Laptop from bamboo grove
ASUS is not averse to pampering its users - for the opportunity to choose, they release something interesting with enviable constancy. Something unusual, something fundamentally new, something simply exclusive - yes it can happen.
The hero of today's review was no exception - like a laptop like a laptop ... but in such a design that your hands involuntarily reach for the coveted box. Therefore, I warn you - be careful, because a laptop can really like it)
So, the new series of Bamboo collection devices is the pinnacle of engineering, which suddenly and boldly diluted (or harmoniously complemented?) The UL-series available on the market (thin laptops with a stylish metal cover). Among the devices of a new direction - several laptops with different diagonal (from 13.3 to 15.6) - I did not hesitate and took for the test the most “adult” piece of iron. More precisely, a piece of wood.
The ASUS U53Jc laptop is primarily interesting because the manufacturer was able to fit in a fairly compact case, I am not afraid of this word, a serious stuffing. So, for example, the most powerful mobile processor Intel® Core ™ i7-620M is taken as a basis- It is dual-core and has a clock frequency of 2.66-3.33 GHz. Yes, the same processor that was introduced earlier this year - made using 32-nanometer technology and with a huge number of different technologies on board (Turbo Boost, Hyper Threading and others). The chipset is Intel® HM55, on the expanses of which fit two RAM strips of 2 GB each - a total of 4 GB (DDR3, 1066 GHz). Speaking of gigabytes, one cannot fail to mention the video system consisting of the tandem NVIDIA GeForce 310M and Intel® HD Graphics .
Even a hard drive - and that is 500 gigs. In general, all this, as well as the relative "freshness" of the model make this laptop a worthy candidate for review. Let's get started.
I, as always, got an engineering sample - without a Cyrillic layout and with some minor differences. And this time it all started with a custom box — instead of plain cardboard, it was a black lacquered box with a pattern and a comfortable handle. I don’t know what will be in the box at the time of sales - most likely, it’s an ordinary gentleman's set: a laptop itself, a battery, a network adapter, a carrying case, a mouse and paper discs.
Before meeting this device, I had almost no idea about bamboo - well, yes, I heard that somewhere there is something growing, someone there is mining, collecting, planing ... but you just had to open the box of the laptop, to understand that "yeah, I certainly would not refuse bamboo!". At least in the case of the U53Jc, it’s VERY good. A stylish cover made of matte brown wood - if it weren’t for the metal inscription ASUS, I would not have thought that this is generally a laptop. See, it turns out how little we know about bamboo :)
By the way, bamboo in this case is the real one - this material is very reliable and practical, environmentally friendly and, as I wrote above, incredibly beautiful. Well, or at least much more original than in the case of the finish made of soulless plastic and aluminum in many other devices. And there are interesting facts about it on Wikipedia - for example, some varieties of bamboo can grow at a “speed” of 120 cm per day!
The lid of the device is entirely made of bamboo, and around the perimeter has a stylish golden metallic contour.
The same bamboo is used to decorate the entire panel under the keyboard - the wooden ones included the touchpad and the only button below it. The matte surface, completely non-marking, very smooth and pleasant to the touch - I do not exclude that this is one of the most pleasant touchpads that I had to use. By the way, it is from Elantech, multi-touch - supports up to three touches at the same time.
The keyboard also deserves the highest praise - these are all the same convenient split keys, but this time they are made on a solid metal substrate with a fine grinding texture. A pleasant twist is cool, pleasant appearance ... convenient layout (if you close your eyes to the right Shift due to arrows), the digital block ... just a magic! After all, they can when they want.
A little higher is the metal part of the case "in point" - there are two unobtrusive status LEDs and two power buttons. The first just turns on the laptop (in Windows), and the second - in the "instant boot" mode ASUS ExpressGate - a small Linux-based operating system that is preinstalled on all the latest ASUS laptops.
Another 4 LEDs are located at the bottom front, under the touchpad - they are already brighter. If you work with a laptop, then they are not visible; but it’s worth to step back a little or lean back and they can already be seen clearly (especially at night).
Above the display is a peephole webcam with a maximum photo resolution of 1600x1200.
The screen has a diagonal of 15.6 '' and a resolution of 1366 × 768 - maybe you want at least a little more points, but for such a diagonal this can be said to be the standard. There is no hinge - everything rests on sufficiently strong hinges. By the way, the screen and the frame around it are completely glossy, very easily soiled. Tired of talking about it ... just tired.
Everything is fine with the ports - on the left there is a power connector, a card reader, a hardware Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on / off button, HDMI, two USB 3.0 ports and two audio connectors; on the right is the drive door, D-SUB, RJ-45 and another USB port, but this time version 2.0. In general, it is easier to see in the photo:
The dimensions of the device are 386x260x34 mm - all this with a weight of 2.6 kg with a battery.
