Review Asus F75A / F55A Notebook, A33-K55 batteries

Battery Life

The ASUS F75A manages to squeeze 5:25 h out of its battery while idle (as measured using the Battery Eater Reader's Test, with minimal brightness, activated energy saver profile and deactivated modems). Both the Akoya (5:43 h) and the Satellite (6:15 h) achieve longer battery life. Under full load, the F75A(A32-K55 Battery) only lasts 1:05 h - again less than the competition (Akoya: 1:32 h, Satellite: 1:16 h). Here, the Battery Eater Classic Test has been used, running the screen at full brightness, turning on the performance profile and activating all modems.

The F75A hangs on for 3:29 h during the Wi-Fi test, a little bit less than the Satellite (3:53 h) and the Akoya (3:43 h). In this case, a new website loads every 40 seconds, the energy conservation profile is active and the display brightness is set to 150 cd/m². During DVD playback, the battery life of the F75A comes down to 2:45 h, on a par with the competition (Akoya 2:44 h; Satellite 2:58 h), which also stay below the 3 hour threshold. This test is performed while the energy saver profile is active (or a higher profile, if the DVD cannot be rendered smoothly), screen brightness is at full strength and all modems are deactivated.

The battery life of all three devices is easily comparable since their capacity is roughly the same (Toshiba: 48 Wh, Medion and Asus: 47 Wh).

Case

The F75A looks very much like the Asus F55A. Both devices sport a casing made of black plastic. Both the back side of the lid and the wrist rest are texturized so that they feel very slip-proof. The material used around the keyboard reminds us of brushed metal. We appreciate that Asus uses matte surfaces exclusively. Neither of its two competitors, the Satellite and the Akoya, employs anything else but plastic as well.

There is not only an optical resemblance between the F75A and its smaller brother: Stability is also the same. The base unit sags when pressure is applied to the area below the touchpad. The same holds true for the area to the left of the keyboard. At least, the casing seems to be rather torsion-resistant. It can only be twisted slightly. The lid behaves differently in this regard - it is very easy to bend. Also, the back side of the lid could have been sturdier. Its center can be forced to sag so strongly as to cause distortions on the screens. While the hinges may be prone to some bobbing, they are still capable of holding the display firmly in position. Thus, the lid cannot be opened with just one hand. Some issues with the build quality, e.g. a small gap between the DVD burner and the case, have to be accepted considering the price.

Connectivity

There is little difference with respect to connectivity between all three laptops which we compare. All of them offer a standard selection of ports and have at least one USB 3.0 port. Unfortunately, the ports of the F75A are awkwardly placed. All of them are positioned at the front half of the left side.


Communication

The Wi-Fi chip of the ASUS F75A is made by Realtek (RTL8188CE). It supports the Wi-Fi standards 802.11 b/g/n. We have no reason to complain about any reception issues, neither close to the router (approx. 3 m) nor two floors below (with 50% transmission power) does the connection get interrupted. The Gigabit Ethernet chip in our Asus laptop comes from Atheros (AR8161/8165). There is no Bluetooth support. The F75A features a built-in 0.3 megapixel webcam (640x480 pixels), which disappoints due to its mushy image quality.

Keyboard

The F75A utilizes the same conventional keyboard as the F55A. All major keys are flat and approximately 17 x 14 mm large. Their lower side exhibits an angle. The keys offer medium travel and their pressure point is fine, but they show too little resistance. A more rigid suspension would not have hurt. The keyboard is neither very silent nor very noisy, but it wobbles significantly while typing.
Touchpad

The multitouch-enabled clickpad is another old acquaintance from the F55A. Its luxurious size of 10.5 cm x 7.3 cm makes using multitouch gestures a breeze. Its smooth surface allows the fingers to glide effortlessly over the touchpad. All gestures can be activated or deactivated individually in the configuration menu. As with all clickpads, there are no separate mouse buttons. The position - whether one taps in the lower left or lower right corner - determines which action is supposed to commence. The touchpad offers short travel and a clearly tangible and audible pressure point.

