-
Average user rating:
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
4.5 stars
"Great laptop but buy the asus version, not velocity micro"
Pros: Desktop Power, DX10 video card, overclocking, sleek design, turbo engine, great price
Cons: battery life, noise, sound quality
Summary: Okay, this is about the Asus C90s which was rebranded as the Velocity Micro notebook featured here along with slower ram and a jacked up price (thank you circuit city...). They're otherwise the same notebook and if you fit the audience this notebook was intended for then there isn't much competition for the price. At under 1600$ you can buy an Asus C90s at 1toppc.com and easilybe able to beat notebooks costing over 2000$.
First, the processor choices - I'd recommend the 2.13gh since any faster will be unnoticable except for apps like photoshop. The Asus model has a feature called "turbo boost" allowing you to overclock the processor by either 10 or 20% or even underclock by 10% to save battery life. This means that a 2.13ghz can be kicked to 2.55ghz by running a program preinstalled on the Asus machine.
The ram on the Asus amchine is also 667mhz DDR2 ram instead of the 533mhz the VM comes with. The Asus also comes with the option to order the GDDR3 Nvidia 8600mgt which is faster than the DDR2 8600 that's standard on the Asus and is the only one available for the VM.
If your budget is around 1500 dollars and you want a powerbook then there really is no other option than the Asus C90s. If your budget is above 2500 or so then there are better options out there but this notebook is all about value. I can easily keep up with desktops with this machine and so far it has yet to let me down even slightly. I love my Asus a lot and was easily the best choce from my options which included a dell inspiron 1520, Asus S96s, and varios HP and toshiba notebooks. If you plan on leaving this plugged in a lot then the few downsides will rarely be a factor.
My one warning is that when the turbo engine (4 fans out the back that look like another battery) activates, everyone WILL hear it. I've only had it go off when gaming hardcore but wow is it loud.
Again, don't get the VM, get the Asus C90s it's the same base notebook just able to be configured much better and for cheaper. Many retailers sell them online but you can't get an Asus in a physical store. I bought mine from 1toppc.com (ask for ken, he's great) and I know xoticpc.com, ibuypower.com, btotech.com, and many others offer the C90s barebones kit and will configure it for you so all you do is order and it is shipped to you fully assembled with windows installed and ready to go just like ordering from dell.