Windows 7 Ultimate was preinstalled on the laptop - it loads in exactly 40 seconds. I think that this time can be reduced by 20 percent, if you remove everything superfluous from startup (and there is enough extra).
On the desktop, a couple of new shortcuts - a program for synchronizing Syncables Desktop and eDriver - a utility for updating firmware and drivers. Among other things, the Intel TurboBoost Monitor widget and the SuperHybrid Engine mode switch appeared on the desktop.
The laptop is very quiet and the keyboard practically does not heat up during operation. But in the load, as one would expect (with an eye on the configuration), quite hot air flows from the “gills” of the cooling system. For example, if you put the laptop on your lap during the game, it will not be very comfortable - it’s better to put something on it. And ideally, using some kind of stand combined with a cooling system is good, such a lot, even at the most modest prices. And in the “idle” mode (and in tasks such as writing texts), as I said, everything is fine - the temperature mode will not bring surprises (the GPU temperature in this case is around 50 degrees).
Screen? For him, I do not mind a separate paragraph, because he is really good. Bright, with excellent color reproduction and large viewing angles. If it had not yet been framed by a frame ... then with a glossy finish one could put up; but no - it will be inconvenient to wipe, especially in the corners.
The Intel® Core ™ i7-620M processor has a native clock speed of 2.66 GHz, although Intel TurboBoost technology can change system parameters up to 3.33 GHz in a heat package to solve resource-demanding tasks. For example, in the case of the SuperPi program, which is designed to measure processor performance (unlike wPrime, it does not support multicore), TurboBoost technology increased the core frequency to the same 3.3 GHz, due to which the Pi number to a millionth decimal place is considered to be just 13 seconds is a very good result.
The operating system rated the processor performance index at 6.8 points out of a possible 7.9, the remaining ratings are as follows:
Like some other models from ASUS, the U53J model is equipped with NVIDIA Optimus technology - this means that two video cards are installed inside, you can switch between them automatically, on the go - depending on the tasks and without rebooting. One video card (and this is Intel HD Graphics) integrated and will save battery life; a discrete NVIDIA GeForce 310M card with a gigabyte of memory is turned on when the application requires it - games, a media player or something similar (more details about the capabilities of this video card can be found in this test).
During the load (for example, with the Furmark program), the GPU chip did not heat up more than 75 degrees, but even this figure had practically no effect on the heating of the device case.
Inside, a 500-gigabyte hard drive from Hitachi is installed, the speed of which was pleasantly surprised (in comparison with its competitors in this form factor). It supports all the technologies known to the HD Tune Pro test program, including AAM technology.
Disk temperature - 45 degrees in idle time and 55 at continuous load. Linear reading speed:
Despite the large screen and fairly gluttonous entrails, the laptop runs for about 4 hours from a regular battery (Li-Ion, 5600mAh, 84Wh).
It looks really unusual and very cool.
Pleasant materials, impeccable assembly.
Excellent screen quality.
Convenient keyboard and touchpad, there is a digital block.
High performance and good battery life for it;
The presence of USB 3.0 ports, Blu-ray-drive, Wi-Fi b / g / n;
For complete happiness, there is not enough keyboard backlight;
Hot air from the video card in load mode;
Glossy screen - visible reflections, easily soiled;
While testing this laptop, I involuntarily recalled the ASUS UL50Vt model , which I already wrote about - the same charm, the same performance, and about the same price order. But there are models for that, so that the user has a choice - someone will like the metal cover more, and someone, like me, will get sick from bamboo. Subjectively, I liked the “wooden-green” version more - perhaps due to the fact that all this is somehow unusual and, as it turned out, very beautiful - even with the most careful consideration. However, this is not a debut for ASUS - in 2007, at the Computex exhibition, the company for the first time presented to the general public options for using elite finishing material, which was present, for example, in the U2E and U6S models.
The performance of this machine is at a very good, high level - rendering a three-dimensional model with millions of polygons may take some time, but with everything else (Internet, office tasks, Photoshop and even toys) - absolutely no problems. Accordingly, the laptop is suitable for solving very many problems, for a very wide audience - from students to uncles in jackets and Lexuses.
The recommended retail price is $ 1350, which in translation into our language means about 40,000 rubles. For many, the resulting figure is more than the amount that they are easily ready to pay for a good laptop, but if you take into account the exclusive finish and the richness of the capabilities of the laptop, take a look at your competitors ... then the price tag turns out to be quite adequate - it is from these thoughts that I did not attribute the price to any pluses , not to the minuses (by the way, the previous "bamboo laptops" were sold at a price of 2-2.5 thousand dollars). Although, of course, a little expensive ... but hell, the laptop is beautiful!
If I had an unscheduled forty thousand, I would take this particular laptop. And I would try to get rid of the gloss of at least the frame of the screen. How? I’ll write soon;)
Feel free to joinin the ranks of fans of the company on Habré and participate in the anniversary photo contest !
