What processors does Asus k42j support? A reflection of ambition. Review and test of the ASUS K42Jr laptop. Wireless connection

I have been using the same laptop for many years and am glad that the keys have already been worn out, parts have been replaced, but the work is always stable. My dad is just a maniac in this matter. He changes computers every 2 years for sure.

He uses it at full capacity, then sells it for spare parts or to another user who does not need an expensive laptop and a used one will do, and then buys a new one. No one knows why he does this. But that is not what we are talking about.

I was chosen as an assistant to purchase a new victim. For what reason is also unclear, because I am not a brilliant programmer, but simply understand computers at the user level.

So, we came to the store. We prefer to buy equipment from Eldorado or M-video. We were immediately surrounded by smart consultants who asked what we wanted from a new laptop. After a short conversation and advertising from different companies, I was attracted to the ASUS K42J laptop.

Firstly, because I have never used equipment from this manufacturer before. And since daddy is constantly changing laptops, why not try something new and unfamiliar?

Secondly, it had a fairly attractive price. Only 18 thousand plus or minus a couple of hundred. I don’t remember exactly, because a lot of computers were reviewed.

Thirdly, he perfectly matched the characteristics that his father needed. It is ideal for both work and play. Whatever purpose you buy a laptop for, this one will suit you well. I was convinced of this myself while using the computer.

Video review

K42J LAPTOP REVIEW

(dozens of current models)

Determine the purpose and target audience laptop ASUS K42Jr It's not easy the first time. This massive, if we take into account the price on the border of the budget and middle classes, laptop is distinguished by a modern, powerful computing system (based on Intel® Core™ i5 processor), a discrete video card with 1GB of video memory and other solid characteristics, which are enclosed in an elegant, glossy case.

He probably has everything for both everyday tasks and for completing 3D games, viewing and editing HD video. With such data, perhaps one and a half inches of screen diagonal was not enough for it to reach the category of multimedia laptops. So you can give him this brief description: A versatile laptop with rich multimedia capabilities.

Review and test of the ASUS K42Jr laptop. Specifications and equipment

The laptop is packaged in a gray cardboard box with a blue stripe and white lettering, traditional for many ASUS devices. Right choice" on top of it, in different languages. A convenient carrying handle is inserted into one of the sides of the box.

Inside we are greeted by an oblong box with an adapter alternating current and a cord connecting it to the power supply. Inside, in the middle, in cardboard straps, the laptop itself is located, which is adjacent to a plastic bag containing printed publications, a disk with software and a battery.

The specifications of the laptop in question are shown in the table below:

The computing power of the system is provided by Intel® Core™ i5 processor-430M. This CPU occupies a middle position in the family Intel® Core™ i5 the company's 2010 generation processor line. Each of its cores operates at a frequency of 2260 MHz, and in Turbo Boost mode the operating frequency increases to 2533 MHz. The third level cache is 3 MB. The maximum thermal package is 35 Watt. The processor supports technologies such as Enhanced Intel SpeedStep, Idle State, Execute Disable Bit, Intel 64 Architecture, as well as Intel Virtualization and Trusted Execution. In progress Intel® Core™ i5 processor-430M guided full set SIMD instructions: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE 4.1, SSE 4.2. All the power and speed of the processor allows you to unleash a solid reserve random access memory 4GB. Theoretically, the memory controller supports twice the volume. But to upgrade you will have to get rid of installed memory, since both slots in the laptop are occupied, containing identical DDR3 RAM sticks (model Elpida EBJ21UE8BDS0-DJ-F) of 2 GB each. DDR3 memory is faster, consumes 40% less power and has an 8-bit prefetch buffer. The storage function in the laptop is performed by HDD 320 GB capacity manufactured by Hitachi (model HTS545032B9A300, 5400 rpm, SATA-II). Its volume is minimal for multimedia laptops or mobile workstations, but overall it is quite average and will be sufficient in most situations.

The laptop's graphics capabilities are provided by a discrete ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 graphics card. This is quite advanced graphics accelerator from the new 5000th series. The card supports DirectX 11, Shader 5.0, Eyefinity (up to 4 displays), Avivo HD (UVD2), Full Bitstream Audio (8-ch HD Audio over HDMI) technologies. The graphics core operates at 750 MHz. A card with such characteristics will cope with playback and processing of Full HD video, most modern 3D games with rare exceptions when the detail will have to be reduced to avoid artifacts.

In the laptop we find a standard set of ports and expansion slots for modern laptops (for some reason there is no support for MS and xD memory cards), a built-in camera with a good matrix resolution.

According to its characteristics, the ASUS K42Jr laptop can solve a very wide range of tasks, including very resource-demanding systems.

Review and test of the ASUS K42Jr laptop. Exterior, design, safety

The design of the laptop deserves nothing but praise, both in terms of aesthetics and design. The shape of the laptop is an almost regular symmetrical parallelepiped with rounded edges and smooth contours. The design is dominated by brown colors.

