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You don’t really think of notebooks when the name BenQ usually crops up. When the brand BenQ is mentioned, you’ll usually be thinking about monitors and various other peripherals instead. Until recently, the BenQ notebooks were in the periphery compared to the rest of their product line. However, that is about to change with the release of the new notebook line, especially the one we have for review, the BenQ Joybook S41. Based on the Santa Rosa chipset, the Joybook S41 is one of the smallest notebooks to come with the Nvidia 8600M GS card.
Now in terms of looks and build quality, I was quite surprised that BenQ had made the effort to make the Joybook S41 more than just your normal dull looking notebook. Although it feels a bit plasticky, the Joybook S41 does look quite “hip” with its polka dot texturing, though the idea of this design being hip will vary from certain individuals. Its interior does not disappoint either as its sleek design, made the S41 a notebook that you wouldn’t mind showing off in public.
Read on for the rest of the review.
I especially liked the Joybook S41's touchpad as the rough texture that BenQ gave it made it more tactile. Also the touchpad button was a single button much like the Macbooks though you do have two button functions on it. Keyboard layout was comfortable and I didn't really have much to complain about.
The Joybook S41 though coming with pretty top of the line specifications, isn’t as heavy as most notebooks of its class. It weighs a nice 2kg and is pretty portable to with dimensions measuring 337mm by 248mm by 38.7mm. It is a bit thick though but I did not find that much of an issue as I didn’t mind giving up some thickness for the S41’s specifications.
And speaking of specifications, the 14.1” monitor on the notebook has one of the fastest response times of its display at 16ms. Admittedly, 16ms is not as fast as most normal desktop bound monitors, as a response time of at least 12ms would be optimal for fast animations and games like first person shooters. However, as our test would show, it still does pretty well in those two areas though you’ll still get ghosting on your screen. The Joybook S41s screen had minimum glare as it used transreflective technology and its widescreen could go up to a maximum resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels. Viewing angles on the notebook were pretty good to.
And if you feel that screen of the notebook is not big enough it also comes with a HDMI port on top of the VGA port for monitor connectivity. This is great as the notebook can be hooked up to a HDMI compliant monitor or a monitor with faster response time, and act as a desktop replacement.
In terms of connectivity options, the Joybook S41 is no slouch either. It comes with Draft-N WiFi as well as Bluetooth connectivity. The Draft-N connectivity will at least ensure the notebook has a chance at 802.11 N compliance when the standard gets full approval. Speaking of which I liked that the Joybook S41 came with a physical button to activate the WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity instead of using the keyboard function keys.
In terms of port connectivity, the Joybook S41 comes with 4 USB 2.0 ports (which is quite generous), FireWire port as well as a multi card reader. This is on top of the VGA and HDMI port I mentioned before hand.
The notebook also comes with a built in 1.3 megapixel webcam which is located on top of the monitor screen. Based on my test, the webcams video quality was pretty good and there was little lag when doing video calls. Do note however, sometimes lag might vary depending on connectivity.
Performance wise, the Joybook S41 did pretty well in our test. The PC Mark test gave a pretty impressive 4392 points while 3Dmark06 test gave a nice 2712 points. The 3DMark tests showed that you shouldn’t expected really graphic intensive gaming like those of your typical First Person Shooters. For that I would suggest a more dedicated desktop but the Joybook S41 can still play RTS games like Dawn of War which require pretty good graphics to run well. Our battery test also showed that the notebook managed a good 2 hours 15 minutes of playtime when playing movies. This is pretty close to the 2 hours 30 minutes rated battery life that BenQ claims.
As great as I found the Joybook S41, every good thing usually has some flaws. In the case of the Joybook S41 it was it’s built in speakers. I know I shouldn’t be expecting much from the notebook speakers but after being wowed by the rest of the notebook, I did hope that at least its speakers would be better than that of regular notebook but alas no.
The Joybook S41 starts of at around RM3, 999 though I’m pretty sure you can wheedle some discounts or find it at a slight lower price. At that price and the specs that the notebook comes with, I found it a pretty good deal. You even get a one year International warranty which is great if you’re one that travels out of the country for long periods often. Do note that Windows Vista is optional but our review unit did come with Vista. Overall the Joybook S41 is a great effort by BenQ into penetrating the notebook market and I look forward to what they can come up with next.
Specifications
| Version |
425 |
| CPU |
Intel® Centrino® Duo processor technology
Intel® Core™2 Duo processor T7100 |
| Operating System |
 Windows Vista® Business (Option)
 Windows Vista® Home Premium (Option)
 Windows Vista® Home Basic (Option)
|
| Chipset |
Intel® PM965 |
| Graphic Chip |
nVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GS(Max.1GB TurboCache) |
| Memory |
DDRII 1GB and above (max to 2.0GB) |
| Hard Drive |
120GB (5400rpm - SATA) |
| Optical Drive |
8X DVD-Dual (Supports Double Layer) |
| Screen Size |
14.1" UltraVivid widescreen |
| Resolution |
WXGA(1280x800) |
| Brightness |
200 nits |
| I/O Ports |
• USB 2.0 x 4
• HDMI output x 1
• FireWire (IEEE 1394) x 1
• RJ-45 Ethernet port x 1
• RJ-11 Modem port x 1
• Microphone-in x 1
• Headphone-out x 1
• VGA port x 1
• DC-IN x 1
• ExpressCard Slot x 1
• Line-in x 1
|
| Battery |
Lithium-Ion 6-Cell (4700 mAH)
|
| Communications/Networks |
Modem: Built-in 56K / V.92 modem
LAN: Built-in 10 / 100 /1000 Ethernet
Wireless LAN: Built-in 802.11a/b/g/n
Built-in Rev. 2.0/ EDR
|
| Card Reader |
5-in-1 card reader:MS/MS-Pro/SD/MMC/xD |
| Audio |
Built-in Microphone x 1
Built-in 1.5W speakers x 2
Sound System x 2 channels
(1) Sound Blaster Pro Compatible
(2) HD Audio
(3) Noise Suppression & Echo Cancellation supported
(4) SRS TruSurround XT
|
| Software |
BenQ
QMedia Bar / BenQ QShot / BenQ Surround / Adobe Reader / Nero Express /
Anti-Virus Software / Power DVD / WebCam Companion / Magic-I /
Microsoft® Office Professional 2007 60-Day Free Trial (Only for
Microsoft® Operating System) |
| Dimensions |
337 x 248 x 26.6 (front) ~ 38.7 (rear) mm(LxWxH) |
| Weight |
2.05kg (without battery)*
*Weight may vary depending on the particular hardware configuration |
| Accessories (Standard) |
Built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam |
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