[Z96J] Mini Review (Pics + Gaming)

I have taken some time to do a mini review regarding some interesting factors many here on the forums would like to know, especially about the screen and gaming. I will try to be as unbias as possible.

*Most pics can be zoomed in 3 times, by clicking on the image

Asus Z96j
14.2" x 10.5" x 1.1"/1.5"
~6.4lbs w/ 6-cell battery <- Estimated, with all internal components.
15.4" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) Glossy

Specs:
2.0Ghz Dual Core (Yonah)
100GB Hitachi 5400rpm (SATA)
1Gb DDR2 533mhz
The Rest of the specs can be seen here, scroll down.
http://www.milestonepc.com/canada/product_info.php?products_id=1325

Features
1.3mpx webcam
Internal Bluetooth 2.0
Support SATA Hard Drives

Screen
One of the most anticipating things about this laptop was the special WSXGA+ Glossy screen it has.

It is high gloss, does have reflections, you won't really notice them if your concentrating on gaming, movies or working on your tasks.

The test and icons while looking at the desktop at native resolution was GREAT! You have a lot of real estate plus everything is clear and crisps.

The screen has 16 notches of brightness, at max the screen is bright and looks nice. As you drop the brightness, the text is still readable.

*Movie!! 1 min, 13Mb Fast download. Use QuickTime. its a .mov file.
Shows Screen brightness and viewing angles.
http://rapidshare.de/files/26794690/Z96j_Screen_Brightness.mov.html

I then decided to drop the native resolution on the desktop to see what would happen. Unfortunately, the text seemed to blur a little, however the icons and wallpaper remained intact and not distorted.

The lid is made from plastic and it protects the screen well, little flex on the right side of the lid, and little ripples if you apply enough pressure on the right side. The rest of the lid seemed quite strong.

Viewing angles on this screen were amazing! Roughly 130-150 degrees horizontal, and roughly 40 degrees vertical, when you move up, the screen washes out, but if you move down the screen gets darker, yet once you pass the 40 degree vertical viewing angle you can still read the text.

Keyboard

The keyboard feel nice to type on. (Subjective) There is small amount of flex, that seemed to be relatively all over, but this did not hinder my ability to type one bit. As a matter of fact it helped because the keys have a short travel distance. Fast typers may appreciate this.

The keyboard sounds ok, when typing on it, not too loud but not too silent.

The ergonomics of the keyboards are good, it takes some time getting to used to when your Delete key is above the Backspace, and your Enter key is smaller than a regular Keyboard. Unfortunately, once again the Ctrl and FN key were switched, making it difficult to copy and paste, and do other tasks. It does take time getting used to.

Overall, the keyboard layout is nice, except for the ctrl and FN key.

There are 4 hot keys above the keyboard, that allow for P4G, Internet Explorer, OUtlook Express and Enable/Disable Touchpad.

There are three lights (leds), Numlock, Capslock, Scroll lock, Then the power button.

Touchpad

The touchpad feels very nice, does not feel cheap one bit, and the responsiveness is great.

The buttons, left and right click, have a ridge design and feel nice, but you do have to press to hear the click sound, and it is loud. Fortunately, the buttons are very responsive when pressed.

Build Quality

The quality of lid is good, as mentioned above. Very little flex and ripples on the right side of the screen. The rest of the lid is very sturdy.

The hinges are ok, they have flex, however when moving the screen it is fine, very little wobbling and the hinge hold the screen at any angle.

The hinge allows the laptop to be fully opened if you ever had to.

As mentioned above the keyboard exhibits a little bit of flex all over, however this is ok, since the travel distance is short. I had no problems typing on the keyboard at all.

Size and Weight
14.2" x 10.5" x 1.1"/1.5"
~6.4lbs w/ 6-cell battery <- Estimated, with all internal components.
15.4" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) Glossy

The battery is a 6 cell rectangle and fit flush into the back of the laptop.

The weight of laptop is fine in my hand, I can carry it no problem.

The laptop feels a little big and bulky, but considering it is a 15.4" laptop, the size is quite good compared to other laptops in its class.

