Notebookcheck Logo

Review Asus A6Ja

This time reviewed by us: the Asus A6J. It is a favorable notebook made by Asus with good features and attractive performance data. You can learn here, whether the laptop is useful apart from the good features.

Case

After switching on the Asus A6J the very first action was the deactivation of the selected screensaver, which particularly got on our nerves due to sound playback.

During a close investigation of the case we already found several scratches. That's no miracle, probably the test sample had already been on numerous desks. Nevertheless, the surface does not seem to be particularly scratch-proof.

Within the right area in front of the keyboard we could determine crunches under pressure. In addition, the chassis  flexes somewhat at the left side in the area of the DVD drive. The display cover in the left lower area is likewise somewhat wobbly.

Against the current trend, the battery of the Asus A6J is accommodated in the front of the chassis. Therefore fan exit and interfaces can be positioned in the back.
There are feet on the battery, however there are small feet beneath, which guarantee the safe positioning of the case even with not attached battery.

The interface equipment of the Asus A6J can be called complete. Rarely you find 4 USB of 2.0 connections in a mobile computer of that size.
Also an analogue and a digital (DVI-D-D) monitor exit unfortunately are still rather the exception. Firewire, s-video, modem, Gigabit LAN, PC Card, Cardreader, camera and audio interfaces complete the features. Only an infrared interface is missing.
The arrangement of the interfaces is quite favorable, too. The 4 USB and the monitor exits are positioned on the back, the remainder is at the right side in the rear range.

The double hook sealing system is handled by two slidegate valves, which are functioning separately from each other.

connections
connections front side
connections right side
connections left side
connections back

Input Devices

Overall, the keyboard leaves a good impression. The keys are sufficiently large and are characterised by a pleasant easily fitting with springs pressure, which is accompanied by a quiet clicking noise. There is nothing to complain with layout. A slight wobbling of all keys is to be marked.

The high-speed keys for adjusting the volume, display brightness etc. can be manipulated by FN + F1 - F12. They are indicated by well recognizable Icons on the screen.

The touchpad possesses a smooth surface and can be handled easily and precisely. The keys are manufactured from one piece of metal and do not only look good, but also function perfectly.

touchpad
keyboard

Display

colour diagram of the Asus A6Ja

The reflecting 16:10 widescreen display with a resolution of 1280x800 pixel works well and with high-contrast. The maximally measured brightness of 126.9 cd/m² is rather moderate, but the illumination distribution of 88.1% is very good.

The color representation diagram shows a usual deviation of the blue curve and warm colors of the screen.

In the test of susceptibility for creation of streaks the level 6 could be achieved in the program Pixperan, and thereby is inconspicuously average

114.8
cd/m²
126.9
cd/m²
115.7
cd/m²
112.2
cd/m²
124.6
cd/m²
116.2
cd/m²
111.8
cd/m²
116.1
cd/m²
114
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
Maximum: 126.9 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 116.9 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 88 %
Contrast: ∞:1 (Black: 0 cd/m²)

The stability of viewing angles is good in the horizontal range and sufficient in the vertical range. Slight changes of the brightness are possible.

stability of viewing angles

Performance

The Core Duo processor and the ATI X1600 video card grant the expected good performance.

Interesting with it: the 512 MB hyper-memory version of the X1600 in the already tested Samsung X60 achieves hardly better results with current 3D benchmarks. Only with older benchmark tests the video card combined with a faster processor can obtain clearly better values.

benchmark comparison
benchmark comparison 3DMark06
benchmark comparison PCMark05
3DMark 2001SE Standard
12200 points
3DMark 03 Standard
6008 points
3DMark 05 Standard
3502 points
3DMark 06 Score Unknown Setting
1830 points
Help
PCMark 04 Standard
3396 points
PCMark 05 Standard
3769 points
Help
80 GB - 5400 rpm
Transfer Rate Minimum: 12.3 MB/s
Transfer Rate Maximum: 34.3 MB/s
Transfer Rate Average: 27.3 MB/s
Access Time: 16.5 ms
Burst Rate: 74 MB/s
CPU Usage: 2.5 %

Emissions

Warmth

Within the central range at the bottom of the laptop quite considerable heating up with peak values of more than 47°C were measured. The top side especially in front of the keyboard remained pleasantly cool. The reason is that the battery is accommodated in the front range of the laptop.

temperatures at the top
temperatures at the bottom
diagram noise ambience

Volume

Under load the Asus A6ja suffers amazing temperatures as already mentioned. So it is no wonder, that the fan must work heavily in order to get the heat out of the chassis.