The glossy lacquer finish of the lid with a mesh pattern on a brown background evokes associations with a kind of sea stone, honed over hundreds of years to perfect smoothness, which has just been pulled out of the abyss. Of course, the coating easily “collects” fingerprints, but, firstly, they are not very visible due to the patterned dark design, and secondly, how can fingerprints distract from such beauty, and it is also not difficult to erase them. In addition, the varnish coating is actually resistant to mechanical damage.

The front edge of the laptop, if you look at the lower half, has a small ledge, a couple of millimeters, on which the laptop status indicators are located. A card reader is built into the sloping surface in the middle of the topcase. The SD card is not fully inserted and is held in place by a spring latch. Inserting and removing a card requires some effort, but perhaps these are the characteristics of a particular device, and even in this case the mechanism must be developed. This surface itself has an interesting three-dimensional pattern, reminiscent of either brickwork or weaving with a thick thread. This decor creates a certain feeling of homeliness and warmth.

On the left side, if we move from left to right, from the cover fastening to the edge, we first find the Kensington security port, after which the heated air outlet grille begins. Then there are a VGA D-SUB port, an HDMI port, two USB ports in a row, and finally a headphone jack. The location of the ports is too close; not all types of devices can be inserted at the same time. When I tried to insert a standard flash drive and a standard cable, the devices worked, but stood at an angle.

On the right, when looking from the edge of the device, we see the tray cover optical disks, to the right of which the engineers placed a pedestal with three connectors (USB, network port RJ-45 and socket for cable from adapter).

There are no connectors on the back, only the lid hinges and the back of the battery. It is curious that the bolt heads are visible on the outside of the lid hinges.

On the underside of the laptop you can only find three small slots for ventilation. Separate hatches are provided for quick access to the memory modules and hard drive.

The battery attaches easily to the slot between the mounting loops and is held tightly by two clamps.

Review and test of the ASUS K42Jr laptop. Screen, camera and sound

The cover with the monitor is secured with two wide (about 1.8 cm) hinges recessed into the body. The opening mechanism involves lowering the lid relative to the topcase, but the screen is located high enough and is comfortable for work. Both the screen itself and the frame are glossy.

The mirror-type screen matrix (Glare) manufactured by Chi Mei Corporation (model N140B6-L08) has a physical size of 14" (visible area 31x17 cm or diagonal 13.9"), an aspect ratio of 17:9 (not quite standard) and a maximum resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels (HD). It has very good viewing angles in all directions. The picture on the display is very contrasty, distinguished by rich colors and a soft, eye-pleasing tone (again, one cannot fail to note the positive effect of ASUS Splendid Utility).

The camera viewfinder eye is built exactly in the middle of the top plastic edge of the screen. Moving to the right, you can find an LED indicator of its operation nearby and even further to the right, on a short distance- built-in microphone window. A camera with not the smallest resolution (1.3 megapixels) perfectly performs two basic functions: video communication and user identification.

The laptop's acoustics are represented by an Altec Lansing stereo system with SRS Premium Sound surround sound technology. The sound volume did not seem subjectively as strong as expected from a mid-size laptop. Still, it is quite enough for listening to music, movie soundtracks, and game sounds. The sound quality, spatial localization, and detail were excellent. The speakers produced not strong, but dense and confident bass.

Review and test of the ASUS K42Jr laptop. Input Devices

In the laptop, the keyboard is made of an island type, it is slightly recessed into the surface of the topcase, the entire block with the keys is recessed and surrounded by smooth contours around the perimeter.

The keys are black, flat and made of matte plastic that sparkles in the light. Traditionally, the designations for ASUS are very clear: Latin letters are white, Russian letters are green, functional symbols are blue. Letter keys are square, side 1.9 cm. Top row flattened (1.9x0.7 cm). There is a 1-2 mm distance between the buttons. Typing on the keyboard is comfortable, but its deflection was noticeable (more pronounced on the right side) with moderate pressure.

The touchpad with multitouch support has medium dimensions (8x4.7 cm) and its surface follows the adjacent surface of the topcase. However, it is slightly, 1 mm, recessed into the body, having a clear boundary. The buttons are hidden under a single strip painted silver. The depth and recoil force of pressing is quite familiar. The laptop features Palm Proof anti-accident technology, which can distinguish between finger presses and full palm presses, which helps prevent uncontrolled cursor movement.

Review and test of the ASUS K42Jr laptop. Wireless connection

The laptop supports two wireless communication standards, Bluetooth (version 2.1 + EDR) and Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n). Connections are managed as standard Windows utilities, and branded ASUS program Wireless Control. Sensitivity and signal level are adequate to modern expectations.

Review and test of the ASUS K42Jr laptop. Software and General Notes

The laptop system runs on Windows 7 Home Basic 64-bit OS. As part of the additionally installed software, a multimedia orientation can be traced.