Heat and Noise

When doing light and medium tasks, the right palm rest gets warm, but not uncomfortable. The touchpad progressively gets warmer as you use it, but it is still not uncomfortable.

The keyboard seemed to not get warm at all doing any tasks, also the left palm rest stayed cool under light tasks.

When gaming and intensive tasks, the right palm got warmer, but still not uncomfortable, and the touchpad got warmer. The heat did spread slightly to the left palm rest. The keyboard was still fine.

The noise...what noise? There was literally no noise while gaming or light tasks. I had to put my head behind the lid to hear the vent spew out warm air while running 3Dmark06. The sound it did output was something like this "ehhhhhhh" it was very soft.

I was able to touch the vent with my fingers while it was running 3dMark06 and this shows the laptop is indeed very cool, and the air can be felt only 3 inches away.

Speakers and Headphones

Speakers were not that great, the treble was ok, bass was almost non existent.

Fortunately the headphone jack worked like a charm, very clear, crisp sound, definitely usable for gaming, movies and music.

Batterylife

I tested the batterylife using the 6 cell battery, and if you compare it to other laptops, they have 8 cells or even 9 cells standard, some do have 6 cells standard too.

The average batterylife is 2 hours and 30 mins.

I set P4G to Battery Saver and these are the batterylifes i got.

Full Brightness
16/16 = 2:15
13/16 = 2:16
10/16 = 2:23
07/16 = 2:30
04/16 = 2:40
01/16 = 2:50

To get more batterylife, the extended 9 cell battery is an option. It may add up to another 1 hour or more to the batterylife.

Benchmarks

These are stock Asus drivers.

3DMark05 = 3559
This is ok, since many will use the omega drivers, and i did not find this to hinder the ability to play games.

3DMark06 = 1653

Games

Fear
I ran a test, in the game, max settings, no soft shadows, and with the max res of 1400x1050

Min 10
AVG 18
Max 35

I then dropped the resolution to 1028x768 and max settings, no soft shadows, and once again, the game looks fantastic. GAming on low and high res was VERY smooth, no fuzzyness or jaggies, when looking at the walls.
Movement was good too, no blurring when you turn fast.

High Res:

Low Res:

Oblivion
The game was set at max settings, Native Resolution and the graphics looked nice but it was slow.

Then i changed the resolution to WXGA and the game was much more playable and the graphics seemed to be equivalent to native res.

Once again no blurring or faded text or graphics.

NFS Most Wanted
High game settings both resolutions were nice to play at. The game looked GREAT.

The game ran a little slow, so dropping the res and adjusting the settings would take some time to get the max graphical eye candy with good frames per second.

All tests were done on a clean Installation of Win XP and drivers, plus these programs/games used.

Conclusion

Overall, the laptop performed very well, the performance of a Dual core laptop is exceptional, I was able to do many task at once and consequtivly.

Pros:
Screen <- Excellent viewing angles, able to scale well, great brightness.
X1600 <- great performance, mid range gaming solution
Yonah <- excellent performance, no slow downs
Port Layout <- I liked the layout of the ports
Quality <- decent build quality
Value <- one of the best bang for the buck
Heat <- this is one cool laptop
Noise <- What noise? barely makes a sound doing anything

Avg:
Headphone Jack <- outputs great sound, too bad for the speakers.
Wireless <- Worked well without a hitch
Keyboard <- nice, but has some flex
Touchpad <- responsive, but the buttons are hard and make noise
Looks <- average looks, but can be improved with a VBI panel or sticker

Cons:
Speakers <- low volume, no bass, not great overall
Batterylife <- 6 cell, only get on average 2 hours and 30 mins
Big <- the laptop is bulky, but comparable to other 15.4" laptops
Thick <- 1.5" thick in the back, still comparable to other 15.4" laptops
Weight <- feels ok in ur hands, but may feel heavy with a backpack other books.

I hope you all enjoyed the mini review, if you have any questions, please ask.

MilestonePC.com Company Representative

MilestonePC.com Company Representative