Asus F9Dc-A1 Quick Review

[Mobil1]

Spec rundown:

AMD Turion64 X2 TL-56 1.80G
1 GB DDR2 667 (1GBx1)
nVidia GeForce 8400M G 128MB Dedicated
12.1" WXGA 1280x800 LCD
120GB SATA 5400rpm HD
DVD Super Multi
Gigabit Ethernet
56k modem
802.11 b/g Wireless
Bluetooth
Express Card slot
1.3 mega pixel cam (front-back swivel)
Mic & Headphone jacks
3xUSB
HDMI
6 cell battery
Vista Home Premium
Targus bag
USB mouse
2 year global warranty, 1 year accidental

Pros:

- Solid construction, didn't notice much flex at all anywhere
- Sharp, beautiful screen
- Decent webcam
- Equipped with 2 RAM slots with a single 1 GB stick already installed. Upgraded to 2 GB RAM using the cheapest RAM available (Corsair ValueSelect) and had no compatability issues at all
- Very easy to upgrade, nearly all user replaceable parts can be accessed through the bottom panel
- Comes with separate recovery CD's for the OS and drivers/apps

Cons:

- Gets a bit warm under AC operation, less noticeably so on battery
- Expect about 2.5 hrs of operation on battery, a far cry from the 4 hrs. stated in the specs
- Battery sticks out the back
- Very slugglish performance upon first bootup. Expect to tweak many settings if not a full system restore minus all the bloatware to get performance up to an acceptable level.
- No fingerprint reader/TPM security hardware

Ran memtest for several hours, no errors reported. Wiped drive, recovered system using only the OS Recovery disc and restored it onto a single partitioned drive. Restored drivers manually. Allowed Windows to update online, found and installed 36 updates for Vista Home Premium.

Final Thoughts:

For under a grand including the RAM upgrade, this is what you get: a small footprint, light weight, dual core, 2GB RAM, a DVD burner, a Geforce 8400M G with a dedicated 128MB RAM, HDMI, Gigabit ethernet, wireless, bluetooth, a usb mouse, Targus bag and to top it all off a 2 year global warranty with 1 year of accidental coverage thrown in. In short, this notebook was an incredible deal and though classified as a consumer level model, I'd rate the overall construction very close to a business class system.

Windows Experience 3.1
3dmark05 1886
3dmark06 1069

Previous notebooks I've owned:

Thinkpad 701C
Thinkpad 365XD
Thinkpad 380XD
Toshiba Tecra 8100
HP/Compaq nc6320

[coriolis]

Nice quick review, it's exactly how it was assumed to be, but comparing it to above average consumer model is quite a statement, especially for a 12.1" with an 8400G under one thousand. Nice!

[Redline]

How was the WEI score so low?

Thanks for posting your thoughts!

[Amol]

Other than the 2hrs of battery life, the ASUS F9Dc is an excellent system. But the way I see it is taht if it's small, the power pack is small too; which means carrying it around with you shouldn't add too much weight (compared to like teh Clevo I carry around with me ALL the time - it's killing my back).

Thanks for your thoughts

[Rorschach]

How was the WEI score so low?

Thanks for posting your thoughts!

1gig of ram and bloatware probably

[AuroraS]

Nice quick review. If it's not too much trouble, can you take a few more pics... preferably with the screen on?

Odd... Asus lists the F9Dc as having a fingerprint reader/TPM. Hmm...

[coriolis]

Nice quick review. If it's not too much trouble, can you take a few more pics... preferably with the screen on?

Odd... Asus lists the F9Dc as having a fingerprint reader/TPM. Hmm...

It doesn't have it, also has b/g wireless and not a/b/g if it matters.

Though, ASUS lists the F9dc/F9s with NO TPM but the F9s with FP. FP = Finger Print?

[Redline]

I think its the F9S that has TPM/FP scanner.

I still think that the low battery life really limits the mobility of the notebook. Portability is not just about weight and size; having a notebook means nothing if your battery is dead and your not near an outlet.

[E.B.E.]

Yes, it's a very nice notebook for this price.

But I agree with Vivek, having a 2.5 hours battery life for a 12" is a bad joke. What's the point of making it small if you can't take it away from the plug?

[anarky321]

well i only like small laptops, i use an X61 as a desktop replacement :/ so yea there's a niche market for small powerful laptops that are used on AC most of the time, mine has like 7 hrs battery time but i never unplug it