Review of the M51Sr laptop from ASUS. Power supply and battery
A laptop is not a luxury, but a vital necessity. Approaching this concept, all manufacturers of portable computer systems are striving to fill the ever-expanding niche of universal laptops. Offers on this market are replete with a variety of approaches, but the main feature of such implementations remains their multimedia equipment, characterized by improved functionality for working with video and audio applications. Due to the increased interest in “digitization” and transcoding of home video, such models often have a very efficient processor-memory subsystem. Another, and often fundamental, feature of a home and office accessory is the style of the case, for a complete combination with the interior of a modern setting. According to the latest trends, multimedia systems, which replaced home musical instruments, which in the classical design had lacquered deep black surface colors, have tried to adopt this color scheme. What exactly happened at ASUS, which tried to follow these trends, is what we want to tell you in this review.
Laptop ASUS M51Sr
The first impression is often wrong, but not in our case. The inconsistency of the conclusions that followed after the first glance at this model is quite natural. The glossy style throughout gives a subtle elegance to the body, but this gloss, despite being masked by gray internal colors, shows a lot of fingerprints. Beauty requires sacrifice, which in our case was no exception. Constant care of the surface (fortunately, the kit included two types of special napkins) should emphasize the significance of this purchase and make it the highlight of your interior. And smooth surface transitions between elements create the impression of a solid-cast body, emphasizing the reliability of its execution. Like all laptops from this manufacturer, this model is made of high-quality plastic, with reliable elements for protecting the ventilation holes. The overall design concept creates the impression of practicality with traditionally high-quality implementation of ergonomics in ASUS products.
Here is a summary table of the specifications of the tested sample ASUS M51Sr and the entire series. All data on the possible configuration of the ASUS M51Sr was collected from the manufacturer’s website, and directly from the sample under review, a report from the PC Wizard program was used.
|
Manufacturer |
||
|
M51Sr, options |
||
|
CPU |
Mobile DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 @ 2100 MHz (10.5 x 198) 800 MHz, 3072 KB L2 |
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7500/ T7250: 2.2 GHz - 2.0 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 4MB L2 Cache |
|
Mobile Intel PM965 Express Chipset +ICH8M |
||
|
2 x 1024 MB DDR2-667 MHz DDR2 SODIMM |
DDR II, 667 MHz, 1024 or 2048 MB |
|
|
HDD |
1 x Hitachi HTS542525K9SA00 (250 GB, 5400 RPM, SATA) |
2.5" 9.5mm SATA |
|
Optical drive |
TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-L632H ATA Device |
Combo: CD-RW + DVD |
|
Card reader |
Ricoh 8 in 1 Secure Digital, MultiMedia, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Smart Media, MS-Duo or xD Picture |
Built-in 8 in 1 memory card reader: SD, MMC, MS, MS-Pro, xD, Smart Media, MS-Duo. |
|
Graphics accelerator |
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2400 (128 MB) |
ATI Mobility RadeonHD 2400, External 128 MB VRAM, Hyper Memory: 384M at 1 G system memory, 896M at 2 G system memory |
|
AU Optronics B154EW08 V1 15.4" WXGA (1280 x 800) |
15.4" WXGA/WXGA+/WSXGA+/ |
|
|
Realtek ALC660 @ Intel 82801HBM ICH8M - High Definition Audio Controller |
Intel High Definition Audio chip (Azalia) |
|
|
Interface connectors |
3 USB 2.0 ports |
1 microphone input |
|
Networking capabilities |
Modem (Agere Systems HDA Modem) |
Built-in Intel High Definition Audio chip (Azalia) supports MDC fax/modem |
|
Expansion cards |
1 One ExpressCard slot |
|
|
Multimedia |
1.3 WebCam with built-in microphone (USB 2.0 1.3M UVC WebCam) |
|
|
Safety |
Built-in fingerprint reader (AuthenTec Inc. AES1610) |
BIOS Booting / HDD User Password Protection and security lock |
|
AC/DC power supply |
100-240 V, 1.5 A, 50-60 Hz / 90 W, 19 V, 4.74 A |
Output voltage 19 V DC, 3.42 A, 90 W |
|
Battery |
Li-Ion 11.1V = 4800 mAh |
6 cells: 4800 mAh, 53 Wh |
|
Dimensions, mm |
36.5 x 26.9 x 28-41 |
|
|
operating system |
Windows XP Home Premium |
Windows Vista Ultimate, |
|
Pre-installed software |
ASUSDVD V7.0 (For Basic & Business only) |
|
|
Products webpage |
||
Trying to use the latest microelectronics solutions, the developer installed the Mobile Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 Penryn architecture processor as the basis for a multimedia and powerful computing digital assistant, with performance worthy of comparison with desktop PCs. The operating frequency of this CPU is 2100 MHz with a system bus frequency of 800 MHz. The size of the L2 cache memory is also not inferior to other characteristics, it is equal to 3 MB. Such indicators will help ensure complete comfort in the user’s work with demanding applications. Following the Intel Centrino concept, all system components are integrated by the Intel Crestline-PM PM965 chipset, which increases the speed and quality of matching laptop equipment elements and at the same time reduces its power consumption.
Keeping in mind the general focus of this development on multimedia applications, it was natural to equip it with a high-quality video subsystem. In the model under review, the developers chose a not very expensive, but quite productive external video card from AMD ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2400. This development contains 180 million transistors, uses 65 nm production technology and has the following set of capabilities:
- Unified superscalar shader architecture,
- ability to support Microsoft DirectX 10.0,
- OpenGL 2.0 support,
- use of 2-channel 64-bit DDR2/GDDR3 memory bus,
- PCI Express x16 interface,
- High-quality graphics and video processing thanks to ATI Avivo HD.
All this provides excellent quality HD video playback and will allow the user to confidently use their purchase even for not very demanding games. And ATI PowerPlay 7.0 energy-saving technology will provide the best performance-to-power ratio. Here is a partial list of the main technical capabilities of the unified superscalar shader architecture used in the Mobility Radeon HD 2400 video card, which is presented on the manufacturer’s website:
- 40 stream processors
- Dynamic load balance and resource allocation for vertex, geometry and pixel shaders
- Common instruction set and texture processing unit access supported for all shader types
- Dedicated branch execution units and texture addressing processors
- 128-bit floating point precision for all operations
- Command processor to reduce CPU load
- Shader instruction and constant caches
- Up to 16 texture samples per clock cycle
- Up to 128 textures per pixel
- Fully associative design of multi-level texture caches
- DXTC and 3Dc+ texture compression
- High resolution texture support (up to 8192 x 8192)
- Fully associative design of texture and Z/stencil caches
- Early Z-clipping, Re-Z, Z-buffer range optimization and fast Z-buffer clearing
- Lossless Z-compression
- Rendering using 8 buffers (MRT) and anti-aliasing support
- Physics processing support
Today, an interactive assistant can no longer be imagined without various kinds of possibilities for transmitting and receiving information through communication channels. It is a full-fledged implementation that can work with all popular data transfer solutions that ASUS offers in the M51Sr laptop. On board this model there is:
An analog modem available everywhere (as the oldest method of communication, but also the most ubiquitous);
The most popular and undoubtedly leading in terms of price performance is 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet;
And Bluetooth 2.0 Wireless Technology, so popular among ultra-compact digital devices, is designed for data transmission over short distances, but has very low energy consumption.
