QUOTE(PF T.J. @ Jul 2 2011, 08:34 PM)
Hi guys~
Just got my sister's Asus N43SL from devour today, nice guy, recommended
Since this laptop has been around for quite some time already, I'll just write an oversimplified review on it:
[attachmentid=2308325]
**Specifications:
Review:
**Stuffs that came a long with the laptop:
**The laptop- Asus N43SL
[attachmentid=2308343]
[attachmentid=2308344]
-> The laptop is actually a lot lighter than it looks and is very solid, craftsmanship is superb... Very minor signs of flexes are observable at the (i) Back of the lid (ii) Center of the keyboard (iii) Area under the optical drive; nothing surprising here as these are usually the "weak spots" of laptops
* The keyboard flexes in the N43 is significantly lesser than the N53.
-> The lid is made of brushed aluminium which has a tendency to render fingerprints and smudges less apparent~ The screen and the frame around it are glossy though hehe
-Front view:
A SD card reader at the right.
- Back view:
From left to right: Keningston lock > power socket > VGA port
- Left view:
From left to right: Heat vent > LAN port > HDMI > 2x USB 2.0 > Mic Jack > Audio Jack
- Right view:
From left to right: 2x USB2.0 > Optical Drive > Wifi switch
- Base
Not alot of vents there, and not a lot of visible screws either hehe~
- Keyboard and palm rest:
-> The design of the keyboard and palm rest looks great
The left and right side of the keyboard is made of roughen plastic, the palm rest is made of plastic with a wood-like appearance, whereas the Bang & Olufsen speaker grill is made of none other than aluminium- giving the Asus N43SL a very nice touch. All in all, the N43SL simply looks awesome for a more or less budget multimedia laptop 
-> The keyboard buttons (which looks uber fancy with the new Fonts) may need some time to get used to because of the slightly different design and layout. Once getting used to the keyboard, typing is actually very easy and accurate, I like it.. the typing feel is more or less like that of Toshiba L series, only that the buttons are non-glossy haha ^^ Still the buttons may be a little bit too large, making certain buttons harder to hit, especially key combinations (but then that may be caused by my incorrect typing posture hehe)
-> The touchpad surface uses the same wood-like design as the palm rest. Its not very smooth but is still decent, though maneuvering with fingers become a lot more complicated when sweating. 4 status indicators (A/C > Battery > HDD > Wifi) are located directly beneath the touchpad. The chrome-finished touchpad buttons are huge fingerprint magnets after you remove the protective plastic covers
The bar-like touchpad buttons (without a divider in between) may not be that user friendly to infrequent users
-WEI Scores:
- Temperature
Idle (26C air-con room + CM U2)
Not allowed to carry out load temperature tests since its not my laptop
Performance and Battery life:
Not going to talk about these as there's already loads of benchmarks for Nvidia GT540M and there are also user reviews on the battery life of N43SL
- Verdict:
Pros:
Cons:
Potential buyers looking for an all rounder capable of processing, gaming and entertaining, look no further, as this is the one for you
Also, those looking for something more striking can wait for the upcoming Jay Chou's special edition N43: http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Multimedia_E...pecial_Edition/[SIZE=7]
Some comparison photos with the M14x hehe:
Nice review Just got my sister's Asus N43SL from devour today, nice guy, recommended
Since this laptop has been around for quite some time already, I'll just write an oversimplified review on it:
[attachmentid=2308325]
**Specifications:
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Intel i5-2410M
Intel® HM65 Express Chipset
4GB DDR3 RAM
14.0" 16:9 HD (1366x768) LED backlit Asus Splendid Video Intelligent Technology
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M 1GB DDR3 VRAM
640GB (5,400rpm) HDD
2.0 Mega Pixel Fixed web camera
2.40 kg (with 6 cell battery)
1 x Microphone-in jack
1 x Headphone-out jack
1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin for external monitor
4 x USB 2.0 port(s)
1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert
1 x HDMI
Built-in Speakers [Bang & Olufsen ICEpower®] And Microphone
Battery 6Cells : 5200 mAh 56 Whrs
-> Comes with Nvidia Optimus
-> No USB3.0
> New revision: Certified Design (duh!)
Intel® HM65 Express Chipset
4GB DDR3 RAM
14.0" 16:9 HD (1366x768) LED backlit Asus Splendid Video Intelligent Technology
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M 1GB DDR3 VRAM
640GB (5,400rpm) HDD
2.0 Mega Pixel Fixed web camera
2.40 kg (with 6 cell battery)
1 x Microphone-in jack
1 x Headphone-out jack
1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin for external monitor
4 x USB 2.0 port(s)
1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert
1 x HDMI
Built-in Speakers [Bang & Olufsen ICEpower®] And Microphone
Battery 6Cells : 5200 mAh 56 Whrs
-> Comes with Nvidia Optimus
-> No USB3.0
> New revision: Certified Design (duh!)
