Asus F8VA-B1 Notebook A review

20 Nov 2008



A review Asus F8VA-B1 laptop

If you've been shopping for relatively inexpensive, but at the same time looking for almost all the features of a high end laptop,Asus F8VA-B1 provides the answer. You can get all the features of a high end laptop at the cost of about $1200. You may also try to get mail in rebates and the price will be close to $1050 - a reasonable price for a notebook with new Intel P8400 CPU.

Let us take a look at the breif specification to find what $1050 will get you.



Speifications


* Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26GHz ( 3MB L2 Cache)
* 14" Wide XGA+ Screen (resolution 1440x900)
* Graphics - ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 (1GB dedicated video ram)
* 250GB SATA hard drive (5400rpm)
* 4GB DDR2 RAM 800MHz (2x SO-DIMM)
* Integrated Super Multi Optical Drive
* Bluetooth, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi
* 6-cell lithium ion
* 13.4" x 9.6" x 1.5" weighing in at 5.74 lbs.
Let us take a look at some of the important components of this Notebook. Processor
The processor in this Notebook is Intel's P8400. The processor is capable of handling 64-bit computer if you have a supporting OPerating System. A quick run on Super Pi with 2M took a time of 52 seconds. That is a pretty imprssive performance. The 3MB L2 Cache seems to improve its performance. Webcam
All Notebooks now a days come with integrated Webcam and this one is not an exception. The webcam in Asus notebook has swivel. This is a very useful feature. The quality of the video in this notebook is fairly good. The swivel function will allow you to record, for example, the class lecture that you can review later on.

Sound System
The sound system is good when you use an external amplifier and Speaker System. When used in stand alone mode the sound quality is not great and is in need of more bass. If you like slow volume music, it can be just good enough.
Ports
The Asus notebook comes with 2x USB 2.0, VGA, HDMI, eSATA, RJ-45 (gigabit ethernet,) RJ-11 (telephone/modem) on its back side. This is in variance with the recent trends of providing all the connectors of the two sides, especially in HP notebook. However, the LCD connector on the back becomes handy if you want to hook an external monitor.
The Right Side has two USB Ports, power button, and heat exhaust. The left side has Memory Card Reader, optical drive, express card, USB, 1394, headphone and microphone.
This notebook comes with 802.11b wireless as well as the bluetooth.They have buttons to turn them on or off. This feature is nice.

Battery

I was not impressed by the Battery life. The battery life is about 2 hours and 30 minutes when running on power saver plan from. For a 14 " screen I was expectig a higher battery life.

I will conclude this review by providing you will a list of pros and cons and let you decide whether you want to buy it.

Pros:

* Nice Screen resolution 1440x900
* A number of USB ports on left and right.
* Great performance with Intel P8400 processor
* Smart logon with webcam and fingerprint reader
* Excellent bang-for-the-buck
* Dedicated Video Card with 1GB of VRAM
* Swivel Webcam
* Very light weight

Cons:

* Battery life not great for a 14 inch screen
* Still a bit expensive.
* Screen fades in outdoor use
* We could have swapped the heat exhaust on right with some connector on back.



Pros