Everything is taken into account here, even the newest trends and developments. But we can still note the absence of an infrared port, although the user is unlikely to need to use it without a remote control, which is not included in the package. Paying attention to the multimedia focus of this series, we can state that it is possible to install a TV tuner, but minor cuts in internal and external equipment affected precisely this functionality. And, naturally, the biggest advantage to real mobility, with the ability to contact your office almost anywhere in the civilized world, was the ability to install a WWLAN card (GSM/ EDGE/ UMTS/ HSDPA or their analogues from the historical beginning of CDMA networks) into this model. This element means the ability to connect via mobile systems and networks to the global Internet. Due to the high cost of such a card and the wide distribution of different standards in different regions, the manufacturer left the right to choose additional equipment to the buyer.
Delivery and configuration
The design and execution of the outer box is very standard for this laptop manufacturer. Made of laminated cardboard, with no handle for carrying the product, the outer box is taped with proprietary adhesive tape with a low degree of protection and received stickers with specifications and technical information about the internal contents.
The fairly thick thickness of the box indicates the presence of a laptop bag. The soft case provided by the manufacturer is made of dense material, with small plastic stiffening ribs along the contour, has a silver logo and leather inserts in the lower corners. We can’t talk about the high price and functionality of the bag provided in the kit, but it is designed to provide the necessary minimum of convenience.
The inner box directly containing the laptop itself and its accessories is a little more informative and made using corporate design elements. At the top there is a handle for transportation made of white plastic, and on the sides there are two stickers: one indicates that this development is fully ready to work under the Windows Vista operating system, the other indicates that the “trial” version of Microsoft Office 2007 is included in the package.
As with all ASUS products, the developer here paid careful attention to the details of delivery. The set of laptops in this series includes:
- modem cable;
- quick user guide (in Russian);
- complete user manual (in Russian);
- warranty card and card with a list of service centers;
- a set of CDs (recovery, accompanying software and drivers);
- accumulator battery;
- power unit;
- cable for connecting the power supply;
- adapter cable from S-Video to composite;
- USB mouse of compact size;
- cloth for cleaning the monitor;
- a set of wipes for cleaning a glossy laptop case.
This is not to say that there is anything outstanding or interesting here, but the delivery is quite rich in various small (possibly unnecessary) details. Let's just highlight that this sample is equipped with a USB mouse, an S-Video to coaxial adapter and a special package of dry wipes for cleaning the glossy case of the laptop.
Appearance and ergonomics
The elegant design of the upper glossy surface of the laptop cover made of black plastic, with barely noticeable grayish stains, immersed under a thick layer of transparent mirror varnish, imparts to the design the ancient mystery of expensive musical instruments. The silver color of the “ASUS” inscription and the mirroring of the framing inserts, elements of functionality, emphasize the hidden capabilities of the internal contents, under the overall upper charm of purity of style. But gloss imposes strict and not always acceptable restrictions on maintaining it in a representative form, which, undoubtedly, should also affect the buyer’s selection criteria.
Execution design is often not the first selection criterion. Much more attention should be paid to the ergonomics of control and the number of expansion connectors present on the laptop.
When the subject is revealed, the following elements can be observed:
Audio system speakers.
Status indicators (Num lock, Caps Lock, Scroll Lock, disk drive activity).
Quick launch keys (InstantFun - launching a multimedia application; Power4Gear eXtreme - switching power consumption modes; Disabling the touchpad; Button for switching between Splendid technology modes; Internet login key; Power button).
Keyboard.
Touchpad panel and its buttons.
Fingerprint sensor.
Status indicators (Battery charging indicator; Wireless network indicator; Bluetooth indicator; Power indicator).
Keyboard backlight.
Multi-position camera.
Camera operation indicator.
On the front panel are:
- Button to turn on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless networks.
- Display panel open button.
- Microphone connector.
- SPDIF headphone connector.
- USB 2.0 port.
- Card reader.
The right side is really richly equipped:
- ExpressCard slot.
- E-SATA connector.
- mini Firewire (1394a).
- Antenna output (not installed on the test subject).
- Video output S-Video.
- Digital DVI-D port for external display.
- External display connector (VGA).
- Modem port (RJ-11).
- Ethernet port (RJ-45).
The left side is also not left empty:
- Kensington type lock.
- Optical drive.
- Optical disc eject button.
- Optical disc emergency eject button hole.
- Ventilation grille.
The battery occupies the largest part of the rear part; let’s try to pay attention to the remaining part of the body:
- DC power connector.
- Air flow outlet grille from the cooling system.
- 2 x USB 2.0 ports.
- Actually, a battery.
Below you can see:
- Spring-loaded battery retainer.
- Accumulator battery.
- Compartment for a SIM card (the test subject does not have one).
- Manual battery lock.
- Name card holder.
- Hard drive bay.
- Emergency stop button.
- WLAN compartment.
- Compartment of RAM modules.
Matrix, WEB camera, input devices and sound.
By lightly pressing the silver button in the front, we will reveal the internal features of the ergonomics and interior of the laptop to describe it. The warm metallic silver color, with soft shimmering dots of lighter gray and the contrasting glossy black area around the keyboard, gives the interior design of this model its individual style. The glossy surface of the mirror display matrix echoes the overall design, shimmering under the influence of light sources with various reflections. The actual dimensions of this widescreen screen are 15.4 inches diagonally. A completely acceptable viewing angle will allow the user to feel comfortable directly in front of the laptop screen. Even with slight deviations of the viewing angle from perpendicular to the display surface, the image remains as clear and does not change the color gamut. We can talk about a decent image visualization system implemented in this laptop model.
Following general trends in functionality and versatility, the developer installed on this model a rotating video camera, slightly more than 180 degrees, with a resolution of 1.3 megapixels and an operation indicator. Another feature is the presence of a bright LED designed to illuminate the keyboard when working in a dark room.
