Asus B43J owners?

Hi, does anyone of you own Asus B43J? Looks very good "on paper" but I haven't found a single review of it anywhere on the internet. Does anyone have a hands-on experience?

 

Try searching for the Asus B53J instead. Pretty much the same laptop except from the display size. Here's a review:
Review Asus B53J Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

I have hands-on experience with the B53J and it's a great laptop. I am stuck choosing between the B53j, B43F, P42JC and Lenovo L412.

Review of the P42JC:
Review Asus P42JC Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

Kind regards
.lars

 

Yep I own one.

Pretty good laptop, just very heavy, not that good battery-wise and ty 1366*768 screen. Which doesn't matter that much to me since I have an external monitor 95% of the time.
Runs incredibly cool compared to most of what's around these days. Ideal candidate for an SSD since it's got a QM57 and it's already set up in AHCI.

 

I saw one today (although turned off) and I have to say that the laptop looks good but attracts fingerprint much more than I'd like. I also don't like the weight and battery life as you said but other than that, it really is an interesting choice.

I just came across PL80Jt which seems even better to me but is unfortunately sold out throughout the country.

 

According to the specs it's 2.5kg. That's not too heavy, is it? What keeps me from buying the Asus B-series is the lack of a 9-cell battery. I tested the Lenovo L412 with the 9-cell battery and got almost 6 hours with wireless surfing.

 

it's not *that* heavy, but just bear in mind 14 inch is supposed to be small. 2.5kg is fine for a 15in or above.
And yes, I bought it with the hope that asus will offer that 8 and 4-cell sonata batteries of the B53. This one feels pretty light and half empty, I'm sure they can cram way more cells in there.

 

Hmm...8 and 4 cells ? I think the Sonata battery is a 3-cell.

Kind regards
.lars

 

There is a 4-cell sonata and 8-cell "classic" option for the B53. They are about $160-190 and have 25% more capacity.

But yes, indeed, the standard B43J comes with a 3-cell sonata.

 

How is this the "next gen" battery if it lasts significantly less than e.g. my Acer TimelineX? I get the warranty is useful but if that's all...

 

Yeah the next gen battery doesn't do anything special unless you intend to cycle it 500 times in 3 years. It happens to some people, but those people certainly don't lug around a 2.5kg laptop. I guess it's just the result of a bad market analysis from asus, wouldn't be the first time (they're going to release their macbook-air equivalent without an SSD and they keep releasing "multimedia" and "pro" computers with 1366*768 screens...).

So to answer your question, it is, indeed, all the new battery is doing: more cycles and a warranty.