Considering getting an ASUS laptop.

I'm considering getting the F8SA-X2 off Newegg for an amazing price of $1,099.99.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220240

I was wondering if anyone thought this was a good deal?

I would also buy this amazingly priced 2GB RAM to upgrade it to 3GB:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145172

I've in general heard good things about ASUS laptops.

There are 2 drawbacks of this laptops for me, namely the 1280 x 800 resolution and the fact that it doesn't have Intel Turbo Memory. However, seeing the price, I guess I am willing to forgo these features.

I hear it is quite heavy for a 14" laptop. I am looking for a laptop that is easy to move around and not too heavy. I currently am using a 3-year old Dell Inspiron 600m which has a standard ratio 14.1" screen. It weighs 5.6 pounds which at the time was considered quite light. How does the F8SA-X2 compare to this?

I am also looking at the 12.1" F9S-B1 which is $100 more than the F8SA-X2:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220245

I don't know if I want to go that small however. The portability and weight is certainly attractive though. I would be more inclined to get it if it were a 13.3".

Any feedback regarding these particular models or ASUS laptops in general would be greatly appreciated.

 

The F8 series has been a pretty decent one from ASUS... I don't recall hearing about any major issues with them so far. They're good looking, reliable machines as far as I know.
The F9 is also decent... but the battery life is a definite let-down; machines this small should get at least 4 hours of battery life... which it fails to do comfortably. Asus machines in general suffer from poor battery life... some worse than others, but it really seems like the small notebooks suffer the worst.

 

I so agree about the battery life. I loved everything about my F9Dc-A1, the size, overall construction, but I couldn't get over the lousy battery life and that's with a battery that extends out the back even! An old 3 yr old T42p Thinkpad with a humongous 15" lcd and dedicated graphics still manages over 3 hrs on a standard 6 cell and 4.5-5 on a 9 cell battery, and that's under Vista.

 

I wouldn't be too concerned with the lack of turbo memory. There have been many tests that show that turbo memory does next to nothing for performance (plus you have to use vista )


Its tough to get a higher rez than 1280x800 in a 14" notebook. I think some of the Lenovo thinkpads have high rez screens in that size.

I was looking at the F9S but i havn't seen anyone put xp on it yet, and i refuse to use vista at this point in time. Best of luck finding a notebook.

 

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm beginning to rule out the F9S-B1 because I think it will be too small for my tastes and the fact that it has poor battery life is a big turnoff.

Can anyone tell me what the battery life on the F8SA-X2 is?

What exactly is the reason why ASUS laptops don't have good battery life? Is it the dedicated video card? ASUS definitely seems to focus on including a dedicated video card when most manufacturers in this size range stick with an integrated one. Either way, I am willing to sacrifice battery life for a dedicated video card as long as I am not sacrificing too much battery life.

 

I'm gonna approximate...
you SHOULD, theoretically, get 4-5 hours on one of these machines under ideal conditions.
Realistically, you'll see 2.5-3.5 hours.

 

Reports put it at around 2-2.5 hours. Better check the thread on the F8S

 

Generally, you can expect 15-25 minutes per cell in the battery, depending on system configuration.

Asus has been packaging their systems recently with 4 & 6 cell batteries (tended to be 8 cell a couple of years ago), and between the new Intel CPUs that you can't undervolt and Vista's changed power management Asus just can't keep up. Discrete gpu's don't help matters any, either, but IGP models aren't doing much better. Battery life across most of their models is the biggest hit against them right now.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I would have ideally preferred 3 hours but I guess that's asking too much.

Anyone know why Newegg doesn't sell the F8SV-A1 and F8SV-B1? Did they used to sell them?

 

Also, is it easy to get the drivers if I decide I want to load Windows XP on it?

 

One thing that made a Asus notebook my choice was an easy one. Mainly because of the 2 Year Warranty. Worked at a Big Box and almost all others are 1 Year Warranty with other warranties available for purchase. Then Asus decides to give new buyers more reassurance by giving a 1 Year accidental. So as I looked at every notebook and every company. It was easy to go with Asus and www.newegg.com.

As far as battery life goes. My model an F3 series does have a 9 cell available but with my HD 2600 in my notebook. Almost always plugged in. Some 9 cell batteries for different models of Asus notebooks are interchangable. Check around...

 

I have an F8SA that I bought from Newegg. Weight is not an issue, it weighs somewhere between 5 and 6 lbs which is actually lighter then my old "ultra portable" 12" PB. Battery life isn't the most desirable, but I used it plugged in most of the time. The screen resolution is perfect for the size of the screen and gaming.

But what really sold me was the stock warranty they offered. 2 years and 1 year accidental can't really be beat without paying extra money.

It's also a beast at gaming which is a surprise for such a tiny package.

EDIT: Not to mention the warranty is Global so wherever you are in the world it can easily be fixed.