The DVD drive assembly is inconspicuously and remains decently in the background during playback.

Loudspeaker

The loudspeakers sound somewhat dull and can not really convince. The total volume is sufficient.

Battery Runtime

The A6J did not offer considerable results according the battery runtime. Particularly the determined maximum runtime of 145 minutes is not a reason for happyness.

Battery Eater Readers test - corresponds for instance to the maximum runtime
(min. brightness, WLAN off, current savings on)
battery runtime result: 2h 25min

Battery Eater Classic test - corresponds for instance to the minimum runtime
(all max., WLAN etc.)
battery runtime result: 1h 15min

current cunsumption

minimum (all off or at minimum): 33.6 Watts
idle (max. brightness): 41.1 Watts
maximum (full load inkl. WLAN): 56.1 Watts

Verdict

Asus A6Ja

The Asus A6J is provided very well with interfaces. Altogether four USB 2.0 connections and a digital screen port (DVI D) fulfil most desires.

The workmanship of the notebook shows a slight lack of quality. However tt is to be marked that our test sample was not new from the factory and revealed some marks of aging like scratches.

All over, the display is pleasant, but a slight instability of the viewing angles, particularly a somewhat weak brightness as well as the mirroring reduces the pleasure somewhat.

The performance is ok owing to Core Duo processor and ATI X1600 video card and masters all to time usual tasks.

Comparatively high heat emissions and therefore also noise emissions are quite negative features. Also the battery runtime of the A6J is to be classified as rather moderately.

Impressions

Please share our article, every link counts!
tested: the Asus A6Ja-Q001H

Specifications

Specifications

Asus A6Ja-Q001H
Processor
Intel Core Duo T2300 2 x 1.7 GHz (Intel Core Duo)
Graphics adapter
Memory
1024 MB 
, DDR2, max. 2048MB
Display
15.40 inch 16:10, 1280 x 800 pixel, WSXGA Color Shine Glare TFT Display, glossy: yes
Mainboard
Intel 945PM
Storage
80 GB - 5400 rpm, 80 GB 
, 5400 rpm, HTS541080G9AT00: 80GB, 5400rpm
Connections
4x USB 2.0 Port, 1 x RJ-45 Buchse für LAN, 1 x RJ-11 Buchse für Modem, VGA out, S-Video, DVI, 1x PCMCIA Adapter, Kensington Lock, Audio, Firewire
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 35 x 354 x 284 ( = 1.38 x 13.94 x 11.18 in)
Battery
, 4800mAh Lithium-Ionen
Additional features
HDD: 80GB, 5400rpm, HTS541080G9AT00, Realtek HD Audio, DVD Supermulti (Double Layer) Laufwerk Matshita DVD-RAM UJ-841S,
Weight
2.85 kg ( = 100.53 oz / 6.28 pounds) ( = 0 oz / 0 pounds)
Price
1343 Euro

 

The tested Asus A6Ja convinced...
The T2300 processor and the ATI X1600 are very fast.
...can be accessed easily through openings at the bottom.
All components inside the case...
Already standard: additional keys
The keyboard is very pleasent.
As the battery is positioned in the front, there is free space for the fan in the back.
...like a DVI exit in addition to the analogue monitor connection.
...mainly because of its good interface equipment...
The 4800 mAh lithium ions battery only results in average runtimes.

Pro

  • interface equipment
  • interface positioning
  • pleasent keyboard
  • good performance data
  • homogenous lighted display
  • webcam
  • Contra

  • some lacks of workmanship
  • bad sound of the loudspeakers
  • high temperature and noise emissions
  • mediocre display brightness
  • moderate battery runtimes
  • Similar Laptops

    Rating

    Asus A6Ja-Q001H - 08/31/2007
    Josef Simon Leitner

    Chassis
    73%
    Keyboard
    90%
    Pointing Device
    90%
    Connectivity
    90%
    Weight
    76%
    Battery
    62%
    Display
    75%
    Games Performance
    93%
    Application Performance
    90%
    Temperature
    60%
    Noise
    70%
    Add Points
    85%
    Average
    80%
    80%
    Multimedia - Weighted Average
    Josef Simon Leitner, 2006-08- 6 (Update: 2013-05- 8)