ASUS F8SN-D1 or ASUS M51SN-C1?

Well, these notebooks are both under $1000 and that's the budget for the person I'm buying a laptop for. I can't decide between the M51SN-C1 or the F8SN-D1...there really is no significant difference - the M51sn-C1 has a slightly faster processor but it's not relevant. The only other difference is the screen size obviously. My BIGGEST concern though is the build quality of both laptops. I'd like to know which one feels more sturdy, more well built, better cooled...which one will give me no problems for the next 3-4 years.

And if anyone has any other ideas of laptops that do not exceed $1000 (with any dedicated graphics card, decent processor, and decent ram) after tax and shipping then please let me know. This laptop will be for a new laptop user who won't be doing much except watching movies and some business work but he wants a dedicated graphics card lol

 

I would go for the F8 over the M51, simply because its got the same specs and is smaller and lighter. I think build quality is the same, but this is just what I think based on what I've seen, since I actually have not used either the F8 or the M51, though I would assume that they are about the same as the A8Js, which is alright as far as build quality goes, but is nothing particularly special.

 

Yeah, it seems like the F8 is much more popular. Is there something the F8 has that the M51 doesn't have? They both have great screen quality as far as I know and pretty much the same exact specs all around. By the way, is the T5550 enough for a regular laptop user who probably won't be gaming or doing anything too intense?

 

The M51 has a separate numeric keypad. Only machine I've ever seen that has 15.4 screen with a separate keypad. If anybody knows of another, let me know, I'm looking to sell my Asus F5vl and get something like the M51.

 

If you aren't going to be gaming or doing any other GPU intensive tasks, I'd suggest getting a computer with an IGP or a weaker GPU as you'll be able to spend more on CPU, HDD and build quality as well as increasing battery life and/or portability.

However, of those two, I'd recommend the F8. I have the F8Sn-C1 model and am very happy with the build quality and performance.

 

Absolutely, I agree with you about getting a weaker GPU and focusing on CPU and build quality but unfortunately, all of the laptops I come across that do so and are under $1000 have an X3100 which I'm not cool with. In most cases, laptops under $1000 have very similar specs to the F8 except maybe they'll have a T7250 instead of the T5550 and of course an X3100. That's why I like both of these laptops because that's a lot of bang for your buck (though I would like a slightly faster processor).

 

MSI GX600 does, as do many of the LG XNote 15" notebooks (forgot exact model names...)

I'm actually considering an F8 C1, I mean, its dirt cheap. Even though I have a very similar notebook, and have no need for anything this powerful for a notebook....its still really, really bloody inexpensive for a machine with those specs.

 

One thing to consider - and don't get me wrong - my F8SA is a keeper - but the battery life on mine (with a T7500) is less than two hours. If I set it to performance mode in Vista and game on it the battery only lasts about an hour and 20 minutes. I think the T7500 is a 35-watt processor and I believe the newer ones are 25-watts or less - so that should yield longer run times. Great build quality, and otherwise my F8SA is a great system.

 

I think I'll go with the F8. Is the T5550 enough for just regular work and movie watching? or should I go with the T7250?

 

The 5xxx cpu series is plenty (some would say much more) of cpu power than you need for the uses you describe.

However, depending on your financial abilities, it never hurts to buy the next series up (i.e. 7xxx series).

 

Ok great, one last question...are there any heating issues with the F8? Is it known to generate lots of heat or is it relatively cool?

 

Review of the F8p here.

Also try scanning the F8 owner's lounge thread.

In my experience around here "heat" is in the eye of the beholder, as it were . It's going to throw out heat because of the powerful gpu (tradeoff for having a performance part), and the battery life is far from optimal with that gpu installed as a result.

 

I'm sorry to ask this here, but I've also had trouble deciding between the two.

I want a laptop for college, so I want to take notes and type my papers on a laptop. However, I'd also want to play some games on it like Half Life 2, maybe Diablo 3 whenever that comes out.

Do you guys think either of these would be good for me? If so, which one has a better battery life?

 

I would guess that the 9500m GS handles HL2 very well, I get 60+FPS with everything maxed out (2x AA/AF) for TF2 which uses the same engine. Diablo 3 will almost certainly run well since Blizzard generally doesn't output graphically taxing games.

Also, I would assume that the F8 would get slightly better life as the screen size is smaller.

 

Is there any difference in build quality? How good is the build quality on these laptops?