Asus K53
The Asus K53 can be picked up for just $750 and yet features a dedicated graphics card and respectable gaming prowess. It measures 14.9″ x 10″ x 1.1~1.37″ and weighs in at a just-about portable 2.6kg. Appearance-wise the K53 is a mass of aluminum surfaces, smart-looking and stable. Enjoy these Asus K53 pics:
The 15.6″ 1366 x 768 resolution glossy screen offers a feeble 181:1 contrast ratio, so anyone accustomed to vibrant colors might notice the difference when watching movies or viewing photos. The display’s LED back lighting delivers average brightness, so the Asus K53 display credentials are not a total flop. In combination with the glossy finish it makes outdoor use more awkward, but the lid’s wide opening angles and good viewing angles mean a few seconds of adjusting the screen’s tilt should put things in order. But good quality screens aren’t really found at this price.
The cursor keys are too close to each other, but otherwise the island keyboard enables rapid and comfortable typing, with good travel and feedback. A number pad qualifies the Asus K53 for serious office tasks. The touch-pad is pleasantly large and it’s smooth but its easy glide can make accurate cursor control fiddly. Although multi-touch capability is provided on the Asus K53, horizontal and vertical scrolling are nowhere to be seen. Is this the hardware equivalent of attention deficit disorder? One-finger scrolling is a bit fiddly, after all.
Mid- and bass tones sound thin through the built-in speakers, so external speakers are almost essential. Volume is fine at least.
For connectivity options the Asus K53 is somewhat limited. eSATA and ExpressCard ports are both missing, although there is a USB-3 socket plus two USB-2 ports. The pair of USB-2 interfaces are a bit too closely spaced together, but workarounds are not too tricky. VGA and HDMI sockets are of course present, as is a standard card reader, and also the mandatory audio jacks. We’re pleased to announce the Asus K53 doesn’t feature integrated Bluetooth, which is a point scored for added security. For a budget notebook, a 2-year warranty is commendable. HP, Acer, and Lenovo generally offer only 12 months in this price bracket.
The Asus K53TA is powered by an AMD Fusion A6-3400M 1.4GHz quadcore CPU helped along pixelwise by AMD’s HD6520G integrated graphics and an HD6650M dedicated graphics card – the two graphics solutions can be simultaneously activated (‘Crossfire’) for enhanced performance. The 4GB RAM is expandable to 8GB, and there’s a 5400rpm Seagate hard drive. In tests the performance the Asus K53TA breeezes through office tasks, including multi-tabbed browsing. Most of last year’s games and a few of this year’s are playable at medium settings. Gaming performance is a tall order for a budget notebook, and the Asus K53 passes with flying colors, if only at low detail settings. Anyone who expects more from a 500 euro notebook needs bringing back down to earth.
On the positive side it stays cool marvelously well, so use on the lap is comfortable.
Low energy components mean 3 hrs 36mins of video looping, or a decent 5 hours of wireless surfing. That will stretch to seven or eight with wired internet use, if you’re careful.
Frankly, the inexpensive Asus K53 will do anything most people can ask of it. Video editing is just out of its reach, and single-finger scrolling is out of the question. You won’t be knocked sideways by the display, but moderate gaming on a budget notebook should make the earth move.
15.6-Inch ASUS K53TA-A1 a great affordable and versatile entertainment laptop can be purchased at amazon for $690.14 at amazon.
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