Above the keyboard there is a power button and a standard set of 5 additional functionality keys for laptops from this manufacturer:
- Button to switch to InstantFun PLUS mode, intended for viewing or playing multimedia and DVD discs and files.
- Power4Gear eXtreme will allow the user to effectively control energy consumption modes and influence system performance.
- Touchpad disable button.
- A button that allows you to use different modes of Splendid technology, which offers options for post-processing images on the monitor screen in a variety of operating conditions.
- Internet browser launch button.
Good power stereo speakers located on the sides above the keyboard provide excellent sound transmission and volume for a laptop of this size.
The main keyboard has 82 keys plus 17 full-fledged number pad, of which four are cursor controls, arranged in the form of an inverted letter “T” and slightly compressed in height. Russian letters are greenish in color, and Latin ones are white, which quite contrastingly separates the different alphabets when working. There are also 20 function keys, some of which duplicate additional keys above the keyboard and allow you to expand the control functionality of this model, while the other part controls the multimedia stream, plus one Windows key.
The function keys and the Fn key, to the right of Ctrl in the lower left corner of the keyboard, have blue markings. Just below is a touch panel stylized to match the overall design with two round-shaped control buttons. A practical rest for your hands while working is the area around the touchpad, which has good sensitivity and the ability to scroll vertically and horizontally. The keys are pleasant to work with, they are quite large. The manufacturer has placed a fingerprint scanner between the left and right touchpad keys. This will ensure strong system security and relieve users of the burden of remembering passwords.
Power supply and battery
The laptop is powered by a battery with a fairly common output voltage Li-Ion 11.1V = 4800 mAh - 53 Wh, but in fact, the design of the power source is individual for almost each series of laptops. Considering the average energy consumption of the equipment installed in this model, such a battery will be able to provide excellent battery life. The power supply, due to its increased power, has quite substantial dimensions and weight, while having the following characteristics: 100-240 V, 1.5 A, 50-60 Hz / 90 W, 19 V, 4.74 A.
Testing
All laptops are tested in two modes: maximum performance and maximum battery saving (BS), with wireless communication elements disabled in all versions due to their significant energy consumption. Special software responsible for energy saving from ASUS has always been of the highest quality and easy to control and manage. During testing, the battery saving mode was set both in the Power4Gear eXtreme utility and in the functions of the Windows Vista operating system, which is capable of quite high-quality management of the laptop’s power, which allowed us to achieve a very noticeable difference in the test results.
Using one of the best databases of existing processor models, located in the CPU-Z program, we were able to clearly demonstrate the frequency characteristics of the installed processor core, its multiplier and specification, as well as numerically determine the motherboard bus frequency.
For a more complete description of this model, we have provided a description of the memory modules, as well as the frequencies of their actual operation in this laptop model. Note the installation of two modules of 1024 MB each, which ensures the memory controller operates in dual-channel mode and will increase the overall system performance.
The subject's opponents were:
ASUS 3FSe vista (Intel PM965, Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 @1.8GHz, ATI Mobility Radeon X1700 128Mb, 1024 Mb DDR2-667, Hitachi HTS541612J9SA00)
Drives
I was very disappointed by the optical drive installed in this model, even after several attempts it did not fully read a defective two-layer DVD disc with a second layer not recorded correctly and an old CD with shallow scratches. We emphasize that, for example, the previous test HP Pavilion dv6760er completely coped with these tasks the first time.
Only an old DVD with minor damage was feasible for our test subject.
You can confirm the capabilities of the optical drive declared by the manufacturer using the results presented below.
Here are the results obtained by the HD-Tune program for measuring the speed of the hard drive installed in a laptop in various modes of its use.
Nothing extraordinary, normal speed for a 2.5-inch hard drive at 5400 rpm.
Autonomous operation
The use of the latest developments in the microelectronics industry has made it possible to equip this model with very productive, but at the same time quite economical components, and the 4800 mAh Li-Ion battery installed here provides sufficient battery life. As a result of this, the ASUS M51Sr laptop is capable of operating on battery power for 72 minutes at maximum system load, but most of the consumption here is taken over by the laptop display set to maximum brightness. When saving battery (normal work in a text editor, viewing pictures, etc.), this figure increases to 144 minutes. It cannot be said that the saving mode was a success; most likely, it was affected by the inability of the standard tools of the Windows Vista operating system to control the energy modes of the video card. But it may well be that other nuances prevented us from obtaining commensurately high-quality results. The charging time for a battery with a capacity of 4800 mAh and when using a 90-watt power supply can be considered normal, amounting to 137 minutes.
conclusions
Like all mid-price laptop models from ASUS, this solution boasts well-thought-out functional care for the user. This is expressed in small details: thoughtful but not expensive equipment, very high-quality control ergonomics, a large number of additional expansion connectors and quite high-quality equipment with communication capabilities. A very productive processor-memory subsystem provides many advantages in use. The presence of an external video card will make it possible to transfer more and more of the graphic effects of the desktop to its shoulders and will even allow the user to play not very demanding games. Let us note the rather rare possibility of installing a WWLAN module, which allows you to be in touch wherever you are. And, of course, the main feature of this model is the elegance of the style and the smooth lines of the body with its controls. Along with the design style, this model will be very interesting to those users who need a full-fledged home multimedia system in the compact size of a laptop. The internal components installed by the manufacturer in the ASUS M51Sr can easily cope with even the most complex computing tasks assigned to them by the user. The ability to use fingerprints to log into the operating system takes the security of working with a laptop to a whole new level of high security. Considering fashion’s desire to minimize the space occupied by equipment, such a solution will deservedly take its place in the market of universal and medium-priced solutions.
- Sleek design with glossy black and silver gray colors;
- Nice 15.4-inch mirror display;
- High-quality housing;
- Productive processor-memory subsystem;
- Fully equipped with communication technologies;
- There is a fingerprint reader;
- The presence of a rotating WEB camera and a keyboard backlight on it;
- Possibility of installing a WWLAN module.
- Insufficient battery life in battery saving mode;
- A glossy surface is prone to rapid visible contamination.
We express our gratitude to the companyOOOPFService (Dnepropetrovsk) for the laptops provided for testing.
Article read 2144 times
Subscribe to our channels 
ASUS M51Tr | Introduction
How do we choose a computer or laptop? What criteria do we usually apply to competing models? Inexperienced users completely rely on the opinion of store consultants, who are often interested in selling a particular model. Others, who have an understanding of the nomenclature and technologies, and are able to extract the necessary information from the “squiggles” of specifications, meticulously examine price lists and correlate the parameters with the price of the model. Someone scours the Internet for any reviews and tests, and then goes to the store and “feels” the model they like. Most of us are the last thing to think about the configuration in which this or that potential purchase is supplied - after all, most often this is secondary. In our opinion, this is wrong, so we always pay attention to what the manufacturer puts in the box with the laptop. Today we would like to introduce you to a laptop from the company ASUS, the delivery package of which we were very pleased with. So, meet ASUS M51Tr.
