Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Asus showed off a number of new notebooks featuring Bang & Olufsen’s Icepower audio amplification technology at a glitzy launch party here today.
The audio technology, which has been the talk of audiophile circles because of its use in a number of highly-rated power-efficient amplifiers, promises improved sound over existing laptop offerings.
Icepower will come in a number of Asus’ N-model laptops as well as its top-of-the-range NX90 Multimedia Notebook. There’s a reason why it’s called that, instead of a laptop, because you’d not want to place this 4.8kg machine on your lap (a small bag of rice weighs 5kg).
Of course, with that heft comes all the goodies you’d expect from a desktop. Think of an Intel Core i7-720QM chip, Nvidia GeForce GT335M graphics, 18.4-inch screen, 1TB capacity (made up of two 500GB drives), and a crazy 8GB of RAM.
What’s even more interesting are the speakers that are placed outside the screen – they are built onto the side of the screen, but extend beyond the width of the keyboard. The reason: they get to have bigger drivers of sound than the usual tiny ones you get on lesser laptops.
How good are they, since they are paired with B&O amplification? I’d say much better than the average laptop, which to be fair, isn’t very strong competition. The dynamic range is much better – you hear trebles and bass more clearly – and generally, there is little of the distortion so common on laptops.
The Asus folks here played a number of classical tunes, and you can tell that the violins and pianos, which usually tear through laptop speakers, are relatively better controlled here.
Of course, with such thin speakers, you don’t expect to fill a room, or even a cubicle. It’s a clear improvement over existing speakers, which are often no bigger than headphone drivers producing really distorted sounds.
Coupled with a polished aluminium finish (which unfortunately is a fingerprint magnet), the NX90 is clearly a design piece from Asus aimed at the high-end user who with a budget for good sound and design in his notebok/desktop replacement.
I’m just thinking, for S$3,888, whether it’s such a good deal. For that amount, I can buy a smaller laptop that costs less, bring it on my travels, and still have enough moolah to buy separate satellite speakers (like the Bowers & Wilkins MM-1) which will surely sound better.
But then again, maybe the folks who buy the NX90 may already have a nice B&O setup at home.
