Asus Lamborghini VX1 series (Core Duo T2600 Processor 2.2GHz; 2GB RAM)

An eerie blue LED separates the left and right mouse buttons.

Unusually, Asus has opted not to use a widescreen 16:9 display on the Lamborghini VX1. Instead, you get a 15-inch screen with a native resolution of 1,400 x 1,050 pixels. This is fine for everyday use, but its 4:3 aspect ratio limits the number of windows you can view side by side, and means you get a letterbox view when playing 16:9 widescreen movies. Some may take exception to the screen's glossy coating, which is a tad too reflective to use in direct light, but aside from this, we were very impressed with the image quality. Colours were recreated faithfully, and the screen was able to accurately display the subtle tonal differences.

Also impressive was the capacious 160GB hard drive. It's the largest laptop drive on the market and is perfect for storing a wealth of games and other multimedia content. You also get a dual-layer DVD rewriter drive that lets you burn up to 8.5GB of data per DVD disc. Unfortunately it's quite slow at 4x, and is a tray-loading model. We'd have preferred a slot-loading drive to help maintain the sleek lines of the laptop.

The Lamborghini VX1 features the usual assortment of ports, including three USB ports, a four-pin FireWire port, plus a Gigabit (1,000Mbps) Ethernet port. You also get a 5-in-1 memory card reader which supports all major formats, but there's no sign of a modem--you'll need to buy your own USB modem.

All told, the VX1 has a strong specification, but its S$4,888 (US$3,510.23) price tag is in excess of what you'd pay for a laptop without the Lamborghini badge.

Performance And Battery Life
As a high-end laptop, we expected a lot from the VX1, and it delivers in most respects. Its 2GHz CPU helped it reach a commendable PCMark 2005 score of 4,212, which isn't quite enough to catch the all-conquering Acer Travelmate 8204WLMi's tally of 4,236, but the difference between these two systems is marginal. Where the Lamborghini trails slightly is in its graphics performance. It clocked up a 3DMark 2006 score of 1,403, which again is lower than the Travelmate's score of 1,999. In real terms this equates to 48 frames per second in Doom 3 versus the Acer's 56.6fps, both at a resolution of 1,024 x7 68 pixels. Ultimately, the VX1 isn't as potent in this department as many of its rivals, but it provides sufficient graphics horsepower to run most games, albeit at modest resolutions and image quality settings.

Service And Support
Asus offers a two-year limited global warranty with all its notebooks. Should a problem occur with the unit, you can send it to any Asus service center around the world and get it repaired using the warranty card. For users who travel overseas often, having a global warranty is important. However, the Asus service overseas centers should be checked for accessibility. Asus Web site provides software support and updates as well as a telephone hotline number.

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