ASUS U6S buying advice...

Hi, I'm from Mumbai, India and I'm considering the U6S as my first notebook.

The only other contender for me was the Dell XPS M1330; and that lost out since the ASUS was slimmer and lighter and I liked the design and build more.

Sony's Vaio isn't well built enough for me. The 13.3 inch macbook has a crappy screen IMO.

The decision lies not with the screen size, I want 11.1, 12.1 or 13.3 only - portability concerns me. The brand and model is what I want to be sure about. Plus I like the cover finish which resists scratches and smudges and I love the leather palmrest.

1. Am I making a good choice?
2. What are the evils of this model?
3. Anything I should know about?

I'm not a total newbie, I work as a reviewer; but have not tested this laptop.

The specs that are available in India are:
T8300, 2 GB RAM, 250 GB HDD, 9300M. There are no other options. The colour is mocha brown.

Any advice at all?

Later on, I would want to do a 4 GB upgrade, as I own Vista Ultimate 64-bit. I might also upgrade to a 7,200 rpm, 320 GB HDD. Is this OK? But please this is secondary stuff, and I need the advice on whether or not to buy it first...

Lastly, I'm new here (read 1 post, registered today), so am I posting this in the wrong section? If so; please correct me.

Thanks for looking.

 

I have probably posted this in the wrong section. Could some mod help me getting this into the "which laptop to buy" section?

 

The U6 is one of Asus' better built ultraportables, and has a reputation of being generally solid for the majority of users, although now getting older at 1+ years. Both of your upgrades will be straightforward and pretty simple, as long as you know how to clone a HDD.

For a complete discussion on the pros/cons of the U6, you should skim the (very long 50+ pages) U6 owner's lounge thread here.

 

Ahh! Thank you for that. I know its a little long in the tooth but the specs seem pretty good; especially the one I'm getting and more so when you consider my usage patterns...

Shockingly I only intend to use this for sending mails, MS word and office as of now. My usage patterns may expand later; Oh! - I may play a little Q3 or WC3 at office; nothing more, as I have a fast desktop for shenanigans.

I love the look of this notebook; does the body and keypad finish last?
Thanks for the link!

 

The U6 series is built with a magnesium alloy chassis which is considerably stronger than other notebooks made of primarily plastic material. It definitely feels durable and should last a few good years. My only gripe with the U6V is the relatively poor battery life and the touchpad buttons.

 

Check out the new Special Edition U6 finished in bamboo no less...

http://www.mobilecomputermag.co.uk/20080808787/hands-on-with-the-asus-u6-bamboo-laptop.html

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/18847/19871/asus-u6-series-bamboo-photos.phtml

 

Thanks emporiumboutique I never knew about the mag-alloy body. This must be the top body right? Beacuse the rear is still plastic, or is it?

The bamboo looks unique; longevity with sweat etc dunno.

 

Clearskies....do you have a link to an Asus N-series 12 incher? What are the model numbers? Or is that a typo? I'm looking for a 12 inch NB. thanks

 

The exterior is still plastic, but the inside chassis frame is magnesium-alloy.
The bamboo U6 certainly looks very unique, but it comes at a steep price ($2000 ). The only place I know so far that sells the bamboo U6 is amazon.

 

My mistake - I thought the N-series included 15, 14 and 12" models.... but it only includes the former two.

My apologies for the error .

 

Don't forget the N10~!

 

it's an absolutely great laptop

zero regrets here!

 

OP, do you still wish this thread moved to "What Notebook Should I Buy" for suggestions of computers from other brands?