For working with documents there is Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 and MS Office 2010 but only 60-day trial version. Virus protection enhanced with Trend Micro Internet Security 2009.

But in the multimedia block we find a multifunctional utility for working with content ASUSDVD 8 with a beautiful, intuitive interface, as well as the CyberLink Blue-Ray Disc Cuite program. Also in this group, we note Virtual Camera and Catalyst Control Center - a utility for managing discrete camera parameters graphics card, as well as SRS Labs - a program for managing sound parameters and effects.

Review and test of the ASUS K42Jr laptop. Benchmarks

For objective and comprehensive performance assessment ASUS laptop K42Jr we used the following tests:

Everest - obtaining complete information about the system and comprehensive testing, including hard drive;

PCMark04 And PCMark05- a test designed to measure computer performance when working with office and other similar applications;

Battery Eater- duration test battery life laptop in reading mode.

The measurement results can be viewed by clicking on the corresponding mini-pictures.

ASUS K42J is newest laptop from the K series, within which affordable, but at the same time quite functional models have always been offered. This 14-inch laptop includes a powerful processor Intel Core i5, discrete graphics with support for Nvidia Optimus technology and a starting price of less than $900. Isn't this the perfect laptop that can be used for both gaming and multimedia? Well, let's find out.

ASUS K42J Specifications:

Display: 14″, 1366×768, LED backlight
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
CPU: Intel Core i5 430M, 2.27 GHz
Graphic arts: Nvidia GeForce 310M with 1 GB of video memory (Switching to built-in using Optimus technology)
RAM: 4 GB DDR3 1066 MHz
HDD: 500 GB 7200 rpm
Net: WiFi 802.11n
Optical drive: DVD Super Multi
Battery: 6-section, Li-ion, 10.8 V, 4400 mAh, 47 Wh
Dimensions: 34.8 x 23.9 x 3.81 cm
Weight: 2.27 kg

Appearance, quality of materials

The K42J has a traditional design and shape, almost identical to the previous generation of laptops in this class, ASUS K40IN. In other words, it looks like a boring, coffee-colored laptop with nothing fancy. It combines matte and semi-gloss surfaces, brown and black. All corners are rounded, giving the laptop a sleeker look, and the textured touchpad and wrist rests look quite nice. The glossy display lid is covered with the same textured pattern as the wrist rests, but even this could not give the laptop any more or less stylish look. It looks very simple.

The build quality of the ASUS K42J is quite ordinary when compared to other budget laptops from ASUS that we have written reviews about. The case is quite durable, there are practically no areas where anything bends or creaks. The internal frame offers excellent pressure resistance, and the display hinges strike a very good balance of strength (they're neither too tight nor too weak). The display cover bends under pressure, but even with strong pressure this does not affect the screen in any way - no distortion.

The bottom of the laptop includes two quick access panels - to the memory modules and to the hard drive. And this is quite enough, because most buyers of a laptop of this class are unlikely to want to upgrade other components other than these. Of course, for us - those who like to delve into the insides of laptops - such access is not enough, but for most users it will be just right.

Display

The K42JC-A1 has a 14-inch LED-backlit display with a 16:9 aspect ratio. The overall quality of the display can be assessed as “very good”; its only drawback is that the viewing angles are not very wide. Brightness, contrast and color rendition are quite good. If you will be using this laptop for graphics work, it is best if you look at the display directly, without horizontal or vertical deviations, because otherwise the colors may become distorted. The backlight level is also slightly uneven - a lighter area is visible at the bottom.

A resolution of 1366x768 is standard for most laptops at this level. Horizontal resolution is very good, but only 768 pixels vertically means a lot of scrolling up and down when viewing web pages or Word documents.

Audio

The K42J has Altec Lansing speakers located under the wrist rests on the front edge of the laptop. Despite the big brand name, these speakers do not provide sufficient sound quality. The sound is muffled and distorted; there are no mid-tones or bass at all. Therefore, if you need high-quality sound, then it is better to use good headphones.

Input Devices

The ASUS K42J has a full-size island-type keyboard, the keys of which are soft to press and have a size and distance from each other that ensures very comfortable typing and the absence of accidentally pressing the wrong key. The keys are flat and have a matte finish that is very durable and will likely last a long time. When pressed lightly, the keyboard does not bend. The keys do not click, the sound from them is quite quiet and unobtrusive. The keyboard lacks separate multimedia keys, but they are duplicated by the arrow keys if you use Fn.

ELAN's touchpad is a mixture of good and bad. Its surface provides excellent finger gliding, but touches are processed with a delay. There are multi-touch functions, which, however, suffer the most from the slowness of the touchpad. Also somewhat annoying is the lack of a separate scrolling area. The touchpad keys have very little feedback and make a loud click when pressed.

