First Look: Asus F6V-3P088C

 

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Posted on 29 Sep 2008 at 11:04

Asus' latest laptop range have a feature we've never seen before - they smell. The new F6 series emits different scents depending on the specific model. We took a look at the black F6V-3P088C which, according to Asus, should have a musky scent. However, we couldn't detect any unusual aromas coming from our preview unit.

It has a decorative floral design on its lid, this looks distinctive, but divided opinion in the office. The touch pad surface has a pleasingly smooth texture. It's very accurate and is a pleasure to use. Unfortunately, we were disappointed with the keyboard. The keys feel springy and the entire keyboard flexes under pressure when typing, which can make crafting long documents tiresome.

The F6V-3P088C is one of Asus' first Centrino 2 laptops. It has a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo P8400 processor, one of Intel's latest, as well as built-in draft N wireless networking. 2GB of RAM and a large 320GB hard disk are also included. The 256MB ATI Radeon HD 3470 graphics card doesn't use system memory like an integrated graphics chip would, but it can't play modern 3D games, only managing 4fps in our Call of Duty 4 test.

Despite the large battery protruding from its rear, we were a little disappointed to discover that it only lasted three hours and eight minutes in our light usage battery test. We expected more from a laptop that weighs just 2.2kg, and which would otherwise be well-suited for working on the go.

The 13.3in widescreen display has a resolution of 1,280x800 pixels. It looks bright, although white images have a slight yellowish tint and viewing angles aren't particularly wide. An external display can be connected using either the HDMI or VGA ports though. There are three USB ports plus an eSATA port for connecting fast external hard disks

The F6V-3P088C will cost £730 inc VAT and will be available from www.dabs.com within the next few weeks. Though there's little to get excited about unless you have a highly discerning sense of smell.

Author: Alan Lu