The new Asus F8V will debut in the Comex 2008. So is the lighter Asus F6V weighing at 1.9kg. Both the F8V and F6V models are powered by the latest Intel Centrino 2, the new Montevina platform.

I am not really an Asus fan. The only Asus product I got was the Asus eee PC which I bought early this year and since the price has plummeted. I virtually lost $400 in value.

However, the promotion of the new Asus F8Vr and F6V look like good bargain comparing with laptops using Intel Centrino 2.

The Sony VAIO SR12G and SR13GN cost S$2,199 and S$2,499 respectively. A similar model from Asus, F6V costs S$2,098 and comes with ATI Mobility Radeon HD3470 (same graphic accelerator as SR13GN).

Asus F6V

The lighter, smaller and slimmer Asus F6V priced at S$2,098 and the specs as follow:

- Express Gate™ 8 Secs Boot Up Instant Online
- Intel® Core™2 Duo Processors P8400
(2.26Ghz, 1066Mhz, 3MB L2)
- Intel® Next-Gen Wireless-N 4965ABGN (802.11a/b/g/n)
- Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
- 4GB DDR2 800MHz RAM (after free upgrade)
- 13.3″ WXGA (1280×800) Colorshine & Crystalshine LCD
- ATI Mobility™ Radeon® HD 3470 with 256MB dedicated VRAM
- 320GB SATA HDD with TPM
- Webcam 1.3M Pixels
- 8-in-1 Card Reader, Biometric Finger Print Reader
- DVD Super-Multi Double Layer Drive, Integrated Bluetooth™ 2.0
- 31.2 x 23.19 x 3.2-3.52cm, 1.9kg

Bonus gifts include 250GB external HDD, Asus Notebook carrying bag and Asus Optical Mouse.

[Updated 31 Aug 2008]
One thing that I really like about the Asus F6V was the layout of the various ports. The LAN and VGA connectors are placed at the back so they won’t get in the way of my mouse movement. Also there are 3 USB posts vs only 2 for the VAIO SR12G. I nearly bought this F6V at the Comex Show. The cash price at the show was very attractive, only S$1,965 nett. However, they ran out of stock and I would have to place a deposit and wait for 1 week.

Asus F8V

Here’s what you’ll get at the Comex 2008 for S$2,098 with the F8Vr:

- Express Gate™ 8 Secs Boot Up Instant Online
- Intel® Core™2 Duo Processors P8600
(2.4Ghz, 1066Mhz, 3MB L2)
- Intel® Next-Gen Wireless-N 4965ABGN (802.11a/b/g/n)
- Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
- 3GB DDR2 800MHz RAM (after free upgrade)
- 14.1″ WXGA (1280×800) Colorshine & Hi-Bright LCD
- ATI Mobility™ Radeon® HD 3470 with 256MB dedicated VRAM
- 250GB SATA HDD with TPM
- 1.3M Pixels 240° swivel Webcam
- 8-in-1 Card Reader, Biometric Finger Print Reader
- DVD Super-Multi Double Layer Drive, Integrated Bluetooth™ 2.0
- 34 x 24.4 x 3.72cm, 2.6kg (6-cell battery pack)

Bonus gifts include 250GB external HDD, Asus Notebook carrying bag and Asus Optical Mouse.

The higher model Asus F8Va is priced at S$2,798. It has a more powerful Penryn T9400, 4GB RAM, graphic accelerator HD3650 with 1024 VRAM, BluRay DVD Combo and etc.