Ports

The ASUS K42J has clearly taken a step forward in terms of the number of ports compared to previous laptops K series. The K42JC-A1 has added much-needed HDMI, although, of course, we would have been even more pleased if an ExpressCard slot had appeared. Then it would be possible to connect an adapter to USB 3.0, which would significantly expand the capabilities of the laptop, since similar ports are now appearing in an increasing number of devices.

Left: security lock, ventilation grille, VGA, HDMI, two USB 2.0, headphone jack

Right: optical drive, one USB 2.0, Ethernet, slot for connecting a network adapter

Front: speakers, card reader (SD/MMC/MS)

Rear: nothing

Performance

ASUS K42JC-A1 offers excellent performance, which is achieved through the combination of a Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and fast hard drive for 500 GB. The Nvidia GeForce 310M discrete graphics also helps with CUDA-enabled applications. So this laptop will cope perfectly not only with the most common daily applications, but also with more demanding programs like Adobe Photoshop And Adobe Premiere.

The Intel Core i5 430M is one of the budget-level processors in the Core i5 family, and it has an advantage over the i3 models in terms of performance gains. So the performance here is much higher than that of the same Dell Inspiron 14 (1464) with Core i3.

The Nvidia GeForce 310M's graphics performance is sufficient for online gaming or older first-person shooters, but you'll want to forget about modern games like Mass Effect 2 or Modern Warfare 2. In addition, there is also integrated graphics from Intel, which can be switched to automatically, since Nvidia Optimus technology is supported.

Wprime (processor test, the lower the result, the better):

PCMark05 (overall system performance, the higher the score, the better):

PCMark Vantage(overall system performance, the higher the result, the better):

CrystalDiskMark ( hard test disk):

Temperature and noise

The ASUS K42J has done a great job of producing the least amount of heat and noise. The fan speed adjusts automatically based on load, and it's so quiet you'll barely hear it in a quiet room. The surface temperature is quite low everywhere, with the exception of the fan grille (but this is to be expected). Only when playing games that load the entire system did the laptop heat up, and even then within acceptable limits.

In any case, if you are looking for enough performance, but not hot laptop, then ASUS K42JC-A1 will be an excellent option for you.

Autonomous operation

In Power Balanced mode, with the display brightness set to 75%, the K42JC-A1 lasted 4 hours and 3 minutes while browsing the Internet and using computers. text editor. That's pretty good for a laptop with a standard battery, but we've seen better results from devices with the same performance - five hours or more. So this result can be called average. And, naturally, if you load the system, it will work even less.

conclusions

ASUS K42J is a well-balanced laptop with good build quality, excellent performance and excellent additional options. An Intel Core i5 processor, discrete graphics from Nvidia and an excellent hard drive make it one of the most powerful 14-inch laptops entry level.

ASUS K42JC-A1 is ideal both as a machine for students and as a main home computer.

Fine:
— good quality build, great keyboard
- automatic graphics switching
- excellent performance with low heat generation

Badly:
- medium display
- average battery life

25.04.2011 00:10

Asus K42J is a very good entry-level budget multimedia laptop with great capabilities and excellent performance. This is a new product for the second half of 2010, it is equipped with many of the company's latest developments. The laptop is truly in a class of its own mobile devices, which are still convenient enough to take with you to lectures or on trips, and at the same time have ample capabilities for working with graphics, texts and multimedia entertainment. The laptop costs about $900 and is equipped with the latest Intel processor Core i5 (some models are equipped with an Intel Core i3 processor, but in this review we will consider the best configuration option), discrete and integrated video cards and a widescreen 14-inch LED-backlit display.

To begin with, let's give the main specifications the Asus K42J in question.

The laptop looks pretty nice. The top cover is glossy, but the design is clearly visible through the varnish layer, so the surface of the cover looks like a textured one, while the inner working surface is matte. The color of the lid and inner surface is a pleasant dark chocolate shade. The edges of the laptop are rounded, the lid is slightly convex, there are no decorations or flashy elements, but the plastic seems reliable, high-quality and solid - in general, nothing special, but it looks stylish and strict, just like a working tool should look like.

The laptop body is thin, quite light, and perfectly assembled, which, however, distinguishes all Asus models. Nothing creaks or wobbles anywhere, and the body does not bend almost anywhere even under strong pressure. The lid can be bent a little, but this does not affect the screen in any way. The hinges connecting the display to the keyboard are strong, they are hidden in the case and are not noticeable, without disturbing the overall impression. At the same time, the hinges hold the display well in any chosen position, with any angle of opening the lid, and the lid opens easily.

The bottom cover of the laptop has two removable panels, allowing access to the hard drive and RAM. For most users this is enough, because... It is these two components of the device that people try to improve most often.

The screen of the Asus K42J is widescreen, 14-inch, with LED backlight and a resolution of 1366x768 pixels. Widescreen screen is convenient for computer games, watching videos and feature films, the resolution is typical for laptops in this class. The display has excellent color reproduction, brightness and contrast, although the viewing angles are a little small; looking at the display from the side is not very convenient, because Color rendering and contrast are immediately lost, this is especially noticeable when the vertical viewing angle changes. The backlight is also not entirely uniform; there is a lighter area of ​​the screen at the bottom.