ASUS M51Tr | About the scope of delivery
What did we like so much about the package? To answer this question, just look at the list below, in which we have listed all the contents of the box.
- Laptop ASUS M51Tr;
- Power cord and DC power supply 19V 4.7A output, 100-240V 50/60Hz input
- rechargeable battery, 6 cells, 4800 mAh;
- laptop bag;
- USB mouse;
- Recovery DVD ASUSTeK Computer Inc, system recovery disc;
- disk with basic drivers and utilities for M51Tr series laptops;
- disk with additional software;
- user manual for Express Gate firmware in 13 languages, including Russian, 54 pages, A5 format;
- brochure "Freedom without wires", A4 format, 1 page;
- Getting started guide, A3 format, 1 page;
- warranty card in Russian and English, 20 pages, A6 format;
- detailed user manual;
- adapter cable S-VIDEO - S/PDIF;
- cord with double-sided crimp RJ-11 for connection between modem and telephone line;
- fabric tape for tying up wires.
As you can see, the laptop comes with everything you need, which users most often buy in any case - a bag and a mouse. We will look at their consumer qualities a little later. However, in any case, this is a very nice addition to the purchase, which will save many users from unnecessary headaches.
Another good news: the kit includes recovery discs for the base OS, drivers and utilities. We were already so unaccustomed to seeing discs included in the kit that we were very pleased with their presence. However, the manufacturer provided recovery using a partition on the hard drive. At the same time, you can download recovery software from the partition even after installing a third-party OS, which laptops from some other manufacturers cannot boast of. The Express Gate software manual will help you master the ASUS firmware, which we will talk about a little later. The brochure "Wireless Freedom" describes several solutions for building a wireless network at home, as well as the equipment necessary for this. Other documents are quite traditional.
User manual, S-VIDEO / S/PDIF adapter cable and cord for connecting a modem.
The power supply is medium-sized - we had both larger and smaller specimens in our laboratory. Angled plug.
What software is included? The operating system supplied with the laptop is Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic. Probably the main thing to regret is the lack of a media center, which is available in the Premium version. The Aero GUI is also missing. Traditionally, laptop manufacturers supply their own software with their products. ASUS is no exception. The kit includes about 12 utilities that allow you to ensure data security, manage wireless networks, power consumption profiles, and so on. Let's say right away that we really liked some of the utilities, and we will mention them later. And here we will just mention a few. For example, the Data Security Manager utility will allow you to protect certain content on your laptop from prying eyes. You just need to specify the folder and set a password.
This laptop is also notable for one more feature. There is additional Express Gate firmware that we want to draw your attention to. This software is a small Linux-based OS. With a separate quick key, you can launch Express Gate without loading the main OS and in 5-10 seconds use basic multimedia functions - view photos, listen to music, play online games, and surf the Internet. There are even built-in Skype and Pidgin clients (supports many protocols) for communication.
ASUS M51Tr | Detailed Specifications
Let's see what the laptop is like in terms of specifications.
| ASUS M51Tr Specifications | |
| System logic | North Bridge M780G Southbridge SB700 |
| Central microprocessor | Dual-core AMD Athlon 64 X2 QL-60, 1900 MHz, 1 MB L2 cache |
| RAM | DDR2 PC6400 (5-6-6-18) |
| HDD | Seagate Momentus 5400.5, ST9160310AS, 2.5", 160 GB, SATA II, 5400 rpm, 8 MB cache |
| Optical disc | DVD-RW TSSTcorp TS-L633A |
| Video card | ATI Radeon HD3470 256 MB + 638 MB, ATI Radeon HD3200 256 MB |
| Display | 15.4", 1280 x 800, glossy finish |
| Web camera | 1.3 MP, rotating mechanism |
| Sound subsystem | ATI HD2xxx HDMI @ ATI RV620 Realtek @ ATI SB600 |
| Networking capabilities | WiFi 802.11 a/b/g Atheros AR928x Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Gigabit Ethernet Adapter Agere Systems HDA Modem 56k |
| Ports and expansion slots | 1 x ExpressCard 54/34 |
| Input means | Keyboard (with full numeric keys), touchpad |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 365 x 270 x 28 - 41 |
| Weight | 2.95 kg |
| Price (at the time of preparation of the material) | About 29,000 rubles |
The laptop is based on the platform AMD Puma. System logic in the form of a combination of 780G and SB700 has already proven itself on the positive side in the desktop segment. Wide communication capabilities, excellent performance of the integrated graphics core and low power consumption are inherent in this brainchild of AMD. The mobile version has similar features.
The laptop has a dual-core central processor, according to the specifications on the box Athlon 64 X2 QL60, according to the CPUZ utility - Turion X2 RM-60. On the official website there is no RM-60 marking in the model range. But there is a first name. To the platform Puma According to the specifications, the Turion X2 Ultra should be included, but our CPU sample also has Griffin core. Therefore, the statement that the laptop is based on the Puma platform is quite fair. The Griffin core is built on the old K8 microarchitecture, so the instruction set is limited to SSE3. The clock frequency of 1.9 Hz is low, despite this the TDP is quite high - as much as 35W. It will be interesting to check its performance, although due to the above we can immediately assume that it will be low.
In idle mode, the processor clock speed is reduced to 950 MHz and the voltage is reduced to 0.95 V.
It was not possible to determine the memory manufacturer - neither CPUZ nor Everest could tell us anything about it. But what’s even more interesting is that, judging by the data in the SPD, the memory can operate in PC6400 mode, but in our system it worked as a PC5400. The two-gigabyte slot is installed in one of the two slots on the motherboard. Thus, the work occurs in single-channel mode. This, of course, will affect performance, but not very significantly.
The hard drive has a capacity of only 160 gigabytes, and for a modern multimedia system this is the most basic level. Most likely, after working with the laptop for a certain time, you will feel a shortage of disk space, and there will be a desire to purchase additional external media.
The optical disc is quite standard; it writes DVDs and CDs. More expensive multimedia laptops are already equipped with drives that can read Blu-Ray. This option would also be useful here, since using HDMI it would be possible to connect a modern flat panel TV. But then the price of the laptop would be completely different.