Display

The glossy 17.3-inch display of the F75A is made by Samsung, offering a native resolution of 1600x900 pixels. There is no option for a different display panel. Average brightness is just that, average, with 219.9 cd/m². Both the Satellite (235.4 cd/m²) and the Medion laptop (279 cd/m²) fare better in this regard, and they offer matte displays. Even its illumination value of 79% is worse than that of its competitors (Medion: 91%, Toshiba: 87%).

Both contrast (291:1) and black levels (0.86 cd/m²) do not manage to convince us of the qualities of this display. Again, the F75A is left standing by both the Satellite (362:1, 0.86 cd/m²) and the Akoya (412:1, 0.69 cd/m²). The display of the F75A fails in reproducing the AdobeRGB and the sRGB color spaces.

We have examined the screen in its delivery condition (target color space sRGB) and measured severe DeltaE-2000 deviations for white, cyan and the grayscale, but this does not imply that the other colors are capable of reaching the target (DeltaE smaller than 5). The display suffers from a very noticeable bluish cast.

Display brightness is barely sufficient for outdoor usage, and only so in the shade. The glossy surface and the low contrast ratio work hand in hand to further exaggerate this effect.

Viewing angle stability is as could be expected at this price point. Vertical movement quickly leads to a deterioration of color reproduction. This problem is less pronounced in the horizontal direction so that the contents of the screen can still be read from an angle, albeit becoming darker.

Speakers

The stereo speakers of the ASUS F75A are positioned on the underbelly of the laptop. Their sound is very pleasant and full of riches which even hint at the existence of some bass. It is no problem watching an entire movie without resorting, irritatingly, to external solutions. Further fine-tuning of the sound output becomes possible with the help of the preinstalled Via HD Audio Deck software, but of course the option still remains to plug headphones or external speakers into the F75A's 3.5 mm port.

Verdict

The F75A can be recommended to all users looking for the most affordable 17.3-inch laptop. Its application performance is solid, it runs quietly and does not even get hot, thus qualifying itself for usage in the office. Of course, a matte display would have been helpful in supporting this claim. Then again, a price point of less than $500 necessarily brings along limitations, for example the F75A's low-contrast display. The keyboard is also far from top-notch, wobbling visibly during usage. (ASUS A42-K53 batteries)

Both the Toshiba Satellite Pro C870 and the Medion Akoya E7221-MD98297 might be good alternatives if a matte display is desired. They are also endowed with more computing power.

More info: laptop-batteries.com.au, laptop-battery.org.uk, battery-store.eu

Review HP ProBook 6475b Notebook, 628368-351, HSTNN-LB2F batteries

Battery Life

The 14-inch laptop sports a comparatively small HSTNN-CB2F 48Wh battery. Its Intel competitors, the Vostro 3460 (48 Wh, 3:52 h during our Wi-Fi test), the ThinkPad L430 (57 Wh, 3:30 h) and the ACER TravelMate P643 (66 Wh, 6:05 h, AS10D3E Battery) tend to boast higher capacities, which in combination with their low power consumption leads to better battery life when idle. During our Wi-Fi benchmark, our test device (which comes equipped with a 55 Wh battery) achieves 4:15 hours at 150 cd/m² brightness (actually, 136 cd/m²).

The Battery Eater Reader's Test (CPU and GPU are idle, all radio modems are deactivated and brightness is set as low as it gets) yields 9:01 hours. DVD playback lasts 3:54 hours, which is almost as good as during the Wi-Fi test because the DVD video test demands full display brightness, while the 6475b is incapable of going beyond 136 cd/m² as long as it is on battery. Our test device manages to squeeze 2:01 hours out of its battery under full load. Only one of its competitors surpasses the two-hour mark as well, the P643 (2:03 h due to its 66 Wh battery). A comparable 48 Wh battery in an Intel laptop only manages to reach 1:15 h (Vostro 3460).