Above the display there is a built-in web camera for comfortable video communication on the Internet.

The laptop's audio system features built-in Altec Lansing speakers, the speakers are located under the wrist rests, and the sound comes from the bottom front of the device. The speakers leave much to be desired, the sound is not very loud, and the quality is noticeably poor (there is no trace of bass or mid-tones), but the laptop uses the SRS Premium Sound sound enhancement system, which slightly improves the situation. For music and video communication, the built-in speakers are quite enough, but if you want to listen to music in good sound, it is better to connect high-quality headphones.

The keyboard is very good - it does not have a separate number pad, like all models with a 14-inch screen (there is simply no room for it), but the keys are large, with a normal distance, and are convenient for typing. According to the people who tested this laptop, even with long typing, the hands do not get tired, the distance between the keys is optimal so as not to press adjacent keys. In addition, there is protection against dust getting inside the keyboard. The buttons themselves have a matte finish, the keys have a small but clear stroke, the sound they make when pressed is almost inaudible, it is soft and not irritating. True, the keyboard does not have separate multimedia keys, but their functions are performed by the arrow buttons when simultaneously using the Fn key.

The Asus K42J keyboard is complemented by an improved touchpad touchpad from ELAN. The tablet has a pleasant-to-touch surface that prevents your fingers from slipping. The Touch Pad supports Multi-touch technology, which recognizes three-finger movements to zoom and rotate an image, as well as Palm Proof, which distinguishes accidental palm touches from finger movements. True, there are complaints about the operation of the touchpad - it slows down when working, especially when working with three fingers; There is no separate scrolling area; the tablet keys, unlike the keyboard keys, make a sharp and loud click.

To be continued.

ASUS has always been characterized by an extremely wide range of mainstream laptops. At the same time, ASUS always emphasizes the ratio of functionality, quality, reliability, performance and price as one of the main advantages of its products. At one time, the company pointedly refused to play in the market for the cheapest systems, declaring that price should not be the only advantage of a laptop, and then created an entire line of EEE PCs.

In this article we will talk about the ASUS X42j laptop model (in utilities it was shown as K42), which is not on official websites. Nevertheless, this model at a reasonable price offers quite a good level of all characteristics: performance, functionality, and ergonomics. Let's take a closer look at it.

Appearance and ergonomics of the case

When you take the laptop out of the box for the first time, it is covered with protective films. Having peeled them off, you get a rather nice and very shiny device.

The top cover is lacquered, black, with a fabric-like texture. Note that the lacquered black lid is the worst in terms of accuracy: all fingerprints are immediately visible, and they are visible very well. In general, if you often pick up a laptop, nothing will help; it’s better to immediately put up with a stained top cover. However, if it is mostly used at home and you wear it open, then you will very rarely touch the lid, and then you can wipe it again. The bottom cover is made of ordinary black rough plastic, however, this is a normal situation for desktop models.

Let's open the lid. Its edge (and the edge of the body) is made in such a way that it is convenient to pick up the lid with your finger and lift it. The movement of the lid, as usual with a new laptop, is tight. There are no latches; the closed lid is held in place only by the force of the hinges. In this model they are L-shaped, i.e. the lid does not rise up, but folds back. Because of this, the opening angle of the lid does not exceed 130-135 degrees. When I was working with the laptop on my lap, the opening angle of the lid was not enough for me.

The open laptop looks calm and simple, but does not give the impression of being cheap. The keyboard stand and the edging around it are made matte, also with a texture, but at the same time it is also rough to the touch. By the way, this panel has a warm brownish tint, which is unusual for electronic equipment, in the production of which they prefer high-tech style and cold shades. The part of the panel in front of the screen and the screen frame are made of glossy: it looks nice and in these places the gloss hardly gets dirty.

The lid is generally strong, but bends very willingly (although the matrix does not move in waves), so you definitely shouldn’t drag the laptop by the lid: at a minimum, it will become crooked. The body is strong, and when you carry it open laptop around the corner, it doesn't creak or move. Moreover, on the right, where you usually take it when carrying it (where the lid optical drive), the body is made rounded - it’s much more comfortable to wear.

In terms of design, the laptop belongs to the previous generation, this appearance is different models ASUS can be found for maybe a year now. And, for example, the ASUS N53j, which I got into my hands at about the same time, looks different. However, this design is quite good, especially for its price category and its positioning: the laptop looks discreet, but at the same time neat, and does not give the impression of a cheap product. Plus, it has a homey feel to it. For a home product in the lower-mid price category, the design, in my opinion, is successful.

Let's look at which ports and where they are located on the case.

