It was only a matter of time when netbooks were to become a fashion detail. Compact enough to fit inside a handbag, usable enough to cover a solid part of business and office use, they’ve easily attracted the attention of people who care about their image. Whether it’s typical yuppies, people who have to look neat and trendy for the sake of their work, or people who actually have good taste and are willing to display it, the market for these devices is definitely there, and the largest IT companies aren’t the ones to miss the chance to make their models look good and sell even better with this type of audience.
CCM, mate
ASUS VX6 Lamborghini is hardly the first “automobile” portable PC, but is definitely one of the most noticeable ones. This netbook is larger than its competitors, but still doesn’t breach the territory of notebooks, while the specs are also halfway to the big guns. As far as its appearance is concerned, the lid is reminiscent of a car hood, including the relief Lamborghini insignia, so that the visual impression is complete from the viewpoint of this model’s potential buyers. There’s a white version in addition to the black one that we’ve tested, but black seems to be the prevalent one as far as the user base is concerned. The overall production quality matches the appearance in full - the touchpad is very pleasant to use, and the same goes for the Chiclet keyboard. Since moderation in power consumption is the primary characteristic of any netbook, the display had to have LED backlight installed, which has resulted in a higher-quality image with pleasant colour tones. A small remark goes on the account of the overly smooth finish, which easily turns into a fingerprint assembly.
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The hardware base of this netbook is Intel’s Pine Trail platform, i.e. the second generation of Atom enriched with NVIDIA’s ION graphics subsystem. The Atom model inside this PC is the dual-core D525 with hyperthreading, with twice as much memory as ordinary models, and the addition of NVIDIA’s Optimus technology for dynamic switching between ION and Intel’s integrated graphics core; the latter makes Lamborghini balance well between performance and battery life. Speaking of which, battery life in the extreme power saving mode is just impressive, especially having in mind the size and hardware of this netbook, which is mostly due to ASUS’ Super Hybrid Engine, which does a phenomenal job in the power department.
One should expect no wonders from Atom, even a dual-core one, but the graphics subsystem will make sure that every HD video rolls perfectly smoothly, as well as enable the user to play a few older games. Bang & Olufsen ICEpower speakers take care of the sound, and the quality is noticeably better than most speakers that we’ve encountered in portable PCs on the whole, although not at the level of a decent pair of headphones. Having in mind its characteristics, HDMI output was a must, which makes Lamborghini a viable option as a home theatre PC as well. As for the connectors, worth noting are two USB 3.0 ports, which is a definite plus, as they’re rare to come by even in ordinary notebooks, let alone netbooks.
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The software support is reflected in Windows 7 Home Premium operating system, which comes preinstalled as the logical choice - price isn’t a key factor with this PC, ergo there was no need to economise by giving a mere Windows 7 Starter. What’s more, the latter doesn’t support simultaneous display on two monitors, which would considerably hamper users, since they already have the HDMI output and a strong graphics subsystem at disposal. The rest of the software comprises a miniature OS called ExpressGate Cloud, as well as Microsoft’s Office 2010 Starter (which we prefer to any trial version of more advanced Office suites, as you’re free to use this one for free, forever) and a Trend Micro antivirus program, which seems to be choking on system performance quite a bit - we suggest you uninstall and replace it as soon as possible with an alternative.
Overall, while this netbook’s performance and features are top-notch, we’ll refrain from commenting on the design. Although a considerable effort has been invested into Lamborghini’s looks, this is a design you either adore or despise. Therefore, it’s up to you to decide which category it should fall into, as it would be pointless for us to try and objectivise that.