Good luck!
The hero of today's review was no exception - like a laptop like a laptop ... but in such a design that your hands involuntarily reach for the coveted box. Therefore, I warn you - be careful, because a laptop can really like it)
So, the new series of Bamboo collection devices is the pinnacle of engineering, which suddenly and boldly diluted (or harmoniously complemented?) The UL-series available on the market (thin laptops with a stylish metal cover). Among the devices of a new direction - several laptops with different diagonal (from 13.3 to 15.6) - I did not hesitate and took for the test the most “adult” piece of iron. More precisely, a piece of wood.
The ASUS U53Jc laptop is primarily interesting because the manufacturer was able to fit in a fairly compact case, I am not afraid of this word, a serious stuffing. So, for example, the most powerful mobile processor Intel® Core ™ i7-620M is taken as a basis- It is dual-core and has a clock frequency of 2.66-3.33 GHz. Yes, the same processor that was introduced earlier this year - made using 32-nanometer technology and with a huge number of different technologies on board (Turbo Boost, Hyper Threading and others). The chipset is Intel® HM55, on the expanses of which fit two RAM strips of 2 GB each - a total of 4 GB (DDR3, 1066 GHz). Speaking of gigabytes, one cannot fail to mention the video system consisting of the tandem NVIDIA GeForce 310M and Intel® HD Graphics .
Even a hard drive - and that is 500 gigs. In general, all this, as well as the relative "freshness" of the model make this laptop a worthy candidate for review. Let's get started.
Appearance
I, as always, got an engineering sample - without a Cyrillic layout and with some minor differences. And this time it all started with a custom box — instead of plain cardboard, it was a black lacquered box with a pattern and a comfortable handle. I don’t know what will be in the box at the time of sales - most likely, it’s an ordinary gentleman's set: a laptop itself, a battery, a network adapter, a carrying case, a mouse and paper discs.
Before meeting this device, I had almost no idea about bamboo - well, yes, I heard that somewhere there is something growing, someone there is mining, collecting, planing ... but you just had to open the box of the laptop, to understand that "yeah, I certainly would not refuse bamboo!". At least in the case of the U53Jc, it’s VERY good. A stylish cover made of matte brown wood - if it weren’t for the metal inscription ASUS, I would not have thought that this is generally a laptop. See, it turns out how little we know about bamboo :)
By the way, bamboo in this case is the real one - this material is very reliable and practical, environmentally friendly and, as I wrote above, incredibly beautiful. Well, or at least much more original than in the case of the finish made of soulless plastic and aluminum in many other devices. And there are interesting facts about it on Wikipedia - for example, some varieties of bamboo can grow at a “speed” of 120 cm per day!
The lid of the device is entirely made of bamboo, and around the perimeter has a stylish golden metallic contour.
The same bamboo is used to decorate the entire panel under the keyboard - the wooden ones included the touchpad and the only button below it. The matte surface, completely non-marking, very smooth and pleasant to the touch - I do not exclude that this is one of the most pleasant touchpads that I had to use. By the way, it is from Elantech, multi-touch - supports up to three touches at the same time.
The keyboard also deserves the highest praise - these are all the same convenient split keys, but this time they are made on a solid metal substrate with a fine grinding texture. A pleasant twist is cool, pleasant appearance ... convenient layout (if you close your eyes to the right Shift due to arrows), the digital block ... just a magic! After all, they can when they want.
A little higher is the metal part of the case "in point" - there are two unobtrusive status LEDs and two power buttons. The first just turns on the laptop (in Windows), and the second - in the "instant boot" mode ASUS ExpressGate - a small Linux-based operating system that is preinstalled on all the latest ASUS laptops.
Another 4 LEDs are located at the bottom front, under the touchpad - they are already brighter. If you work with a laptop, then they are not visible; but it’s worth to step back a little or lean back and they can already be seen clearly (especially at night).
Above the display is a peephole webcam with a maximum photo resolution of 1600x1200.
The screen has a diagonal of 15.6 '' and a resolution of 1366 × 768 - maybe you want at least a little more points, but for such a diagonal this can be said to be the standard. There is no hinge - everything rests on sufficiently strong hinges. By the way, the screen and the frame around it are completely glossy, very easily soiled. Tired of talking about it ... just tired.
Everything is fine with the ports - on the left there is a power connector, a card reader, a hardware Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on / off button, HDMI, two USB 3.0 ports and two audio connectors; on the right is the drive door, D-SUB, RJ-45 and another USB port, but this time version 2.0. In general, it is easier to see in the photo:
The dimensions of the device are 386x260x34 mm - all this with a weight of 2.6 kg with a battery.
Inclusion and work
Windows 7 Ultimate was preinstalled on the laptop - it loads in exactly 40 seconds. I think that this time can be reduced by 20 percent, if you remove everything superfluous from startup (and there is enough extra).