Case

As already mentioned, the ProBook 6475b shares a common barebone with its Intel sibling, the 6470b. Number and type of ports are the same, as are their locations. Even the interior of the device looks alike, which makes maintenance of its components a breeze.

However, the 6475b differs considerably from the larger 15-inch 6570b, which sports a completely different chassis with different port locations and an additional numpad which the 6475b does not have. Only color, material and general shape and design remain similar.

HP has chosen to simply reuse the case of the 14-inch predecessor ProBook 6465b (early 2012) - apparently, its stable, high-quality build didn't require any improvements. For a more detailed analysis of all ports, we refer to our reviews of the ProBook 6465b (AMD) and the 6470b (Intel).

Connectivity

The ProBook 6475b offers all the numerous connections which more demanding users have come to expect. Since the lid is attached in the conventional way, some ports are even located on the back side of the laptop. Here, one can find both the Ethernet and VGA ports. The power adapter is straight and rigid, thus making it bulkier than necessary (but this is typical for HP). One advantage of the back side ports: The sides show less clutter. We are also quite fond of the concentration of ports near the rear end of the laptop.

Like its predecessor, the right side of the P6475b offers a DisplayPort replacing the older HDMI port. With a DisplayPort cable, external screen resolutions of up to 2560x1600 pixels are possible. Nostalgia sets in when we discover the old ExpressCard54 slot next to it. Both standard interface cards and ExpressCard34 cards fit here, rendering the 15.6-inch laptop expandable.

FireWire (i.LINK) might be of more interest in typical usage scenarios. FireWire used to be a USB 2.0 competitor for external hard drives (also eSATA) and camcorders, offering higher data transfer rates. It was rendered obsolete by USB 3.0 (the ProBook 6475b has two ports), but it might be a nice extra for users with older peripheral devices.

Keyboard

The keys of the 6475b offer a well-defined pressure point, generous travel as well as firm feedback. Nothing wobbles or bends when pressure is applied. We have a sweet tooth for the arrow keys, which can be accessed well without looking, even though they are not separated from the rest of the keys.

Writing maniacs are going to appreciate the slightly conic shape of the keys which guide the fingers, caressing them haptically. The Return key is a bit on the narrow side due to the neighboring Page Up and Page Down keys, but this didn't diminish our typing experience - the full-sized right Shift key is much more important in our opinion. In addition to the standard keys, there are also hardware buttons for the radio modems, speakers and the browser, which complement the function keys perfectly while being easy to reach. (QK642AA batteries)
Touchpad

The touchpad is positioned in a small, edged depression. The Synaptics LuxPad V7.5 (110 mm diagonally) is quite sensitive even in its edge regions, while offering an enjoyably smooth gliding experience. There is both a vertical and a horizontal scroll bar - neither of which is marked on the touchpad. One-finger scrolling is deactivated in its delivery condition.

The mouse keys are made from hard rubber, rendering them slip-proof. Travel is extraordinarily large and the keys can easily be actuated. Their feedback is great, increasing productivity far more than the usual rigid, short-winded keys of almost all consumer laptops.

The Synaptics touchpad comes equipped with a small palm sensor, deactivating the touchpad while the keyboard is in use. Like in all consumer laptops nowadays, this touchpad is also multitouch-enabled, thus allowing for two-finger scrolling, pinching or twisting.

Display

The WXGA++ display of our ProBook 6475b model offers a very decent resolution of 1600x900 pixels. It provides an alternative to the HD panels (1366x768) of some low-cost variants of the P6475. The LG panel (type LP140WD1-TLD2) is matte, so that no strong reflections occur.

The brightness of the TN panel depends on the availability of an external power supply, throttling down from 205 cd/m² to 136 cd/m² while running on battery power. Brightness homogeneity levels of 77% are also disappointing - most test devices exceed 80%. However, no halos could be discerned visually near the edges.

The 6475b offers a contrast ratio of 209:1 due to a black level of 0.95 cd/m² (measured in the center). This is not much, but sill typical for its class. The competition (Vostro 3460, ThinkPad L430 and TravelMate P643) ends up with similar ratios.

