Asus N81VP-D1 first impressions...

[CompuG##K]

My new Asus N81VP-D1 arrived just yesterday after ordering it on Tuesday from Newegg. This is my first laptop (not counting my netbook). I spent weeks searching various models, weighing in advantages and disadvantages, until I finally settled on this unit.

First and foremost, I wanted a laptop that could be my mobile gaming / workhorse system. I wanted a laptop that is as small as possible without sacrificing performance. The N81VP-D1 matched those criteria almost perfectly.

Specs:

14" LED (1366x768)
Core 2 Duo T9600 (2.8ghz)
Ati Mobility Radeon 4650 (1gb GDDR3)
4gb DDR2 800
320gb 7200rpm
Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit

Since I haven't really used any other laptops, I can't really compare build quality/design of this laptop. I will say that this laptop looks very sleek and feels very sturdy. The keyboard has no noticeable "flex" and the touchpad works pretty well. All in all, it's a very solid build that I have no complaints over.

The first thing I did was install Windows 7 RC 64-bit. Everything went smoothly and quickly. Windows 7 on his thing is a lot snappier than Vista was that's for sure.

The first game I tried was GTAIV. After installing the game and patching it to the latest version, I started up and set these settings:

1366x768
All settings on High
All sliders up half way
Vsync off


As the intro cutscene played, my jaw literally dropped at how well it was running. I can't say for sure what the fps was (haven't installed fraps yet), but it was far from a slideshow and far from sluggish.

After the cutscene ended and I was driving through town with Roman, I was amazed even more that the framerates were holding up as I drove through the city. I read that the 4650 was good, but I wasn't expecting it to be THAT good.



I continued testing other games...


Crysis (All High settings, 1024x600, 30fps avg) (All Medium settings, 1366x768, 35fps avg)

RE5 Benchmark (All High settings, 1280x720 2xAA, 33fps avg)

Street Fighter 4 (All High settings, 1366x768 2xAA, 60fps vsynced)

GRID, L4D, Killing Floor, Doom 3, and Fallout 3 were pushovers for this laptop at 1366x768 and max settings.


I'll update this topic with Red Faction Guerrilla performance when it unlocks on Steam...



So far I'm loving this thing...

 

[newster]

My friend just bought the same exact laptop 3 days ago because I recommended it to him. I have laptop envy I must say.

 

[satriani5902]

how much $ was it?

 

[CompuG##K]

Newegg had them for $1249, but they seem to be out of stock now...

This thing has continued to impress me with its performance in every application...

I was so close to getting a huge 17" monster laptop so I'd have enough performance to do the stuff I wanted. I'm so glad I didn't now...

To be a 14" notebook, this thing has a hell of a lot of power packed into it. 0_o


After a weekend with the laptop, my experience has been very good. The only issues I have had are minor ones...

The exhaust blows out the right side of the system, so unless you're in need of a hand warmer, it's best to keep your mousing at a distance. On the positive side, the system itself doesn't get hot at all, even after an extended play session of Crysis Warhead.. During such a session of Crysis Warhead, the cpu temp peaks at 68c and the gpu temp peaks at 78c. Any other game exhibits significantly lower load temps.

The screen has typical TN viewing angles. It took a while to get used to it since my desktop monitor is an MVA screen. The contrast/brightness levels really needed to be tweaked to get the screen looking good. There is some backlight bleed that's noticeable only on solid black screens, but it can be kept to a minimum by keeping the backlight brightness down. Cranking the saturation all the way up in ATI control panel got rid of the "washed out" look that the colors had when I first got the system.

In short, after some tweaking, I got the screen looking pretty darn good. Since this is usually required for all LCD screens, I was sort of expecting to have to do it.

So far the weakest link in this system (performance-wise) is the hdd. Even if it is 7200rpm, it's still the only drive in the system and as such is accessed quite a bit. Sometimes if I'm in the middle of playing a game while something is downloading, I'll get some stuttering as the drive writes.

With that said, the first upgrade I'm putting in this system will definitely be an SSD when they get cheaper and bigger.