Asus, which was recently in the news on account of its Eee PC range of small notebooks, has released an updated version of its premier Lamborghini co-branded laptop – the VX3.  Previous products in this range have been great performers with exquisite styling, at crazy prices. Does the VX3 live up to the hype? Let’s find out.

Asus is in many ways a predictable company. If it’s a premium product, one can not only expect it to be well-designed; Asus makes an experience of something as mundane as unpacking the product. In this case, the VX3 came in a beautifully designed carton, with the laptop encased in a nice suede sleeve. The box also included a leather/suede case that's sturdy enough to carry the laptop without it looking like a dainty lady’s purse.

In comparison to its elder brothers, the VX3 has shrunk a bit. Firstly it is now a 12.1 inch affair and hence its size reflects its reduced stature. Nothing else has changed with regard to its styling and finish. The VX3 retains the striking yellow finish that characterizes this range, and the black sports-car logo on the lid. The construction as always is solid, with absolutely no squeaks from either the body or the hinges, which are reinforced and look pretty elegant. 

The inside of the laptop (keyboard area and LCD panel) have been suitably altered to reflect its new size. For one, the LCD area has been given a simple matte finish, which is a good thing as the LCD panel is ultra-reflective and a shiny finish would have exacerbated this problem. The keyboard area retains its leather finish. It's is now surrounded by a beautifully designed bezel made of magnesium alloy, and sports a gunmetal finish. This finish is similar to that of the recently released Asus U6S laptop.

The keyboard of the VX3 continues to prove what I've believed for a while now: Asus makes the best keyboards for laptops, bar none. The keyboard is a sterling affair, with its matte-finish keys offering smooth performance, great tactile feedback, and an ideal layout. Oddly, the left side of our keyboard was a tad more elevated than the right. While this is not a big issue, the slightly raised keys look a bit odd.

The touchpad is a good improvement over previous models. Though it’s somewhat oddly designed, it has a good smooth finish alongside recessed mouse keys that make pointer manipulation easy.

The LCD panel is a backlit 12.1 inch affair with a native resolution of 1280 x 800, but it’s not as sharp as in some other models from Asus. It offers average levels of brightness and contrast, and has poor viewing angles. On top of that it’s got a very reflective screen, which makes working in brightly-lit areas a headache.

Connectivity-wise the VX3 is quite decently loaded. It comes with HDMI, 3 USB slots, a dual layer DVD-RW, and a multi-format card reader.