"Color space" are two important words for digital artists and graphics designers which require good agreement between real-life colors and their digital substitutes. Like its competitors, the 6475b does not manage to fully cover the sRGB color space, let alone the AdobeRGB color space. However, even expensive business laptops have a hard time fulfilling these requirements, as the last two graphs show. Even Lenovo's X1 Carbon (sporting the same HD+ resolution) fails to render all of the sRGB color space, despite expanding it upwards.

Due to its matte display, outdoor usage seems viable, but the non-preventable dimming down to 136 cd/m² while on battery power destroys these hopes. Our test image below is barely visible in sunlight, even less so from the sides. The situation can be improved by plugging the laptop into an outlet, however, even then 205 cd/m² may not be enough for a pleasant day on the terrace. 250 cd/m² or more would be needed for acceptable outdoor usage.

Wide viewing angles are important, allowing the user to make out all the details on the display even from the sides or from above. Office notebooks often employ inexpensive TN panels, leading to limited viewing angles. The 6475b doesn't perform quite as bad as some of its competitors. Horizontally, the display begins to darken at around 40 degrees, while color distortions occur beyond 70 degrees.

Vertical deviations are less benign. Colors start to invert at approximately 15 degrees, text becomes unrecognizable at 25 degrees or less. The Vostro 3460, the ThinkPad L430 and the TravelMate P643 offer the same experience concerning vertical viewing angles, but they fare worse in the horizontal direction (image stability lasting to around 45 degrees).

Speakers

Both speakers are located beneath the laptop, in a box made out of plastic which has been integrated close to the user in the front. Basses are unconvincing and the chassis vibrates considerably, but at least distortions at full volume turn out to be minimal. Plus, the 6475b is as loud as office laptops go. It shouldn't be hard to fill an entire conference room with its sound.

Mids and highs were unbalanced. As with most laptops without a dedicated subwoofer or more powerful speakers in general, emphasis is put on the mids. Still, external speakers and microphones can always be plugged in via not one but two separate 3.5 mm ports, one for Line In, the other for Line Out. This could lead to a better audio quality than with the combined Line In/Out ports which are much more common in consumer notebooks. Unfortunately, the connections have not been reinforced with metal, making them more susceptible to breaking when used intensively.

Verdict

HP (mostly) made the right choices with the ProBook 6475b, delivering a more or less balanced package of time-proven office features. We appreciate the excellent feedback its input devices (keys, touchpad) provide. Its conically curved keys come particularly close to the level of much more expensive laptops including the Dell Latitude, Lenovo ThinkPad (T and L) and HP EliteBook series.

Its understated look works very well with the matte aluminum touch to its surfaces. But the HP 6475b is not just all show and no substance. Connectivity is important to the ProBook, with options ranging from external docking stations, DisplayPort and VGA ports (for high-resolution as well as legacy displays) to an ExpressCard54 slot for old extension cards which are still being used for measuring devices by craftspeople and engineers. Traditionalists can rejoice: HP has chosen to install Windows 7 Pro (32 bit), although the 6475b ships with a Windows 8 DVD as well.

The HP ProBook is also very maintenance-friendly. Plus, there are many variants to choose from, including some with UMTS and/or an HD panel (if a lower resolution than HD+ is desired). There is no SSD option though - this has to be installed by the user.

Ergonomics in idle mode or under half load could have been better and although the fan can be deactivated through an option in the BIOS (turn "Fan always on when AC" off), the background noise the HDD produces can be heard at all times. Then again, excess heat is no issue - neither while idle nor under full load.

Despite of our praise for its well-balanced color rendition, the TN panel only manages to secure a score of 76%, since a typical user of the ProBook 6475b will most likely not be a professional digital artist or graphics designer so that an exact reproduction of real-life colors is not as crucial as it could be. The weaknesses of the display lie with its low contrast and terrible brightness, especially so when it is running on battery power: Maximum brightness gets throttled down to 137 cd/m². Outdoor usage becomes a pain. Hardly any screen contents at all can be read under direct sunlight.

