 12.1 inch XGA LCD

screen, a 752 MB RAM, 80 GB HDD and a DVD-writer. The notebook also ships with a

Bluetooth V2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) port, which allows a maximum data

transfer rate of 2.1 Mbps. This is three times faster than a standard Bluetooth

without EDR. The device ships with TPM (Trusted Platform Module) security, which

is an onboard hardware used to handle various security tasks. The notebook has

three USB 2.0 ports, one PCMCIAII slot, an in-built wireless card, a Gigabit LAN

and a 56K modem and a card reader. We tested the notebook using our standard

slew of MobileMark 2005, SysMark 2004 and BatteryMark 2004 benchmarks. From the

MobileMark2005 benchmark, we used the DVD playback test and the Reader test to

evaluate the battery life. The DVD playback battery test gave a score of 156

minutes and the Reader test gave a battery life rating of 176 mins. BatteryMark

2002 gave a score of 2 hrs and 20 mins, which is somewhat similar to

MobileMark's DVD playback test score, but it isn't good at all compared to

the 3 hrs that ASUS W5F notebook scored in our review last month.

MobileMark 2005's productivity test uses MS Office, Adobe PhotoShop,

Macromedia Flash 5, McAfee Virus Scan, etc. to test the notebook and gave it a

performance rating of 213 marks.  In SysMark 2004, which tests the system

for office productivity and Internet content creation, it got an overall score

of 210 SysMarks, which almost similar to  the Sysmark score received by

ASUS W5F.

Bottom Line: With such

features and performance, the notebook is worth buying, and if you are really

concerned about eco-friendliness, this one's for you.

Swapnil Arora