Asus + AMD = ???

I'm a fan of both Asus and AMD, and am thinking of purchasing such a notebook. I have built a few desktops and am reasonably confident in putting together a laptop, if necessary.

Here are some details as to what I would like, in no particular order:

1) Asus MB
2) AMD processor
3) Sturdy design (chassis)
4) Wide screen
5) Comfortable keyboard
6) DVD/CD-RW
7) Wireless ethernet
8) Respectable battery life (2+hours preferrably)
9) Won't burn my lap
10) Relatively quiet
11) Respectable sound

Can't think of anything else vital at the moment. It will be used primarily for word processing, statistical analyses, e-mail, internet, and listening to music (quite often, 3-4 of these processes will be running simultaneously, so I want something that can multitask and allow me to switch between windows quickly). I realize that none of these tasks are very resource-intensive (with the exception of analyses, at times), so my guess is that my CPU and RAM needs are relatively low.

However, I would definitely like to be able to watch DVDs and perhaps play a few games from time to time. My heart won't be broken if I can't play games, though.

Now, here's the kicker: I'm a rather poor graduate student, and we really need to pinch pennies. So I need to save money, and perhaps finance the purchase if possible.

What Asus (or other brand) models would anyone recommend?

Thanks for your input!

Regards,
~neuron

 

I think I can give you a hand...... let me first start by saying welcome to the forum...... and I'm obviously an Asus fan and I'm a huge AMD fan..... however, in laptops I couldn't be more of a Pentium-M guy. In a desktop an AMD cpu will run cooler and more efficently than an Intel any day........ In a laptop, the new AMD Turion is a great cpu but it was made to try to compete with the Centrino platforms which took two years to get where they are.

You're going to find all the performance and great battery life an low heat that you'd want and would be good for a notebook..... but basically AMD notebooks don't have the same market Centrino's do, so on Asus' line all of the AMD notebooks are basically designed around previous P4 chassis'. There's nothing new and innovative. They're looked at as workstations more than Centrino's are and using older chassis' help keep the price down.

I'm not a huge fan of the lower end models, but they are certainly good computers..... you may want to look at something like the A6u... get it with maybe a 2800+ athlon 64 and 512mb of ram and a 5400rpm hard drive. That'll be respectable for most of what you want to do (school work and dvds) and it would be cheap.

Now.. when you talk games, if you want an AMD model you'd have to get the Z81k. We stop carrying it (because we ran out and Asus stopped making them about two months ago).... but other people still have them. 128mb ATI 9700 graphics... That might be more than you need, so something in the middle might be of more interest to you.... What kind of games are you talking about?

 

Thanks for the welcome and the information.

As far as gaming is concerned, I actually do very little on computers nowadays... if I play games, I generally use my PS2. I guess I was thinking a bit about the future; however, I doubt I will have sufficient funds at this time to devote to a notebook that will handle much in the way of future games.

I'll look more into the A6U... that was actually the Asus model I have been focusing on.

Beyond Asus notebooks though, are there manufacturers (e.g., Dell, HP, Gateway, etc.) who use Asus MB's in their models? I find it curious that notebook descriptions do not list the MB brand and type, as descriptions of desktops do. Why is that, and is it of any concern?

Regards,
~neuron

 

Neuron - 50% of the worlds computers have an asus motherboard in them.... it doesn't mean those computers are good. I've heard from one of Asus' techs in their Kentucky Pocket PC facility (that's where they "repair" dell and hp motherboards) .... They said there's zero performance there....... they're not even on the same level. Everyone can make crap and when you do bid or contract work, you're building per their spec. Even though Asus' motherboards are technically all over the world, there's not a sole at Asus when confronted by an end user who could want to admit they sold out and too a contract from Dell to make POS mobos........ So with that, I won't suggest anything else...... but at the same time, I started importing Asus' notebooks and started this business because of the overall top end quality and performance of what Asus was willing to put their own name on......

 

Ah, very interesting information!

BTW, if anyone is interested, I found a pretty thorough review of Turion vs. Centrino here. Assuming the review is generally accurate, is there a good reason why Asus does not make more of their laptops compliant with Turion? Is this perhaps because Turion is such a relatively new technology?

Another question for the knowledgeable: to what extent should I be concerned with screen resolution capabilities? With my typical use parameters, will I wish that I had something more advanced than WXGA? Will widescreen really benefit me beyond watching movies, or is it really no big deal?

And finally... on the ASUS global site, you can find information about the A6K series, which supports " 15"/15.4" SXGA+/WXGA Color Shine LCD ". All I can find for this series is the A6U, which is the 15.4" WXGA version- do others exist? I think I might be more interested in the 15" SXGA+ version, if one is available.

Thanks for your help!

Regards,
~neuron

 

Oh, and another question that I am unclear about... is Turion a processor, a design (like Centrino), or both? I can't seem to find Turion processors for sale individually anywhere, but some systems (e.g., Acer Ferrari, to pick something that I've come across often) list a Turion processor. Is this actually an Athlon or Sempron processor in a Turion design? Please excuse my ignorance here, but it seems very unclear to me!

The article I linked above seems to indicate that the Turion is a processor, or perhaps both a processor and a design, particularly based on this page. My confusion is likely directly correlated with my technological knowledge. It is too time-consuming for me to keep up with all the technological advances and terminology nowadays!

Regards,
~neuron

 

AMD on a whole is less popular than Intel in the notebook market and it's a simple money making issue...... they can pour the money into the design and development of centrino systems...

The A6k is the same unit as the A6u but with 64mb nvidia 6200 graphics..... honestly, that's not much better than what's integrated into the A6u to begin with.... Asus US won't import another turion model until there is a revision to the A6k that is more like a 128mb nvidia 6600 (or maybe 256mb 6800)....... there's just not enough difference between the A6u and A6k ... even though the K has a dedicated card, it's not that great for an AMD unit.... It'll be Thanksgiving time before we have a chance at getting a more substantial Turion unit in.... by the way the Turion is a nice cpu, but the whole platform has a ways to go yet.

The Turion models can all take Turion64 mobile, Athlon64 mobile, and Sempron mobile cpus....... the Turions are very expensive and have the same power as some of the cheaper a64s........ but the Turion runs at a lower wattage. Sempron's are like Celerons.... wouldn't touch them with a 10' stick.

As far as screens... you're not going to get a color shine screen on an Asus AMD notebook at this time...... I think as far as resolution... you should think about what you use now.. I find it funny that the majority of people who struggle with XGA or WXGA over SXGA or WSXGA....... end up using like 1024 x 768 or so on their current 17" desktop monitor..... in that case the high res on a smaller laptop screen is going to be WAY to much for them..... so think about what you use now and get the same unless you see your needs changing soon...

 

The newer Celeron-M chips are getting a lot better though... they're adopting the older Banias model chip and have 1MB of L2 Cache

 

They're always going to get better and will always use two generations old components....... the first celerons were repackaged Pentium 2's..... and they sold those up till like a year and a half ago or so.... they're getting better, yes... but my comparison of the semperon was really to the celeron desktop chip.. even though, yes I realize the semperon is a mobile chip so i should compare it to the celeron-m..... I'm sorry.