Other laptops offer more in terms of processor, graphics card and memory for the same price point as our test device ($900), namely Core i5 CPUs with dedicated GPUs for an improved gaming performance. Great input devices, an optional docking station, a matte WXGA++ display and a superbly stable, well-built chassis are harder to find for less than $1000. Only variants of the Vostro 3460 or the ThinkPad L430 offer such amenities. The TravelMate P643, equipped with a gaming-friendly GT 640M, tempts with its great value-for-money ratio, while the best input devices and highest build quality can be found in one of the cheaper (HD panel) DELL Latitude E5430 configurations.

We have written reviews of all of the following competitors to the 6475b and we recommend having a look at them before a purchase decision is made. If this takes too much time, it is also possible to just focus on the four models which are highlighted in bold.

More info: laptop-batteries.com.au, laptop-battery.org.uk, battery-store.eu,

Review Acer Aspire M3-481 / M3-581TG Ultrabook, AP12A3i batteries

Battery Life

The Aspire M3 turned out to be a true marathon runner and reached a total run time of 11:18 h (AP12A3i batteries)in idle mode. This is the value under optimal conditions for maximum run time. The Aspire V5-471G (5:36 h / AL12A32 batteries) and the IdeaPad (5:17 h) are miles away from such a splendid value. The run time in idle mode is tested via the so-called Battery Eater Reader’s tests. During these tests the screen is running with the brightness set to a minimum, the energy profile is activated and all the wireless connections deactivated. Under full load, the battery only runs out after 2:22 h. The competitors are again far behind such a great value (V5-471G: 1:01 h, S400: 1:27 h). Run time under load is being determined by the Battery Eater Classic test. Here, the screen is set to maximum brightness, the performance profile activated and all wireless connections activated as well.

On the M3 the realistic Wi-Fi test finishes after 5:57 h. Again, the competitors cannot score here (V5-471G: 2:26 h, S400: 3:18 h). Websites are opened in 40-second intervals during the Wi-Fi test. Thereby the energy profile is active, and the display brightness is set to about 150 cd/m². With a single charge the M3 reaches a DVD playback time of 4:52 h. The V5-471G (2:44 h) scores way below. The DVD test is performed with the energy profile enabled (or a higher profile, if the DVD is not playing smoothly), maximum screen brightness and wireless functions deactivated.

It is not surprising that the M3 reaches the longest run times, since it has the battery with the highest capacity (Aspire M3: 54 Wh, Aspire V5-471G: 37 Wh, Lenovo: 32 Wh).

Case
 
When Acer's Aspire Timeline Ultra notebooks made their first appearance at CES, these 14- and 15-inch laptops seemed like little more than the successors to Acer's TimelineX series. Thin-and-light laptops, complete with optical drive and some likely reasonable prices. While there's no mistaking that DVD burner and mainstream screen size, we now know a few things we didn't then: the 15-inch version you see up there packs NVIDIA's next-gen Kepler graphics... and Acer's calling it an Ultrabook.
Acer's branding that there Ultra M3 as an Ultrabook because it's less than 20mm (.8 inches) thin, but given that 15-inch display, numpad, optical drive and graphical horsepower, it's hard to think of this as anything other than a mainstream laptop.
The Aspire M3 certainly looks splendid. This is thanks to the thin case and charcoal-gray aluminum elements (top side of the base unit and rear of the lid). The bottom side of the base unit consists of a matte black plastic. The frame of the screen is made out of plastic too and has the color of the aluminum elements. The cases of the Aspire V5-471G and the IdeaPad S400 are made entirely out of plastic.

