Asus U46E-BAL6

The Ultrabook’s requirements seem to have as a frontline the slimness factor more than ever. The Asus U46E-BAL6 is in the category of normal-sized but with great performances; and isn’t this the first thing we should check out in a laptop? The fact that it can actually sustain the workload you assign it? In my opinion we should care less about the slimness factor and pay more attention to the actual specifications of the device.

Performance

This model is definitely part of the slim family that Asus offers its buyers. The trend set by Asus are perfectly continued by this amazing model: a hard disk with an awesome capacity of 750 GB and a RAM of 8GB, all of these features tied together by a rock-solid performance offered by the dual-core Core i7 processor.

The price of this beauty goes as far as $830 which is a pretty fair price when compared to the similar MacBook Pro which reaches a price as high as $1,200.

The U46E-BAL6 has to offer a few extras which make it a worthy investment. We do have something to complain about: where did all the small and subtle dedicated graphics go?

The great package offered by this model of the Asus family wouldn’t be complete without the WiMax Antenna Bluetooth and the sturdy keyboard.

Design

Asus U46E-BAL6 offers a rock-solid performance and an attractive design for a fair price. The lid is covered in an aluminum design etched with a concentric-ring design. The island-styled keyboard offers an elevated palm rest, which we have to admit was a nice touch because it gives it more of a “business” laptop feel. Once the lid is opened, you couldn’t really tell the difference between it and a Sony Vaio model.

The Asus keyboard comes very close to what Apple has to offer in this domain. Just above the keyboard you’ll notice a large variety of thin buttons. You have the option of controlling the power usage by switching through 2 power modes: entertainment mode and high performance mode

The display of the 14-incher is wrapped around in a black bezel that feels a bit rubbery to the touch. The native resolution is 1,366 by 768-pixels; so it’s pretty standard for this size.

Pros

The laptop offers a well-designed frame and an excellent keyboard; an extra is the fact that it comes completely packed with ample connectivity feature pack (it’s worthy to mention both the WiMax and the USB 3.0 port), a fast processor and enough RAM and hard-disk space for a steep price, which we believe it’s worth paying.

Cons

This model doesn’t offer a dedicated graphics pack, and while the battery life is good (5 hours and 12 minutes was the result of our tests) we can definitely say that we’ve soon more impressive results from other similar models.

Review Conclusions

Asus U46E-BAL6 offers a great feature pack, a solid design and a large pack of performances; all these being said, we can firmly affirm the fact that this 14-incher is one of the best we’ve reviewed lately.

Specs

• Manufacturer: Asus
• Processor: Intel 2nd Gen Core i7 i7-2620M / 2.7 GHz
• Display Type: 14 in TFT active matrix
• Features LED-backlit
• RAM Installed Size: 8 GB, DDR3 SDRAM
• Hard Drive: 750 GB
• Optical Storage Type: DVD+/-RW
• Graphics Processor: Vendor Intel UMA
• 1 x USB 2.0 – USB 2.0
• 1 x HDMI
• 1 x Ethernet – RJ-45
• Battery Technology: Lithium ion
• Battery life: Up To 7.7 hours
• Width: 13.1 in
• Depth: 9.6 in
• Height: 1.1 in
• Weight: 4.9 lbs