Prime Notebook Computer Review

The Taiwanese manufacturer Asus has been trying for several years now to capture the spirit of sporting exclusivity in the plastic form of the Lamborghini VX series. And not just with ultramobile 12-inch machines, like the one we have here, but also 15.6-inch models like the Lamborghini VX7. These racing car models all allude visually to the Lamborghini style. The logo with the bull and the words ‘Automobili Lamborghini’ add the finishing touch to the design. A dual-core Atom puts this netbook well out in front of its single-core rivals, while Ion 2 gives it a (small-scale) boost for HD entertainment. Surprisingly, the engine is quiet and the temperature gain low.

The VX6’s jet-black finish and sharp angular design mimic the Lamborghini Reventon on which it’s based, but under the distinctive styling there are plenty of premium features. The lid, back edge, base plate and on/off switch are all reminiscent of the trim, spoiler, finish, and interior of a high-end sports car. Even those who are not familiar with the Lamborghini style will appreciate the sense of power and speed in its design. The case is plastic, complemented by a matt magnesium alloy on the palm rest and keyboard surround. The surface is extremely firm and cool, which is why we assume it is metal. The thin black perforated strip on the lid is also metal, but not the chrome strip below it. Despite the majority of the case being made of plastic, the VX6 has a sophisticated, high-end appearance.

The 12.1in display has a 1,366×768 resolution – a great improvement over regular netbook screens. It’s wide enough to have two documents open side-by-side, and long enough for Windows’ dialog boxes. The screen doesn’t tilt very far back, but horizontal and vertical viewing angles are wider than the average netbook. Image quality is excellent, with high contrast levels and rich colour reproduction. Brightness is even and black levels are deep. Audio quality from the front speaker pair can’t match the impressive screen, but sound quality was still above average, with solid mid-range and even a small amount of bass.

The relatively thin construction of the base unit turns out to be surprisingly sturdy. Surfaces on the top and bottom of the base unit, including the keyboard area, do not flex, with the understandable exception of the lid, which does flex in the middle when you apply some serious pressure. The hinges hold the lid firmly in position; we needed both hands to open the netbook.

A desktop version of Intel’s Atom processor gives a welcome power boost over other netbooks. The dual-core Atom D525 runs at 1.8GHz and is sensibly matched with 2GB of memory. Asus has installed Windows 7 Home Premium to avoid the 1GB memory limit imposed by the Starter edition of Microsoft’s operating system. The extra memory makes everyday programs run far smoother than we’re used to on most netbooks, but it still can’t compete with full-size laptops. In our multimedia benchmarks, the VX6 managed an overall score of 29, which is roughly twice as fast as a single-core netbook.

An Nvidia Ion chipset is a step above Intel’s integrated HD graphics, as it can comfortably play 720p video on the VX6 itself, or Full HD content on an external display via HDMI. Unfortunately playing modern games is asking too much, as Call of Duty 4 crawled along at 5fps. You should be able to play older titles by lowering detail levels. To extend battery life, Optimus power-saving disables the graphics chip when it isn’t needed, but the VX6 still only managed just over five hours in our light-use test – below average for a netbook.

The VX6 has one of the best keyboards we’ve seen on a netbook; the keys are all a good size and have excellent tactile feedback. Unlike many Chiclet-style keyboards we’ve tried, each key didn’t wobble and made little noise as we typed. The touchpad is small but responsive. We weren’t so keen on the rocker-style touchpad button. The large dead spot in the middle isn’t always noticeable, but we would prefer a two-button layout.

The VGA port is positioned immediately next to the HDMI on the left-hand side. Since these ports are towards the back of the netbook, there should be no awkward cables getting in the way of your mouse (for both right and left-handers). The selection is rounded off with a USB 2.0 port and a card reader (SD, SDHC, MMC, RJ45). As with all its netbooks, Asus uses a tiny mobile phone-style power socket. Looking at the right-hand side it becomes apparent why the VX6 can call itself a ‘performance’ netbook. Asus has splashed out on two USB 3.0 ports for the netbook. This new standard is theoretically ten times faster than USB 2.0, as it can reach transfer speeds of up to 625 MB/s in Super Speed mode.

Battery life is very important for a netbook, and generally the best argument for getting an Intel-based system. Run times of from 6 hours (Asus Eee PC 1001P, Samsung NP-NB30, WLAN test) to 10 hours (Acer Aspire One 532, Asus Eee PC 1008P, WLAN test) are the norm. The first Nvidia Ion netbooks of 2009 (e.g. Samsung N510) were also in the same ballpark with almost 5 hours of battery life.

The VX6 is fast, well-built and a joy to use, but regular laptops have much better performance and cost only slightly more. Easily the best-looking and most graphically powerful netbook we’ve seen in the last year, and indeed since Asus conceived the first ever Eee PC. We’d happily take an Eee PC VX6 on the road with us any time, although that price tag might put off many potential buyers.