Design and Ergonomics
The exterior of the ASUS W1J00Ga has at least one definite advantage. Having rather large dimensions, this notebook remains thin and elegant. The metal case made of aluminum alloy is colored silver with black plastic inserts on the sides, while the straight lines and sharp angles add certain strictness to the overall appearance of this model.
The design and ergonomic properties of the ASUS W1J00Ga repeat those of the ASUS W1B00Na, so you can refer to my review of the latter model for a detailed description. I’m going to limit myself here with the most significant changes as well as with the connectors, ports etc.
A major update happened to the widescreen display: the LCD matrix with a diagonal of 15.4 inches, a maximum resolution of 1280x800 (WXGA) and a non-standard aspect ratio of 16:10 now has a higher contrast ratio, and good brightness and viewing angles. This has become necessary as this model is intended for work as well as for entertainment, i.e. for watching TV programs, playing DVDs and CDs, video clips and audio files. The brightness of the screen is controlled with functional keys; an onscreen scale shows you the current brightness setting as you’re changing it.
On the front panel, besides the two stereo-speakers, there are:
- IrDA port;
- Audio/video input for connecting audio/video source via RCA cable;
- Combined headphones/SPDIF output;
- Microphone input;
- Combo-connector: audio input coupled with headphones output with support of 3D sound imitation (3D phone);
- Consumer infrared port, which works with the enclosed remote control in the multimedia ASUS Mobile Theater v.2.1 application. Other applications are not supported.
The left side of the ASUS W1J00Ga contains the following things, covered under a special magnet-held plastic gag:
- Power connector;
- D-Sub connector;
- Modem connector (RJ-11);
- LAN connector (RJ-45);
- TV-Out port;
- Card-reader (supported formats: SecureDigital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Select with MS adapter, and MS Pro with an appropriate adapter);
- PC card slot (for one card of type I or II);
- TV-antenna input;
- FireWire port;
- Two USB ports.
On the right panel you can find the following:
- Optical DVD drive;
- One USB port;
- Kensington lock and vent holes.
At the rear panel, there’s only a battery cell.
At the bottom of the notebook, there is a hard disk drive bay, memory and miniPCI slots, and an integrated subwoofer.
All the communicational capabilities of the ASUS W1J00Ga are listed in the following table:
ASUS Mobile Theater has grown up ?it’s now version 2.1. This application helps you to quickly and easily switch between other applications and control the selected mode for watching TV programs or photographs, playing DVDs or CDs, video clips and audio files.