The front cover is sloping down. There are only speakers on it (grids on the left and right) and a card reader slot in the middle. In general, the location is convenient, but the top edge of the lid covers the card reader, so you have to lift the laptop to insert a card.

There is nothing on the back edge: the entire panel is occupied by the battery, plus, when you open the cover, it covers this edge with itself.

On the left side there are: a Kensington lock, a large ventilation grille, an analog VGA output, a digital HDMI output, two USB 2.0 ports and one universal audio plug. Also pay attention to the position of the lid relative to the body, as well as how the back of the laptop is raised - this gives additional clearance for bottom ventilation, but it will be unstable on a soft or uneven surface.

On the right side there is an optical drive, another USB 2.0 port, a wired network port and a power plug. Please note that the optical drive has a fairly thick cover.

In general, all ports are conveniently located. On the left are those connectors to which cables are connected for a long time (including where it is convenient to connect a mouse and lay the cable behind the monitor). And those connectors into which you insert something more often are located on the right side. The USB connector is especially useful here, and it is not located too close to the front edge, so that the flash drive inserted into it does not interfere with operation.

Finally, one more comment about the weight of the laptop. It weighs 2315 grams, which is normal for its class. In principle, this is already such a weight that you can easily carry the laptop with you, for example, take it to the country or to work. By the way, this will traditionally add 400 grams for the power supply and cables.

Keyboard

ASUS X42j has a modern keyboard with separate keys. In addition to modern appearance, it is more convenient to use, dust and crumbs will not fall under it (although if something does get under the key, it will be much more difficult to get out).

The keyboard layout is reminiscent of the good old days when the over-cursor keys were located in a vertical line on the right. Nowadays, this keyboard layout is rarely used, but it is quite convenient in operation, however, when switching from other layouts, you will have to remember that Enter is not located in the far right row. In addition, here the cursor keys are pushed into the general keyboard block and are in no way separated from other keys, so it is difficult to find them by touch, and when working with the cursor, you sometimes touch neighboring keys. The layout no longer has any peculiarities or shortcomings; after a little getting used to it, all the keys are perceived in their places.

Typing on the keyboard is comfortable; Thanks to the design of the keys and the light but relatively clear pressing, there are no typing problems. However, at the end of the stroke, the keys do not stop, but hit the backing and at the same time make a loud knock and rattle. As a result, the keyboard is loud, so at night or in a quiet room it distracts others. Due to the hard impact at the end of the press, it is not possible to type at a fast pace for a long time, but for home laptop and medium volumes of typing (eg ICQ or forums) the keyboard fits very well.

The indicators in this model continue the overall design tradition of being simple yet functional. The power key is elongated, on the left side there is a corrugated power indicator. When working, it shines with a white-bluish light, and brightly at night the indicator light noticeably hurts the eyes. The remaining indicators are located in front of the touchpad, so they are almost always visible. From left to right: laptop operation indicator, battery status indicator, hard disk access indicator, wireless interfaces indicator, Num Lock indicator. The indicators glow green or red. A special feature is that the holes in the plastic housing through which the diodes shine are very narrow and deep. Therefore, the light is not very bright; at night the indicators do not interfere at all, but at the same time they are perfectly readable during the day, even in bright light.

This model does not have additional keys, but some additional functions can be controlled from the main keyboard using combinations with Fn.

So, F1 allows you to put the laptop into standby mode (it’s very convenient to use the combination with one hand), F2 turns the wireless interfaces on and off (both at the same time). F5 and F6 adjust the brightness, F7 turns off the monitor backlight (this is convenient if you leave for a while, but do not want to turn off the computer. By the way, only the backlight turns off, the image itself remains), F8 switches the image output between available devices (monitor, VGA- output, etc.), F9 allows you to turn off the touchpad (which, by the way, is very convenient: if the laptop is on the table and a mouse is connected to it, then you can quickly turn off the built-in touchpad, but if you took the laptop somewhere with you, you can It’s easy to turn it back on). Finally, F10, F11 and F12 control the sound (not very convenient to use, they are too far from Fn). It is also worth noting the combinations with the keys “C” (switching gamma correction modes), “V” (turning on the webcam and, accordingly, the proprietary utility for working with it) and spacebar (switching energy saving modes). Finally, the cursor keys are used to control the multimedia player.

Touchpad

The X42j's touchpad is relatively large. The surface is no different from the surface of the palm rests. It is slightly grooved, so you can feel it with your finger feedback. The touchpad is located below the surface of the panel, but is recessed just a little, so you still touch it with your left palm when typing, which leads to cursor jumps.

The keys are made in the form of a single rocker; it is better to press them closer to the edge of the key. The keys switch harshly and with an audible click, so they are not particularly pleasant to use.

Screen

There is a completely ordinary screen installed here: a diagonal of 14 inches, an aspect ratio of 16:9 and a resolution of 1366 × 768 pixels. The screen is bright enough that you can work with it even in a well-lit room. Moreover, when working with text, the brightness can be reduced slightly, even when working during the day. But the minimum brightness is too high; when the lights are off, the screen glows very brightly. This makes your eyes get tired faster.

