ASUS' N82Jv: Jack-Of-All-Trades
by Jarred Walton on September 11, 2010 11:10 PM ESTA Mobile Land of Confusion
We mentioned earlier that ASUS could probably benefit from a bit of simplification and consolidation in their mobile lineup. Let's discuss that a bit more. A simplified lineup is something Apple does very well: they have the standard MacBook, a Pro version with a better LCD and chassis, and then two larger Pro laptops that add switchable graphics. There's little confusion over what's what, though obviously there are a few gaps that Apple doesn't quite cover.
In contrast, ASUS has at least six categories of laptops, plus the Eee PC line. They have lines for Business, Gaming, Multimedia, Superior Mobility, Versatility, and the nebulous "Special Edition", and there are multiple overlapping products. Without delving into the spec sheets, can anyone quickly tell the difference between the B, G, K, N, P, and U-series offerings? Off hand, we'd guess that B is for Business, P is for Professional, G is for Gaming, and U is for Ultraportable (UL = Unlimited); as for N and K, they're pretty much interchangeable with minor style and component differences.
Click to enlarge
While it might be wise to have separate categories for gaming and business, all of the other areas can easily fall into the category of "versatility". We'd also like to see more "business" features in the B/P line, like magnesium alloy frames to go with the spill resistant keyboards. The real issue with the consumer lines (U, K, and N) is that they all have a few attractive features, but no single laptop combines the best aspects into one unit.
The U-series is crippled by its use of the anemic G 310M GPU, which will hopefully go away now that GT 415M is available. On the other hand, the U-series (including UL laptops) get big batteries that allow them to last all day on a single charge, and at least four hours of movie watching. Then we have the K/N series that are typically handicapped with smaller 48Wh batteries. Why not combine the two and satisfy a larger group of users? How much would it cost ASUS to make the 8-cell 84Wh battery standard on the N82Jv and forget about buying 6-cell 48Wh batteries? Sure, pricing might be slightly higher, but it seems like they could still hit $1000 and sell more units.
People seem happy to pay $1000 for the standard MacBook, and we'd have a superior laptop in just about every area for the same price. The N82Jv we're looking at today is pretty much the MacBook equivalent for the Windows world, with different styling, more performance, and a smaller battery. We're okay with the styling, but please fix the battery. Then what we really want is an "N82 Pro" to go up against the MacBook Pro 13. For $1200 they could take the basic design, add a sturdy magnesium alloy frame, and give us a midrange ASUS laptop with a decent LCD for a change. The MacBook Pro line isn't perfect, but it provides users with good performance, a metal chassis, and a quality LCD. We'd love to have a line in the Windows world that we could go to for a similar set of features.
We're not saying every laptop needs to cost $1200, but if we're already spending $1000, give us the option to spend a bit more for some upgrades outside of the CPU/HDD. Give us a sturdy, non-plastic chassis with high contrast LCDs. And if you're ready to go all the way, give us the choice between matte and glossy panels. ASUS has so many options and lines already, but the plethora of options means that even if you do want a certain model, it may not be available in your neck of the woods. So simplify the choices and cut off the low quality features that diminish brand name; besides, we've already got Dell, HP, Toshiba, etc. consumer lines that handle the inexpensive but cheap market quite well.
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JarredWalton - Monday, September 13, 2010 - link
See page two... added the HWMonitor screenshot and some commentary (similar to the above).The Crying Man - Monday, September 13, 2010 - link
Really? Why shouldn't people play games on notebooks? I've been doing it for over 8 years without problems.seanleeforever - Monday, September 13, 2010 - link
gaming on a laptop is full of compromises. you never get a powerful enough CPU/GPU without paying penalty of weight/battery life/heat/noise/price. and two years later, you laptop is out of date and you have NO ABILITY to upgrade it.i am no stranger to notebook gaming. i had that very goal when i entered college (which was many, many years ago). i bought the most powerful notebook with best graphic card available. the system cost over 2k with coupons (which was VERY expensive, i might add). it was high price/heavy weight (5.2 lbs)/heats up like crazy, and poor battery life. it was out of date by the 3rd year in college and barely run any new games with decent settings.
Then, i bought another one (T61P) when it came out, again, the best graphic card in business and expensive like hell. it run games great in that year, but now cannot even run SC2 with medium settings.
the inability to upgrade is really what kills it. when you buy notebooks, you are paying more than Ram/HDD/CPU/GPU. you are paying the whole package. buying a gaming laptop means once the CPU/GPU is out of date, you gonna have to throw the whole thing out, no matter how great the monitor you have, no matter how good the keyboard is, no matter how awesome the system was designed. Notebook manufacture knows about it. they cheapens the design in other areas because they know you gonna move to new gears once Intel/AMD/Nv's new chip is out. long term reliably is no longer a concern (HP, i am looking at you). long term engineering test is complete out of the window because all it matters is to ship the units with the newest chip (the ENTIRE NV lineup were overheating, any body?)
i really love the way desktop works. i can dump a lot of money on a good monitor, keyboard, mouse, cage, audio, and knowing those parts are staying with me no matter i upgrade my system to i7 or i70.
the only thing that keep pushing for new notebooks are games. i can hardly find any reason to dump my T61P besides gaming performance. the new i7 cores are also extremely good (i only have i7 620lm, but it runs 1080 video, VHDL simulation, and matlab code without a problem). so this time around i dumped money into a well designed, ultra portable tablet with one of the best screen in business that i know i will use for the next 5 years. meanwhile i can built myself a gaming machine if i wanted for 30% of the cost.
JarredWalton
believe or not, a lot of people buying notebook not for gaming. i know anand has received a lot of computers in the past, why not create a lab to test
1: sound quality? fan noise?
2: screen quality? (like, take picture from all angels and compare it to others), screen reflection. out door view experience.
3: actual portability. when you travel (the reason for thin and light notebook), you want to work on the go. does the position of the fan make it easily blocked when playing on your lap or other soft surfaces? does it make machine overheat? effect on fan noise?
4. ease to use, such as how accessible is to the HDD and RAM? how difficult it is to do a full on re-store to factory setting? how about drivers support if your HDD is broken and you do not have a DVD shipped with system? how easy to make back on your person files using the provided tool? and how about notebook specific functions (like, if you have thinkpad, you have thinkvantage software that actually does some nice things such as check your system health, check your drivers and install them automatically).
my whole point is that there is SO MUCH MORE to tell other than your new notebook can run crysis and last 5 hours. in fact, gaming performance is maybe what i care the least because as soon as i see the GPU and CPU, i have a good feeling of what this can and cannot do. the Toshiba one is nicely done to point out the crapware that came pre loaded.