An Open Question to ASUS U6 owners:

Greetings, for I may be joining your ranks soon enough. Though I have a few lingering questions about the model!

Here are the specifications I have lined up, And I believe I will be going the route of Xoticpc.com

-Core 2 Duo T9300 (2.5GHz)

-256MB nVidia GeForce 9300 G

(Is this enough for casual gaming that's not FPS-based? Mostly things like RTS, Probably nothing more advanced than like, the upcoming StarCraft 2)

4,096MB (2 SODIMMS) Corsair, Kingston or Major Brand DDR2 667MHz Dual Channel Memory

(With Vista x64)

200GB Seagate Momentus 3GB/S SATA II 7200RPM Hard Drive.


A few questions for happy U6 owners:

1) This computer probably will be attached to me at all times for the next three years in Law School. How is the heat-output? Should I invest in a notebook cooler if I plan on using it for long periods of time at tasks like, web-browsing, and word-processing?

2) The 'Infamous' ASUS latches and hinges (or rather, lackthereof). How bad does the U6 suffer from the 'tall man in the wind' syndrome (i.e. does the lid want to creaaaaak back flat in either direction?) that most ASUS small-forms do? And is there a dedicated latch? Or is it kind of close it and hope for the best?

3) Any experience with ASUS tech-support? Are they generally good? Bad? or all over the place (like Dell) and each person has their own experience?

4) Is the Leather gaudy? I like the idea of leather on the handrests simply to not notice temperatures, but uh, after prolonged use will they essentially just turn into large indicators of where the sides of my hands sweat?


Alright, any help is appreciated! I really like what this notebook has to offer!

 

also interested in reply *bump*

 

I have found that this notebook actually stays very cool for the size and considering the high performance components. Using this notebook on a hard, flat surface, such as a desk, will be comfortable. It will warm up slightly, but never uncomfortably warm.

My brother owns an A8J, which has the worst hinges I have ever seen on a notebook. Months after he purchased it, the plastic surrounding the hinges started to crack and split apart, almost ruining the monitor. The hinges on the U6 are far better than this, and are actually quite good. Opening and closing the lid is very fluid and smooth. I think that this is mostly attributed to the light weight of the backlit LED. It weighs so little in comparison to the rest of the notebook, so I don't anticipate any issues with it. There is no latch, when the notebook lid is about an inch away from closing, you will feel the hinge grab it a little bit and pull it tight towards the chassis, holding it in place. This is very solid and I wouldn't worry about it opening at all (again, because the lid is so light in weight).

I have not had any experience really with Asus tech support, but for the most part I have heard good things. The support really depends on where you live. In the United States, their support is known to be much better than many places in Europe or Asia. Some people have had bad experiences too, so I would say it's more of an "each person has their own experience".

The leather is not gaudy at all in my opinion, it is real leather and feels of very high quality. I have owned my U6 for a month or two now and I just started to notice a little bit of grayish areas on the palm rests. Luckily, they came off easily with a little bit of water and a towel. The brown leather hides it much better than the white leather U6s, so I wouldn't worry about it.