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ASUS Lamborghini VX7 Review
Inspired by Italian sports cars, the ASUS Lamborghini VX7 looks good on the outside and has plenty of muscle under the hood.
Lowest Price: $2,269.97
When you've got a high-performance notebook, why not make it look like a high-performance car? The ASUS Automobili Lamborghini VX7 takes all the internal components of its G53SW gaming notebook--an Intel Core i7 CPU, Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M graphics, and a full HD display--and wraps them with a chassis inspired by Lamborghini's sexy, angular automotive designs. For the premium price of $2,269, you also get 16GB of RAM and a Blu-ray writer for watching HD flicks on the 1080p display. Does this machine live up to the Lamborghini name?
Around the back, ASUS has augmented the vents with clear red plastic slots that resemble the taillights on a Lamborghini; it would be far cooler if they were also backlit. The deck of the VX7 has its own styling, too. We love the black leather palm rests, complete with elegant stitching. They not only look fantastic, but are also very comfortable to rest your wrists on.
Other automotive touches include a dark chrome plastic lining around the touchpad and "automobili Lamborghini" written above the keyboard. Even the Power button says "Start Engine." When you turn on the notebook, instead of the generic Windows startup sound, you hear a car revving its engine.
Measuring 15.8 x 12.2 x 1.4-2.2 inches, the VX7 is slightly larger than the G53SW, and, at 8.4 pounds, is 3.2 ounces heavier. Even with the black Lamborghini-accented messenger bag that comes with the VX7, you still wouldn't want to carry it around for long.
Just like the G53, the VX7 has an island-style keyboard that's backlit and comfortable to type on, but it could be better. The keys themselves are nicely spaced and have good travel and feedback, but the right Shift key is undersized, and the number pad and arrow keys are smaller than they have to be. Also, we noticed a bit of flex, similar to the G53.
The 2.75 x 1.75 Synaptics touchpad on the VX7 felt slightly small for a notebook of this size (it's the same size as on the G53), and its mirrored surface had a slight amount of friction, but we were able to execute multitouch gestures easily. The trapezoidal, chromed mouse buttons below were large, and provided snappy feedback.
With a resolution of 1920 x 1080, the Lamborghini VX7's 15.6-inch glossy display provided bright and crisp visuals. We could pick out individual leaves while playing World of Tanks and individual strands of hair when watching the 1080p trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. However, we did notice a bit of noise in the darker areas of the screen, and colors did appear muted at times.
We liked that we could automatically change the color temperature by pressing the middle button on the upper-left of the deck. However, viewing angles were somewhat limited; images started to reverse at 45 degrees on either side.
The small speakers in the top middle of the VX7's deck produced loud but tinny sound. Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days" and Kanye West's "All Falls Down" had almost no bass. Even when we were playing games, explosions didn't have the chest-thumping boom we were looking for. The THX Trustudio audio manager did little to help.
The 2-megapixel webcam on the VX7 can take photos at up to 1600 x 1200 pixels and capture video up to 640 x 480. While a little on the grainy side, the webcam picked up details such as the stripes in our shirt as well as a bright orange cup sitting on the desk behind us. Using ASUS' LifeFrame utility, we were able to make fine adjustments to the picture quality, including brightness and contrast, and could even add fun effects, such as a virtual pair of sunglasses or a black eye.
Design
Che bella! That's all we had to say when we first saw the VX7. While the wedge shape of the notebook is not all that far removed from the ASUS G53SW, the lid and rear have been modified to resemble the Lamborghini Murcielago rather than a F117 stealth fighter (as with the G53SW). Instead of a soft-touch matte black lid, the VX7 has a glossy black finish with the Lamborghini logo in the center. As with the car, you'll want to keep a polishing rag handy to maintain the VX7's pristine look. You can also get the lid in orange; given the flashiness of the notebook, we'd choose that option.Around the back, ASUS has augmented the vents with clear red plastic slots that resemble the taillights on a Lamborghini; it would be far cooler if they were also backlit. The deck of the VX7 has its own styling, too. We love the black leather palm rests, complete with elegant stitching. They not only look fantastic, but are also very comfortable to rest your wrists on.
Other automotive touches include a dark chrome plastic lining around the touchpad and "automobili Lamborghini" written above the keyboard. Even the Power button says "Start Engine." When you turn on the notebook, instead of the generic Windows startup sound, you hear a car revving its engine.
Measuring 15.8 x 12.2 x 1.4-2.2 inches, the VX7 is slightly larger than the G53SW, and, at 8.4 pounds, is 3.2 ounces heavier. Even with the black Lamborghini-accented messenger bag that comes with the VX7, you still wouldn't want to carry it around for long.
Heat
After streaming a Hulu video for 15 minutes at full screen, the Lamborghini VX7 remained cool: The touchpad registered 80 degrees, the space between the G and H keys was 88, and the middle of the underside was 90 degrees. The vents at the rear of the VX7 really do the trick.Keyboard and Touchpad
Just like the G53, the VX7 has an island-style keyboard that's backlit and comfortable to type on, but it could be better. The keys themselves are nicely spaced and have good travel and feedback, but the right Shift key is undersized, and the number pad and arrow keys are smaller than they have to be. Also, we noticed a bit of flex, similar to the G53.The 2.75 x 1.75 Synaptics touchpad on the VX7 felt slightly small for a notebook of this size (it's the same size as on the G53), and its mirrored surface had a slight amount of friction, but we were able to execute multitouch gestures easily. The trapezoidal, chromed mouse buttons below were large, and provided snappy feedback.
Display and Audio
With a resolution of 1920 x 1080, the Lamborghini VX7's 15.6-inch glossy display provided bright and crisp visuals. We could pick out individual leaves while playing World of Tanks and individual strands of hair when watching the 1080p trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. However, we did notice a bit of noise in the darker areas of the screen, and colors did appear muted at times.We liked that we could automatically change the color temperature by pressing the middle button on the upper-left of the deck. However, viewing angles were somewhat limited; images started to reverse at 45 degrees on either side.
The small speakers in the top middle of the VX7's deck produced loud but tinny sound. Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days" and Kanye West's "All Falls Down" had almost no bass. Even when we were playing games, explosions didn't have the chest-thumping boom we were looking for. The THX Trustudio audio manager did little to help.
Ports and Webcam
The left side of the VX7 has a tray-loading Blu-ray drive and two USB 2.0 ports. The right side houses HDMI, one USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0 port, Ethernet, and headphone and mic ports.The 2-megapixel webcam on the VX7 can take photos at up to 1600 x 1200 pixels and capture video up to 640 x 480. While a little on the grainy side, the webcam picked up details such as the stripes in our shirt as well as a bright orange cup sitting on the desk behind us. Using ASUS' LifeFrame utility, we were able to make fine adjustments to the picture quality, including brightness and contrast, and could even add fun effects, such as a virtual pair of sunglasses or a black eye.
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