NOTEBOOK, CELL PHONE AND UMPC REVIEW

NOTEBOOK REVIEW Asus M51Sn-A1

 

NOTEBOOK REVIEW Asus M51Sn-A1NOTEBOOK REVIEW Asus M51Sn-A1

ASUS designed the M51S for those who want a capable multi-media notebook at a great price. In the case of this exact model, the SRP is $1,029US (~$1,059CAN). Comparing the M51S to other notebooks on the market, the ASUS proves to carry a small premium, within the ~$50 range. One Dell notebook, for example, had an Inspiron offering with similar specs, but cost $100 less. It also had a much weaker GPU, however. So all in all, this notebook is priced competitively.
Included here is a 15.4″ display capable of the 1280×800 resolution, a large 250GB hard drive, 3GB of DDR2-667 and wireless with support for 802.11n. To power the machine, ASUS chose to use Intel’s T5450 Core 2 Duo, clocked at 1.66GHz and equipped with 2MB of L2 Cache and a 667MHz FSB.
As mentioned above, though, the latest revision of this notebook includes a T5550, a similar offering but bumped up to 1.83GHz. As far as I can tell, the exact revision I am using would be discontinued, because all e-tailers I see, seem to be carrying the model with the faster processor. Given both are priced the same, be sure you are picking up the one with the T5550.
The M51S’ chassis is coated with a sleek textured black skin. On the left side of the notebook, we have the Kensington security lock and also our DVD-RW drive. Most of the peripheral ports are to be found on the right side of the notebook. From left to right we have a USB port, IEEE1394 port, a seemingly empty port, TV-Out port, DVI-D, VGA and finally, modem and LAN ports. Not shown, to the absolute left of this side is an ExpressCard slot.
In the back, we have a power port and two more USB ports.
Finally, in front we can see a wireless LAN on/off, microphone and audio output ports and also the “Push” button to raise the cover. Though not shown in this image (another image later shows this), to the absolute right-hand side of the front is another USB port and also a multi-card reader.
Overall, I have absolutely no complaints about the peripheral support or locations of the ports. The M51S includes four USB ports, support for both DVI/VGA and also a TV-Out. The only thing lacking is an HDMI support, but that’s moot given the fact that this is a ~$1,000 notebook.

NOTEBOOK REVIEW Asus M51Sn-A1