While we wait with bated breath for the imminent (or was that eventual?) release of Microsoft Media Centre into Australia, the number of companies cashing in on the media functionality of next generation consumer electronics is growing quickly. Asus is no exception, offering the new W1N notebook as more than just a run-of-the-mill business machine with tacked on bells and whistles. Rather it has been designed from the ground up to offer the most to entertainment and media-focused users. This well featured notebook has the goods to allow you to play games, watch movies in style and use it as a personal video recorder.

Its lid is latch-free and uses magnets to secure the two when closed; opening it is fairly easy and can be done while juggling piles of paper or books without too much trouble.
A display like this combined with ATI's RADEON MOBILITY 9600 graphics really is crying out for widescreen DVD playback and it delivers, producing a crisp, sharp image, while the simulated 5.1 speakers pump out sound to match. This notebook comes with front audio connectivity should you want to plug into a pure surround set of speakers and a remote control that lets you change channels, alter DVD and music tracks, record and adjust volume levels.

Although stylish and easy on the eye with features such as hidden I/O sockets there's power to be found here as well. Testing with our staple PCMark04 suite, the W1N pushed out a score of 3261 marks, a good score for an entertainment focused notebook. The included RADEON 9600 graphics help it shine at 9162 3Dmarks and make it a very capable gaming notebook with a reasonable number of frames per second.

Asus has gone all out on the accessories front, making up for the unit's lack of floppy drive with a 64MB USB flash memory drive, USB optical mouse and a set of headphones and software bundle.
Although Battle Engine Aquila and Gunmetal aren't the newest games, the included software is sufficient and will have you up and entertaining straight away. For the asking price, this notebook offers plenty of performance and style.