Asus N61Jv and U43JC: First Optimus-primed laptops hitting India this month

We have been tracking laptops and netbooks that integrate NVIDIA's switchable graphics for a while now, and were fairly excited to get our hands on an engineering sample of an Optimus-enabled Asus N61Jv laptop. The new range, which includes a 14 and 16-inch versions will hit Indian shores and stores by the third week of this month.

The N61Jv-JX379V sports a 16-inch widescreen display, Intel Core i5-450M 2.4 GHz CPU, and can switch between Intel default HD graphics and the NVIDIA GeForce GT325M GPU. Other notable specs include 4 GB of DDR 3 memory, 6-cell 4400 mAh battery, USB 3.0 ports, and a 500 GB 2.5-inch hard drive. It is as pricey as a MacBook but has the specs of a MacBook Pro.

If you want more battery life out of your laptop, we would reccomend the U43JC-WX057V (priced @ Rs. 61,999), it runs on a Core i3-370M, and has a smaller 14-inch screen, GeForce GT310M graphics, but a larger 8-cell battery. Both laptops are bundled with Windows 7 Home Premium.

Hands-on, first impressions: The build-quality of the N61Jv is impressive. Weight wise (2.8 kgs), this is a desktop replacement, but feels slimmer  than other desktop replacements. I particularly liked its multi-touch trackpad, which supports pinch-to-zoom and scrolling action, it works very well natively in Windows 7 applications and web browsers, where you can improve readability with a pinch, switch between presentational styles, etc. Switching to Optimus from Intel graphics noticeably improves display quality and sharpness even on the desktop, the performance improvement is will reflect not just on games but desktop customisation apps like Switcher as well.

Specifications

Model Name	N61JV-JX379V	U43JC-WX057V
LCD	16" HD Glare	14" HD Glare
CPU	Intel i-Core	Intel i-Core
	i5-450M	i3-370M
	(2.4G,3M)	(2.4G,3M)
RAM	4GB DDR3 1066	4GB DDR3 1066
HDD	500GB	500GB
	5400rpm	5400rpm
VGA	NV GT325M	NV GT310M
	1GB DDR3 VRAM	1GB DDR3 VRAM
ODD	DVD RW 8X SM DL	DVD RW 8X SM DL
WLAN	802.11 b/g/n	802.11 b/g/n
BT	Yes	Yes
Webcam	2.0M	2.0M
Battery	6 Cell	8 Cell
OS	Win7	Win7
	Home Premium	Home Premium
Warranty	1-Year Global	1-Year Global
Bag & Mouse	Yes	Yes
ASUS MRP (INR)	56,999	61,999