Pay attention to the video subsystem. The M780G system logic is equipped with an integrated ATI Radeon HD3200 graphics core, as well as support for ATI Hybrid Graphics. It, in turn, includes four technologies: ATI Hybrid CrossFireX, ATI PowerPlay, ATI PowerXpress, ATI SurroundView. For us, the first three are of greatest interest, since ATI SurroundView (provides connection to up to 4 independent monitors) is not so relevant for laptops. What do these technologies provide? The first ensures the operation of the integrated graphics core and discrete ATI Radeon video card in CrossFire mode. The second controls the main characteristics of the video system (memory and graphics core frequencies) to reduce power consumption and heat dissipation. And finally, the third technology ensures automatic switching between graphics adapters during operation: if the laptop is connected to the network, a discrete video card works, and if it is running on a battery, the integrated one works.
The laptop display is widescreen, with an aspect ratio of 16:10. The maximum supported resolution is 1280x800, which is normal for this price range and corresponds to HD Ready. The screen coating is glossy, which will have a positive effect on contrast, but will cause glare from bright light sources. Network capabilities are typical - Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, gigabit wired network and even a modem. The Wi-Fi adapter supports 802.11 a/b/g/n standards.
 |
 |
We especially note the keyboard - some 15-inch laptops have a full keyboard with a side numeric pad. IN ASUS M51Tr it has been implemented. At the same time, visually the main dial pad did not suffer from this - the keys are the same sizes. Finally, pay attention to the cost. It is quite pleasant, considering that the laptop has an excellent package and is well equipped with hardware.
ASUS M51Tr | Design and finishing
The laptop cover is glossy. Looks nice, but have a soft cloth ready to wipe off fingerprints. In the center, a little closer to the top edge of the lid, there is a small silver inscription “ASUS”. Above it, at the very edge, there is a web camera rotating in the plane of the lid.
The entire body is plastic. It does not crack under light pressure and overall feels quite durable. The laptop has an uneven thickness - quite tall at the back, it becomes significantly thinner towards the front. High rubberized legs hold it quite high above the table surface. The rear panel contains a minimum of functional components. On the right is a socket for connecting the power supply, then the engineers placed a grille to exhaust hot air from the case and two USB ports. The ports are located quite close to each other, so it's likely that not all devices will fit together here.
The USB ports on the back are located quite close to each other.
Most of the ports and connectors are located on the right side of the laptop. Traditionally, laptops have an optical drive tray on the right side, so the number of connectors there is minimal. ASUS engineers decided to place the optical drive on the left, and move most of the devices for connecting peripherals to the right side panel. In order of distance from the user, there are an ExpressCard 54/34 expansion slot, USB 2.0, IEEE 1394, E-SATA, HDMI ports, a D-SUB connector for connecting an external monitor, RJ-11 and RJ-45 ports. Everything is located at a comfortable distance from each other, so there will be no difficulties when connecting devices.
Typically, laptop manufacturers try to place all communication interfaces on the sides or back. In front there are usually only audio connectors and a card reader. In this laptop, the developers decided to place one more USB port in front. Both the "card reader" and the USB port are on the right. The card reader is covered with a plug. In the center there is a small silver key for opening the laptop lid. To the left is the switch for the wireless network.
On the left, the laptop does not have any ports, only a place for attaching a Kensington lock and an optical drive.
The key layout differs from the standard one only in the numeric keypad. The arithmetic keys are located above the numeric ones, and the advanced navigation buttons (PgUp, PgDown and others) are combined with the numeric keypad. The touchpad is slightly shifted to the left and recessed into the body. Its surface is smooth, without any patterns. Under the buttons there are laptop status indicators with the following symbols: (from left to right) battery status (charging, red), Wi-Fi (green), Bluetooth (green), in the center relative to the touchpad On/Off indicator (also green). The indicators are very small and unobtrusive, illuminated by not very bright LEDs.
 |
On the sides of the touchpad there are two holes for snapping the cover. Above the keyboard there is a black metal mesh through which sound passes from the built-in speakers. On the right side of this grid there is a panel with a power button and additional keys. The leftmost key is for turning on the laptop and loading the Express Gate software. Next there are keys for switching energy consumption profiles, turning on/off the touchpad, switching between the laptop screen and an external monitor, and calling the browser. The keys are black and smooth. To the right of them is the laptop's power key; it is larger and made of metal.
 |
Above the keys, under the speaker grid, there are also LED indicators for the keyboard operating mode and hard drive activity. They are made in the same style as those located under the touchpad and are illuminated with green LEDs.
The screen mount is traditional, without any special features: two hinges symmetrically located on the sides.
On the sides are the teeth of the lid-latching mechanism, and on the right is the microphone hole. In general, the appearance of the laptop can be assessed as classic.
ASUS M51Tr | Ergonomics and user experience
So, let's start from afar - with the delivery set. The mouse will satisfy the needs of most users. It is quite miniature and accurate, and the only drawback that is probably worth noting is the loud “clicking” of the keys.
The bag is made of thick fabric, without any rigid frame. Therefore, the laptop will not be sufficiently protected from external influences (for example, rain). Rather, it can be classified as an “excellent case with handles.” There are two pockets on the outside. One on each side. There are three additional compartments for documents inside.
 |
The laptop lid snaps shut, although many manufacturers are switching to spring closure without any locks. The opening button is very small and, in our opinion, not very convenient.
The I/O ports are well located at a sufficient distance from each other. Except that the two rear USB ports are very close. The USB port in front is an interesting solution, but controversial - we wouldn’t connect a device with wires that would probably get in the way. A similar situation applies to audio outputs.
Expansion slots have covers. This is good news, because while the ExpressCard slot in all laptops has a cover, the “card reader” in models from certain manufacturers is not covered with anything and dust gets sucked in there.
The surface of the touchpad is “very smooth”, with a little lack of roughness for comfortable finger movement. At the same time, the touch panel is large in area and precise to use. The keys are quite noisy.
What can you say about the keyboard? The addition of a numeric keypad has resulted in the main typing section of the keyboard being slightly shifted to the left. For this reason, working at first is a little unusual. The size of the keys was not affected by the addition of an additional panel on the side, so your fingers can hit the keyboard accurately. The buttons have good movement and do not “click”. The keyboard does not flex when pressed.
As usual, the keyboard has additional functions for controlling the laptop using the Fn key. Thus, the “cross” performs the functions of controlling the playback of multimedia content (pause/play, switching between tracks), and using the F1-F12 keys you can adjust the screen brightness, sound level, turn on/off wireless communication devices, call programs and utilities. Some other keys are also used, the functions of which can be read in the User's Guide.
