Asus S6F

Reviewed on 11/14/06    The leather-clad, ultraportable Asus S6F pushes laptops from the realm of personal computer to that of personal fashion accessory. With a textured, chocolate-brown, leather lid and wrist rest, incorporated with a gunmetal gray interior and black base, the S6F would definitely fit in next to your diamond-encrusted iPod or Dolce & Gabbana Razr. After spending time with the laptop, we were pleased to discover that Asus hasn't sacrificed substance for style; the S6F's Core Duo processor does the heavy lifting of a laptop twice its size, and its display is a thing of beauty. All this, for $300 less than its chief competitor, the Sony VAIO TXN15P/B. Though the Asus S6F's $2,500 price tag and fashion-forward looks aren't for everybody, we definitely think it's a solid choice for anyone who wants a visually distinctive, highly portable laptop without sacrificing performance or features.

Measuring 10.7 inches wide, 7.5 inches deep, and 1.5 inches thick, the Asus S6F is smaller but thicker than the Sony VAIO TXN15P/B and the Gateway E-100M. At 3.4 pounds (4.3 pounds with its petite AC adapter), it's also heavier than its competitors; the Gateway and the Sony both weigh less than 3 pounds. Though it's clearly not the absolute slimmest or lightest laptop around, we found its compact size appealing, especially if you prefer to carry your laptop in a purse or a briefcase.

To fit into such a small shape, the Asus S6F features a compact keyboard that requires some practice to type without errors. During our use, the keys themselves felt stiff; we had to really pound on them to avoid dropping letters. The square touch pad is likewise compact, but its calibration lets you traverse the width of the screen in just two drags of your finger. In a move straight out of Apple's design book (Asus manufactures MacBooks for Apple), Asus has consolidated the S6F's mouse buttons into a single seamless bar beneath the touch pad; you simply use the left end of the bar to left-click and the right end to right-click. A power button and a single programmable application-launch key are located on the laptop's rounded hinge.

We're completely enamored with the 11.1-inch wide-screen display on the Asus S6F. Its 1,366x768 native resolution provides a broad work space--it displayed 21 columns and 34 rows on the default Excel spreadsheet--though some users might find text and icons too small for comfort. By comparison, the Sony TXN15P/B has the same size screen, while the Gateway E-100M offers a slightly larger, 12.1-inch screen. The Asus S6F's display was remarkably bright, even in a sun-filled office; its glossy coating was a bit reflective when we sat close to the window. The screen finish allows for rich colors and excellent contrast, though, if you want to watch a DVD on the plane.

Like most laptops of its size, the Asus S6F isn't exactly loaded with ports and connections. It does have almost everything the typical mobile worker would need, however, including VGA-out and three widely spaced USB 2.0 ports, plus mic-in and a headphone jack with S/PDIF support. The S6F lacks only the mini-FireWire port found on many competitive systems. A 4-in-1 flash card reader recognizes MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital, and Memory Stick/Pro formats, while an ExpressCard slot lets you take advantage of these latest-generation expansion cards. Networking connections include modem, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. While many ultraportables jettison the optical drive to save weight, the S6F's case includes a built-in double-layer DVD burner. Asus also throws in a matching leather-covered travel mouse (wired) and a fashionable coordinating nylon laptop sleeve that seems to provide a substantial amount of protection.

Our lovely leather Asus S6F costs $2,500--toward the high end for an ultraportable. While most petite laptops feature a single-core processor and a small hard drive, the S6F incorporates a dual-core Intel Core Duo L2300 processor with a frequency of 1.5GHz and a large, 100GB drive spinning at 5,400rpm. The rest of its specs are average: 1GB of midrange 533MHz RAM and integrated Intel Mobile Express 945GM graphics. Given its higher-end processor, it's not too surprising that the Asus S6F raced ahead of both the Sony VAIO TXN15P/B and the Gateway E-100M on CNET Labs' performance benchmarks. Business users will find that the Asus has enough oomph for all their productivity tasks and possibly even some processor-intensive work, such as audio encoding or multitasking, that would bog down other ultraportables.

We were also pleased with the S6F's 4-hour, 51-minute battery life; it felt luxurious to spend so much time away from the wall socket. While most mobile workers will find that time sufficient, those who need to work a full day on a single battery charge would appreciate the mind-blowing 9 hours, 42 minutes afforded by the Sony VAIO TXN15P/B, which runs on an ultra-low-voltage Core Solo processor.

Asus offers a one-year limited global warranty with all its notebooks; unfortunately, you'll have to pay to ship the laptop back to a repair depot for service. Also, phone-support hours are limited, and the call is not toll-free. The company's support Web site includes the expected driver downloads and a handful of FAQs, and you can always post questions to the company's active user forum.

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System configurations:

Asus S6F
Windows XP Professional SP2; 1.5GHz Intel Core Duo L2300; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; 128MB Moblie Intel Express 945GM; 100GB Seagate Momentus 5,400rpm

Gateway E-100M
Windows XP Professional SP2; 1.2GHz Intel Core Duo Ultra Low Voltage U2500; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; 128MB Intel 945G; 80GB Hitachi 5,400rpm

Sony VAIO TXN15P/B
Windows XP Professional SP2; 1.2GHz Intel Core Solo U1400; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; 128MB Mobile Intel Express 945GM; 80GB Hitachi 4,200rpm

Toshiba Satellite P105-S6024
Windows XP Media Center SP2; 1.6GHz Intel Core Duo T2050; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; 128MB Mobile Intel Express 945GM; 100GB Fujitsu 5,400rpm