Review:
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
**Stuffs that came a long with the laptop:
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
A hand-held Asus notebook bag.... quality is decent, though it seems abit soft... good for normal usage, but don't expect it to absorb impacts. Comes with a lot of well-thought-of compartments which can come in handy for those who likes hand-held laptop bags 
[attachmentid=2308333]
and the usual stuffs, Driver discs, manual, A/C adapter etc.
[attachmentid=2308332]
[attachmentid=2308333]
and the usual stuffs, Driver discs, manual, A/C adapter etc.
[attachmentid=2308332]
**The laptop- Asus N43SL
[attachmentid=2308343]
[attachmentid=2308344]
-> The laptop is actually a lot lighter than it looks and is very solid, craftsmanship is superb... Very minor signs of flexes are observable at the (i) Back of the lid (ii) Center of the keyboard (iii) Area under the optical drive; nothing surprising here as these are usually the "weak spots" of laptops
* The keyboard flexes in the N43 is significantly lesser than the N53.
-> The lid is made of brushed aluminium which has a tendency to render fingerprints and smudges less apparent~ The screen and the frame around it are glossy though hehe
-Front view:
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Sorry no photo for this one haha~
A SD card reader at the right.
- Back view:
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
[attachmentid=2308349]
From left to right: Keningston lock > power socket > VGA port
- Left view:
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
[attachmentid=2308358]
From left to right: Heat vent > LAN port > HDMI > 2x USB 2.0 > Mic Jack > Audio Jack
- Right view:
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
[attachmentid=2308360]
From left to right: 2x USB2.0 > Optical Drive > Wifi switch
- Base
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
[attachmentid=2308418]
Not alot of vents there, and not a lot of visible screws either hehe~
- Keyboard and palm rest:
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
[attachmentid=2308378]
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
[attachmentid=2308379]
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
[attachmentid=2308381]
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
[attachmentid=2308383]
-> The design of the keyboard and palm rest looks great
-> The keyboard buttons (which looks uber fancy with the new Fonts) may need some time to get used to because of the slightly different design and layout. Once getting used to the keyboard, typing is actually very easy and accurate, I like it.. the typing feel is more or less like that of Toshiba L series, only that the buttons are non-glossy haha ^^ Still the buttons may be a little bit too large, making certain buttons harder to hit, especially key combinations (but then that may be caused by my incorrect typing posture hehe)
-> The touchpad surface uses the same wood-like design as the palm rest. Its not very smooth but is still decent, though maneuvering with fingers become a lot more complicated when sweating. 4 status indicators (A/C > Battery > HDD > Wifi) are located directly beneath the touchpad. The chrome-finished touchpad buttons are huge fingerprint magnets after you remove the protective plastic covers
-WEI Scores:
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
[attachmentid=2308396]
- Temperature
Idle (26C air-con room + CM U2)
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
[attachmentid=2308398]
Not allowed to carry out load temperature tests since its not my laptop
Performance and Battery life:
Not going to talk about these as there's already loads of benchmarks for Nvidia GT540M and there are also user reviews on the battery life of N43SL
- Verdict:
Pros:
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
- Lighter than it looks
- Impressive design
- All rounder, cheap for what it has to offer
- B&O speakers (yeah, they're not that bad)
- Wonderful keyboard
- Impressive design
- All rounder, cheap for what it has to offer
- B&O speakers (yeah, they're not that bad)
- Wonderful keyboard
Cons:
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
- Super lots of Bloatwares (as most Asus users had pointed out), don't even know which ones to delete 
- The highest brightness is only on par with normal brightness on the M14x/ Vostro 3450. Hence not very suitable for outdoor use, especially when opposing the sun..
- Poor port placements, would appreciate the LAN port at the back, and at least one or two USB ports at the far end of each side(s)
- Power4Gear causes screen flickers when changing from battery to A/C vice versa zzzz
- No USB3.0 (big turnoff for many ppl)
- The highest brightness is only on par with normal brightness on the M14x/ Vostro 3450. Hence not very suitable for outdoor use, especially when opposing the sun..
- Poor port placements, would appreciate the LAN port at the back, and at least one or two USB ports at the far end of each side(s)
- Power4Gear causes screen flickers when changing from battery to A/C vice versa zzzz
- No USB3.0 (big turnoff for many ppl)
Potential buyers looking for an all rounder capable of processing, gaming and entertaining, look no further, as this is the one for you
Also, those looking for something more striking can wait for the upcoming Jay Chou's special edition N43: http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Multimedia_E...pecial_Edition/[SIZE=7]
Some comparison photos with the M14x hehe:
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
[attachmentid=2308413]
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
[attachmentid=2308415]
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
[attachmentid=2308416]
Just wanna clearify that the palm rest area is definitely not made from plastic. It's made from brushed aluminum so that when the room is with air con.....the surface is cool while in hot whether....like now.....
Also bout the flickering thing cause by Power4Gear........nvr happen to mine b4. Only happen if wanna change from High performance to battery mode cause it changes both GPU settings....
This post has been edited by Trance4eva: Jul 3 2011, 03:31 AM
Jul 3 2011, 03:30 AM

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