All three machines use the same 17.3-inch display, which Asus somewhat optimistically refers to as being "full high-definition 1080p". In reality, the screen runs at a modest 1,600x900 pixels -- way off the 1,920x1,200 pixels required to qualify as 'full HD'. That gripe aside, the image quality on the F70 is very good. The viewing angle is wide enough for multiple users to watch a movie side by side, and its 16:9 aspect ratio means DVD movies in particular fit without unsightly image stretching or black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.
The graphics card isn't much cop either -- Asus has bizarrely chosen to supply an Nvidia GeForce 9300 graphics processing unit, which is the sort of thing you might find in a high-end netbook or mid-range laptop. It'll run games and high-definition movies, but it's a poor choice in a £900 desktop replacement.
The F70 has decent networking capabilities. The gigabit Ethernet adaptor lets you create wired networks of up to 1,000Mbps instead of the usual 100Mbps -- so long as your other networked devices are gigabit Ethernet-compatible. Its wireless capabilities are also impressive. Bluetooth 2.1+EDR is present, alongside 802.11b/g/n -- so you can connect to high-speed Wi-Fi hotspots.
The software package on all models consists of Asus Express Gate, a fast-booting, pre-Windows graphical user interface, Norton Internet Security 2008, Nero 8 Essentials, and Asus SmartLogon facial recognition software. Each version of the F70 has a two-year global collect and return warranty.
Performance
The F70's performance is fairly mediocre for a desktop replacement. The Core 2 Duo T5850 in our test sample is a capable enough CPU that will handle most everyday tasks without struggling, but it's hardly the sort of thing worth writing home about. Unfortunately it failed to return a PCMark 2005 score due to a hardware incompatibility, but it was fairly average in anecdotal testing.
The Nvidia GeForce 9300 graphics card was mediocre, too. It scored 1,803 in our 3DMark 2006 benchmark, which indicates it'll cope with the odd game and pump out HD movies, but again, any parents trying to palm this off on to their adolescents will be met with scorn, resentment and possibly even parent-offspring divorce.
Battery life was surprisingly decent for such a large machine. The F70 lasted 4 hours 33 minutes in our BatteryEater classic test, which exceeds the average for 17-inch desktop replacement laptops. We're not sure we'd want to take the F70 any place without an AC outlet nearby, but it's useful to know it won't conk out the minute you remove the power supply.
Conclusion
The F70 is difficult to recommend. Asus believes it'll make a great desktop replacement that appeals to movie buffs, but its equipment levels are uninspiring, its screen is mediocre, and it doesn't represent particularly good value next to laptops such as the Dell Studio 17.
Edited by Jason Jenkins
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