The Asus N90S I am testing has 4GB of RAM, Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit OS, an 18.4-inch LCD with 1920 x 1080 resolution, NVIDIA GT 130M graphics and an Intel Core 2 Duo T9550 CPU. Storage for the machine is to a pair of 5400 rpm 500GB HDDs and the machine has a Blu-ray drive built-in. Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth are included and the machine has an ExpressCard slot, mic-in and headphone out jack built-in. The battery is an 8-cell 4400mAh unit and the keyboard is a full-size unit with a numeric keypad. Overall dimensions are 45.8 x 30.9 x 4.11 and the machine weighs 4.2kg.
The Asus N90S is designed as a multimedia entertainment notebook. The machine sports a huge 18.4-inch LCD screen with a glossy finish. As with all glossy screens the big caveat is that there is lots of glare, especially in bright environments. The big screen is fantastic for watching movies though with great colors, no smearing, or tearing with fast action and fantastic skin tones. The 1920 x 1200 resolution and Blu-ray player integrated into the screen means that the Asus N90S is one of the best Blu-ray playing notebooks around.
They machine has plenty of performance for everyday tasks as well. The processor offers enough oomph for editing photos and video and more than enough power for your typical computer use business productivity and surfing the net. The machine also sports a discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT 130M video card which means that the rig is more than capable of taking on gaming duties with just about any game you want to throw at it.
The massive notebook has a keyboard that is large and offers the same typing experience you would get on a desktop keyboard right down to the full number pad. Typing feel is good with keys that are clicky and offer decent tactile feedback. The Asus N90S keyboard isn’t on par with better desktop keyboards, but it's as good as other notebooks on the market.
Now we will get into the benchmarks for the Asus N90S. I will be using Battery Eater Pro to get battery life, 3DMark Vantage, and PCMark Vantage. The first test up is Battery Eater Pro.
I used the high performance power setting for the Battery Eater Pro test that comes integrated into the Asus N90S. I turned off all screen savers and left Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on for the test. Battery Eater Pro is hard on the notebook battery and you will likely see better battery life in the real world. At the high-performance settings, the Asus N90S battery lasted one hour and six minutes. That isn’t much battery life, but honestly, this really isn't a machine that will be used away from an AC outlet for long periods. The sheer size of the Asus N90S precludes its use as a typical notebook.
The next rest up was 3DMark Vantage. I ran the benchmark at default settings in the benchmark and on the computer. The total 3DMark score for the machine was P1609 with a CPU score of 3187 and a GPU score of 1381. Those are good scores for a notebook.
The final benchmark for the machine was PCMark Vantage. I again ran the benchmark at all default settings on the application and on the computer. The total PCMark Vantage score was 3255, again a solid score for a notebook.
After all the benchmarks were complete, the Asus N90S is a very nice computer. The machine isn’t exactly cheap at about $1,800 but for the user looking for a desktop replacement notebook with a big screen and oodles of power should give the Asus N90S a close look.