The display is nice and bright. Of course, I would like a higher resolution, because on this display even 720i/720p video will be scaled. The laptop performed well in work. The fan speed changes in steps as the temperature of the components changes. It works very unobtrusively, so the noise quickly fades into the background. At maximum load it is, of course, noticeable - after all, the components inside are quite hot. For the same reason, holding a laptop on your knees is not very comfortable.
I would also like to talk about ASUS software. Most of the utilities can be accessed using keyboard shortcuts. I really liked the utility for managing energy saving profiles Power4Gear. Profiles can be switched using the shortcut key above the keyboard on the right. There are four profiles in total: “Quiet office”, “Battery saving”, “Entertainment”, “Maximum productivity”. Changes in the state of the laptop when using utilities are beautifully displayed with animated effects on the desktop. We also tested the SmartLogon utility, which provides user authentication using a web camera. The program scans your face based on the image received from the camera. After this, when logging in as a user, you don’t have to enter a password, just look into the camera. The program will scan you and, if your face is fine, will let you into the system. The technology is very interesting, but the program takes a long time to scan, especially if the lighting around you is different from what it was when you took the reference pictures. As a result, after the first time we disabled this option.
And, of course, we can’t help but mention Express Gate software. To start it, you need to turn off the laptop and start it with a special shortcut key. As a result, in just a few seconds you can use the full multimedia potential of the laptop. Loading a traditional OS can take a fair amount of time and battery power, but here in 5-10 seconds you can already listen to music. We set up the Internet, logged into ICQ and IRC, and listened to music. You can also simply surf the Internet, view photos from your hard drive. A useful option.
ASUS M51Tr | Performance testing
Let's move on to performance testing. To do this, we used traditional benchmarks. We used PCMark05 and PCMark Vantage to evaluate overall performance. To assess the suitability of the laptop in games - 3DMark05 and 3DMark06 with standard settings, only the resolution changed. We also conducted synthetic tests using Sisoftware Sandra. The results are shown in the diagrams.
The situation is very interesting. When testing laptops with HD3470 graphics (for example, the same Sony VAIO VGN-FW11MR), we received better results. And this despite the fact that it also uses an integrated graphics core in CrossFireX mode. In our opinion, the central processor should be blamed here. The old K8 microarchitecture is already too weak for modern games.
It was interesting to find out what contribution the integrated graphics core makes to the result. We disabled CrossFireX in Catalyst Control Center and ran all tests again. The results are presented below.
We can conclude that integrated graphics makes a significant contribution to graphics performance. However, summing up the graphic performance of the laptop, we can say: unfortunately, you won’t be able to play modern games at decent settings, but if you are not a hardcore gamer, then this solution will be quite enough for you.
The results for overall performance in user scenarios are presented in the following charts. CrossFireX technology is enabled.
The rather low score in memory tests can be explained by the single-channel mode and low operating frequency (physical 333 MHz). In addition, a significant part of the memory is “rented” by video cards. Therefore, we recommend that after purchasing a laptop, you buy another two-gigabyte slot for the second connector of the motherboard. The PCMark Vantage test results generally show the laptop's suitability in everyday scenarios.
The hard drive is average. The speed of buffered operations is quite low, probably due to the small cache size (8 MB). Although this is a synthetic test, in real scenarios this will be practically unnoticeable.
ASUS M51Tr | Temperature conditions and battery life
A processor with an “old” microarchitecture and a high TDP, as well as two video cores in CrossFireX mode, will certainly consume quite a lot of energy. When measuring battery life, we used, as usual, three main user scenarios: reading, watching movies, playing games. In the first case, we set up an economical power plan, set the display brightness to 50% and ran BatteryEater"07 in Readers Test mode. In the second case, we played a video in a loop in the 720p standard, the energy saving plan was balanced, and the screen brightness was 80%. And Finally, in the third case, we ran the gaming test with the "maximum performance" power plan and 100% display brightness. The results are presented below.
You can read for a little over two and a half hours - this is quite acceptable. But you are unlikely to finish watching the movie. And you can play for exactly an hour. We hoped that when CrossFireX technology was disabled, PowerXpress would come into play. But no. Even when running on battery power and using a low-power power plan, the discrete graphics card continued to work. We cannot explain the reason for this. Once fully discharged, the laptop charges for more than two hours (135 minutes) when turned on.
For a universal laptop with a 15.4" diagonal, the battery life is short. When studying the temperature regime, we encountered the following phenomenon. Most modern laptops have several temperature sensors that display readings from the central processor, hard drive and system logic. Intel microprocessors The temperature of individual cores is monitored. In this laptop, the utilities only displayed the state of the central processor.
During measurements, the room temperature was 24 degrees Celsius. When idle, the microprocessor temperature dropped to 50 degrees. But after some time under high load, the temperature rose to 73 degrees.
Quite a high temperature, considering, for example, that for some microprocessors with K8 architecture the critical temperature is 75 degrees.
ASUS M51Tr | Conclusion
The laptop does not have stunning performance - the test results are mediocre. On the one hand, this is caused by the “old” microprocessor, on the other hand, by the single-channel mode of memory operation and the reduced frequency of its operation. Battery life isn't the best either.
Despite all this, we can say with confidence that it will cope with the tasks for which the laptop is designed (watching videos, listening to music, web surfing, communications). Many may also like the Express Gate feature and the keyboard with a full-featured numeric keypad. And a more capacious 9-cell battery will help increase battery life. But the main thing that makes this laptop attractive is the excellent package included.
Laptops are traditionally produced not as individual models, but as whole series, which include both affordable and highly equipped models of different price categories. However, they are usually based on a common platform. ASUS decided to take a slightly different path - instead of covering all segments “from small to large”, create devices of approximately equal cost and the same appearance, but intended for different tasks.
The trio of models from the ASUS M51 line that arrived for testing are almost identical in appearance - the same case, absolutely identical design and set of interfaces... And besides, the average price of all devices is $960±7% - in today's market conditions they can be called almost equivalent . What's the difference?
Under the polished black piano lid is a 15.4-inch display, above which is a webcam mounted in a special rotating holder that allows you to direct the lens both at the user and at the space behind the open lid of the laptop. On the base there is a keyboard that has already become traditional for ASUS with a continuous row of function keys without any dividers and a touchpad with a fingerprint scanner between the buttons. To connect external devices, there are four USB ports (one on the front, one on the side and two on the back), IEEE 1394 and eSATA ports. If you need to connect an external monitor or projector, there is both an analog VGA (D-sub) connector and a modern digital HDMI. Expansion options are not forgotten either - all three laptops are equipped with Express Card slots and an MMC/SD/MS/MS-Pro card reader. Communication with the outside world is carried out using a standard set of interfaces today: wireless Bluetooth 2.1 and 802.11n, as well as GbE and a built-in modem.
