Asus W2W 7K002G 17 Tft Wuxga+colour Shine Zero Bright Dot Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo T7500 2.2G Ati

Spending the best part of a couple of grand on a new laptop in the days of the credit crunch and a consumer downturn-well the result had better be good with so much on offer from cheaper alternatives. Having upgraded from an eight year old Pico, I expected great things from the W2W, both as a workaday laptop and as a media player. and I was certainly not disappointed by the quality of the build, the layout and the feel of the keys. The Bluetooth and the wireless connection worked faultlessly and battery life was more than acceptable. The high quality 17" screen is terrific and films leap of the screen in the most amazing colour. Unfortunately, my laptop could not play HD movies as the only software loaded was Windows Media Player which cannot play HD or BlueRay discs. Someone slipped up there so check before you buy. A TV tuner, wireless mouse, and a superb carrying case made up a real quality package. My chief complaint,however, concerns not the W2W but Windows Vista. The Ultimate version may be the bees knees from Microsofts point of view but it sure takes a bit of getting used to. Aero never appears to work despite much tweaking of settings and it is a little annoying when the software keeps asking you if you wish to proceed when you wish to do something. Using it on the move, I had to purchase a new Express Data Card from O2-the old rectangle card does not insert into the slot. Having said that, the new card works much better and quicker than the old one in the Pico. But as a laptop, the W2W is everything I wished when I purchased it and doubtless even Vista will improve as I get used to it.