The screen is traditionally mirrored; it reflects the illuminated objects in the room and the user, so you need to carefully choose the place you work. It is especially difficult to watch a movie: in any dark scenes you will see your reflection, and this happens both during the day, when everything in the room is reflected, and at night, in the dark.

Subjectively, the screen is not bad. Vertical angles are normal for a laptop: at least you can watch a movie without constantly adjusting the screen and choosing the right head position.

Sound

The panel bears the Altec Lansing logo, which should inspire confidence in high quality sound. However, it is high compared to unnamed speakers, but in comparison with the best examples of laptop acoustics, the X42j loses significantly. The upper-mid frequencies are very prominent in the sound, they simply dominate. The remaining frequencies are reproduced much quieter and are simply clogged. In addition, excessive emphasis on the high frequencies led to the fact that I personally started to get headaches and ears if I set the volume to loud in a dubbed film.

You should listen to music on this laptop only as a last resort. When watching dubbed films, the dubbing dominates, overwhelming the special effects. And when watching non-dubbed ones, audibility is not always at its best - it is often impossible to hear what exactly is being said on the screen.

Overall, I would rate the sound as average.

Configuration and Testing

The search for the model turned out to be quite an interesting and, to some extent, even a detective story. The X42j model is not on either the Russian (www.asus.ru) or the global (www.asus.com) company website. At the same time, Russian search engines find this model with a bang, and a couple of times this particular model flashed in the posts of well-known personalities in LiveJournal in the context of the type “I got it here” or “gifted it to me here”... However, this model is also present in Russian stores and is for sale. So I had an interesting question: where can I get drivers for it?

At the same time, the test utility recognizes the laptop as K42Jv, and this is a completely different model, even from a different series. However, the model with the “v” index is still not on both official sites, so it was still not possible to clarify the configuration in an official way. Therefore, we present the system configuration according to online stores. Well, according to information from the specialized Everest utility.

A very strange situation with the video adapter. The utility persistently showed the presence of only an integrated Intel video adapter, although even a disabled NVIDIA GeForce GT335M adapter should be present in the system, at least at the driver level (although installing them on systems with NVIDIA Optimus turns into a certain problem, the driver is not installed that easily).

It is worth noting the amazing combination of an average processor in the line and one of the most powerful video cards to date. Otherwise, the laptop is quite good for its class, all characteristics are at a good level.

Testing

Performance, test results

To roughly evaluate performance, we ran a number of synthetic tests on the laptop.

First, let's take a look at the characteristics of the central processor.

The tire speed varies widely, so I had to catch the moment with the nominal performance.

I’ll immediately show you a slide with the results of tests of the memory subsystem.

In the meantime, we will move on to system tests. And first, let's look at the most basic test - performance rating operating system Windows 7.

As you can see, the results are quite good... if not for the graphics. But this is understandable: the rating measures the speed of different adapters - in the first case it is Intel (by the way, 4 points is quite good), and in the second case it is NVIDIA graphics. So one should be wary of the rating data - it does not always show adequate numbers.

For Cinebench, the opponents were ASUS NX90. He has much more powerful processor(Core i7-720QM, 4 cores, 2.6 GHz) and the same GT 335M video card.

And yet the difference in the performance of one core is small. For me personally, the fact was surprising. However, even in multi-core mode, the quad-core processor shows modest results. But in OpenGL the ratio is more or less equalized, the difference is 340 points.

Let's look at the results in PCMark Vantage.

Traditionally, for PCMark Vantage, the results are in their own plane. I won’t comment on them; we’ll leave them for those who like to compare different systems in synthetics.

And finally, let's see hard performance disk.

In general, quite normal disk speed results. Let's look at the graphical diagram.

The utilities are quite consistent with each other. I would like to note that the temperature of the hard drive is very high, which may cause problems with it in the future. I find it difficult to say who is to blame for this - the overheating hard drive itself or a poor cooling system.

Performance in Real Applications

This laptop was the first to be tested using a new methodology for studying laptop performance, including research in real-world applications. Detailed information about this part of the study, the software used and its settings can be read in a separate material on our website.

For comparison, until a reference configuration is selected, we will use one of the previously tested laptops. In this case, the opponent is the eMachines E732G. This laptop has a slightly more powerful processor, the Core i3-520M. The Radeon HD5470 video card should not show impressive performance results, but for most home applications it should be quite enough. The chipset is the same, Intel HM55, the amount of RAM is also 3 GB.

Archiving

This test measures the speed of archiving a set of files using 7-Zip and WinRAR archivers. In addition, the speed of unpacking a password-encrypted archive using WinRAR is checked. The test is primarily critical to the speed of the processor and memory.

In archiving, a more powerful processor is predictably faster.

