Final Thoughts, HEXUS.awards & HEXUS.right2reply
Final thoughtsASUS has been one of the very first manufacturers to harness the goodness that's provided by Intel's Napa platform and launch a laptop based around it. That laptop is the ASUS A6JA, shipped for this review with the tasty Intel Centrino Duo T2500 CPU, copious amounts of RAM, a capacious hard drive and a svelte chassis that, parts included, weighed in at just under the 3kg mark. Aimed at the business user who multitasks like no tomorrow, the use of a dual-core low-power CPU gives you both excellent performance in multi-threaded applications/true multitasking and decent battery life to boot. Add to this package an ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 PCIe GPU that's capable of running most modern games at the 15.4-inch widescreen panel's native 1280x800 resolution, and the A6JA can be thought of as a well-rounded solution that, with a basic configuration, ships at £1199 inc. VAT.
When judged in relation to benchmarks that are single-threaded, the supplied A6JA's Intel Centrino Duo T2500, humming along at 2GHz, and thanks to a dual-core architecture that's been enhanced in the transition over from single-core Dothan's, together with the use of a faster FSB, performs in the general vicinity of, say, a Pentium M 780 (2.26GHz). Swap on over to multi-threaded apps. and the 'T2500 has no mobile peer. All-in-all, we would probably recommend the ASUS A6JA if it shipped with a single-core Dothan CPU; it's got all the right ingredients and a reasonable asking price. Throw in the obvious goodness of dual-core Yonah CPUs, upgraded WiFi, decent battery life, and cooling so quiet and efficient that you can hear your own breathing, and you have a tasty proposition on your hands that is available right now.
The ASUS A6JA doesn't truly excel in any one area, yet its overall competence should have it on your shortlist if you're interested in a reasonably thin, light, and powerful mobile machine whose pricing starts at just over the £1,000 mark.
HEXUS Awards
ASUSTeK A6JA 'Napa' Notebook
ASUSTeK A6JA 'Napa' Notebook
HEXUS Right2Reply - ASUSTeK
Commenting under the World Leading HEXUS Right2Reply initiative, Michael Littler from ASUS UK had this to say about our article:"The Intel 'Napa' platform offers strong performance, as expected from a dual-core processor, and ASUSTeK are delighted to be among the first to launch a comprehensive range of notebooks for dual-core mobile Intel 'Yonah' processors. Offering much greater performance than single-core platforms, 'Napa' also provides at least equal and often slightly extended battery life.
The ASUS A6J is designed as a workhorse business machine and is currently one of the best value dual-core notebooks on the market, retailing at £1,199.
Although it does not have the all-aluminium chassis of our W5F or V6J 'Napa' models, ASUS works hard on the design and quality of materials used on all our notebooks, and I currently use a similar chassis to that of the A6J, and have always found it to be very solid with good thermal properties.
The reflective screen does provide more vivid output, but admittedly, in certain light conditions, it is very light reflective; however, these "glare" panels are now widely used amongst all notebook vendors.
Backed up with our dedicated technical support helpline, we believe businesses and consumers can purchase ASUS notebooks with the confidence that, should anything go wrong, there is someone on the other end of the phone to help solve the problem.".
Michael Littler
Marketing Manager
ASUS UK
