Asus U35Jc review
Great battery life, nippy performance and even a modicum of gaming ability: Asus’ U35Jc has the makings of a superb all-rounder. It’s all the more reassuring, then, to find that it’s also rather attractive and portable.
At 1.8kg, the U35Jc doesn’t rival ultraportables for lightness, but it’s far from a dead weight in a bag. It comes with a black, brushed aluminium lid and an attractive chainlink-weave pooling around the keyboard, and smooth curves and a hint of gloss black make for a pretty little portable. Importantly, though, it feels sturdy, with only the slim, metallic lid proving a mite more flexible than we’d like.
The 13.3in display is really rather good. The gloss finish is reflective, but there’s plenty of brightness to make up for it, and the combination of good contrast and solid colour reproduction made a good stab at reproducing our tortuously tricky test images and movie clips. The biggest disappointment is its vertical viewing angle: the narrow sweet spot had us tilting the display back and forth to get the image just so.
A fine array of features completes the U35Jc’s credentials: three USB ports, VGA and HDMI, an SD/MS/MMC memory card reader and Gigabit Ethernet lie along the laptop’s left and right edges, while Bluetooth and a single-band Atheros 802.11n chipset provide for wireless connectivity. The only glaring omission is a DVD writer; given that Samsung’s Q330 managed to squeeze one in, we think Asus could have done the same.
The keyboard is a bit of a let-down, though. We have no complaints about the layout, or the generous size of the Scrabble-tile keys, but the action could be drastically improved. An obvious ripple was evident across the keyboard panel, with the keys dipping slightly in the middle of the chassis, and typing revealed an obvious bounce that made for an indistinct, unreassuring feel. It’s not awful, but it’s a serious disappointment on an otherwise fine laptop.
Were it not for that below-par keyboard, the Asus would have received an unqualified place on the A-List. As it is, it will just have to settle for a Recommended award. It might cost a little more than Samsung’s Q330, but it’s faster, has better battery life and boasts a dedicated graphics chipset alongside Nvidia’s Optimus technology. Factor in the two-year warranty and, for just £571, that’s pretty remarkable.
Price when reviewed: £571 (£671 inc VAT)