Browser performance

We use two tests to evaluate browser performance: Google V8 and SunSpider. Both tests measure essentially the same thing: speed Javascript works. However, this is the most performance-demanding component of the browser engine, so research into it is quite justified. Let me remind you that in our method it is impossible to obtain Chrome data in the SunSpider test due to an internal error.

The Google V8 test displays the result in points.

The Sunspider test displays the result in milliseconds, so unlike the previous test, here less the result, the better.

In general, there is nothing unexpected in the results either: a slightly more powerful processor turned out to be slightly faster.

Watching High Definition Videos

The test shows how well the laptop handles high-definition video playback. For evaluation, a video in Full HD 1080p format, encoded with H.264, and the Media Player Classic Home Cinema player are used. The video is played in software mode, when only the central processor is involved in decoding the image, and with hardware acceleration enabled. The test measures processor load in both cases.

When playing a video in soft mode, the X42j encountered an error, so it is difficult to draw a general conclusion. However, the difference with acceleration enabled is very impressive, apparently due to the use of ATI graphics.

Working with photos

To test laptop performance when working with digital photographs two were left test package: ACDSee and Adobe Photoshop. For ACDsee, the test consists of converting a large number of photos from RAW format to JPEG. Photoshop measures the time it takes to process photos, including blurring, sharpening, resizing and rotating the image, etc. The test measures the time spent performing these operations.

This test also doesn’t really need any comments.

Audio encoding

This test measures the time it takes to encode an audio recording into one of the popular formats. The dBPowerAmp wrapper is used for encoding. The test result is the score given by the shell. The score depends on the encoding time. The higher the score, the better.

Video creation

Unlike the previous test, in this case the test emulates full-fledged work in a video editor to create a video, including editing, applying special effects and final rendering. The test uses two software packages: Adobe Premiere and Sony Vegas. The test result is the time it took to complete the entire project.

Professional 3D graphics

This test shows the laptop's performance in professional 3D modeling packages. Three packages were selected for the test: 3ds max and LightWave (3D rendering) and SolidWorks (CAD). For each product, two tests are carried out: work emulation and final rendering. Unfortunately, 3ds max consistently froze immediately after launch when emulating the work. Therefore, for this test only the test with the final rendering of the scene was left.

In these tests, errors occurred regularly on both laptops, and eMachines was unable to complete either of them. Although this is obviously a software problem, not the laptop itself. It's a pity.

Games

This group of tests evaluates the laptop's performance in several games. I draw the attention of readers that the testing settings for this group were changed compared to the settings of the platform testing methodology, so these results cannot be compared with the results of desktop systems. In particular, the graphics parameters were set to average values, and the resolution for all game tests was 800x600 pixels.

In games, the comparison failed because for some reason eMachines was unable to complete any of the gaming tests.

But ASUS shows quite good results for a laptop. All games show more or less decent results, but it is worth considering reduced settings.

Heat and noise

A 14-inch laptop can work on a desk, on a trip, on your lap, or at home on the sofa - in general, models in this class have a very wide range of applications, so for them the level of heating of the case can be an important parameter.

Data obtained from the Everest test utility.

To my surprise, the temperatures of all components are quite high - both the processor and the hard drive (the state of the latter is generally alarming). However, the heating of the case is quite moderate, if you do not take into account the place where the processor heatsink is installed. The exhaust is very hot.

Battery life

Testing was carried out in two modes: minimal load mode (reading text from the screen) and while watching a movie. Tests were carried out in Windows 7, energy saving parameters were set to adaptive values. The screen brightness was always set to maximum.

Passport container with big battery- 47366 mWh.

Battery life is not very good, but on the other hand, for this configuration it is not a failure. In the most economical mode, the laptop lasts 3 hours - this is not much, especially when it comes to traveling and working on it. But when watching a film, everything is quite good - almost two hours, which is enough to watch the vast majority of modern films. As part of informal testing, I measured the work on the Internet via wireless network- the laptop lasted about 1 hour 52 minutes.

Positioning and conclusions

In general, the X42j is a representative of the line of universal laptops. In principle, this is a laptop that is suitable, for example, for a student or a young professional who moves a lot. Not very large, but not small, the case is not record-breaking, but very decent performance (including a powerful video adapter for a laptop, allowing you to play even modern games), good functionality (all modern ports are in place) and good ergonomics.

I liked that the laptop is well balanced for its market niche; there is nothing to complain about: there are no obvious failures that will annoy you during use. For me it is a little too homey and simple, but if we consider it specifically as a home computer, then I would not write down the design as a minus. Most likely, it will fit well into a calm home interior.

In terms of performance and functionality, this model is average in the good sense of the word, both of which are at a normal level. Nothing extreme, but the average home user (no matter how boring this combination may sound, this is the majority) will not experience any inconvenience.

The price of the X42j at the time of testing is about 25,000 rubles (about 800 US dollars), which, in my opinion, is adequate to the capabilities of the laptop.