ASUS F5R Budget Notebook Computer System

The Bottom Line
The ASUS F5R is marketed as being an "affordable" notebook computer, but its cost is on the higher end of the budget segment. Add to this the bare minimum memory, the Vista Basic operating system and the ASUS F5R just doesn't cut it in such a competitive market segment. There are better options available for an equal or even lesser amount.

Pros

* Includes 1.3 Megapixel Webcam
* Bluetooth Built-In

Cons

* Only 512MB Of Memory
* No FireWire Port
* Vista Home Basic Operating System

Description

* Intel Pentium Dual Core T2080 Mobile Processor
* 512MB PC2-5300 DDR2 Memory
* 80GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
* 8x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner
* 15.4" WXGA (1280x800) LCD with Radeon Xpress 1100 Integrated Graphics
* 1.3Megapixel Webcam
* v.92 56Kbps Modem, 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11b/g Wireless and Bluetooth
* Four USB 2.0, ExpressCard/54, 5-in-1 Media Card Reader
* 14.2" x 10.3" x 1.4" @ 5.8 lbs.
* Vista Home Basic

Guide Review - ASUS F5R Budget Notebook Computer System

10/9/07 – The ASUS F5R offers some unique features for a low cost laptop computer system. For one, it features a 1.3 megapixel web camera built into the LCD display bezel. It also packs into it a Bluetooth transceiver into the system that lets it communicate with various peripherals. This certainly makes it more useful for the business traveler than the system is geared towards, but there are a number of problems.

Powering the ASUS F5R is the Intel Pentium Dual Core T2080 mobile processor. This is bit of an odd selection as more and more budget oriented laptops are featuring the full Core 2 Duo processors that even support 64-bit software. The big issue though is the 512MB of PC2-5300 DDR2 memory with it. This is half what the average budget notebook comes equipped with and is the bare minimum for running even the Vista Basic operating system. Don't expect much in terms of performance from this with some significant upgrades.

Storage isn't as bleak for the ASUS F5R but it isn't something that sets it apart for other budget notebooks. It comes equipped with an 80GB hard drive that is an average size and a dual layer DVD burner. It also has the requisite 5-in-1 media card reader found on most notebooks on the market.

Connectivity is a bit of hit and miss. The system does feature Bluetooth and mentioned above along with the usual fast Ethernet, modem and 802.11b/g wireless. It also comes equipped with the newer ExpressCard/54 expansion slot. With all of this, it fails to include a fairly standard FireWire port for use with digital camcorders.