The base unit leaves a good impression in terms of stability. The wrist rest does not give in upon pressure. Nonetheless, there are some weak spots too: on the left of the keyboard above the DVD-writer, the surface gives in a little bit upon pressure. Also, between the keyboard and the touchpad one can press in the upper side of the base unit a bit. Torsional rigidity does not raise any concerns: one can only twist the base unit a little bit and needs to put in some force for that. The cover can be twisted a bit more. Moreover, pressure on the rear of the cover leads to changes on the screen. The hinges keep the cover fixed in place with little bobbing. In addition, they also allow opening the cover with just one hand.

Connectivity

The thin cases of the three devices in comparison offer little space for ports. The Acer Aspire M3 comes with a minimum of interfaces. The necessary inputs are available on all three notebooks. The S400 and the Aspire M3 are very similar in that respect. The Aspire V5-471G is the only one with a VGA output. This is realized via a breakout cable that can be plugged in. Such a solution would have been desirable for the M3 as well, since in business one still uses a lot of projectors with VGA input. Furthermore, all three notebooks are equipped with at least one USB-3.0. The majority of the ports of the M3 are positioned at its backside. Hence, there cannot be any disturbing cables to the left and right of the device, with the exception of an optional audio cable.

Keyboard

Acer built a backlit, chiclet keyboard into the Aspire M3. The main buttons are about 15 x 15 mm (~0.59 x 0.59 inches) in size. The buttons have short vertical travel and sufficient resistance. A little tighter and the resistance would be optimal. The pressure point is clearly noticeable. The keys are flat and smooth. It is nice to see that the Enter, Backspace and right Shift key are big enough. The backlit function can be turned on or off via another key. It has only two states: on or off.
Touchpad
As a mouse replacement there is a Synaptics multitouch ClickPad built in. ClickPads do not have dedicated mouse buttons. The whole pad is one button. It recognizes whether the left or right button is being pressed through the position of the finger on the lower end of the pad. The pad offers a lot of space for gesture inputs with its size of 9.7 x 6.6 cm (~3.8 x 2.6 inches). Individual gestures can be turned on or off via the configuration menu. The smooth surface of the pad makes it easy for the fingers to slide. The pad has short vertical travel and a clearly audible and sensible pressure point.

Display

The Aspire M3 has a glossy 14-inch display from LG. It works with a native resolution of 1366x768 pixels. Other display types are not available. The average brightness of the display is 196.8 cd/m² which ranks it in the lower end of the middle class and, therefore, in range of the V5-471G (197.4 cd/m²). The screen of the IdeaPad (167.6 cd/m²) is even darker as the values show.
The contrast (325:1) and the black value (0.61 cd/m²) of the display are about standard in this price range. The values of the V5-471G (306:1, 0.66 cd/m²) are similar again, since both computers have the same display model. Again the IdeaPad (146:1, 1.14 cd/m²) performs worse than its competitors do. The sRGB and the AdobeRGB color space cannot be displayed by the M3.
We measured the display in its delivery state and found mostly strong DeltaE-2000 deviations (gray-scale and colors). There is a clear blue cast visible in color saturation, the Cyan and Magenta values deviate a lot from what they should be. Therefore, the display yields strong DeltaE-2000 deviations of 10-15.
The brightness of the display would be sufficient for outdoor use. However, the glossy surface makes this endeavor almost impossible. The only place where it could be possible to use outdoors might be in shadowy spots.

In terms of viewing angle stability, the display matches the expectations of the low price: picture quality quickly suffers given a change of the vertical viewing angle. Horizontally the viewing angle is much higher.

Speakers
The stereo speakers of the Aspire M3 are located at the bottom of the device. The speakers sound a little thin and metallic. Language is clearly understandable. People who are using the device in Windows can improve the quality of the sound significantly with the Dolby Advanced Audio software (on the driver-DVD). Then the sound impression is clearer and more powerful. Alternatively, one can always connect external speakers or headphones.

