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.
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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
