A43SJ (Design)

In this post, most of the review will be focused on the physical design of this laptop.

When we talk about the design of a laptop, most people will automatically relate it to the thickness and weight of the laptop. Let's have a look at the approximate measurement of the thickness of this model, it is approximately 3cm thick, which I measure using a standard wooden ruler. This thickness makes A43SJ a not so thin kind of laptop, which affect its portability. However, this is forgivable as without that thickness, it would be difficult to include all the standard ports (1 earphone jack, 1 microphone jack, a LAN jack, 1 VGA port, 1 HDMI port, and not to forget a generous supply of 3 USB 2.0 ports [too bad it doesn't provide a 3.0 high speed USB port :( ].

When opening the lid of the laptop, it's noticed that the hinge is considerably sturdy, while typing, it holds the lid firmly without being shaky. Besides the plastic built keyboard, the overall surface of the laptop is covered with strong and elegant aluminum, including the palm rest. As as it is advertised, the aluminum surface is strong and scratch resistant. I've been working with my stainless steel Seiko wristwatch on my wrist for a month, n the surface is still brand new, without a single visible scratch.
Asus has always advertised about its ICECOOL palm rest, which for me is not totally true. Of course, by comparing this model with my friend's ACER Aspire and HP Pavilion, this palm rest is much cooler n comfortable, but it does generate a significant amount of heat when having too long of palm contact, though this flaw is still acceptable, considering the heat that a laptop generates every moment. I would say that Asus has done a good job in this part. One of my personal favourite is the award winning chiclet keyboard.

Each key is spared with a gap, which makes typing a pleasure task. The hotkeys are labeled clearly with bright blue, making it visible even in poor light. The only flaws that I am not satisfied with is the cap lock indicator. It is located right under the trackpad, which make it hard for average users to notice. It might seems harmless at most of the time, but when it comes to typing, users will have hard time trying to check whether the cap lock key is on. Talking about the trackpad, I really enjoy using it most of the time, n because of it, I almost chuck my logitech wireless mouse away. It is equipped with multi gestures feature, which make browsing the web and apps enjoyable. Not forgeting to mention the smooth n non sticky touch surface, which ease the users' finger gestures. Sweaty fingers are no longer an excuse for not using the trackpad anymore, thanks to Asus' innovation.
The cooling capability of this laptop is also a strong selling point. The Asus A43SJ comes with an modest GeForce GT520M 1GB graphic card, with no graphic switching option, causing it generate lots of heat while playing games n watching HD movies. Despite of tht fact, A43SJ handles this problem with ease, due to its wide air vent design at the left side of the laptop, and also the gap between its main board with the laptop chassis. When, playing High graphic games such as Transformers, Avatar and Call of Duty, the GPU heat rise to approximately 53 degree Celsius. However, unlike other laptop brand, this laptop's GPU manages to cool down to the regular 40 degree celcius within seconds after the game is turned off. (These figures are based on the readings of "Speedfan 4.44" software). It is advisable to use a good quality laptop cooler playing games with this laptop, and an interval 10 minutes rest after every 1 hour of gaming is encouraged to help extending the laptop GPU's lifespan.To sum up, the overall cooling is good, but still improvable. My suggestion to Asus designers is that they could actually improve the cooling by enlarging the air vent of the laptop base where the laptop fan is located, as I noticed that the air vent below the laptop cooling fan is too narrow for the air to flow effectively.

The battey life is also one important factor while considering a laptop. This laptop's battery life is excellent, considering its processor's speed and graphic performance, during the test, I did web browsing and some word processing on the laptop, and it last for more than 3 hours, with "Entertainment mode" turned on. The battery size is quite slim, n is located right under the screen. The only cons of the design is that when I remove the battery, it will leave a rectangular hole under the screen, which for me doesn't really affect the beauty of this laptop.
In the next part, I'll focus more on the laptop's  internal functions and performance. Thanks for reading :)