Feature Articles

ASUS First to Capitalize on Vista's SideShow!

By Vijay Anand - 8 Feb 2007

Leading the Pack

Leading the Pack

Beating everyone to the race is ASUS, with the W5Fe notebook made specifically to take advantage of Microsoft Vista' SideShow feature. Touted as one of the more exciting tangible features that Vista has to offer, SideShow is an extra display panel feature for users to access media files, check their e-mails and other information bits all without completely powering on their notebooks or desktops. Although these panels capitalizing on the SideShow aspect are typically small (no bigger then a name card usually), their real world potential has yet to be fully realized. Fortunately, we managed to obtain the W5Fe notebook and gave it a go.

The ASUS W5Fe ultra-portable SideShow notebook is perfectly sized for the busy executive and is well equipped in specs too.

Packs a Punch

The ASUS W5Fe ultra-portable SideShow notebook is aimed at business users with its compact size and classic dark-grey gun-metal finish. Sporting a 12.1-inch WXGA screen with a native resolution of1280 x 800 pixels, an Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 processor (2.16GHz) and 1.5GB DDR2 RAM (512MB embedded on the notebook), it packs a punch that puts many workhorse notebooks to shame. Here's a rundown of its specifications:-

  • Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 (2.16GHz, 4MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB)
  • Main Display: 12.1-inch WXGA Color-Shine (Glare-type) and Crystal-Shine (High brightness) LCD
  • Secondary Display: 2.8-inch QVGA TFT LCD
  • Memory: 1GB DDR2 667MHz + 512MB on board
  • Storage: 160GB SATA HDD
  • Graphics: Intel 945GM VGA
  • Optical Drive: DVD Super Multi Double Layer RAM R/W 2X, CD/DVD Read 8X/24X, CD-R 24X, CD-RW 10X, DVD-R 4X, DVD-RW 2X, DVD+R 4X, DVD+ RW 2.4X
  • Input/Output: 1 x Express card, 1 x audio-in jack, 1 x audio-out jack (S/PDIF), 1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin, 1 x S-Video, 3 x USB 2.0 ports, 1x IEEE 1394 port, 1 x RJ11 Modem jack, 1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN
  • 1.3-megapixel 235-degree swivel web camera
  • Dimensions: 343 x 242 x 29.8 (front) / 38 (back) mm
  • Weight: 1.7kg

ASUS didn't forget to include a swiveling 1.3-megapixel webcam, which is a well-known feature of the W5 notebook series.

The spotlight is of course on the notebook's 2.8-inch QVGA SideShow panel, which can be found very conveniently on the top right corner of the notebook's lid. Read on for usage impressions.

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