Verdict
The Aspire M3 scores with good performance and excellent battery life. It also offers an appealing and robust case. Moreover, the M3 is very mobile with its light weight and small size. In addition, the keyboard proved its quality. This is a good notebook for people looking for a cheap, mobile and durable notebook. Only the low-contrast display diminishes a bit the good overall impression of this notebook.
If you are looking for a cheap and thin 14-inch gaming notebook, then the Aspire V5-471G is right for you. It is capable of playing many of the current 3D-games on medium quality with the native resolution of (1366x768 pixels). However, one has to accept a big impact on the battery run time. The IdeaPad S400 is interesting for all users who want to have a notebook with low noise and low energy consumption.

More info: laptop-batteries.com.au, laptop-battery.org.uk, battery-store.eu

Review Asus B43V / B43JE / B43S Notebook, A31-B43 / A32-B43 batteries

Battery Runtime

The high-energy consumption of the Asus Pro B43V under load is clearly noticeable in the battery runtimes: Even with the large A32-B43 61Wh battery, our review unit fails to stand out from the competition: Only 1:36 hours under maximum load. In the more realistic WLAN scenario and DVD playback, the larger battery shows its advantages: Compared to the Lenovo ThinkPad T430s with similar components but smaller battery our review unit achieves considerably longer runtimes. The maximum runtime for the Asus Pro B43V is determined by the Battery Eater Reader’s Test (minimal brightness, wireless connections deactivated, energy-saving mode and activated Intel HD Graphics 4000). In this scenario the review unit achieves 6:36 hours independence from the grid.

Case

We already reviewed the Asus B43E from the Asus Pro series, which has the same case as our review unit. The price tag for the Asus Pro B43V - CU024X is around and comes with certain expectations in the choice of materials and build quality. Asus meets these requirements - at least to a large extent: Cover, palm rest and the keyboard bezel are made of aluminum while the bottom and the display bezel are made of roughened plastics.

Overall, there is not much criticism with the stability. Asus says on its website that due to the aluminum the display cover can resist 20% more pressure compared to consumer notebooks. As a matter of fact, pressure on the display cover is not visible on the screen. At other points we would have hoped for a better quality impression: For example beneath the DVD burner, where the bottom side can be dented with loud cracking noises.
Asus is very confident with the notebook height: Up to 3.5 cm at the thickest point of the Asus Pro B43V. Only the HP ProBook 6465b is 3 mm thicker, otherwise many comparable devices are a bit thinner and lighter.

Connectivity
The port layout of our review unit is also identical to the Asus B43E; the only exception is the lack of a modem port on our unit. This similarity also means that the Asus Pro B43V has a remarkable port variety for a 14-inch device: Thanks to VGA, HDMI and Display-Port almost every display can be connected to our review unit. A 34 mm Express-Card slot is on board as well as eSATA and a 3.5 mm audio jack with S/PDIF support. The docking station port is at the bottom.

Despite the multiple video outputs, the outdated VGA-output is often used at the office. We test it by attaching an external display and the picture quality is good, though close observation reveals a slight blur. We also connect the notebook via HDMI: In this case we get a very sharp picture and can choose every resolution from 800x600 up to 1920x1080.

There could have been more USB ports; however they can be extended very easily with a USB hub. Many ports are at the front area where they can interfere with the use of a connected mouse or opening of the DVD drive. The port layout would be better if some ports were at the back.

Keyboard

The keyboard of the Asus Pro B43V is not illuminated but has specially shaped keys: rectangular but chamfered at the front. It looks good and helps differentiating the keys without looking. The key travel is quite long and the keys only have limited resistance. Due to the keyboard design with the small spacing and the long travel, you occasionally get caught in a surrounding key during fast typing. Other manufacturers offer better solutions. Otherwise, the consistently spacious keys work reliably and fast typing is no problem.

Special keys can be found in the left area of the case above and next to the keyboard: On the one hand, you can regulate the energy-saving mode and switch between three presets for the desktop and display modes, for instance a presentation. The bottom key activates and deactivates the touchpad. The keys look good but are not always working reliably. Finally, there is a switch at the front that turns the wireless connection on and off (with Windows 8 this switch activates and deactivates the airplane mode).

