Specs and Features

The Asus W7J scores big in mobility and features, but is it enough to win your hearts? We examine Asus’ latest 13.3″ Core Duo laptop offering.

I often hear comments from friends and forum users stating that a laptop with a 12″ screen is too small for them either because the screen resolution is too fine or that the keyboard is too cramped. To those people I say this: listen up! Today we are reviewing the new Asus W7J with as 13.3″ screen. While it looks and feels like a 12″ laptop, it’s slightly bigger to make your daily work a bit easier on your fingers and eyes.

Asus W7J 13.3 inch Portable Core Duo Notebook Review - Mobile 55

Asus has accomplished the seemingly impossible: they’ve made a 13.3″ laptop that feels like a portable 12″ laptop, but uncompromising in features like a larger 15.4″ unit. This is definitely a notebook road warriors, business people, and mobile students users will want to look at closely.

Features

The portability of the W7J is the clear draw for this laptop. By using new LCD technology, Asus has managed to slim down the thickness of the LCD thus liberating some weight and making a smaller package. The result is a 13.3′ laptop just over 4 pounds!

Besides being light, the W7J has a GeForce Go 7400 integrated video processor which makes it ideal for multimedia and some occasional gaming. Like other Asus laptops, the W7J comes with Asus’ superb Splendid Video and Power4Gear power profiles. There is also an integrated webcam and microphone for those of you looking to video conference.

There are more details, but we will take a closer look at them later in this review.

Specifications

Compared to the W5F we reviewed in April, the W7J has improvements in the quantity of RAM (1GB vs. 512MB) and a faster CPU (1.833 GHz vs. 1.66 GHz). This should help put the W7J ahead of the W5F in our benchmarks. With the 1GB of RAM and the decent video, this laptop has a very good chance at running Windows Vista with the 3D accelerated Aero interface.

Processor & Cache Memory
Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2300/T2400/T2500/T2600: 1.60GHz-2.16GHz, 2MB On-Die L2 Cache, 667 MHz
Operation System
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional,
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home
Chipset
Mobile Intel® 945 PM Express Chipset
Main Memory
DDR2 533 MHz 512 MB DRAM, 1x SO-DIMM socket expandable to 1536MB
Display
13.3″ wide XGA LCD
Video Graphics & Memory
NVidia GeForce Go7400 with 128MB DDR2
Hard Drive
60 / 80 / 80 / 100 / 120 GB supported,
2.5″ 9.5mm SATA supported
Optical Drive
COMBO;
DVD Super Multi Drive
Card Reader
4-in-1 SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO
Video Camera
1.3 Mega- pixels video camera
Fax/Modem/LAN/WLAN
Azalia Compliant and V.92 / K56flex support
10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet
Intel® 3945 ABG supported
Integrated 802.11a/b/g
Built-in Bluetooth® V2.0+EDR
LED Status Indicator
Power-on/Suspend
Battery Full/Charging/Low
Storage device Access
WLAN indicator
Bluetooth status
Caps Lock
Interface
1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin for external monitor
3 x USB 2.0 ports
2 x Audio jack: Audio out (S/PIDIF) / Microphone-in
1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert
1 x RJ11 Modem jack for phone line
1 x IEEE 1394 port
1 x TV Out (S-Video composite)
1 x Express Card
Audio
Built-in Azalia compliant audio chip,
Built-in 2 speakers and microphone
Hot Keys
3 Instant launch Keys:
Power4 Gear +, WLAN/Bluetooth, Volume switch

Function Keys:
Fn+F1 Suspend switch
Fn+F2 WLAN/Bluetooth switch
Fn+F3 Email
Fn+F4 Internet
Fn+F5 Brightness down
Fn+F6 Brightness up
Fn+F7 LCD on/off
Fn+F8 LCD/CRT switch display
Fn+F9 Touch Pad lock
Fn+F10 Volume on/mute
Fn+F11 Volume down
Fn+F12 Volume up
Fn+Ins Numeric Key Pad on/off
Fn+Del Scroll Lock on/off
Fn+Space Power 4 Gear+
Fn+C Splendid
KeyBoard
18.5 mm ergonomic & 2.35mm travel 83-key with MS-Windows function keys
Battery Pack & Life
6-cell: 4800mAh, 53 Whrs
9-cell: 7800MAh, 80Whrs
AC Adapter
Output: 19 V DC, 4.74 A, 90W
Input: 100— 240V AC, 50/60Hz universal
Dimension & Weight
315 x 226.5 x 29~36.9mm (W x D x H)
Under 1.95 Kg (6-cell battery pack)
Security
BIOS setup, Power-on, HDD user password protection
Kensington lock hole
TPM Module
Supplied Accessories
Optical Mouse
Carrying bag
Multimedia Software
ASUSDVD XP 6.0
Power Director V3.0 DE
Medi@Show V2.0 SE
Virus & Tool Software
Symantec Norton™ Internet Security 2005
Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0
NERO Express V6.0
ASUS Utility
ASUS Live Update
ASUS ChkMail
ASUS Hotkey
ASUS Power4 Gear+
Warranty & e-support
2-year limited global hardware warranty
1-year battery pack warranty
On-line problem resolution through web interface (BIOS, Driver update)
OS (Microsoft Windows XP) install/uninstall consultation
Bundled software install/uninstall consultation
ASUS software supporting (Liveupdate, Power 4 Gear+, ASUS Probe)

 

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