Asus W5000 review

Features
The Asus W5000 runs an Intel Pentium M processor with built-in Wi-Fi and 512MB RAM. This means its hands are bandaged tight, ready to go several rounds with any home office task. Hobbyist video editing and older games are not beyond the W5000 -- the onboard FireWire connection makes it compatible with almost every camcorder out there. Disappointingly, this is a four-pin FireWire port, not a six-pin version. This means you won't be able to power FireWire devices via the FireWire port.

Tragically, the Asus' widescreen display suffers from the same kind of reflectivity problems that seem to be plaguing the entire laptop industry at the moment. We would have preferred a completely matte finish to the display. Some users may find the superior contrast these reflective screens claim to offer makes them worth the frustration, but we find them extremely hard to live with. If you work in a strip-lit office, the mirror-like LCD is especially distracting, and in almost all daylight environments we found the reflections a nuisance.

Those who enjoy video editing and want to use software like Premiere to edit footage will want to increase the on-board memory. There's space to install 1GB in the Asus, but no more than that. Video can be played back on an office projector or television screen. The W5000 includes a TV-out in the form of an S-video connector, and most televisions bought in the last five years will support this. Almost all projectors are also compatible with this form of video output. Although S-video doesn't come close to DVI and even struggles to match VGA, S-video is good enough for most presentations. The Asus is equipped with VGA-out as well, so you can always hook the laptop up with a VGA connector, achieving an edge over basic S-video.

The built-in DVD±R/RW burns movies or data onto optical discs. CD playback is passable, but the built-in speakers are one step above a malfunctioning railway station announcement. Anyone with any interest in decent fidelity will need to attach headphones, or use a headphones-to-phono connector to rig this into their stereo system. Amateur singers and voice-note makers can attach a microphone.

Narcissists will enjoy the W5000's integrated 1.3-megapixel camera, which can either take still images or record video. Used in conjunction with the bundled Webcam software, the camera allows video conferencing without the complexity of adding an external USB camera. The built-in lens is easy to angle and swivels a full 180 degrees so that you can record what's behind, as well as in front of, your screen.

The built-in Webcam sits above the screen

As was the case with the Asus W3, we occasionally felt it was weird that the Asus W5000 vents hot air through its right-hand side chassis vent. Right-handers in a cold environment will enjoy this unintentional heating facility for their mouse-hand -- on the whole we enjoyed the sensation.

Performance
Battery life on the W5000 is specified at 3-4 hours in Office Mode and our experience confirmed this. As you would expect, extensive use of the DVD drive or hard disk will increase power consumption and decrease battery life. You can always purchase extra batteries and use these to extend the laptop's uptime.

Power users with needs beyond Microsoft Office and basic video editing will want to look elsewhere for their kicks. The Pentium M processor is swift at most tasks, but will creak and groan if a game of Half-Life 2 is thrown in its direction. Gamers will always demand more performance than a laptop of this size can hope to provide, so this is no real loss. Those looking for a heady mix of style and performance could do a lot worse than consider the W5000 for their primary laptop. In a market riddled with mundane black hardware, the creamy calm of the Asus falls like a balm.

Edited by Mary Lojkine
Additional editing by Nick Hide