Touchpad
We already praised the touchpad in the Asus B43E review: the surface is slightly lower than the palm rest, has good gliding capabilities and is quite large for a 14-inch notebook at 94 millimeters (~3.7 inches) diagonally. The rubberized buttons are also very convenient; they have a good pressure point and are pleasantly quiet.

As mentioned before, the touchpad can be deactivated with a push of a button. The input device even recognizes when the whole palm is on the touchpad and deactivates itself. It is good that the touchpad has so many qualities since there is no second input device in the Asus Pro B43V like the famous TrackPoint of Lenovo ThinkPads.

Display

In this price range IPS displays are the exception: None of the listed devices are equipped with an IPS display and the Asus Pro B43V does not have such a high quality panel either. The integrated LED-TN panel by LG Philips can subjectively convince at a first look: It has a high resolution of 1600x900 pixels, a matte finish but also bright colors and subjectively good contrast. The lower priced models of the series have a lower resolution panel of 1366x768 pixels, which is also worse in many other areas. For more information see the Asus B43E review.
The measured values support the good first impression: Even if the brightness distribution is slightly more uneven than the competition, none of the other panels can reach the average brightness of 270.9 nits. The black value is also excellent by comparison and results in a comparatively good contrast of 335:1. If you come closer you can recognize a distinct screen-door effect, unfortunately it is hard to capture this effect on a picture.

The coverage of color spaces is not so good with our review unit: Neither sRGB nor Adobe RGB can be covered. Professional users who work a lot with pictures or videos have to connect a display with a bigger color space; all other users will hardly notice this flaw.

The picture below show the results of the color analysis with the photo spectrometer X-Rite i1Display 2, once with the factory configuration and once after the calibration with the CalMan5 software. When comparing the results before and after the calibration you basically see that you can improve the display with the correct calibration: While the grayscale shows distinct deviations from the ideal value before the calibration, it is in the acceptable range afterwards. TN-LED panels often overemphasize the blue color components, which results in a blue cast. This is also the case for the Asus B43V; even the calibration cannot change that. (C21-TF201P batteries)
Outdoors the very bright screen and the matte finish are a good combination: Even if working under direct sunlight on very bright days is not possible, shaded places and bright interiors are absolutely suitable working environments for the Asus Pro B43V. Distracting reflections are no problem due to the matte finish.
The TN panel of the Asus Pro B43V has the common viewing angle limitations for this kind of displays as soon as you tilt either yourself or the display upwards, downwards or sideways. Views from the side result in color distortions and loss in contrast. Fortunately, these effects are not so strong with our review unit compared to other displays. However, upwards and downwards the contrast collapses very fast.

Speakers
With office notebooks the speakers are usually neglected, after all you use them to show something to a colleague or watch a movie after hours at most. However, there is an "Altec-Lansing" symbol on the Asus B43V. The American Hi-Fi manufacturer provided the speakers and they really sound better compared to most other speakers in office notebooks. The main reason is that high tones are not so overemphasized compared to many competitors and the result is a warmer and richer sound. For regular music playback with the notebook we still recommend external speakers or headphones.

Verdict

Should a freelancer, company boss or authority choose the Asus Pro B43V? Some things in its favor: The display is clearly above the class average considering the brightness and contrast, numerous ports wait for their respective cables and the device remains quiet as long as you avoid the DVD drive. Heat development and battery runtimes also get a "Good" rating. In addition, you get extensive security features from facial recognition to fingerprint reader and Anti-Theft features.
What could prevent the business user from buying? First of all the appearance of the very massive case and secondly the mobility are not going to appeal to everyone. The keyboard also takes some time getting used to and the lacking WWAN module might be an exclusion criterion.

Overall Asus shows that they can compete well in the business market against big players like Lenovo and Dell. Their devices also have weaknesses in this price range. If the mobility is not the main criterion and if you can live with the bulky chassis, with the B43V you get a good office notebook with excellent port variety.

More info: laptop-batteries.com.au , laptop-battery.org.uk , battery-store.eu