This is where the similarities end. “Senior” (in terms of price; if, of course, such a division is even appropriate given the difference with the “junior” model of $122) ASUS laptop M51Ta equipped with the maximum memory capacity for this platform - 4 GB, a display with a resolution increased to 1440x960 and a 320 GB hard drive. The remaining two devices are equipped with screens with a resolution of 1280×800 (with the same diagonal) and a 250 GB HDD. However, these differences have a minimal impact on system performance. The most interesting aspect was the selection of the combination of processor, video controllers and amount of RAM, which ultimately determined the variety of applications for each of the laptops in this series.
Let's start, perhaps, again with the “older” one: an AMD Turion Ultra ZM84 processor with a clock frequency of 2.3 GHz, two video controllers - an AMD/ATI Radeon HD 3200 integrated into the chipset and a discrete HD 3650, as well as 4 GB of RAM clearly indicate entertainment - gaming purpose. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that in all gaming tests this particular configuration turns out to be the most productive.
“Younger” model in price M51Tr is also primarily a gaming platform, but more budget-friendly: memory is no longer 4, but 3 GB, there are still two video controllers, but a discrete one - already Radeon HD 3470, however, with higher core and memory frequencies relative to the third “participant in the race” - 680 and 500 MHz. The processor here is also simpler - Turion X2 RM70 with a frequency of 2 GHz. To match the “gaming” image, both graphics accelerators are enabled in CrossFire mode, which, however, provides superiority only in “heavy” gaming tests. Well, the difference of a third in performance in gaming tests (on average), in addition to the $120 price, is compensated by a slightly increased battery life.
Finally, closing the “trinity of heroes” M51Vr It is focused more on business and computing applications. Its main advantage is the processor: the Core 2 Duo P8400 with a clock frequency of 2.26 GHz is unbeatable in computing tasks, even despite having only two gigabytes of RAM. The absence of a video controller built into the chipset and the use of an ascetic (with frequencies of 550 MHz for the core and 400 for video memory) discrete graphics accelerator AMD/ATI Radeon HD 3470, of course, leaves it little chance to look decent in games compared to the two previous “brothers”, but significantly increases battery life.
Considering that the M51Vr is still closer in cost to the “older” model, we can say that the ASUS M51 series of laptops offers those who want to spend a thousand dollars a choice: buy either an outright gaming model, or a 100% “workhorse,” or save a hundred and try It’s easier to play on the device. However, if the consumer is also interested in autonomy, the situation becomes much more complicated.
 |
 |
 |
The three laptops take completely different approaches to energy saving, even though they have the same body and battery. All models have a set of proprietary presets from ASUS (High Performance, Entertainment, Quiet Office and Power Saving), which affect screen brightness, processor frequencies and chipset settings. But differences in the graphics accelerators used forced engineers to take additional measures.
In the “older” M51Ta, when switching to battery power, along with a decrease in the lower threshold of the processor clock frequency from 1.15 to 0.575 GHz, the user is asked to turn off the discrete accelerator “on the fly”. However, due to the capabilities of the integrated video controller, this has little effect on typically “offline” tasks, such as watching videos, but significantly reduces performance in gaming tests. The switching process itself takes about 15 seconds and does not require a system reboot, although the user is recommended to close all active windows.
In the “junior” model M51Tr, no switching is made - although, if desired, you can disable CrossFire, but this does not give practically any effect other than increasing the performance of the central processor. And finally, M51Vr. The presence of a single video controller eliminates the ability to physically switch anything at the user’s request, however, the minimal power consumption of the CPU and chipset, combined with an economical graphics accelerator operating at low frequencies, provide it with enviable “survivability.” The only thing that ASUS engineers managed to add to this was changing the Desktop to some kind of “energy-saving” wallpaper and... hiding the Windows taskbar from the screen - otherwise it, too, “consumes something there.” In any case, the M51Vr still provides 3 hours for reading and 2 hours 23 minutes for cinema. When used in a typical “working” mode, the advantage of this approach is obvious: 163 minutes versus 124 and 126 in the MobileMark Productivity Test speak for themselves.
As a result, we can say that the ASUS M51 line of laptops is a series of complete solutions, optimized for individual tasks, for consumers who know what they want. M51Ta will allow you to focus on games, M51Vr - on work, and on M51Tr you can play and save a hundred - for example, to celebrate a successful purchase. But fans of modernization should not worry: graphic accelerators are soldered directly on the board and cannot be replaced, so the ability to improve something is limited to the processor, RAM and hard drive.
| Model | M51Ta | M51Vr | M51Tr |
| Display | 15.4" (1440x900) | 15.4" (1280x800) | 15.4" (1280x800) |
| CPU | AMD Turion Ultra ZM84 (2.3 GHz) | Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 (2.26 GHz) | AMD Turion X2 RM70 (2.0 GHz) |
| Chipset | Intel PM45+ICH9M | AMD/ATI Radeon Mobility HD 3200 | |
| Graphics accelerator | Radeon HD 3650 + Radeon HD 3200 | Radeon HD 3470 | Radeon HD 3470 + Radeon HD 3200 (CrossFire) |
| RAM, GB | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| Hard disk, GB | 320 | 250 | 250 |
| External ports | 4×USB, eSATA, IEEE 1394, HDMI, VGA, Head-Out, Mic-In, RJ-11, RJ-45 | ||
| Optical storage | DVD SuperMulti drive with LabelFlash support | ||
| Communications | Gigabit Ethernet, Modem, 802.11n WLAN, Bluetooth 2.1 | ||
| Battery | 49 Wh, 11.1 V, 4800 mAh | ||
| Additional features | Webcam, microphone, SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro card reader | ||
| Dimensions and weight | 365×269×28 ~ 40mm; 2.95 kg | ||
| Pre-installed OS | Windows Vista Home Premium | Windows Vista Home Basic | |
| Average price, $ | 1018 | 964 | 896 |
| Is provided | DataLux | ELKO Kiev | |
I felt the machine, now I can tell you a little about it. It turned out that there are few reviews of this model on the Internet. More precisely, there are no reviews at all, there is simply a dry listing of technical characteristics. But these characteristics are not always clear. For example, when I was reading the performance characteristics of this laptop, I didn’t see an E-SATA port in its description, which made me very upset. However, when the courier brought the laptop, it immediately became clear that there was E-SATA on the right side of the laptop.
|
A little about connectors. My model has an HDMI output, which makes a buzz when connected to a large HD or HD-Ready TV. The connection is elementary - with Windows running, you plug the cable into the TV and into this connector on the laptop, the TV is immediately identified as an additional screen and starts working depending on the image output settings. In addition to HDMI, on the same right side of the laptop body there is a slot for an Express Card, one USB 2.0 connector, one FireWire connector (4 pin, which is small) for connecting digital video cameras or other external devices with a FireWire interface, E-SATA for connecting external hard drives disks, VGA out D-SUB for connecting a regular monitor, two RG11 and RG45 sockets for connecting, respectively, to a telephone network and an Ethernet network.
