Asus Z96 Review by JPZ

That's right. It's finally done. Well not quite, but the main part of the review is done. I just need to do the comparison between the Z96 and my old gaming notebook. To sum it up, the Z96 wins in every category. EVERY one.

Here is the link:
http://www.geared2play.com//phpbb/nfphpbb/viewtopic.php?t=829&sid=c9c1c0fdf11a0e313d20bffe4538a66f

Enjoy!

 

No comments? Is the review too long or something? Or woud people rather I just post a copy of the whole thing here?

 

I think you did a excellent job

Very detailed! Did you have your Uniwill painted or purchase it that way?

I agree with your "Pros", the Z96J is a great machine

One thing i saw at the bottom in your "Pros" that you said "Benefits of VBI Program". The S96J is the model that is a part of the VBI, not the Z96J.

 

Ye i think he knows that.

 

my only "beef" with the laptop right now is the location of the audio ports, i really wish they were on the side

 

I agree wtih you. It is inconvenient to stretch your cord around to the front to plug in. I just purchased the USB Sound Blaster Live 5.1 and so far I am very happy with it. I wanted to be able to utilize 5.1 sound and it works pretty good!

 

hrmmm, does it really weight ~5lbs? If so, I might have to reconsider my choices.

 

6.7lbs with 6 cell battery completely assembled

 

Well I weighed myself on a bathroom scale, and then myself holding the laptop fully configured with 6 cell. It came out to 5 lbs... definately not more than 6. Good thing is, the power supply is very light. My Uniwill PSU(its the big on in the picture of the two power supplies) weighs about 2.5 lbs. The Uniwill laptop weighs a little over 8 lbs, and the Z96 feels MUCH lighter than the Uniwill.

Meant for it to be detailed... it's over 25,000 words LOL! I painted the Uniwill myself. It's a long story... I pulled the thing apart, sanded it down, used some Krylon Fusion, and then I clear coated it with some stuff my dad got at Home Depot(I'm only 15). The clear coat ruined the color coat... it came out real dusty so I had to sand through it and a little farther to get rid of the effect. As you can see, I went through the paint in a few places, and it really isn't mirror-like as it should be. I was planning on getting some quality Krylon clear and re-doing the paint job when I got a chance, but I'm not sure I'm going to since I really won't be using it again having the Z96. I do use the Uniwill to run Linux though....

I really don't mind it. But I know other people do, so I listed it under Cons. My Uniwill had the audio out in the same place. If you have an L-shaped audio plug, it isn't that bad. If your plug is straight, then I could see it being annoying.

I do know that indeed. Notice I said "benefits". I never said it was part of the VBi program. The way I see it, the Z96 is compatible with all the Vbi parts since it is almost identical to the S96. The point of VBi was so you could swap in parts and the like... so the Z96 has the benefits of the VBi program. But the warranty is taken care of by Asus, or the resellers.

I'll try to find a more accurate way to weigh the Z96 when I get a chance. Eddie, does that weight include the PSU? I just took the fully configured notebook with the 6 cell battery in it.

 

yea i have a nice pair of sony headphones which are a straight plug, im going to check if radio shack has a 90deg adapter by chance

 

Great idea!

 

Could you post a screen shot of your coding enviornment in 1280x800 (most you can get on the S96J) and 1680x1050 (most you can get on the z96j). I really want to see how both resolutions look side by side. Thanks!