On the desktop, a couple of new shortcuts - a program for synchronizing Syncables Desktop and eDriver - a utility for updating firmware and drivers. Among other things, the Intel TurboBoost Monitor widget and the SuperHybrid Engine mode switch appeared on the desktop.The laptop is very quiet and the keyboard practically does not heat up during operation. But in the load, as one would expect (with an eye on the configuration), quite hot air flows from the “gills” of the cooling system. For example, if you put the laptop on your lap during the game, it will not be very comfortable - it’s better to put something on it. And ideally, using some kind of stand combined with a cooling system is good, such a lot, even at the most modest prices. And in the “idle” mode (and in tasks such as writing texts), as I said, everything is fine - the temperature mode will not bring surprises (the GPU temperature in this case is around 50 degrees).
Screen? For him, I do not mind a separate paragraph, because he is really good. Bright, with excellent color reproduction and large viewing angles. If it had not yet been framed by a frame ... then with a glossy finish one could put up; but no - it will be inconvenient to wipe, especially in the corners.
Performance
The Intel® Core ™ i7-620M processor has a native clock speed of 2.66 GHz, although Intel TurboBoost technology can change system parameters up to 3.33 GHz in a heat package to solve resource-demanding tasks. For example, in the case of the SuperPi program, which is designed to measure processor performance (unlike wPrime, it does not support multicore), TurboBoost technology increased the core frequency to the same 3.3 GHz, due to which the Pi number to a millionth decimal place is considered to be just 13 seconds is a very good result.
The operating system rated the processor performance index at 6.8 points out of a possible 7.9, the remaining ratings are as follows:
Like some other models from ASUS, the U53J model is equipped with NVIDIA Optimus technology - this means that two video cards are installed inside, you can switch between them automatically, on the go - depending on the tasks and without rebooting. One video card (and this is Intel HD Graphics) integrated and will save battery life; a discrete NVIDIA GeForce 310M card with a gigabyte of memory is turned on when the application requires it - games, a media player or something similar (more details about the capabilities of this video card can be found in this test).
During the load (for example, with the Furmark program), the GPU chip did not heat up more than 75 degrees, but even this figure had practically no effect on the heating of the device case.
Inside, a 500-gigabyte hard drive from Hitachi is installed, the speed of which was pleasantly surprised (in comparison with its competitors in this form factor). It supports all the technologies known to the HD Tune Pro test program, including AAM technology.
Disk temperature - 45 degrees in idle time and 55 at continuous load. Linear reading speed:
Despite the large screen and fairly gluttonous entrails, the laptop runs for about 4 hours from a regular battery (Li-Ion, 5600mAh, 84Wh).
Control weighing
It looks really unusual and very cool. Pleasant materials, impeccable assembly. Excellent screen quality. Convenient keyboard and touchpad, there is a digital block. High performance and good battery life for it; The presence of USB 3.0 ports, Blu-ray-drive, Wi-Fi b / g / n; For complete happiness, there is not enough keyboard backlight; Hot air from the video card in load mode; Glossy screen - visible reflections, easily soiled;The end
While testing this laptop, I involuntarily recalled the ASUS UL50Vt model , which I already wrote about - the same charm, the same performance, and about the same price order. But there are models for that, so that the user has a choice - someone will like the metal cover more, and someone, like me, will get sick from bamboo. Subjectively, I liked the “wooden-green” version more - perhaps due to the fact that all this is somehow unusual and, as it turned out, very beautiful - even with the most careful consideration. However, this is not a debut for ASUS - in 2007, at the Computex exhibition, the company for the first time presented to the general public options for using elite finishing material, which was present, for example, in the U2E and U6S models.
The performance of this machine is at a very good, high level - rendering a three-dimensional model with millions of polygons may take some time, but with everything else (Internet, office tasks, Photoshop and even toys) - absolutely no problems. Accordingly, the laptop is suitable for solving very many problems, for a very wide audience - from students to uncles in jackets and Lexuses.
The recommended retail price is $ 1350, which in translation into our language means about 40,000 rubles. For many, the resulting figure is more than the amount that they are easily ready to pay for a good laptop, but if you take into account the exclusive finish and the richness of the capabilities of the laptop, take a look at your competitors ... then the price tag turns out to be quite adequate - it is from these thoughts that I did not attribute the price to any pluses , not to the minuses (by the way, the previous "bamboo laptops" were sold at a price of 2-2.5 thousand dollars). Although, of course, a little expensive ... but hell, the laptop is beautiful!
If I had an unscheduled forty thousand, I would take this particular laptop. And I would try to get rid of the gloss of at least the frame of the screen. How? I’ll write soon;)
Feel free to joinin the ranks of fans of the company on Habré and participate in the anniversary photo contest ! Good luck!