ZaReason Verix Notebook

Examination:

The ZaReason Verix 1656 can be configured with different speed processors, system memory capacity, a selection of SATA hard drives, different WiFi networking adapters, and other components. The Verix notebook that we had on loan to us for review from ZaReason was equipped with an Intel Core i7 Q-720 CPU clocked at 1.60GHz, 6GB of DDR3 system memory, an 80GB Intel SSDSA2MH08 SATA SSD, a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M graphics processor, and a 1680 x 1050 LVDS panel.

The Verix has a black brushed aluminum finish, which is quite nice and does add a bit of weight to the notebook, but it is already somewhat heavy at around six pounds with the fully loaded hardware anyways. The ports on the notebook include HDMI and VGA outputs, Gigabit Ethernet, audio ports, a Kensington lock slot, three USB 2.0 ports, one eSATA port, and one Firewire port. On the left side of the notebook is also a DVD-RW optical drive.

From the bottom of the notebook the system memory and other components can easily be swapped out by removing a few screws holding in two different plastic panels.

Opening up the notebook there is a 1.9 megapixel web-camera above the notebook's screen and below that is another ZaReason moniker. The keyboard is quite large and nearly full-sized complete with a keypad. The touchpad is located slightly off-center to the left.

ZaReason does not build their notebooks with custom designs, but this notebook was a white label and evidently was manufactured by MSI with its motherboard being an MSI LTD MS-1656.