Asus W5fe review

The Asus W5fe is the first laptop of its kind to take advantage of an entirely new feature in Vista called Windows SideShow.

The idea is simple: a small auxiliary screen (in this case built into the lid) lets you access information on your PC without it actually having to be on. You may have seen displays that show the time or let you play CDs, but the fact that this will be embedded into the operating system of millions of PCs worldwide effectively sets a new standard - and it's also far more flexible.

Vista contains a gallery of 'Gadgets' that can be displayed on the 2.8in screen, and then operate independently even when the rest of the computer is turned off. By default, there's a Gadget for checking your email via Windows Mail, and one for Windows Media Player that lets you browse and play items from your media library. If you install Office 2007, there's an option that checks upcoming appointments in Outlook. To add new features to SideShow, you simply install new Gadgets and these will be available from Microsoft's website.

Trusty sidekick

SideShow isn't completely separate from the PC and needs to go through Windows to access files on your hard disk or to get online. It does, however, have 1GB of flash memory to itself, which you can use to store music or pictures. When checking for emails, for example, it will switch on your PC, download any new messages and then switch it off again. You can choose exactly how often that happens too, so if you are expecting an important email, it's easy to ensure that your inbox is regularly checked. You'll then be able to read the mail at your leisure.

In practice, it works transparently and is more than just convenient. It has a massive, positive impact on battery life too - it's the laptop screen that guzzles the battery.

Thankfully, the rest of the laptop is also excellent, with a great collection of the latest technology. Naturally, it's running Windows Vista, but it's also got one of the latest generations of processor, in the form of an Intel Core 2 Duo T5600. It's got two cores, each running at a maximum of 1.83GHz - enough for even tough jobs like video encoding, or running a full virus scan while doing a couple of other jobs at the same time. It benefits from a full 1GB of RAM too, which is sensible given that memory is the one area in which Vista makes its most stringent demands.

Hey, good-looking

Despite what you may have heard about Vista's neediness when it comes to graphics cards, Intel's low-end integrated GMA950 chip is more than capable of handling all of the shiny new Aero theme effects - including the transparent windows and swish 3D-effect program switching. Although it will only play the most basic games, the upshot is that it consumes much less power than a dedicated 3D graphics chip would, and therefore has far less an impact on battery life.

In everyday use, we'd expect somewhere between three and four hours if you make full utility of power saving settings, although we weren't able to test that on our pre-production laptop's battery. In terms of mobility, the 1.8kg weight makes it an ideal travelling companion and it's so well-built (even with that SideShow bulge) that we'd be happy regularly slinging it in a bag.

For when you need to use the Asus, for example, to watch a movie, there's a 12.1in widescreen display. It's a good one too, and although we're not crazy about the glossy finish (this reflects any light around and can cause a distracting glare), as long as you don't spend all your time underneath the fluorescent glow of office lighting, there are no other issues.