ASUS Lamborghini VX3 Defines Mobile Luxury

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
From our front-page news:
I doubt it's a secret to a single person reading this that small notebooks are in, and large notebooks are for the workstation crowd, or those who don't have a desktop. The sheer ease of netbooks or light notebooks make them an ideal choice for those on the go often, and if you can find one with great battery-life, then carrying along a notebook is more of a joy than a chore.

Up to now though, many of these lighter notebooks (not netbooks) that have been worth a look start out at $1,500, which is rather pricey for something so under-powered and small, but again, it's hard to beat the great form-factor. Instead of getting less-expensive though, how about going in the absolute opposite direction? How does $3,100 for a 12.1" sound?

We're of course talking about the ASUS Lamborghini VX3 notebook, one that offers a fast processor, 4GB of RAM, a GeForce GPU (yes, they do apparently exist in such small notebooks), 320GB hard drive and two batteries - one 3-cell and one 9-cell. So is the VX3 worth the cash? If you have to ask, the notebook is not meant for you. That's what makes it exclusive, just like the cars it's been modeled after.

asus_lamborghini_vx3_091108.jpg

Getting past the VX3's premium nature, the system's battery life is another issue. The 3-cell battery may mount flush, but with less than an hour of DVD playback time, the VX3 really isn't all that portable without its portly 9-cell unit. And the 9-cell battery sticks out the back quite a bit, ruining the VX3's lovely lines and making it impossible for the system to sit in its fancy box. With seemingly so much invested in the VX3's design, its battery seems like an afterthought.


Source: Tech Report
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
I admit... despite the ultra-high pricetag on this thing, I love it. Way back at CES, I goofed around with it for a few minutes while at the ASUS booth, and I really wanted to take it home. I've come to love small notebooks, and when one looks THIS damn good, it almost makes me want to rip the credit card out.

The problem is the fact that the parts inside are not that impressive for something that costs $500 though... and it should be updated. The hard drive should be bigger, for one (since 500GB drives have been available for some time) and I'd love to see a screen with a SLIGHTLY higher resolution, maybe like 1440x900. Granted, it's a small screen, but I think it'd be great to have anything higher than 1280x800.

Great notebook, but I think it would be a lot more attractive at $2,099.
 
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