It’s bad that there’s only one USB port, they could have had a couple.
|
From left to right - button to turn on/off wireless communications (Bluetooth and Wi-Fi), button to open the laptop lid, microphone input (3.5 mm), headphone output (also used as an SPDIF digital interface output, more on that below), USB connector , card reader. The front USB connector is inconvenient to use when the USB plug from a mouse or something else sticks out of it - it is located just under the elbow and is constantly in the way. It's almost the same with the headphone jack - the plug and cord get in the way. Although not quite under the elbow, but still. However, when I connected the receiver to the laptop via the SPDIF output, I placed the laptop on the floor in front of the TV; I didn’t care about the location of the connector. Although it would be more convenient to place it on the side or behind.
On the back there are only two USB ports and a connector for connecting a power supply. There are no comments here. These are the connectors I usually connect my mouse and external USB hard drive to. But when my wife Katerina is torturing the laptop while half-sitting on the bed, then the rear connectors are inconvenient to use - the plugs rest against the blanket. But with such a workplace, you only need a mouse (although you can get by with a touchpad), and it can be plugged into the side USB socket. In short - USB ports are located in different ways, for all occasions :-)
What made me happy is that the hard drive compartment is not sealed. Although ASUS does not suffer from this, unlike some other laptop manufacturers... You can also add memory yourself, no need to take it to a service center.
|
I have not yet tested the processor or mother in combat conditions. I should run 3DMark. I'll download a new one and run it :-)
For now I can only give Windows performance evaluation results:
Everything is fine, except for the video. Well, that’s what I assumed, the video camera is clearly weak. But since I’m not much of a gamer, to hell with it.
It is quite large in size. In addition, the surface is not slippery, it is very convenient and pleasant to run your finger along it. A fingerprint scanner is optional, i.e. Not present in all modifications of the M51Vr. It's easy to use and, I would say, interesting :-) More on that later.
If the touchpad is inconvenient to use, the kit includes a pretty good optical wired mouse with the ASUS logo. This mouse is small, a laptop one. It has a scroll wheel and is very pretty in itself. Although I have a Logitech wireless mouse, I am currently using an Asus mouse.
The laptop has a built-in webcam with a 1.3 megapixel matrix. The camera can rotate slightly around the horizontal axis. Convenient - no need to tilt the laptop lid. When the camera is in use, a green light glows nearby. Convenient - you don’t have to worry that you forgot to turn off the live broadcast on the Internet before running around the room naked :-)
|
There is a light sensor next to the camera. The sensor detects the lighting in the room and changes the brightness of the screen accordingly. It is dark in the room - the screen darkens, it is light - the screen becomes brighter. I immediately disabled this function, but it may be useful to someone. Disabled in BIOS.
Also next to the camera, on the right, there is a built-in microphone. More precisely, not just a microphone, but a microphone array. Speaking in Russian - two microphones give a stereo signal.
There are two speakers, located between the left edge of the keyboard and the function key panel. Judging by the inscription, the speakers are from Altec Lansing.
Thanks to the pre-installed software, the webcam can be used in a rather interesting way - to log into the system. When Vista starts, a window with a picture from the camera appears at the top of the screen.
Select a user and enter a user password. A password is required. After the frame captures the face, click on the button with the camera image. 20-30 pictures are taken automatically. After this, the user’s name will be displayed in real time next to the face in the window. It turned out cool when I fed the software to my and Katyukhin’s faces. After that, when both my and Katyukhina’s faces were in the frame, next to each face there was the correct signature :-) The recognition engine can be fed images many times, they accumulate and the recognition accuracy improves.
If the camera still doesn’t want to recognize you at point-blank range, and you don’t want to enter your password manually, you can use a fingerprint scanner.
When logging into Windows, just swipe your finger across the scanner and if recognition is successful, the required account will automatically open. You can assign two different fingers to one account. This is set when training fingerprint recognition.
Click on the image of the desired finger with the mouse, then smoothly move your finger across the scanner several times. If the entire series of prints turns out to be readable, then you’re done.
By the way, if you swipe your finger across the scanner after logging into your Windows account, you will be logged into ASUS Security Protect Manager.
|
|
A window with the protection manager settings will immediately appear from the tray. The manager allows you to save logins/passwords, for example from sites, not in the standard Windows storage, but somewhere on your own. I don’t know how reliable this is, I don’t have that information yet.
So, I’ll tell you a little about the sound. More precisely, about audio output to the TV via an HDMI cable. In order not to bother with connecting via SPDIF to the receiver when it is not needed, you can stream the sound via an HDMI cable - just specify “Digital output device (HDMI)” in the list of audio output devices and use it by default. And that's it - all applications will use it.
Another standard software is the convenient power management utility Power4Gear eXtreme.
Let me just say that there are several toys for two players. The meaning in a nutshell - who makes the scariest face :-)
Well, now - the most interesting part :-)
Splashtop in the Asus version is called ASUS Express Gate. To launch Splashtop you need to press the leftmost button on the panel of additional keys WITH THE LAPTOP TURNED OFF (!!!). There is a circle with a lightning bolt on the key. After this, a menu will immediately (!) appear on the screen. In the menu we select what we want: web browser, music player, online games, viewing photos, chat (IM), Skype. There you can configure the system. I mean, set up a connection to the network, including Wi-Fi.
Either you can turn off the laptop, or start the main operating system.
In general, we choose what we want. The logo appears full screen
When starting, we see that the split-second cursor looks like a regular cross from X-Window :-)
The browser is a modified Mozilla. I tried to get to the file system by opening file:// in the address bar. It didn’t work, it just doesn’t open anything. Also, in the menu that appears when you right-click on an image in the browser, there is no “Save As” item. And you can’t save the entire page either.
Otherwise, it’s a full-fledged browser. Even flash works.
UPD> If you suddenly need to install Windows XP on the M51VR, drivers from the ASUS F8Sa laptop are suitable. You can download UPD> ASUS has released official XP drivers for the ASUS M51Vr laptop. You can download it here - http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=ru-ru At the top left, enter the model name (M51Vr), a request for the type of operating system will appear. Select WinXP and download everything you need. I checked it personally, it works. |