glance
The Asus U3 series laptops are very compact and stylish laptops with a 13.3″ screen and a full-size keyboard. Even though it lacks an optical drive, it’s still a solid choice and offers a variety of features. that are rarely seen in notebooks of its kind.
Design
On the front side, the Asus U3 is very stylish and elegant. The top of the lid is covered in a gloss black finish that gives it a sleek look. While its interior is covered with a silver keyboard and has striking chrome highlights. Its fingerprint reader and leather-like material surrounding the touchpad make for a very attractive overall laptop package.
Basic information
The first thing you notice about the Asus U3 is the dual graphics setup. With the flick of a small switch on the side frame of the laptop, the U3 gives you the opportunity to select between built-in Intel graphics or a more powerful 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M G. This saves a lot of battery power and doesn’t need the battery-hungry NVIDIA chip. But you are looking up at this laptop as a gaming board then you are wrong this device is not made for gaming.
cutting edge technology
Just above the screen, there’s a 1.3-megapixel webcam, with headphone and microphone ports found on the left side of the frame. The screen is sharp and lucid, and the LED backlight looks great for multimedia content, particularly video. Contrast and color are excellent and the combined glossy finish makes the Asus U3 a must-have laptop.
For wireless connectivity, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g and n are provided, in addition to Bluetooth 2.0. The U3 has all the usual ports; three USB 2.0 ports, an ExpressCard slot, S-Video out, a memory card reader, and FireWire. Surprisingly, ASUS has added a single HDMI port and an eSATA port which are very useful.
A set of other programs generally kept aside for high-end laptops are built-in HSDPA and a built-in GPS receiver is present in the Asus U3. However, you do get an external multi-DVD burner in the sales package. Keep in mind, however, that you’ll only have two USB ports left when plugged in, which eats up battery life drastically. The 6-cell battery returned a more favorable 2 hours and 57 minutes but still not outstanding. Note that adjusting the power plans in the Windows Vista Control Panel should result in slightly better statistics.
Conclution
The Asus U3 Series laptop is a good buy, but gamers and multimedia enthusiasts are advised to take a look at the other available models before deciding on this Asus U3.