Asus M3Np review (pics)

Hi all. I just finished putting together an M3Np for my brother (will be putting together my M6Ne tmr - it finally got here!). Just thought I would post something up about the M3Np since there doesn't seem to be a lot of user reviews out there. First, the info:

Asus M3Np (black)
Pentium M 725 (1.6)
512 PC2700 (Kingston)
Hitachi 40GB 5400RPM
Intel 2200BG
DVD-RW drive

Well, first let me say that installing everything was really easy. I found a video explaining the whole process () and I found it to be no trouble at all. In many ways easier than putting together a desktop I think. Took about an hour, hour and a half.

Physical impressions: I love the look of this notebook. I think it looks better in person than in photos actually - it's very clean, very professional looking. Very solid feel throughout; it feels as though it's constructed of quality materials. My only gripe is that it shows fingerprints on the top cover pretty easily. It's also a bit on the heavy side I thought, but given the seeming lack of plastics, I can forgive this. It's still quite small and I find it very easy to carry. The included carrying case is also quite good I find.

Installing Win XP SP2 went perfectly smoothly. It did leave a lot of devices uninstalled though, but the Asus web site provided all the necessary dirvers and all the hardware works great now.

The screen looks pretty nice. Sharp, decent viewing angles, fairly evenly lit though it does seem a bit washed out at the very bottom depending on the top to bottom viewing angle. Tilting the screen back a bit more solves this problem though. No dead pixels. If you don't need more that 1024x768, it's a great screen overall in my opinion. I've seen worse and only a few better.

Performance: Well, I've only been playing with office apps and email, but it responds very nicely - no complaints there. This notebook was never intended for gaming at all, so I can't comment on that. The Intel 2200BG card works great! Better than my iBook. I'm currently using with a D-Link 614+ (802.11b only) and I have no connectivity issues. I haven't had a chance to test the DVD burner out yet so I'm not sure about that. Actually, I had ordered a DVD/CD-RW drive but they gave me the DVD-RW instead!

PowerGear software is a nice touch, and so far I'm going on about 3 hours using the battery and this is only the first charge. With "office / email" mode on, it still shows 50%, 3 hours remaining. I'm guessing it will die down pretty quick when it's being used. But 5-6 hours using the "office / email" profile doesn't seem out of the question.

Overall, I think this was a good purchase and if you're looking for a basic but speedy notebook the M3Np is a good choice.

 

Nice review!

I got pretty much the same laptop except mines got 1GB of RAM and 60GB hard drive at 5400RPM...

I love my M3Np!!

 

What a gorgeous laptop! 6 hours battery? Wow!!

 

Hi all,

This is to all the ppl looking out to buy a m3np barebone.

BUY.com is selling the M3NP barebone for a price of $645. and Best thing is they are giving a $15 off on that price for new customers. So, effectively the price would be $630. Add to that free shipping and I think it is an awesome deal. This is the lowest price I found on the net.

I just ordered one from them and it is on its way. If you are planning on buying the M3Np black model...hurry up bec' they only have a few left. but they do have sufficient stock of the silver ones. But I personally think Black looks best!!.

To apply the $15 off the price. Go to www.dealsdujour.com and go to seller listings under the letter B. you should find BUY.com on the bottom of the list. click on the $15 off $200 in computers coupon and then on redeem coupon. It should get added to your shopping basket on buy.com

I would appreciate any info on the installation procedure and guide pertaining to Asus m3np

Asus customized notebook enthusiast

and the $15

 

This is a great review. I have been looking for a review such as this from a user of M3np for a long time. Happy that I found it at last. Thanks radeon_x

You mentioned that you found a video showing how to install all the stuff. Can you give me a link to the video?

I've just ordered an M3np barebone!. Excited!

and the battery time. did you say 3 hrs??..I thought the m3np gave 5+ hours.

 

Nice to see more M3N users here! I have been using my M3N (Non P, Silver, Fujitsu 5400 40G, 512M, 1.4G Bania) for quite sometime now. There ain't much I can complain about. It's probably still the best performance/price laptop. A couple of friends asked me what's the best laptop to buy NOW, I did hours of research and still end up with M3N.

I probably give my Silver M3N to my sister and get myself a black one

 

Hi, I'm also interested in building an Asus notebook also. Does the barebone include the CPU and harddrive? Or is it sold separately?

 

HI,

here are the links

http://www.asimobile.com/ftproot/Files/Notebooks/M3N/M3N%20Assembly%20guide/Quick%20Guide%20for%20Configuring%20ASUS%20Whitebook%20M3N_re.doc

http://www.asimobile.com/ftproot/Files/Notebooks/M3N/M3N%20Disassembly%20Guide/M3N-Chapter%2003-v1.1.pdf

All credit in providing the above link goes to Underpantman.

Thanks. and Enjoy

 

The assembly video that I mentioned in my original post can be found on this page:

http://ec.synnex.com/sb/sb_byon.html

It's a great resource for all Asus notebooks!